The Life of a Skyrim Mage | TES 5 Analysis

[@PrivateSessions]

Alright, as promised, I need your suggestions for any side content you'd like to see covered. This includes side quests, dungeons, obscure locations, and Creation Club Content. No guarantees I get to it, but I'm compiling a list and most likely will hit the ones that get suggested frequently.

[@abelardadebayor5642]

explain you channel name in some obscure part of the video

[@Warhammer_lover]

I suggest you don't vomit from so much Skyrim.

[@Deoxys_Used_Mimic]

“Blood on the Ice” and how it punishes players for mindlessly following Quest Markers. …when it’s also the game’s fault for enabling that behavior in the first place.

[@Jake-mx2vt]

Love the video, sad I couldn't watch it all when it came out but I finished it earlier today and thoroughly enjoyed it. As for side quests one that always stuck out to me was "The Forsworn Conspiracy"/"No One Escapes Cidnha Mine." It was such an interesting and cool thing to do but it feels like Bethesda constantly drops the ball with it. Your railroaded into going to jail or the Markarth city guard is permenantly hostile until you surrender(believe me, I killed dozens but they keep harassing you and it's impossible to do anything until you finish the quest) which feels really bad as you have all control taken from you. Furthermore, the actual mine part isn't compelling enough to justify forcing me into a side quest I might have unknowingly stumbled into. It's essentially an on-rails dialogue section with maybe a fight or two, followed by a bunch of prisoners ganking some spiders and maybe a dwarves sphere(I always did it low level so maybe it's more exciting if your like level 30 and have to fight a centurion with shivs and pickaxes) and then the ending feels like someone simply noticed "wait, let's give the player a shallow choice at the very end" like ok either you side with Madanach and get some lame armor or side with the silver bloods and I think they give you cash? Finally, It always struck me as weird siding with Madanach didn't give you infinite bounty kinda like when you get framed and have to go to Cidnha Mine in the first place, you literally killed the oil baron who runs the city and escaped from prison in broad daylight, one might say "oh they lost you in the confusion" but there's no way someone like the silver bloods don't keep detailed records of their silver slaves. Would have loved to see an alternate version of the quest where if you maybe do some specific dialogue thronar approaches you and offers you a deal to be imprisoned to try and kill Madanach for him, as he's outlived his usefulness, and then you can decide to help him escape either to do a more dramatic backstab or to backstab thronar. This way, you wouldn't be in the records as your not an official prisoner, just some nameless vagrant who betrayed the silver bloods. Finally, I know you went over the amulet quest where you get all three and it's a boring +30 to HP/SP/MP but another disappointing quest for legendary nordic artifacts is the quest for Red Eagles sword. Now, I will admit most of my Skyrim playthroughs I was low level, maybe 30 at most, but I swear Nordic artifacts are absolute garbage when compared to the artifacts of Morrowind and Oblivion, as the only thing that feels OP are some of the daedric stuff, all the leveled legendary loot feels too tame. It feels like Bethesda is too afraid of another Morrowind situation in letting the player naturally(ie. No console commands) become a demigod with power befitting their status. In a single player adventure, does everything need to be limited so combat becomes trivial? I should be able to cleave dragur deathlords in two with the racism axe of ysgramor, yet it feels like a pool noodle compared to the legendary arms of previous titles and it's kinda sad.

[@KoyaMusa]

So I guess for side quests that are worth a look at for both good and bad, The Affairs of the Hagravens, Rise in the East, The Blessings of Nature, and Kyne's Sacred Trials. More fit for a fighter character.

[@iamnotagoose]

The battle of who can make the longest retrospective on an elder scrolls game is one of my favorite KZbin trends

[@yarro1965]

Patrician is releasing a 20 hour Skyrim retrospective and I have never been more excited

[@CharlieKellyEsq]

@@yarro1965 I've watched it twice now

[@ihateyoutube772]

@@CharlieKellyEsq I honestly don't know how many times I've watched this video and Patrician's. They're perfect sleeping material. 8+ hour vids are perfect to sleep and wake to lol

[@CharlieKellyEsq]

@@ihateyoutube772 that's exactly what i use it for

[@sushipsychose]

​@@ihateyoutube772 for some reason they crash my pc and i keep waking up to boot settings but yes

[@roguishhh]

Delphine: sees Alduin resurrect a dragon Delphine: "The Thalmor!"

[@Sehtlimbo]

She’s probably one of my main factors why I don’t like doing the main quest.

[@bringinthedope5929]

@@Sehtlimbo damn lol, was oblivion's better to you? I beat both and neither are my favorite part of the games but i never really thought to compare.

[@Sehtlimbo]

@@bringinthedope5929 Not really. Morrowind was my favorite story and Skyrim probably has the easiest gameplay to get into. I liked Oblivion for the humor and some of the side quests. Daggerfall had alot of cool concepts I wish were still in the games.

[@bringinthedope5929]

@@Sehtlimbo Oh snap, you're a veteran with this franchise huh? Respect. I'v only played the aforementioned titles. Got excited and tried Morrowind but it wasn't for me. The lore is fascinating though. I played oblivion when i was much younger and fell in love with it, definitely enjoyed the brotherhood quest more, and even enjoyed the arena. (I love gladiator style/combat tournaments in RPGS). For real Skyrim has oblivion beat in the most obvious areas like gameplay, exploration etc. Though I will say there is a vibe that elder scrolls 4 has that's closer to my heart lo. It's probably my damn rose-tinted nostalgia goggles.

