Daggerfall Abridged - The Elder Scrolls Lore

The unresting spirit of a dead king leads an Imperial Agent into a world of conspiracy, betrayal, political intrigue, and the discovery of hidden knowledge long since buried. Also, the Emperor has lost track of a completely unimportant letter. The second entry of the Elder Scrolls series has without a doubt the most complex, multi-faceted, and downright confusing main story of the whole series. I'm happy to spend several days (or weeks) unraveling all the intertwining plot threads, but you probably don't have the time or endurance for that sort of thing. Instead, let this video be your guide through the incredible story of Daggerfall.
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Nikulina Helena - nikulina-helena.deviantart.com
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p1zzaman81 - / submitted
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Davin Arfel - davinarfel.deviantart.com
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Howard Ignatius - www.flickr.com/photos/howardi...
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“Beyond Skyrim: Three Kingdoms (Original Game Soundtrack)”
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All material used in the production of this video which constitutes an Elder Scrolls game asset is used in accordance with Bethesda's Fan Video Policy.
bethesda.net/en/article/3XrnH...
#elderscrolls
#daggerfall
#lore

[@OnceLostGames]

A fantastic recap that was, undoubtedly, no easy task! Amazing work as usual!

[@kenziewaltz1714]

I might have to buy Wayward Realms now.

[@sekroz896]

To me I feel the most "canon" ending is to give the gem to the underking. Nobody gets the auto-win robot and acturin simply thanks you and dies.

[@DoubleNegative]

Maybe not "canon" per se, but I would agree that if Daggerfall has a "good" ending, it's giving the Totem to the Underking. He has more a right to it than anyone else. He's the only one who doesn't use it to wreak mass destruction, and he's the only one of the seven who never blatantly lies to the Agent. I mean, he's no saint; his motives are as selfish as the rest. But at least he's not leaving any smoldering craters behind.

[@ethank.6602]

@@Super50ldier theres that mision in oblivion that mentions the underking, where you have to free the blades souls, its pretty cool learning more about him

[@Sehtlimbo]

Dragon break go brrrrr fuck your headcanon lol

[@Sehtlimbo]

@@Super50ldier not you lol

[@Night-Lord]

@@Sehtlimbo goddamn I think you just killed a man

[@mansiselyn]

Daggerfall is the definition of "i'm limited by the technology of my time"

[@Sehtlimbo]

Still had more depth then Oblivion and Skyrim combined.

[@GromDarkwater]

Try daggerfall unity. Its a massive overhaul making it a more modern game.

[@SkoomaGodDovahkiin666]

As of now, especially with the Unity overhaul and Mods? Nah, Daggerfall would evolve.

[@efjay3183]

The totem of Tiber Septim is clearly just a doll from the Shivering Isles, in which the Mad God has simply planted a spooky message. It has no power at all, and the whole Dragonbreak didn’t happen. It was all just an elaborate prank.

[@guziman1963]

"It was just a prank bro, it was just a prank, the camera is right there bro!"

[@GHOST5800000]

69th like

[@neoqwerty]

What if Sheo causes the dragonbreaks on purpose for shitsngiggles and to watch wee mortal minds lose it at trying to make nonlinear time fit linearity? Like hear me out of all the Princes Sheogorath has the best peep into Nirn's workings: it has earthbones, he can subject people to whatever rules he wants to enforce; it has kalpas where the old world's eaten by Alduin and a new world with new gods're born after, he has a Greymarch where the old Isles are razed by Jyggalag and new isles with a new Sheogorath reforms after; Nirn exists because it's in the Godhead and the mortals in it are all part of the Godhead, the Isles exist because they're in Sheogorath's head and everyone has a little of Sheogorath in them (aka they are all a bit of Sheogorath)... Of them all Sheogorath WOULD know how to break time and delight in it!

[@efjay3183]

@@neoqwerty Interesting point. No doubt he delights in the dragonbreaks, and adds as much chaos to the whole thing as he can. But I think that their true workings are beyond any worldly mind, even a god's. I think if anything their origin lie within the Godhead. Maybe a mosquito buzzed in his ear, and disturbed his slumber

[@Sehtlimbo]

What if Sheogorath is just a cornball memelord?!?!

