Let’s get the obvious out of the way, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a massive game. You can get married, join a band of assassins, or go on a killing spree and play like Harrison Ford in The Fugitive. Because of this expansive world, many consider this game to be one of the greatest of all time. There have been tales of non-playable characters (NPCs) killed in the background by an angry dragon or the development of an in-game language for said dragons. The director of the game initially stated his intent to have infinite quests a staggering feat, but one that feels possible if you have ever entered the world of Skyrim.
However, even in Bethesda’s world of beautiful Lord of the Rings-like landscapes and open-world bliss, there does lie imperfection. One of the major things gamers take issue with in the games is the number of plot holes encountered. However, it also has some quests or missions you may have never heard about in return. Either way; this game is too large to contain the successes and sometimes failures in the plot which leads to the subject of this countdown: the mysteries. While there are plot holes and hidden areas, there are also lingering mysteries and some disturbing truths about the world of Skyrim. There had to be many a day where you hopped on a forum to see if others witnessed the same mysteries you did. The game has been around since 2011, but there are still mysteries to solve. Below are 20 hidden plot lines you may have missed in Skyrim.
20 Winterhold Needs A Meteorologist
Regardless of what area you live in, you have probably experienced a storm or two. Now, imagine that for six months straight there were violent thunder storms, tornadoes, even hail raining down on your city. That is what happened to the town of Winterhold. Around 80 years before the events of Skyrim, violent storms completely decimated the area. The homes and livelihoods of people were destroyed, and it naturally sent the people into a state of depression. The eerie part is that the College of Winterhold is still standing. Obviously, the students and teachers at the college experienced the blame for the events of the storm. There is speculation that their magic protected the college, but that it also started the storms in the first place. The cause of the storm is still officially unknown.
19 Sleep In A Haunted Hotel
We have all been there, having to stay in some shady motel (or hotel) and put out of our mind that something sinister may have happened there. The smell, atmosphere and the feeling that you are not the only one there creeps in. The Dragonborn in Skyrim encounters this head on when he stays at Old Hroldan Inn. After 1:00 AM, the Dragonborn awakes to screams from an innkeeper that a ghost is among them. However, instead of taking this opportunity to engage in some Poltergeist style haunts, the ghost, Tiber Septim sits down in a chair with a drink and request an old sword he had before passing away. It is a quest that might now have been on your radar since it is in a remote location, but it is worth the trek.
18 Make A Voodoo Doll
As a child (and even as an adult), did you ever indulge the urge to play Bloody Mary? It seems like it’s a load of crock until you are standing in a dark room with the mirror in front of you. Then, your certainty of the story’s falsehood does not seem so sure anymore. Well, the Dark Brotherhood is a creepy group of assassins who participate in some profane and questionable rituals. One is the Black Sacrament, a ritual that requires a person to make a voodoo doll out of real body parts and pray to the Night Mother for their assassination. There are individuals who have tried this in the Skyrim universe, but it is not exactly clear if the practice brings real results. However, knowing how weird things in Skyrim can get, would you really want to test it?
17 Disappearing Without A Trace
Think about whether this sounds familiar, an intelligent and dominant civilization who were pioneers in academics, technology and crafting suddenly disappear without a trace. It has happened in our world, and the Dwemer are the Mayans of Skyrim. Their disappearance is one of the greatest mysteries in the game. The reasons behind their vanishing act have been debated for years. Some have attributed it to a losing fight with the Falmers while others feel a legendary betrayal and backfiring spell for immortality sent the Dwemers into the history books. Yagrum Bagarn is the only Dwemer left in existence, and he just so happened to be traveling to another realm at the time of this event. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
16 Battle The Ghost Of An Ice Giant
Here is one cool secret you might have missed in your playthroughs of Skyrim. You can actually revive the spirit of an ancient ice giant. You may wonder, “Why would I want to do that?” Well, there is a nice prize if you succeed. Retrieve the skull of Karstaag from Glacial Cave, and return them to his ruins in Solsthiem. However, instead of being happy and grateful that you made a treacherous journey to return his skull to his throne, he attacks you. Talk about rude! If you beat him, you will gain a nice consolation prize, the ability to summon him for help in future battles. That is the least this guy can do after trying to kill you for resurrecting him. Who knows, maybe he was having more fun where he was.
15 The Court Mage’s Motives
They always say to watch out for the quiet ones. He broods among the courts in Morthal, and might have ties to vampires, Falion may be “the most interesting man in Skyrim.” Before sulking around the town, he used to be a professor and adopted a young girl who he teaches to do magic. He looks like one of those “what you see is what you get guys,” but there is more than meets the eye with Falion. Every night, the mage slips out into the marshes, and he leads the player to some summoning stones, but attaining them do not seem to be his end goal. That coupled with the fact that his adopted daughter dreams of him killing monsters, means that Falion is conveniently leaving out details of who he really is.