[@Slvrbuu]

Delphine: Sees her snowman toppled over. Delphine: *"The Thalmor!"*

[@ericg4053]

The real defense of Paarthurnax is as you mentioned, that he *has* been punished for his actions during the war. He spent many thousands of years in what amounted to solitary. True solitary confinement in such a way as cannot even be comprehended by most of us as he was the last of his kind. Solitary confinement is outright considered a human rights violation in it's own right in long enough stretches. One can only wonder at just what went on in Paarthurnax's mind during that period. Even for an immortal... I can't imagine any *worse* punishment than that. Thousands of years to consider everything he did... and why. That lead to the destruction of his entire species... and still. Paarth is still convinced he made the right call, and all he wants, his only wish, is a second chance for his own people. There's some justice in that, and punishment that mortal minds can barely comprehend.

[@kopicat2429]

But what is time to an immortal? To a dragon, a thousand years might go by in a blink of an eye. And unlike humans, are dragons social creatures in the world of elder scrolls? If not, then all those years alone might not be that bad. Not to mention the fact he was never really alone, he taught generations of greybeards remember? All your assumptions are based on human mortals opinions on such matters. Not that we can really judge any other way. But Paarthurnax is neither human nor mortal. For a human mortal, solitary confinement for longer periods is hell. For a human immortal? Who knows? An immortal dragon? For what is time to an immortal?

[@Hakasedess]

@@kopicat2429 I think the time part, while valid to some degree, is a pretty problematic way to look at it. Like yes, dragons are immortal, which means ultimately time itself matters little to them (hell, they're deeply connected to the concept itself on a metaphysical level for that matter) but if we actually accept that argument, then we also have to agree there are only really two viable ways to respond to a dragon committing any serious offense: Totally ignore it, or kill them. That's not to say it's necessarily justice in this instance, this guy was responsible for like, genocide But at the same time, he's literally the only one around who even knew anyone who knew anyone who knew anyone who remembered it, so what justice is there really to seek? If we accept that he is truly reformed, and we don't have to do that but if we do, and he is literally the only being in existence with any relation to the atrocity beyond historical records dating so far back they're closer to myth than history... what does anyone get out of punishing the winged lizard? He may never truly be able to atone for his sins, but he's no longer a threat from what we can tell, and does seek to atone in whatever ways he can, so at least personally I can't see any reason to kill him. Beyond the justice parts of it, too, there's genuine value in having such a font of historical knowledge around.

[@OG_McLovin]

Nah, Paarth had a sick gaming setup on High Hrothgar. He played a lot of Morrowind up there...

[@AeyakS]

I think an addition to that argument is also that he did not simply pardon himself and serve a penance of his own liking, the original nords who knew unimaginable hatred for all dragons intentionally chose to spare Parthurnaax despite being fully aware of what terrible things he did. It's not merely being granted clemency for defecting sides in a war, it's being forgiven by the very victims of your actions.

[@kalashnikovdevil]

@@AeyakS This is an important point!

[@ObliviKeeper97]

Clairvoyance is best used by turning off quest markers, setting down a personal marker on the map on top of a mountain. Clairvoyance can then be used to detect those stupid mountain invisible walls

[@southpoundham]

Thank you for this

[@mariecarie1]

^Yes. Thank you

[@SirLightfire]

Wut That's *genius*

[@Sanguivore]

Never knew that! :0 Thank you!

[@Ianbeers2010]

As a truck driver who mostly listens to this kind of videos well on the road. I appreciate the fact you describe everything and I love the long detailed video thank you. Can't wait for the rest of the videos.

[@texoport]

That's so interesting. I've never really driven a motorised vehicle other than a handful of times, mostly because I don't go out much, but now that I think about it, listening to stuff like this might actually make driving a lot of fun. What sort of thing do you usually like to listen to?

[@koraysblog]

@@texoport Touch grass

[@texoport]

@@koraysblog i live in a literal desert. if I go out, I touch sand

[@akselm.bjerke9490]

@@texoport well said :)

[@lindboknifeandtool]

@@texoport it helps if you have attention issues. It also allows you to imagine what you’re hearing while paying attention, like reading a book.

[@Aeonbarr]

Fun fact; melee characters did have way around locks way back in daggerfall. You could literally break locks by doing enough damage to them

[@TieberiusVoidWalker]

Really that's awesome!

[@TieberiusVoidWalker]

Really that's awesome!

[@toolatetothestory]

Make sense. Here's Johnnard

[@HSEJM14]

It's actually been a thing even further back; it's been a thing since the very first game, Arena.

[@prisonerofthehighway1059]

It was a carryover from old school D&D. Your character could roll a strength check to break locks. I really enjoy Skyrim but I do wish they would stop cutting mechanics.

[@AnnieMay224]

The Sheogorath quest really does feel like a Fable quest accidentally dropped into Skyrim

[@TheREALTheRealAdam]

Maybe you just missed it, but the College of Winterhold does have lectures. Granted, they're pretty rare (only once per day, and pretty much anything will interrupt them), and none of the other apprentice Mages are actually paying attention like at the Bards' College, but still, another remnant of what was probably supposed to be a bigger feature.

[@balmorrablue3130]

What Im unclear of is why cant Bethesda have added those features thru updates ? Like how come when they uploaded danwguard could they not have added a few new quests to the companions ? If it’s true that so many poor features in Skyrim were due to then rushing why couldn’t it be added later ?

[@YouTubecanfuckagoat]

They could have fixed, finished the broken quests for the college of winterhold. They gave you fishing instead. They could have done so much with updates to improve the game. They didn’t.