[@burakcelikbilek1256]

Go ahead and tell me that Totem of Tiber Septim is not a baby in a swaddle

[@johnnygyro2295]

There are some people who theorize that the soul of Tiber and Barenziah's unborn child was used to help power the Numidium...

[@guziman1963]

it other art its depicted more like a green hand sized stick with a head on it. Especially if its a shot of the underking holding it.

[@johnnygyro2295]

Uriel: "I need you to find a letter for me. It's a lesser request, but the contents can't get out." Gorthwog: "I'm about to do a pro gamer move." *Send copies of the letter to everybody* Uriel: "Well... Shit."

[@michaelwestmoreland2530]

That first bit where you were delving in, *chef kiss*. I can hear you staring down at a pile of open scrolls on a table with the king asking you what happened in this area and you're just like "A LOT, my lord. A WHOLE ASS lot."

[@dylancollins7230]

There’s so much lore how do we not have a tv show for elders scrolls

[@michaelwestmoreland2530]

Because we don't want to see how terrible they can be written?

[@JuggaloBeats]

What a terrible idea

[@winter_ghosth]

Pls no especially nowadays

[@valentai_777]

I love this idea but there’d have to be a lot of love put into it just to be slightly good😭

[@Morbing_Time]

There are the AllinAll animations which are pog

[@kekero540]

Gortwog be like "dolla dolla bills" as time itself breaks

[@Master_K14]

Finally more lore

[@DoubleNegative]

Finally!? It's only been two months since the last lore episode. I didn't even go into cryostasis this time...

[@darthchungus3902]

@@DoubleNegative Well worth the wait man, all cryogenic stasis aside.

[@kingdavey90]

Never enough LORE!!!

[@darthchungus3902]

@@kingdavey90 Double Negative is like our backstreet Lore dealer. He never replies to messages aswell, extra realistic😂😂😂

[@gbt2009]

I never got into Arena and Daggerfall so the first thing I searched for after watching the summary on Arena was Daggerfall recap but couldn't find a concise video anywhere. Now I understand why that is, fantastic stuff.

[@DoubleNegative]

I can't possibly overstate how much of an epiphany it was to look at Daggerfall's story as one big picture, rather than as a series of quests. It's really mind boggling, the way everything interconnects.

[@jiraffe9600]

I finished this game completely and I was still surprised with this video. I remembered the beginning with the emperor giving us our objective and the end where we gave the totem to a faction. But I didn’t remember what happened between that. So when you said that the letter was the important objective I was like “…What?…”

[@c.v.4070]

I Can't wait for the Morrowind Abridged video! Another 3 years, isn't that just too short?, ISN'T IT!?

[@DoubleNegative]

Lol, sounds about right. Seriously though, there's a lot to set up before getting to Morrowind Abridged. Besides, I need to do Redguard and Battlespire first!

[@gwest3644]

@@DoubleNegative A dive into the more obscure titles like Stormhold, Dawnstar, Shadowkey, Blades, and Legends might be cool as well.

[@16ktsgamma]

It's now two years later.

[@kodywigle2793]

Love that your using the beyond skyrim soundtrack, it's actually amazing how good it is.

[@DoubleNegative]

Three Kingdoms is a bit of a mixed bag, but there's a good handful of tracks that are just incredible. "Prophecy of the Dunes," "Flowers of Taneth," and "Spirit of the Air" are so good.

[@Mr._Anderpson]

I started playing this game back in 1997 and it wasn't until my third playthrough (not counting all the abysmal failures) that I began to piece together the threads of the story. Yes, the quests aren't linear or scripted, but that just puts the responsibility of learning the story on the player. You can simply be an agent who follows orders or someone who begins to assemble the jigsaw. The later games improved the methods of storytelling, but not the stories they told. No later entry has matched Daggerfall's story. It seems to be the curse of modern media. As we've developed the ability to have much richer visual effects, we've stopped depending on good stories to hook the audience. This applies to games, films, etc. Thanks for sharing this & I hope you give the game more attention. It can be an uphill battle at times, but you're rewarded with a much deeper sense of accomplishment. Fighting Alduin or Dagoth Ur don't seem to have the same weight as compared to the choices the Agent makes, even though the later three stories are all "save the world" tales.

