User blog comment:Unrulyruby100/Dishonored 2 Details (Supposedly) Revealed By Insider/@comment-24029008-20140712122325/@comment-24029008-20140712125708

Exactly! I feel like Corvo's mask, even if not intended to be so by devs, became as symbolic to the franchise as the Assassin robes (the beak and the hood) became for AC. And the Heart isn't far behind from the mask. And lets face it, the Heart was a wickedly eerie and cool addition, so if they replaced it with something else, they'd have to match the awesomeness, if not outdo it. Simply ditching it and having the new protagonist locate runes and bone charms via Void Gaze like Daud just doesn't seem right.

The Outsider could hand it over, claiming that "another man walked behind this mask once, shaping the future of the Empire as he did. Lets see if you can live up to the legacy."

So whether the next protagonist is Emily, Emily's child, an entirely new protagonist, or Sokolov's drinking buddy's roommate's nephew, I hope to see the Mask, and hopefully the Heart, complete with some new additions and upgrades, making a comeback in the sequel :) (though I wonder if the element of the character being dishonored is now permanently imprinted into the franchise as well?)