[@The_Dreamless616]

@@balmorrablue3130 exactl how i feel about fallout4. Gave us new game worlds in Nuka and far harbor (with accompyaning workshop utilities), still can't scrap the lantern opposite the Mc's house in Sactuary.

[@donwald3436]

@@KZbincanfuckagoatJust be glad they didn't enable VATS (aka killcam) and add lasers. PEW PEW PEW! Emile says Keep It Simple Stupid lol.

[@donwald3436]

13:36 Skyrim is Ukraine?🤔lol

[@evan4036]

Don’t know if this was pointed out, but if you fill a soul gem with an unoptimal soul (lesser soul in a greater gem) you can drop the gem on the ground to empty it so that you can recapture another soul. Soul gems filled optimally will not empty when dropped. Great video btw! I understand if this slipped by you because Skyrim can be secretive about it’s mechanics lol

[@sadboiz4lyfe]

that's vanilla?

[@OwenLearnsDrawing]

@@sadboiz4lyfe yeah, just tested it out today

[@haildallamas]

12 years and I’m still learning new things 😮

[@eggmug562]

H H HOW WHAT WHAT THE FUCK TODD

[@halcionjoy7]

That's the kind of thing that deserves a loading screen tip. There's no way a normal person can be expected to figure that out.

[@assortmentofpillsbutneverb3756]

Last comment, the college of winterhold is one of the biggest misses. Lore wise, nord mages are one of the craziest groups in background and take on magic. Really missed a chance to make a deep traditional elite institution with bizarre items, connections, and takes on magic mixed with shouts. Kind of a shame too

[@PrivateSessions]

I suspect there was originally going to be a deeper story/lore connection, especially with all the stuff about Shalidor and the Eye of Magnus. I was originally working on a theory that people trying to uncover the Eye progressively led to magic becoming more restricted and becoming more taboo in Skyrim until we get to modern Skyrim where magic is barely tolerated, but there just wasn't enough evidence to support that theory. I still think that was something Bethesda was, at one point, looking to explore more of with the College and it's a shame it never materialized.

[@assortmentofpillsbutneverb3756]

@@PrivateSessions totally agree! All the ground work is there lore wise and in game set up, but its not touched at all. To me its one of the biggest missed opportunities cause the eye could be much bigger than just a mystery box and nords have way more lore than just the dragon stuff

[@josephpercy1558]

@@assortmentofpillsbutneverb3756 Yes, they really missed a golden opportunity to add in a bunch of cool Nord mage/Clever Man lore and aesthetics for the College of Winterhold questline, with special attention to Jhunal, the Nord equivalent of Julianos.

[@Ett.Gammalt.Bergtroll]

But naaaah we need budget Hogwarts.

[@SvenDzahov]

The entire world could’ve been this beautiful and rich nordic society that was highly decentralized due to the ramifications of the power of the voice. Wars are nation destroyers, so most combat is champion focused sending your most powerful voice and warrior. Jarls are much less powerful, maybe society doesn’t have kings and rulers like we imagine them and the moat is much more of a voted thing because how can you authority be absolute when if you aren’t careful basically anyone decently trained with their voice can end your reign with a cry. There is such meaningful and deep ramifications that are just not at all explored. Before skyrim I liked to imagine the nords sort of as anarchist pagans. In touch with nature, maybe slightly “barbaric” to the others because they don’t need technology due to their voice. Why wear expensive plate when your opponent can turn plate into mud with a whisper? But instead we got oblivion but cold

[@Zappygunshot]

An interesting idea, is that Paarthurnax turned his name inward, conquering his own ambitions, and subjecting himself to everlasting cruelty just to prove he wields ultimate power over his own being. By disproving his name, he proves every part of it.

[@mothpot]

i love that perspective

[@nekrovulpes]

Woah. Dude.

[@ruecumbers]

I absolutely adore this.

[@dustinhatfield8373]

You could say he was "dragon" his own name through the mud.

[@TatoGato]

sorry, you are wrong, Paarthurnax is obviously a member of Organization XIII, that's why his name is like that ;)

[@danieljames1868]

"Fights between dragons are intense verbal debates" "FIRE INFERNO SUN" "Most things are too intimidated to debate dragons, so they're rather... _inexperienced."_

[@HypotheticalBees]

I always like the idea that the dragon born only actually learns words easily, and doesn’t know any dragon grammar. So they just sound like a kid to actual dragons

[@kiwionly9139]

@@HypotheticalBees This is a cool idea. It makes sense considering dragon shouts are a constant stream meanwhile the Dragonborn can only do little individual poofs, as if the dragons are formulating full sentences while the Dragonborn can barely manage a few words.

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

​@@kiwionly9139 Or the Dragonborn fits the idea of a tourist since they got caught crossing the border. The Dragonborn basically knows "Hello" "Where is the toilet room?" "Thank you great one" and "big". It would definitely fit better with the proposed change that most Nords generally know a bit of Dragon as well.

[@gabby3036]

I dunno, I took debate in high school and I think "FIRE INFERNO SUN" woulda ended things pretty quick if flames *actually* escaped from your mouth when you said it.

[@gabby3036]

​@@haruhirogrimgar6047 And a couple curse words.

[@bezel95]

NPCs staring at a goat asking firmly for it to please leave got me chuckling, along with the draemora unceasingly bemoaning the loss of the sigil stone.