[@therethan-family1234]

Thank you VERY much. I never could get into Daggerfall because of it's controls and abysmal beginner dungeon. Though I knew roughly what were the results in Daggerfall, I never knew what happened excactly. Again, thank you.

[@jiraffe9600]

Get daggerfall unity. It’s the same game, but there are several improvements.

[@DoubleNegative]

That's exactly why I was so excited to make this. I'm very glad you like it. By the way, if you do still have the desire to get into Daggerfall, consider checking out Daggerfall Unity. It's a fan-driven effort to port the game into a modern, playable engine. That way, you can play the game without having to constantly fight it at the same time. It's well worth a try, at the very least.

[@jaimemunoz8513]

@@DoubleNegative Daggerfall Unity was such an obsession for me.. I was HOOKED with how vastly improved the game was. It's so easy to add quality of life improvements to the game and it just runs a whole lot smoother than vanilla Daggerfall. 10/10 recommend.

[@kalebm9928]

It premiers on my birthday. I know what I'm watching on my birthday.

[@217vigilante]

My birthday is the following day, I feel your sentiment

[@kalebm9928]

@@217vigilante Let's go bro. Happy early birthday

[@sunclonkt7839]

It watches on my premiers. I know what I'm birthday on my watch.

[@beamerboy-]

It also premiers on my birthday

[@SciontheDark]

We need more massive, timeline shattering events, shake up the Universe a little bit

[@FeelingShred]

(spoiler-free comment, don't worry...) There was this magical moment when I was playing Elder Scrolls Daggerfall for the 1st time ever... I was a few hours into the game, nothing significant happened, and then I find this letter, written by someone that has been missing for a while, that his kidnapping was in fact (...spoilers, can't write here...) I still remember how MAD I was for what they did to this guy... And then the game leaves it as an open choice if you will help him or not... It's crazy, Daggerfall has like 6 or 7 story paths and you can end up with 4 or 5 different endings, I don't even remember the total amount, some of them overlap... Glorious game... Must play... 10 out of 10 standing ovation

[@charlietownsend2826]

That King of the Farm joke had me in stitches. This whole section is hilarious. Not even 2 minutes in and this is absolute gold. Great job man.

[@eddardstark6554]

You’re literally doing what I wanted to do about a year from now: make comprehensive videos about the lore of the amazing franchise that is The Elder Scrolls with images, maps, and jokes. Keep up the good work! I’m jealous that you get to do it. Anything I make would practically be copying you with how well you explain the stories. I fell in love with Skyrim when it first came out and that game hit me hard. I played it endlessly. I stopped for a while and came back to it in 2016. It was then that I realized that these games are incredibly profound stories. I realized that I had to play Oblivion, then Morrowind, then Daggerfall, and Arena. I’ve been reading the lore pages on the internet for a couple of years and it’s just amazing how entertaining and well thought out this franchise is. Screw Game and Thrones and Lord of the Rings (as much as I love Tolkien and his work), the Elder Scrolls are by far the best fantasy genre out there!

[@kenziewaltz1714]

I'm a Skyrim veteran who's just now getting into all of the Elder Scrolls lore. I have to say I'm addicted to the stories and information. Nirn is so vibrant and colorful, and it's so interesting to see the stories scattered throughout Skyrim to add so much more depth to the world than I ever thought possible. Also, if you want to pursue making a channel for Elder Scrolls, you should do it! It's great to get different perspectives from different people.

[@indigo478]

Do it already Pussy it’s been a year come on I’ll watch it

[@Chocoboboy7]

Even though oblivion was my first TES, Daggerfall will forever be my favorite TES game. I can not move away from it for long before I get the itch to play again. Love your channel.

