I’ve spent hundreds of hours across many different Elder Scrolls titles. And I never cease to be surprised by just how much these games have to offer. It is a vastly complex video game series. It world contains vibrant cultures, tumultuous histories, and vengeful gods. However, one of the problems of such rich and intricate lore is unresolved mysteries or even glaring plot holes. Skyrim certain has its share of missing elements. This often leaves the player to fill in the gaps, which often leads to fun fan speculation and theories. I mean, who doesn’t like a good theory about the Dragonborn being an incarnation of the Bat Boy?

Sometimes, it can be a simple matter of the developers forgetting to tie up the loose ends of content that didn’t make it into the final version game. Other times, Bethesda intentionally leaves stories ambiguous and unresolved to perhaps allow for a modicum of reality; one isn’t always afforded the luxury of know whether or not you made the right decision. However, Skyrim does suffer from glaring plot holes.

Such plot holes can be simple nitpicks of geographical mismanagement. At other times, they can be as huge as mortal enemies embracing one another as drinking buddies. Though these plot holes don’t necessarily break the game, they certainly are the stuff of nightmares if hard-roll playing is your forte.

Here are few of the more interesting unsolved mysteries and plot holes that exist in Skyrim.

15 A God Among Us?

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This mystery requires the Dragonborn to reach level 80. Once you’ve become a grizzled vet, you will be approached by a Redguard, clad completely in Ebony Armour. This is the Ebony Warrior.

This man has lived a life of war, blood, and glory. He speaks of achieving all a warrior can achieve, and now seeks a worthy opponent who can send him to Sovngarde. Nothing is offered about his identity. He can Shout just like the Dragonborn can and is quite skilled in combat.

Some have speculated that this could be Reymon Ebonarm, the Yokudan God of War. Yokuda is the home continent of the Redguard, which could explain the Ebony Warriors race, and both wear black armour. However, Ebonarm was said to have his right arm fused to his Ebony Sword.

Perhaps the stories of a fused sword-arm were allegories for his immense skill. Whatever, it is, the origin of the Ebony Warrior remains a mystery.

14 The Dwemer Be Trolling Peeps Waaaay Into The Future

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Kagrenzel is a Dwemer ruin in the East of Skyrim. Inside, there is a strange orb of light acting as a centerpiece to a large chamber. Touching this orb springs a trap, dropping you into the bowels of the ruin. And that’s it, you never interact with this orb again. This seems a little elaborate to be just a one-off trap.

If you examine the area immediately surrounding the orb, you will see two corpses. It seems like they just dropped dead. If this was related to the orb, why then did they not fall into the pit?

YouTuber FudgeMuppet has speculated that this orb scans the soul of the activator, and either kills them or allows them to proceed to another “test.” But this is just speculation as there is no concrete evidence to what this orb of light represents.

13 OMG, Were You A Son Of A Pirate?!

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Rune is the friendly and helpful member of the Thieves Guild with a mysterious past.

Getting to know him, you will find out that he doesn’t know his birth name, and it was found in a shipwreck off the coast of Solitude. It was his adopted father who found the wreck and gave him his name. The name Rune came from the smooth stone with a single rune carved on it, that was found alongside him in the wreck, which itself has no explanation either.

Skyrim is nearly 6 years old, a still no leads have been found along the coasts of Solitude. However, dialogue with Rune suggests that there was a quest in the works to uncover his past. Unfortunately, Bethesda decided to cut that from the final game. Sounds like this mystery is ripe to be solved by the modding community.

12 I’ll Give You These Magic Beans For Your Soul

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The Thieves Guild is an interesting faction, one in which I like the idea of. The potential for political intrigue, the cool sewer base, the unique armour and weapons, and the shadow marks. However, it’s the usage of these tools that is extremely lacking.

Karliah has a been planning for nearly 20 years, for a way to bring the Thieves Guild back to prominence. But the only thing she can come up with buying the honey farm in Riften to put pressure on the guilds sponsor… LAME!

The worst comes in the form of the guild’s Daedric patron, Nocturnal. You would think disdain for authority would be the M.O. of rogue type characters. But the main questline has you signing your soul over to Nocturnal for a new shirt and a skill you can pick up in any old book.

You’re the Dragonborn dammit! Your soul has to worth something more than a handful of Cheetos!