[@laatmaasquanariin3945]

4:26:12 salmon roe actually only comes from salmon that are "spawning" which means they ate jumping up waterfalls. It just so happenes that using unrelenting force on a school of them in a lake shakes the spaghetti code enough to give them eggs

[@paladinkhan]

Good point, i have heard this before as well. Havent caught any swimming normally that have rowe, but the ones swimming up the waterfalls always do. I bet it is the shouts goofing something up lol

[@xaikken]

The college shouldve been twice as big, With its own magician guards, and like 3 more new recruits, each one focusing on a different magic tree, even one being a dedicated alchemist, their inventory spawning random potions based on level or something. It shouldve had multiple quest lines even maybe one at the end to discover the archmage is a villain and replace him in a more realistic way. 🤷‍♂️

[@eliaspanayi3465]

Much better than the "well, the old guys kicked the bucket, here, you be the arch mage so I don't have to do extra work" that we got

[@colbaltmind5696]

Or that the quest is forming a relationship with the Archmage where he has a brush with death and you save him, making him realize that you are competent enough to become archmage, but if you don't save him the first time them you don't become archmage

[@TheReZisTLust]

But then it blew up on magical explosion killing the magical guards, 4 new recruits and inventory strewn into the sea. Why you may wonder, well that's cause they're irresponsible.

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

There are a lot of ways to improve it. Having multiple classrooms + a wide variety of professors who teach new spells at different times or participating in lessons reduces the cost for the type of spell shown. Having separated dorms with students working on assignments, studies, and general practice based on the school of magic they specialize in (and like half the doors in the illusion dorm is just a wall or has jump scares because they are the "pranksters"). Have some labs for experiments that have "experimental" equipment that provides odd benefits to existing systems. Like an enchanting table that overloads an item to make it have AOE style effects but it burns through charge way faster. Or a set of alchemy tables based on different Daedra and give different effects (Sheogorath adds a random effect, Mara adds either enhance healing or purges undead) and you have some sway if you did their quests. A forge that lets you re-shape items (so a Mask can become a robe or a sword into a mace). And of course a spell crafting system. Those are just off the top of my head.

[@Slender_Man_186]

Have the restoration student specialize in alchemy, and the conjuration student focus on enchanting. Res and alchemy go together as healer abilities, and I feel like I don’t even need to explain why Conjuration and enchanting go together.

[@canislupid2466]

The thing about shortcuts into cities: In England, we have ancient castles with escape tunnels, and battlements (wall defences) have murder holes. Skyrim ABSOLUTELY would have every hold decked out in these. Whitehold would be littered in secrets like these. Every major hold should have portcullis gatehouses defended by guards, not a door you could lockpick in a few moments. These gatehouses would also have walkways surrounding it with archers who have pitch oil and tar cauldrons. Hell, the city's rare mage could be responsible for lighting this oil and tar on fire under the strict guard of a captain. But nah, ruined walls and undefended routes is the ultimate way of Skyrim.

[@shamrockgaming9505]

Yeah it really does need this

[@reloadpsi]

Boiling water was more commonly used than oil or tar. It was much easier to come by.

[@canislupid2466]

@@reloadpsi True, but Skyrim has oil all over the place in its dungeons

[@Durdles26]

Play bannerlord and one can see exactly what you’re talking about. Every gatehouse has two gates, holes to throw stones etc

[@InvestmentBankr]

Morrowind was much better about this.

[@HarryPotter-uv8yp]

I would like to step in a bit as “Devil’s Advocate” with regards to using Shouts against Dragons besides Dragon Rend. In particular, just one: Fus Ro. Not the full “Fus Ro Dah” of Unrelenting Force, but the first two words you’ll have in your kit as you traverse Skyrim post High Hrothgar. I imagine most players look at the first and last words of the Shout as the most important ones. The quick stagger of a “Fus” can break an enemy or group of enemies’ stances. The full shout blows enemies away, and if they fall far enough it lets gravity kill them. Players may not see a need for the second word other than as the transition to the proper 3 word physics-engine-abusing wonder. In fact, many probably saw it as a detriment, as using the second word on average enemies led to the same effect (or slightly more exaggerated stagger) for an unnecessarily extended cooldown between shouts. But I found that “Ro” actually lets you defend yourself and others against Dragons specifically. If a Dragon hangs over your head, it is in prime position to Shout at you for massive damage without repercussion. That’s annoying and dangerous. But “Fus Ro” staggers it in mid air where “Fus” alone doesn’t. If you time it well, you can mete out the shout and its cooldown to perpetually *out-shout the dragon,* forcing it to resume its flight without ever being able to Shout at you. This further encourages it to ground itself, where you and your companions can pick it apart like turkey meat off a wishbone. I will grant that this is a very niche usage of the Shout, but given the lore I found it kind of wonderful. It’s said that Dragons used the Voice to duel each other, their terrible breath attacks actually forms of debates. This being the case, I found it fitting that as a Dragonborn human with the soul of a Dovah, each time you successfully staggered a Dragon out of its shout it became a time you spiritually engaged with that language system and *won a debate with a Dragon.* As for the topics of the so-called debate: The Dragons propose to end the world in “Fire.” *You* aim to defend the world with “Force” and “Balance.” Sure, they can use Ice shouts too, but the Ragnarok imagery is still consistent and the metaphor still applicable. Speaking of shouts, I think the fact that Paarthurnax teaches you a word for “Fire Breath” is incredibly meaningful. It’s his encouragement and endorsement for you as a symbol to all other Dovah after you meet him. It’s like saying that you are as much a proper fire-breather as they are…even if the damn game mechanics deny us the proper extended shout, ffs. You could even interpret it as a “coming of age” gift to a fledgeling Dovah. Just wanted to offer food for thought (apologies for the wordy buffet). Enjoying the whole video bit by bit as I write this. Loving this presentation 😁👍

[@AG-id8dl]

Spamming Fus Ro at dragons like a twitter argument where one party just yells "Cope and Seethe" at the other guy.