[@xXaltowolfXxmp3]

I always knew Daggerfall was a rabbit hole, but DAMN! I didn't expect this level of story layers xD

[@TheSlyFreak]

This was such a wonderful and enjoyable video to watch. I love TES lore and never really got into Daggerfall, but this was a nice way to learn about all the major plot points.

[@bes7054]

Words cant describe how much i love this lore videos

[@JelloFluoride]

If you decide to play Daggerfall, I highly suggest the remake made in the Unity engine.

[@Mastecholy]

Your Elder Scrolls content is fantastic, please continue making it

[@inbox57111]

Double Negative brings another well made vid. Always worth the wait.

[@ConnorRunda]

Ah praise Dagoth, another lore channel to enjoy. This is really neat, since I am unlikely to ever play this one.

[@adamrybny8189]

I really wanna know more about other divines in Tamriel. Like the cult of daedras, moons and so on. By the way, keep up your work, I really love what you do for the community

[@alexoxo9008]

Looking forward to this!! I rewatch your content all the time dude you’re the best

[@royroman4164]

Gosh. This was legit so enjoyable to watch. looking forward to the next one

[@Nenufort]

Great video! Your channel indeed deserves more subs, keep up the good work!

[@ImperialKnowledge]

Very nice! Good job!

[@murilobeltramini7278]

Hey Imperial! Really liked your last vid about those swords from Akavir!

[@oguzhan.erturk]

WOW ! Thanks for explaining to us. I subbed to you, you definitely deserve more.🙏🏻

[@AutoMazee]

These are all amazing! Please keep making them!

[@MarkyD.Ingram]

I always like your videos and can't get enough of elderscrolls lore so please keep making them they're always entertaining to watch.

[@Elsass_Bastard]

I'm only familiar with Daggerfall because some mad lad ported it to Skyrim (yes, for real its called Skygerfall)

[@FalkZad]

That was really fun, thanks for making this!

[@williamrapp6676]

The Bluetooth hate has me thinking you’re getting paid by “big wires”

[@mariogarcia7445]

If you're planning on continue this series, can you talk about the Great War in detail?

[@baileybruketta8780]

didn't realize there were made so recently. Really looking forward to more

[@Solcres_Joa]

Great vid, but how dare you leave me in a cliffhanger about the dragon break 😭🤡

[@samwiseb2799]

I feel like Daggerfall’s main quest is the best imo because it’s all about unraveling and uncovering deep backstory and lore about the various factions, and the player character is literally just a investigator. It’s much better than Morrowind imo because your character is essentially just a nobody that can become somebody by using politics and investigating to essentially determine the fate of the Iliac Bay. People wrangle on about how shallow Oblivion/Skyrim are but honestly Morrowind is a lot more shallow than Daggerfall. Like sure you are a stranger in a strange land and sure your reputation kinda matters but you hardly have much of an impact. Like getting the Moon and Star ring only seems to have much of an impact on a side quest while you basically get kinda screwed by the ashlanders because you still have to do various quests for them yet you are Nerevarine Incarnate. Yes maybe the ring is fake and a forgery but why would they assume that if Azura is their god? Plus killing Vivex before you get wraithguard doesn’t really make any sense, why not kill him afterwards for him to pass knowledge of wraithguard and the better wraithguard since killing him before is kinda idiotic. Yes you made a vow but he killed you in a past life anyway so why not backstab him? Daggerfall doesn’t have any of those issues imo because everything is open ended and it’s more fun reading letters and discovering the motivations of the various factions than being forced to do fetch quests that give you boring information on the Nerevarine. Don’t get me wrong, Morrowind is a good game too but imo I like Daggerfall main quest and narrative better imo. Morrowind has the better skills (except Ettiqute, Stretwise, climbing and Thatmuturgey are cool)

[@alexioskomnenos5531]

Fantastic recap! Truly appreciated!

[@Curtis006]

This is an amazing recap that makes the meandering narrative actually make sense

[@snookiewozo]

Your videos are always worth waiting for.

[@seankearns2903]

These videos are so inspiring and motivating to me to keep worldbuilding my d&d world

[@tompadinho]

Lore master fantastic video!