14 Is Alduin A Nord Folklore Diety?
Speaking of dragons, could Alduin actually be a Nord folklore deity? Well, some felt Alduin is actually Akatosh, a great dragon god. A high priest wrote a journal that suggests people are confused about Alduin’s motives and story, and that he is, in fact, a great dragon who should be worshiped due to his “power” and the similarities between him and Akatosh. He feels that all the “stories” surrounding Alduin are falsehoods and myths that have been passed down without proof. Alduin is actually good and misunderstood. In a way, he also questions that existence of the Dragonborn as his eventual destroyer. How did a group of people come to actually workshop dragons, and when dragons were still in abundance, were others treated as god-like entities?
13 Are There Time Warps Between Oblivion And Skyrim
How would you feel if you watched Star Wars Episode I and saw BB8 scrolling past the screen? Or in one of the many Harry Potter flashbacks, Ronald Weasley could be seen cowering past Tom Riddle? This is kind of the equivalent of that, two characters, Herminia Cinna and Septimus Signus physically appear in Oblivion and Skyrim. The time between the two games would make this type of thing impossible. There are portals for fast travel in Skyrim, but could there also be some time portals for characters to go from game-to-game? While this seems very unlikely, other than Bethesda making an enormous mistake this is the only explanation that makes sense for this blunder. Bethesda, if you are listening, you can answer a lot of these questions by just inserting a time warp in there. No charge for the advice.
12 A Man With No Name
Ever had those days where you cannot remember what you did with your keys or are blanking on if you if you took the dog out (poor Rover), well imagine not remembering what your name is or your birthplace. This is the sad story of Rune, a member of the Thief Guild. In the Skyrim plot, his actual origin story is never revealed. His father found him as an infant on a boat, and the only thing he has from his previous life is a stone with mysterious symbols. However, no one can tell him what the symbols mean. There is some speculation that the character is an easter egg, but still, it is pretty horrible to have no idea who you are.
11 A Tragic Night Created The Nords
One of the hallmarks of Skyrim is its books. There are hundreds of them strewn throughout the world. Most people probably grab them because they allow you to level up on various skills depending upon the topic covered. However, the stories are just as valuable. Considering how remote some of these stories are, you may have never crossed paths with this one since it is only located in one place. But this one gives the infamous, Red Wedding, a run for its money. As mentioned in another point, the Nords were once the Nedes, and they had a partnership with the Snow Elves, aka Falmers. Because of some dark and diabolical jealousy, the Snow Elves decided to break the treaty. In doing so, they went to their village and slaughtered every man, woman, and child they could find. In the spirit of King Leonidas, the 500 remaining Nedes attacked the Snow Elves and won…leaving them in servitude to the Dwemer. Did you know 300 had an easter egg in a tragic story?
10 The “Origin” Of Dragons
If Tiber Septim is cool enough to have a drink with you as a ghost, you know this guy also has to have some hand in this story. The last known dragons were around the time when he was alive, and he made a peace pact with them. But as we know from real-life human behavior…we are the most dangerous animal on the planet, and the “people” of Skyrim are no different. They continued to hunt and kill dragons to seemingly near extinction. Here is where the mystery comes in…the major characters of the franchise have no known origin. Dragons are known to have no beginning, and even odder, dragon eggs have never been seen. Even though their beginnings have not identified, they can die. So, what’s the deal?
9 The Dark Brotherhood’s Disturbing History
Everyone knows the Dark Brotherhood has some “cultish” tendencies. If you are taking a nice jog in the neighborhood, these are not the people you would want to encounter while alone. Well, the myriad of Skyrim books strikes again. There is so much more to the Dark Brotherhood plotline than meets the eye. A pivotal person in this group is The Night Mother. This lady is the stuff of nightmares. She is said to be married to the “Dread Father” of the Dark Brotherhood. Want to know how she caught the eye of that suitor? She murdered her five young children at his command. In return, she became his bride and is now the head of the Dark Brotherhood. If anyone wants to assassinate someone, the person is urged to pray to her in a dark ritual. The mystery as to whether she is symbolic or an actual real person is still unknown.
8 Anise’s Witch Roots
“I’m just a poor old woman, dear. No need to trouble yourself with me.” These are words that cannot be more untrue when talking about Anise. This lady doesn’t play. If you engage her, she will show you that the above phrase is obsolete. There is speculation that Anise is a witch, and that she has a sister who will send thugs to kill you if you hurt her. But did you know that Anise may also have other distant families? She may actually be a grandparent. A letter in her basement refers to a young girl named Heigl who died at the hands of her father who suspected she was a witch. Why would Anise have a letter referring to this girl or care about the events that happened to her unless she was a relative? If true, Anise’s background is even darker than suspected.