[@sonoflethal]

@@AG-id8dl "force + balance 🤡"

[@richardlionerheart1945]

@@AG-id8dl dragon rend is their ip address

[@nouhorni3229]

Paarthurnax just doxxed Alduin over a twitter beef they had years ago.

[@tj-co9go]

What a pity there is a "L + Ratio" shout or "GET A LIFE" or "GO TO WORK" or something like that

[@RikiazGaming]

@1:30:44 I believe this refers to Elenwen talking to Tullius when you enter Helgen. The dialog is either too far away or starts too late to actually hear but the Thalmor are trying to move the execution or stop it completely when Tullius tells them that's not possible and it's happening now, then Elenwen storms off telling him that they are supposed to have authority and his superiors will here about his interference. The mod Opening Scene Overhaul makes this dialog easier to hear.

[@PrivateSessions]

I'll definitely try to catch that the next time I'm in that cutscene. That would be validating to hear.

[@annointedbytalos5673]

@@PrivateSessions i think you can find some extra info about a German version including lost dialogue between Tullius and elenwen in Helgen. It's on uesp in a notes section or cut content. Either each character page or the quest unbound page.

[@johrnarlor]

@@PrivateSessions You need the mod in order to hear it. The original dialogue was cut from the vanilla game.

[@AsymmetricalCrimes]

1:31:00 There actually is unused dialogue about the Thalmor trying to stop Tullius from executing Ulfric. In the cut dialogue, Elenwen tries to take custody of Ulfric but Tullius stands up to her and refuses. She then leaves threatening to report him to the Emperor. It's assumed that Elenwen wanted Ulfric to stage his escape and keep the Civil War going. Gigachad Tullius however is too smart to be manipulated though and almost ended the civil war as soon as it started.

[@kalashnikovdevil]

It's pretty much explicitly confirmed that's what Elenwen was up to.

[@marchwhitlock6455]

Colette's colleagues don't look down on her because they think Restoration is invalid as a school of magic or something; the reason they don't respect her is because she's just plain terrible at her job to the point that her incompetence stands out even amongst the "I just sit around eating bread all day" standard of the other masters.

[@absollum]

I'm pretty sure she's the only one who's test for master spells is given by someone else technically. She sends you to the Auger of Dunlain who actually tests you. Every other instructor gives you a test directly.

[@dansharp2860]

@@absollum She isn't a Master lvl trainer either. Danica Pure-Spring in Whiterun is the Master Lvl trainer for Restoration. Although I actually think her complex with the others is all in her head. I don't recall ever hearing any of the other collage members talking down about either her or Restoration and when you ask her about it she can't give you any concret examples of disrespect.

[@evak5673]

​​@@dansharp2860there's some ambient dialogue in which she tries to get chummy with Urag and the Illusion Master and they both immediately nope out. Separate incidents.

[@dansharp2860]

@@evak5673 To be fair, she's kind of a weirdo.

[@YouTubecanfuckagoat]

@@absollum She’s bugged in nearly all my play throughs & will never ever sell the master level spell books she is supposed to.

[@afilthywarlockmain1447]

You and Patrician have effectively ruined my enjoyment of other Elder scrolls content. If the video is not at least 7 hours long anymore, I’m outta there. Seriously though. You guys are perfecting a craft in a genre of KZbin a lot of people enjoy. And we are all absolutely here for it.

[@kakyointhemilfhunter4273]

Kind of ruined my enjoyment of other content. I love huge analysis videos like sessions and patricians but I seriously struggle to find other KZbinrs who do longer vid than 20 to maybe an hour and a half at most

[@Superschokokeks]

@@kakyointhemilfhunter4273 tbh some youtuber just struggle to keep 20-60 min engaging.

[@chabbab6698]

Private is more of an little brother to Patrician. Copy and Pasting his arguments vor clicks and money sadly.

[@Superschokokeks]

@@chabbab6698 I imagine all the people that loss their credibility after using Newtons gravital law and Einsteins-Theories for their thesis. That's really some weird ass point you have there. If Private Session thinks those points are good, he can and should use them. It isn't just about being entertaining, you know? And there's so much better ways to gain clicks and "money" than coping Patrician, really. Then he just could make another run of the milk Skyrim video for instance that isn't 7h and more long. Way way way easier just to make a 30 min video with spicy takes. Especially shitting all over something. People loooooove videos that bashes stuff to the ground

[@JamJam117]

@@chabbab6698 private sessions made his oblivion video before patrician, so your copy paste doesnt work. and also points being similar doesnt mean that it's copying. they do have contradicting points, but yes, they will have the same points at times. and people who make stupidly long content where videos take forever to make isnt exactly for money

[@juiceboxofdeath]

At 1 hour 48, you can thank Emil’s terrible writing ethic. He literally said “why should I make a complex plot line, when players will just fold it up into a paper airplane and toss it?”

[@KoylTrane]

Considering Skyrim's target audience, he wasn't wrong

[@Moshthun]

@@KoylTrane Which is sad, because that's what they fostered themselves. People have always been interested in the deep lore of the Elder Scrolls world, and it CAN be so good.

[@TheWonkster]

@@Moshthun the only parts that are actually good were written long before most of the people responsible for Skyrim started working there.