[@HunterFox2011]

I actually love your Chanel and really appreciate your hard work

[@bobcharlie2337]

Me too, this channel is grand.

[@cefirodewinter9086]

This is amazing!

[@wolves44445]

Well done, that was very enjoyable to listen to

[@druout1944]

Amazingly done

[@Proctor_Conley]

This was great, Thank You!

[@DavetheNord]

Splendid video sir!

[@bluelick7578]

Wait wait wait, hold on…. Am elder scrolls game where you DON’T start as a prisoner? Madness!

[@patrickblackwell777]

Looking forward to it!

[@UnclePutte]

I suspect the Totem, given its looks, was crafted from Tiber Septim's firstborn. And considering Wormy Boi's desire for both firstborns, totems, mantellae et al.

[@Domenic1407]

So uhm… is the channel still alive ? I really love this stuff

[@williamdanielsson1785]

I here by command you with the help of my super awesome divine magic authority powers to make one of these videos for every main series Elder Scrolls game, and possibly one for each of the "spin-off" games. I am glad that we could come to an agreement and that you shall do as I say :) If I am just being a big dumb dumb and these videos already exist, I would love to be pointed in the direction of them :) Love these videos man keep it going

[@barak363363]

Nicely done

[@KaoruMzk]

My best guess is that the totem is kinda like an AI that remotely pilots the giant dwarven mech of mass destruction. That's why it can use telepathy, seemingly has a mind of its own and a new one can't be made so easily.

[@NawfSideNick]

Need another video I’m hooked on the series

[@miguelangelus959]

I want to watch this video so bad, but I'm still just at the start of the main quest and just now investigated the letters that Queen Mynisera was hiding. I cannot bring my self to get spoilers about kinf Lysandus' death rn

[@rhyno5357]

Make a morrowind one please and keep up the great content I just found out about your channel a couple days ago and I've binge watched all of your lore videos

[@thalmoragent9344]

Yo, this is super dope man, glad you're back 👍🏾 What do you plan on next? Perhaps the Snow Elves? Or maybe a run-through of some of the Pantheons, like the Aldmeri or Atmoran Pantheon perhaps? These are pretty cool vidoe formats, so I'd appreciate any cool Lore you can muster. Perhaps even more in depth Mannimarco Lore could prove to be super cool as well

[@DoubleNegative]

Yes to all of those suggestions. I want to do Mannimarco for sure, because I feel he's highly underrated as a legendary figure of TES. As for what's coming next, you'll just have to watch to find out. ;)

[@thalmoragent9344]

@@DoubleNegative Thanks for the response man, and yeah I agree Mannimarco isn't as popular as he should be. I mean, such a major player in the timeline, and yet I too feel as if he's sorta sidelined, and his backstory is very much glossed over. But yeah, any of those suggestions and more, I'm totally looking forward to it. You're video formats are a nice way to show and explain things, better than most I would say (although I appreciate and respect any and all Elder Scrolls content creators). Either way, I'm Subscribed, best of luck with whatever you chose mate 👍🏾 (Perhaps if or when you get to the Snow Elves, could you go in depth with any theories on what caused the Night of Tears?) I know some sorta go over it briefly, but I feel the lack of much Lore around the Snow Elves in general may be the cause of that, so I suppose there's only so much speculation anyone can make before it's all just guesses and assumptions. I also find it intriguing that even Ysgramor doesn't know what happened, as I'm fairly certain (if I recall correctly) that he wasn't even at Saarthal when it was Sacked, he only saw the flames upon returning to the settlement. Even by Ahzidal's accounts, it's said they were either "dead or gone" and the Snow Elves never killed all the humans in Skyrim, the Nedes from beforehand were still totally fine, going so far as to even help some like in Mirtil Angoth's predicament. Seems only Saarthal was targeted... maybe the Eye of Magnus, or a dispute that ended with a Snow Elf response.

[@16ktsgamma]

@@DoubleNegative Well there are two Mannimarco.

