If you’re a long-time Borderlands fan, you know the franchise’s chaotic, joke-laced story is half the reason you keep coming back to grind for legendaries. I’ve spent hundreds of hours digging through Borderlands lore across all the mainline games, DLCs, and even the tie-in comics, so I’ve got a pretty good sense of what threads Gearbox is likely to pull on for the next entry. We still don’t have an official release date, but the teases and hints about the Borderlands 4 story have been circulating for years, and they paint a picture of the most ambitious narrative the franchise has ever put together.
Confirmed Canon Threads Set to Shape the Borderlands 4 Story
Gearbox hasn’t dropped many official plot details yet, but the small bits of information they have shared line up directly with the ending of Borderlands 3 and its post-credit scenes. First, we know that the Crimson Raiders are now the dominant faction across multiple planets, after taking down the Calypso twins and gaining access to Eridian technology scattered across the galaxy. The unresolved fate of the Eridian Great Vault is the biggest confirmed hook, as the structure was only partially opened at the end of Borderlands 3, and no one knows what is actually hidden inside its deepest chambers.
We also know that Gearbox has promised not to retcon any major character deaths from previous games, so don’t expect to see Roland or Maya make a surprise return. That said, they have confirmed that fan-favorite side characters we haven’t seen in years will play major roles, which has sparked a lot of speculation about who might come back. Timothy Lawrence, Handsome Jack’s body double, is at the top of most fan wishlists, as his last appearance left him stranded on a hostile planet with no way to contact the Raiders.
Gearbox has also confirmed that the Siren lore will be front and center in the next game. There are only six Sirens in existence at any given time, and we’ve only met five across the entire franchise, so the identity of the sixth Siren will almost certainly be a core plot reveal. If the Borderlands 4 story leans into these established threads, it will feel deeply rewarding for long-time fans who have been following the lore for over a decade.
Major Unresolved Plot Points From Previous Games That May Return
One of the best parts of Borderlands storytelling is how it seeds small plot points in early games that pay off years later. There are dozens of loose ends left across the franchise, but these three are the most likely to get resolved in the next entry:
- The true purpose of the Eridian Great Vault, which was only partially opened at the end of Borderlands 3, and the ancient warning the Eridians left about a threat that could destroy the entire galaxy
- The whereabouts of Lilith, who vanished after sacrificing herself to stop Elpis from crashing into Pandora, leaving only her iconic Siren wing symbol burned into the moon’s surface
- The status of the Hyperion corporation after Handsome Jack’s final defeat, as Tediore has been slowly buying up Hyperion assets across the galaxy and positioning itself as the next big corporate villain
Lilith’s return is the most requested plot point by fans, and there’s plenty of evidence to suggest she’s not actually dead. Sirens have been shown to survive seemingly impossible situations before, and the Eridian technology she interacted with right before she vanished has been linked to inter-dimensional travel in multiple DLCs. Even if she doesn’t return as a playable character, she will almost certainly have a major impact on the plot.
We also don’t know what happened to all the leftover Vault keys and Eridian artifacts scattered across the galaxy after the Calypso twins opened almost every Vault in the galaxy. These artifacts are incredibly powerful, and it’s only a matter of time before the wrong group gets their hands on them. It’s easy to see how that could spark a galaxy-wide conflict that the Crimson Raiders have to clean up.
What We Can Expect From New Characters and Villains
Gearbox has confirmed that four new playable Vault Hunters will be introduced in the next game, and each will have personal stakes in the main plot, rather than just being random mercs looking for treasure. That’s a shift from earlier entries, where Vault Hunters only got small bits of backstory through echo logs, and it will make the story feel much more personal for players. Four new playable vault hunters will be core to the story’s narrative, and their individual story arcs will intersect with the main plot in unexpected ways.
The main villain for the next game hasn’t been revealed yet, but leaks suggest it won’t be another corporate leader like Handsome Jack or a cult leader like the Calypso twins. Instead, rumors point to an ancient Eridian survivor who has been in stasis for millions of years, angry that humans have been opening Vaults and releasing ancient threats they don’t understand. That would be a refreshing shift for the franchise, as it would let us explore the Eridian lore in much more depth than we ever have before.
Of course, we can expect plenty of familiar faces to make cameos. Claptrap is guaranteed to be along for the ride, as he’s appeared in every mainline Borderlands game to date. Tiny Tina will almost certainly make an appearance too, after the success of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. We might also see the return of older Vault Hunters like Gaige, Axton, and Salvador, who haven’t had major roles since Borderlands 2.
Fan Theories That Actually Have Ground in Canon
When there’s a long gap between game releases, fan theories run wild, but not all of them are based on actual canon. There are a few theories though that have enough evidence behind them that they feel almost guaranteed to come true. One of the most popular is that the Destroyer, the ancient evil we fought at the end of the first Borderlands game, was never actually defeated, and has been regrowing its power across all the Vaults we’ve opened in the years since. That would make it the perfect final villain for the next game, as it would tie the entire franchise together.
Another popular theory is that Tannis, the eccentric Siren scientist who has been a core part of the franchise since the first game, will turn against the Crimson Raiders. She’s always been morally gray, and she’s been known to prioritize her research over the safety of her friends multiple times. If she decides that unlocking the secrets of the Eridians is more important than protecting the galaxy, she could become one of the most compelling villains the franchise has ever had. There is concrete evidence that the next story will visit at least three brand new planets never seen in the franchise before, which would give the writers plenty of space to explore this kind of character arc.
One theory that I’m personally hoping comes true is that the game will explore the origins of the Sirens. We know almost nothing about where Sirens come from, or why there are only six of them at any given time. The Eridians clearly have a connection to the Sirens, and the Great Vault is almost certainly where we’ll get answers to those questions. It’s the kind of lore reveal that would change everything we know about the Borderlands universe, and it feels like the perfect payoff for 15 years of story build up.
We won’t get official confirmation of any of these details until Gearbox does their full reveal, but all the signs point to this being the most cohesive, emotionally resonant story the franchise has ever told. All of these hints add up to the Borderlands 4 story feeling like a love letter to long-time fans, while still being accessible enough for new players who are jumping into the franchise for the first time. I’m already replaying all the mainline games and DLCs to refresh my memory of every small lore hint, so I don’t miss a single callback when the game finally drops.