It's been at least 15 years since I last touched Oblivion, but a few seconds of the triumphant theme Reign of the Septims brings me right back to the menu screen I saw so many times on my Xbox 360. The gentler, almost aching Harvest Dawn conjures the quieter moments I spent wandering around the Imperial City picking locks and pockets. Those are good memories, but today I have a different association with Oblivion's music: the 2019 allegations of rape and sexual misconduct against composer Jeremy Soule, who wrote the music for Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim, among many other games.
Before Bethesda announced Oblivion Remastered, there was speculation over whether the developer would remix or even fully replace Soule's music as a result of the allegations against him (or due to a conflict with Bethesda over Soule being left out of a Skyrim concert in 2016). But we now know neither happened: the soundtrack is unchanged, just as we remember it.