11 Are We There Yet?

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Alright, this one is more of an inconsistency than a plot hole of mystery but is still silly nonetheless.

Solitude is the capital of Skyrim and the Empire’s main stronghold in the region. But one has to wonder why Bethesda would choose this city as the Empire’s main point of influence.

During the events of Skyrim, the Empire increasingly becoming weaker, while the Thalmor are pushing influence from the West. Looking at the map, Solitude is the furthest city from the Imperial City in Cyrodiil. Imperials would either have to march across the whole of Skyrim or sail past the hostile Summerset Isles to resupply Solitude.

It seems to me Riften or Falkreath would be more logical as they are both closer to Cyrodiil and surrounded by easily defensible mountains.

I suppose the Imperials could fast travel...

10 I Could Have Sworn There Were More Trees Here

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So, Talos is the God of Man and War in Skyrim, and the right to worship him plays a significant role in a sub-plot of the game. Talos began his existence as the first Emperor, Tiber Septim. He conquered all of Tamriel and achieved a state of enlightenment known as “Chim,” in which he ascended to godhood and became Talos. Here is where it gets weird.

Cyrodiil, the Empire’s capital province, was once a jungle which caused hardships for its people. Tiber Septim used the power of Chim to transform Cyrodiil into a temperate meadow. Not just in the present, but in the entire timeline. It was like the jungle never existed at all.

This process and the idea of Chim were created by Bethesda to change Cyrodiil for the release of Oblivion, as a jungle interfered with the future of the series. This is an interesting method to fix plot holes. It is loved by some for its creativity, hated by others as poor writing.

9 How Do They Breath In There?

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Do you ever recall seeing bugs in jars on your adventures through Skyrim? They seem to be everywhere, though hidden in the details. On a shelf here, or a dark mantle there. They come in multiple different contents: butterflies, bees, dragonflies, torchbugs, and moths. But they seem to be only for environmental decoration. The often have no value, are not a quest item, or a subject of conversation. Nothing.

Their detail seems to suggest that these jars were part of wider story or questline though. Underneath each lid, there are inscriptions written. But these are gibberish, such as DKT; ZWKT; M+.

Perhaps these jars were part of some sort of alchemy side quest, or some tree-hugging magical journey. I suppose we'll never know. But it is fun to speculate about the nature of these indestructible glass bug prisons.

8 Silly Rabbit, The Eye Of Magnus Isn’t For Kids!

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The College of Winterhold is a mysterious place, filled with all types of magic users and unusual phenomenon. So obviously some gnarly stuff is going on within its walls.

After proving yourself to the College, and collecting the immensely powerful Eye of Magnus, a skulking elf mage decides it’s his chance to collect the power of the eye for himself. He kills the Arch-Mage and barricades himself in a tower. You eventually liberate the artifact, and then another group—this time the Psijic Order—rolls up, thanks you for your service, then confiscates the artifact, saying it’s too dangerous for you to play with.

And that’s it, we learning nothing more about the artifact, other than it has the power to destroy worlds. What exactly is this object? Is it the part of a god, like the Heart of Lorkhan? How is the Psijic Order able to control it? What do they want with it?

7 Ah, I’ll Buy It At A High Price!

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The Elder Scrolls. The precious namesake of the entire series; all powerful and enigmatic. These artifacts were created at the beginning of time, with the power to inform the reader of the past, present, and future. Though, at the price of the reader's vision and perhaps sanity. Clearly these are valuable artifacts, however, Skyrim doesn’t treat them as such.

After crawling belly first through broken glass to obtain them, they are sellable. The all-powerful, vision-robbing scroll of the gods is SELLABLE to any clown with a pocket full of coins!

Come on Bethesda, you set up a whole group of people, a ritual involving moths, and years of conditioning just to be able to perceive the scrolls. Yet Belethor at the general store can give you 2000 gold for it.

This is certainly a major plot hole. At the very least, make it only sellable to some powerful wizard on a mountain or something.

6 I Don’t Care Who You Know!

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The Forsworn are a unique group that occupies the Reach or eastern Skyrim. They are very compelling, however, when you are tasked to help them out, a glaring plot hole occurs.

Once you assist Madanach and help him escape the Cidhna Mine, you would expect that the Forsworn would greet you with open arms, as Madanach is their leader. Try visiting your local Forsworn encampment, and you will find out how little your bromance with Madanach matters to a Briarheart.