7 The Book With No Words
There was a show that came on years ago titled, Flash Forward, it did not last very long, but the plot centered around an event where everyone in the world was able to see pivotal moments in the future. This seems like a pretty awesome thing, except if you are the person who did not see anything. If you saw nothing during the event, it meant you would going to die between the present and future time. This entry is kind of like that. In Calixto’s shop of Curiosities and Oddities, the Dragonborn can read a book that is supposed to reveal the destiny of everyone who reads it. The only problem is, his or her’s is blank. This could mean that the Dragonborn controls their fate, so a book could not capture it or it might mean something more sinister. Moral of the story, reading can get you killed.
6 The “She-Wolf Ready To Pounce”
Potema Septim has the honor of being one of the only villains in Skyrim to be labeled as “unambiguously evil.” If you think Game of Throne’s Cersei is bad, take a look at Potema’s rap sheet: she convinced her husband that his first child by another woman was not his so that her son could claim his throne. She then became a necromancer to summon her dead soldiers for her bidding and mounted an assault against her brother to take over the Kingdom of Solitude. She was killed during a final battle with her brother’s armies, but the question is whether her spirit was still lingering. Rumor has it that her spirit infected the kingdom and motivated the people within it to act with greed and blind ambition. Mysteriously her brother showed up dead after his son, her nephew, took over the throne. Did her madness reach her nephew?
5 The Events Of Soulburst Are Never Mentioned In Earlier Literature
Imagine this: you just settled down into the coziness of your bed. The idiotic traffic and annoying coworkers behind you. You pull up the covers to your chin and all of a sudden you feel a jolt beneath you. You hear the dishes and cups in the kitchen fall to the ground, and to your horror, the truth is becoming clear, the most powerful earthquake you have ever felt is happening. After the vibrations cease you head back to bed. Here is the kicker, imagine that you woke up the next morning and did not hear anything about the quake. That is what happened with the Soulburst prior to the events of Skyrim. Massive anchors crashed into the earth from the heavens, and no literature in Oblivion or Morrowind mention these incidents? Hmmm.
4 Meet The “Son Of The Night Mother”
Cicero, the murderous jester, is as interesting as he is mad. He is flamboyant, loud, and unhealthily obsessed with the “corpse” of the Night Mother. Cicero feels that he is the new Listener, the person to hear assassination prayers straight from the lips of the Night Mother. While he can be entertaining to watch, he is dangerous and unpredictable. According to his journals, Cicero used to be relatively normal. He was a regular ol’ assassin (if there is such a thing). However, his very last kill in his normal state left him a little shaken; his victim was a jester. After the kill he became obsessed with the individual, taking on his persona and clothes. His writings indicate his descent into madness, but the question remains, what was it about this last kill that left him mentally unstable? What was different about this one than the others?
3 The Curse Of The Falmer
Ah! Falmer, everyone’s favorite annoyance in Skyrim. These guys are known not to be the most friendly people you would want to come across. They are dark, twisted and evil. Heck, even the loading screens in Skyrim fills you in on these guys. However, they were not always the vicious creatures you see today. Mysteries have surrounded their descent to darkness, but a book reveals their history. They were once healthy looking, but they had a debt they could not make right. The Falmer were once allied with the Nedes (now known as Nords) but got a bit envious once the Nedes' populations started flourishing. So they did what any seriously evil person would do and decided to go to war. The Nedes were too much for them, and the Falmer asked for help from the Dwemer who tricked them into servitude and blinded them. It makes you think what would have happened if the Nedes had been decimated.
2 Skyrim’s Sleepy Hollow
Nothing gets the blood running cold like an encounter with a Headless Horseman. This guy gets around; he will randomly appear anywhere in the world between 10:00 PM and 4:00 AM. He is not connected to any quests within the game, and will not disappear from you until you are out of sight. Each night he travels to his final resting place at Hamvir’s Rest. He leads you to some cool items, but who is he? There is some speculation as to his identity, but judging by the fact that his face is obviously not visible it is hard to know for sure. Why is he hanging around Skyrim in the wee hours of the morning, and why does he linger around the player once encountered?
1 An Encouraged Apocalypse
Someone always has to take the fun out of everything by attempting world domination through hating and wanting to extinguish people who don’t look like them. Sadly, Skyrim is not exempt from this. The Thalmor are a race of elves in government who want to stamp out worship of a god they don’t care for, and people who they feel are “inferior.” Their ultimate goal is to have one government in Tamriel under their rule. Some fans have pieced together a way that they may be trying to do this. The Thalmor have a keen interest in the Towers that protect Skyrim, and many feel they are plotting to have them destroyed to bring about an easier destruction of humanity. The most shocking theory someone had was that the Thalmor might be responsible for luring Alduin to Skyrim in the first place.