[@00TOYZ]

Can’t wait to see this

[@roadkillz78]

This may be a dumb question, but if the totem can only be used by those of the Septim bloodline, how can the other rulers use the golem to attack the other kingdoms?

[@BrandonWilliams-wf6hg]

Awesome. Love daggerfall.

[@starwarsfool]

Are you a red letter media fan? Your first few minutes gave me major mr plinket vibes lol

[@dylancollins7230]

You deserve 100,000 subs

[@miroslavzima8856]

While I took a deep dive into games (and for obvious reasons Daggerfall and Arena can be pain to finish, for one reason or other = bugs), i just took lazy path and MAN! Your lore videos are amazing! Sooo - the only "good" ending without desctruction is to give it to Underking. Somehow unexpected :)

[@JemyM]

I felt good about giving the totem to the underking, but also Woodborne's letter to Barenziah.

[@YIMAVariety]

Uriel Septim VII felt like a villain in this game. Haven't played it yet.

[@lxss6734]

YOU NEED TO MAKE A VIDEO ON THE DWEMER

[@darolaho]

Great video. I just could not get myself to play through this game. Have tried like 4 times and I just get bored a third way through the main quest line. Funnily enough I was able to beat arena although halfway through I started to use guides for the puzzles.

[@Crow.Author]

Akatosh and his darn sacred timeline…

[@theblackpanthers247]

I wish this guy had over a million subs

[@konstancemakjaveli]

5:45 - uh, no. MC of Daggerall's existance isnt even acknowleged, they remain an agent and are forgotten to history.

[@bradnjaa8578]

I thought no matter what the agent did the under king comes and takes back his soul

[@fumarc4501]

I love a good detective story. Imma play me some Daggerfall!

[@berena.5028]

DRAGONBREAK DRAGONBREAK DRAGONBREAK

[@TheDollhouseKiller]

Imagine if Dragonbreaks existed irl

[@noahtylerpritchett2682]

@@TheDollhouseKiller lord God please no.

[@spinweee878]

Ay nice work 👆‼️

[@mis.astrid2635]

What mods where used in the screenshot for the orcs? I really like to get hold of those.

[@naboost9485]

22:27 ? let me check I got those

[@Draconatus24]

23:20 idk man, the last two sound like the best, they both don’t involve the deaths of innocents.

[@xieotv2386]

Underking is the best ending

[@spudthepotato2241]

Yay! More elder scrolls!

[@knox0x1.]

Damn dude , thank you so much, I played Daggerfall Unity and couldnt understand shit

[@vanyadolly]

Thanks so much to this. I've been curious about ES lore but I doubt I'll ever play these older games. Glad to see poor Zurin (possibly) got his release at the end. But I guess that kind of confirms that Tiber Septim royally fucked him over.

[@CringeyCute]

Did anyone else get Red Letter Media Plinked Review vibes from the intro?

[@badernera7497]

My brain is just mush rn

[@dje37]

Thank you for this summary of the main quest I forgot/didn't get back then. I got this game back then in 96 and was blown by its scope and ambitions. I hated what they did with the following games: shrinking the realistic size of the world to a theme park size, merge all the endings of DF in the lore with a cheap excuse and turning an exotic jungle covered place in a generic medieval Tolkien like province.

[@yokinghaddock673]

yooooooooooooooo another video

[@mothchan3411]

Not a single bridge in this video. I feel lied to.

[@natetete1379]

I like that you try to remain accurate by removing the one variable which is the player character. The best way to know the lore of daggerfall is to look to other sources that reference the events of that game. It's hard to know the accurate lore while playing daggerfall because it's an open-ended RPG. Choices made by the player in this game might not be reflected in the story presented by a game set later in the timeline.

[@Nosferatu_]

Hell yeah

[@sagedamage109]

Less go

[@CypherSnowMoon]

I’m hype

[@TheJesterInYellow]

I'm still so completely flabbergasted that ESO puts Daggerfall...on the opposite side of the peninsula from the Illiac Bay. And this is ostensibly canon, overrwriting the entire basis of Daggerfall.

[@Km-pw9oc]

The time it took to actually post the daggerfall vid just showes hoe long it really is lol