This is clearly an oversight, but it breaks the immersion quite significantly. On top of that, if you walk into Markarth rocking the Armour of the Old God’s that Madanach gave you, nothing happens. You would think a dude sporting the garb of what amounts to a terrorist organization, at least one guard would have something to say. But alas, it’s business as usual as you stroll through the streets.

5 It’s A Bit Breezy Out There.

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Winterhold used to be a once great city of Skyrim, housing the Mages college, and at one point it even rivaled Solitude as the capital of Skyrim. However, it is now a fraction of its former self due to an inexplicable disaster.

Eighty years before the events of the Dragonborn, the Great Collapse destroyed most of the city. A series of seemingly neverending storms ravaged the coastal city, eroding away much of the land and buildings of Winterhold. However, the college was miraculously spared. What happened?

No explanation has ever been discovered, though there is much speculation. Some believe that the Collapse was a consequence of the eruption of the Red Mountain that occurred more than 100 years prior.

While others believe the Augr of Dunlain to be responsible. The Augr was once a gifted mage of the college who attempted to ascend to godhood. Some speculate that this attempt was the cause of the ceaseless storms.

4 You’re Weird… Even For Mage.

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Falion, the Court Mage of Morthal is a curious figure in Skyrim. As he putters around his quarters, he seems to be a run of the mill court mage. However, speaking to him, his story becomes more interesting.

To begin, he was the former Master of Conjuration at the College of Winterhold, choosing to depart for his own reasons. Second, you go to Falion to cure cases of vampirism. And he does this, but tapping into the realms of Oblivion. Aha! The plot thickens.

The people of Morthal accused him of killing children or eating the hearts of the dead. However, the source of his power is never concretely revealed. Some speculate that he is connected to the Daedric Prince, Molag Bal, who is the creator of vampirism. This seems likely, as Bal has used human sacrifice in the past to cure vampirism.

Is Falion sacrificing children to cure vampires?

3 Do You Know Who The Heck I Am?

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Modern game design seems to suffer for two things: handholding and preventing FOMO. Skyrim suffers from both, though the fear of having the player missing out on something is by the worst.

Anyone who has spent any time with Skyrim will realize that the Dragonborn wears a lot of hats. You can become the leader of the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild, the Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold, and the Jarl of many different holds… ALL AT ONCE!

This is alone would be ruinous to a wide-eyed role player, as many of these groups are in opposition to one another. But it’s the way the people treat you that kills me.

For all the dialogue in the game, no one thought to program a little hit tip toward the leader of everything. You walk into an inn as master of all organizations, and you are greeted with a “welcome adventurer.” Really!?!?!

Certainly a missed opportunity.

2 Don't Bring A Sword To A Dragon Fight... Actually...Don't Bring A Sword To A Dragon Fight... Actually...

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The return of the dragons is certainly a calamitous event for the people of Skyrim. Winged murder lizards rain fire on terror all across the countryside certainly is a cause for concern. One would think that a being with total air superiority would decimate a bronze age society.

Just as you are about to give up hope, and resign yourself to a crispy grave, the dragon lands. If you are a dragon, why in the hell would you land to have a little dude hack you to bits? It makes no sense!

I can imagine the look of surprise on the Dragonborn’s face: “Oh snap he is actually landing! What an IDIOT!?”

I know, I know, it’s a gaming device, meant for playability and the like. But why not make Dragonrend the first shout, instead of Unrelenting Force. Fus-Roh-Dah’ing a dragon out of the sky is certainly more fun than blasting some half-wit out of his lemonade stand.

1 A Classic Case of He Said, She Said… But With Swords!

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This was one of my favourite quests in the game, and it happens quite early on. After you down your very first dragon, you will soon be encountered by a group of Alik’r Warriors in search of a specific Redguard woman.

Saadia is suspected of assassination, however, she denies that saying she was run out of town for speaking out against the Aldmeri Dominion, and these men are political assassins. You are left to make the choice, kill Saadia or her would-be assassins.

Whatever you choose, Bethesda does not validate your choice. You are only left with the morality of your choice based on your questioning of different people. I really liked this quest, and I wish Skyrim had more mysterious quests like this. Very rarely are we rewarded with the gift of closure in our lives, games could do with a bit more uncertainty.