[@Graknorke]

@@TheWonkster it's impressive in its own way that basically everything people find memorable was written for Morrowind. the most iconic books and lore concepts and ending never really expanded on since then

[@chesterstevens8870]

@@Graknorke I don't think that's going to change anytime soon, even with Bethesda's acquisition by Microsoft. But Microsoft seems to be the most consumer-focuses of the big publishers now, and they have money to throw into projects like this. Maybe we can get some decent thirty-party developers to work on a spin-off game that expands the lore and treats it with more respect than Emil does.

[@austintehguy]

It's bizarre watching this as a exclusively modded Skyrim player. I keep catching myself wanting to say "oh there's a mod that fixes that", and then I remember this is an analysis of the vanilla game and I keep my mouth shut. But for real, it's amazing what the modding community has accomplished - everything from game balancing and quest pacing and new content and making mages actually fun if not even overpowered. I still agree the main and mage questlines are pretty meh though. It took me several hundred hours of playing before I even completed the main quest my first time, and I was not impressed. Excellent video, it's helped this slow week at work go fast - only 3 hours left to go!

[@Harpodicus]

Having the exact same experience with this vid hah

[@ems7448]

Same here. I mean, I'm playing as a mage going through the College right now and it's a lot of fun, but that is solely because I have something like 700 mods to get it to be that way. I remember back in the mists of time when I first played Skyrim as vanilla and it was... definitely not as fun as the modded version. I recall someone once saying something like Bethesda didn't make a game with Skyrim, they just released a modding framework with a bunch of sample quests included and it's hard to really disagree with that perspective.

[@dylan351321]

To be honest, the fact that modders have accomplished to much almost makes me angry and disappointed. Not to take away the time and skill involved in modding, but if some modders can essentially fix a game and make it a million times better, than why can’t a major studio produce a completed game. It’s so frustrating now Bethesda essentially knows the modding community will add so much and fix so much, they simply don’t do it themselves. Imagine a truly focused and completed elder scrolls game. And THEN the modders can do their work. Idk, I just wish rpgs and video games in general would stop simplifying everything so anybody can play the game. It should be okay to make a game very complex and not easily learned and playable. That’s what adds some spice to a game. Learning the games complex systems and such through hundreds of hours of gameplay. A game like Skyrim with stricter role playing elements and expanded skills and crafting elements probably won’t ever happen due to games being a business now, not an art form and passion project. They are far too worrried about profits and sales.

[@kwazhims3lf]

i dont understand how people to this day continue to be amazed by mods.. its been a thing *_FOREVER_* at this point, 2011 post skyrim, ppl are giga pissed at Todd and bethesda.. just another bethesda game, that the fcu@#$in fans will have to fix... when it comes to bethesda i at this point i might as well sail the high seas for the game, then pay the mods its ridiculous

[@kwazhims3lf]

@@ems7448 "its hard to disagree with that perspective" no it isnt, because some of us remember when they tried to crush mods throat, and destroy the hobby.. by locking everyone out of modding, and forcing them to all go through their special little "MOD HUB" and pay for the privilege... these are disgusting anti consumer practices, this company is cancer, cant make a good game, product has to be "saved by the fans/mods" and fixed by them... god i hate bethesda .. err .. i mean microsofts bitch, because thats what they are now

[@leviwarren6222]

It's a testament to skyrim's sticking power that every time I watch one of these videos that's basically several hours of picking apart a decade old game, it nevertheless makes me want to play through again.

[@TheBiggestMoneyBoy]

Done the opposite for me I gave up playing consistently a few years ago because it didn't feel fun anymore (didn't know why) then I watched some great reviews on it and I was like "oh yeah it's badly made and only my nostalgia keeps it going" so then I sold my copy.

[@passedjudgements4729]

@@TheBiggestMoneyBoy wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle. Skyrim is something i once loved but can't find any enjoyment from anymore. I'd rather play Oblivion before booting up Skyrim again

[@Grandmaster_Dragonborn]

@@passedjudgements4729 How often I hear that phrase & how deeply I disagree. More like wide as an ocean, deep as the Mediterranean sea.

[@InvestmentBankr]

@@Grandmaster_Dragonborn Tons of repeated themes is not depth. Highly repetitive gear, plot hole fetch quests, Poor integration of main story lines. It could have been "Dragonborn", then "Civil war dlc", then "Sarthall: Mage DLC", ect. it is wide but POORLY integrated

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

​@@Grandmaster_Dragonborn The only fun parts of Skyrim are the mods (which I guess would be a man-made body of water like lake Kariba) or thinking about ways it could be better and failed to live up to potential (talking about plans to clean up an oil spill, reintroduce wildlife, and introduce future protections).

[@J0hnzie]

On the point of The Voice, the fact that Ulfric can use the Thu'um, even weakly, during the seige of Solitude, having actually studied with the Greybeards for some time, is cool. More noteworthy nords should have had the same ability, not just a bunch of contradictory lore surrounding Draugurs and the Ebony Warrior. It's something supposedly so crucial to Nord culture that its weird that you don't see it more often.

[@rcbecker1]

Any Nord can go to the Grey Beards and learn as Ulfric states but most don't remember or are not excepted. Balgruff also trained with the Grey beards but failed because he did not have the Pacience to learn and Ulric was kicked out because he was violent.

[@rcbecker1]

Sadly the Ebony Warrior is a Redguard who wants to go to Sovngarde which makes no sense.

[@gustavomonteirorodrigues3554]

It is explained: the way of the voice Since the defeat of nords against the dunmer and dwemer, jurgen windcaller established that the thu'um is only to be used in worship of the gods, as such only the greybeards maintain the study of the voice.

[@J0hnzie]

@gustavomonteirorodrigues3554 Yes we're all well aware of that The problem is that it's patently ridiculous. It's on the level of the Americans giving up guns because some sage convinced a couple governors that God doesn't like them.

[@gustavomonteirorodrigues3554]

@@J0hnzie the only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction needs to appear convincing. - Mark Twain Also, it's not that it is forbidden, but only a select few know the voice even back then due to it's complexity, those few decided to follow jurgen and they won't teach anyone unless they join in their ways, the dragonborn and ulfric use the voice as they wish and they don't have any authority on them.

[@legateelizabeth]

People dunk on Azura's Star for being an objectively worse quest reward than the Black Star, but here's the secret: I don't think Azura's Star is the reward. It's the priestess as a companion. See, most magical companions will toss around apprentice level spells - firebolts, ice spikes, that kind of thing. Maybe a summon or a zombie if they have some conjuration training. The Priestess, at least from my hazy memories, tosses around Adept level spells like they're going out of fashion. She will walk into a room and turn it into a firestorm from dual-casted fireballs. This makes her one of the very few companions good at crowd control. The only other one off the top of my head I can think of who uses adept level spells regularly is Eola, Namira's priestess you get from her quest, and she's a spellsword so after her opening salvo she'll usually head in to cut people up more personally. The Azura Priestess is pure mage, so she's got the magicka reserves to keep being walking artillery, especially if you slap some enchanted gear on her. Or maybe I'm talking nonsense. Again, it's been a long time, for all I know absolutely none of that is true. But I do remember her being one of the better companions, whatever the case.

[@jaydenlobbe7911]

The true reward is not angering a Daedric Prince who cursed the entire Chimer Race for eternity because the Tribunal angered her, and something tells me that Corrupting her Artifact is an even greater Offence

[@patrickn.4113]

Yeah she is a bit..spiteful.. "These 3 people of that one race fucked me over. Better curse THE ENTIRE RACE. Yup. Seems justified."

[@inybisinsulate]

*[J'zargo disliked that]*

[@archmagemc3561]

@@inybisinsulate Sush J'zargo. Stop using sparks and use something useful for once!

[@Moshthun]

Yup, she's my favourite companion, even over the overhyped Serana.

[@demonninetaledfox]

The dragons are simply not given as much exploration as they genuinely deserve. They're an extremely alien race in many ways--speaking can literally shape the world, they have written language and culture, debates are fights to the death and vice versa, and also by nature they are hierarchical and tyrannical. Not in an "all dragons are bad" bigoted way, they were literally made with the thirst for conquest and hierarchy. It's as natural to them as breathing, which is why so many dragonborn are the same. They are also born out of Akatosh which speaks to the complex nature of the time god and how he might not be this sort of caring altruistic figure some imperials like to paint him as. He likely made dragons in this way on purpose, because going deeper into lore in some retellings he was promised the ability to rule Nirn. It could have been a good game to explore this and it seems like many of these themes were set up to do so: the way of the voice isn't just pacifism for pacifism's sake. How do you know if your meddling won't just make the problem worse? Where do you draw the line? If you have a dragonborn or dragon who's literal base instinct is to control and dominate, how are you going to handle them being revered as a hero and demi-god for making miracles happen? The way of the voice was made to temper arrogance and violence for violence's sake, something in ancient nord culture and draconic base instincts. Paarthurnax asks the dragonborn a variety of questions along this line: why save the world? Is it just for your own sake? Because if so, you aren't really a hero. And you are both dragons (spiritually at least) so the same craving for conquest he experiences and keeps locked up is something the character is implied to have too. Paarthurnax warns them against indulging and to instead think about and consider their actions. When the dragonborn defeats Alduin, other dragons only see it as someone else rising to power rather than mortal triumph. The dragonborn's morals, feelings, and decisions are alluded to, but then you are never given any freedom to actually make any choices about them. The gameplay is just too counterintuitive to it--why would you want people to think about their choices in a fun theme park where you're a demigod who can do whatever you want but nothing really matters? Just slay dragons and bandits, who cares. Much like actually wanting to hear more about Alduin's wall, the game spits in your face for even wanting to engage in any real way with the themes and ideas brought up.

[@schmecklin377]

Wow when you put it that way, they had an opportunity to make some actually interesting connections from the player character to the actual player. With the players natural compulsion to do every quest, explore every dungeon, become the leader of every guild, win the Civil War, etc.. And how that can tie into the player characters own motivations and dragon heritage. Maybe there could have been chances to choose your motivations and either embrace or deny your draconic urges. Do you do these things because you're dragonborn, or are you dragonborn because you do these things.

[@wilpaulk6303]

It's a sandbox adventure game. If you want that much depth, you're better off looking at something like Baldurs Gate.

[@demonninetaledfox]

@@wilpaulk6303 listen. No hate to sandbox adventure games because I love those. Skyrim is an action rpg. The elder scrolls is an RPG series. I should be able to role play in a role playing game. If people are not supposed to role play in your role play game you have failed to make a good rpg. Even the action isn’t that great in Skyrim. I love the game but it’s not “good”. Do not assign it a new genre and tell other people to stop judging it as a rpg and to play a dif game. I’m not critiquing Skyrim because I’m just a mean little hater who’s playing the game wrong, I love a lot of aspects of Skyrim and the elder scrolls and I want more than anything for it to be better

[@wilpaulk6303]

@@demonninetaledfox I did not mean to come off as being dismissive or anything. Nor was I trying to tell anyone to stop judging and to play a different game. You make valid points and what you suggest does sound interesting. My main point is merely that what you are describing simply isn't what Skyrim is. It is an RPG but RPG, in the video game world, has taken on many shapes. This is why I qualified it as a sandbox action RPG. (Looking back, yes, I realize I did not use that wording. My fault.) I am not sure I understand why you cannot role play in Skyrim. You are right, Skyrim is not a deep, narrative driven RPG. It gives the player just enough RPG elements for role play. I have role played many, many different characters, taken different routes through the game based on how the character would approach the world, etc. I got a kick out of exploring the world, finding little hints of stories tucked away in the corners. Granted, a lot of the role play I had to run in my head but it worked and was enjoyable. So much so that I played for 6 or 7 years. But I admit that this may just fit my playstyle, personality, etc. The deeper story driven RPGs, like Baldur's Gate, are harder for me to get into. Too much story and not enough gaming. Again, my personality. As a side note, and to scratch the itch in my pedantic overly logical brain, "I love the game but it's not "good"" does not make logical sense. You cannot love something that you do not consider good. :P Also, I think it is safe to say that Skyrim is a good game. It is a 13 year old game that is still being played. Enough so that there are content creators still producing content on it. It also has high ratings on Steam, etc. And I am not trying to dissuade any of these critiques. I think it speaks to the success of Skyrim that people spend such time and effort to do them. I hope that current and future developers and designers watched these so they can learn from them.

[@demonninetaledfox]

@@wilpaulk6303 I don’t think Skyrim is sandbox at all. What you can do in the world is extremely limited. You can’t have in depth conversations. Most of the “wacky” things you can do are shouting people off cliffs, putting buckets on heads, and using the wabbajack which is considered combat. There’s more weird and wacky things in Morrowind. Which isn’t great. Most of what you can do is combat. And walk. And again I love walking around video games a lot but that does not make a sandbox. And I guess I technically can try and role play in Skyrim. I have. There is just not a lot to work with. My skills usually mean very little (the most common place I’ve seen speech checkpoints used is a night to remember which is one of the more interesting quests, and all it’s used for is to skip large portions of the quest. Where’s the fun in that??). I don’t need to know much magic to be the archmage. I don’t need to be good at fighting to be the leader of the companions. Functionally no character I’ve made has a real backstory that matters at all (which you don’t need to be an rpg and might be better to not have but I don’t even got that for some interest and variation). If I wanted to play pretend all in my head I would write or imaging stuff while working out in the gym not play a video game where nothing I’m imagining has any results or feedback with what I’m doing. I can do the same in Minecraft but Minecraft isn’t even trying to be a role playing game. We do however need more action fantasy games that aren’t just soulsborne games though. Things more light and fun and casual. Not everyone wants a world with super detailed lore and complex stories and characters where they constantly role play. But Skyrim is in a world where there is a rich story and lore and wonderful role playing opportunities that get 0 attention or development. So it’s very sad to see especially a setting I love get shafted. It’s hard enough to find in depth complex fantasy rpgs that aren’t just in the forgotten realms (dnd like Baldur’s gate 3). The elder scrolls helped fill that niche and it seems like Bethesda only cares about marketing to the lowest common denominator and some of the things they’ve said are actively hostile to their fans and players which is also not great and shows through in their modern game design. As for not being able to love something that you don’t consider good: people do it all the time. Being able to critically assess things you enjoy is also important. I like a lot of things I don’t consider “good” meaning they have more flaws and serious downsides than good points in a critical analysis. Skyrim is like junk food or fast food: yeah sometimes I really do want a burger. No it’s usually not an outstanding meal. But I enjoyed it I wouldn’t eat it. And I certainly wouldn’t say an in and out burger is comparable to the 5 star restaurant I went to on my honeymoon. But Skyrim doesn’t rly have to be a burger and skyrim had serious technical abd graphical flaws for its time that can seriously just break entirely. The gameplay loop centers on just generating dopamine with about as much thought and engagement required as scrolling through tiktok. For some people that's all that matters: dopamine is dopamine and if you're having fun you're having fun. But considering the game does a massive disservice to its world (one of its best features still) and mostly fails as a role playing game means I don't consider it "good". If it had been given more depth and the devs+writers allowed to be more creative and consistent it would have been an excellent game across the board without it needing as much character driven plot as bg3 (which is seeking to emulate playing a game of dnd with real people). But unfortunately some frankly baffling creative decisions hold it back and I see the potential to the point its kind of frustrating and infuriating

[@Corramel]

I think Nords aren't the only race capable to use the Voice, there was a high elf who could shout, and it's really just tonal magic which other races have the ability to use - the Nords have a natural affinity to shouting (which leads to a theory as to why they have the 'battle cry' power). Also, the Greybeards don't want to teach non-nords, and want to keep Paarthunax a secret from anyone who is not a Greybeard.

[@windhelmguard5295]

if you question ulfric he just flat out tells that anyone with the right mindset and discipline can learn it.

[@the_last_ballad]

Every race has tonal magic, but each race has a different version of it. For instance sword-singers, or the Dwemer tonal architects

[@HickoryDickory86]

One of the many gripes I have with the College of Winterhold is that three of the six trainers (literally half) aren't even Masters in their school! Colette Marence for Restoration, Phinis Gestor for Conjuration, and Sergius Turrianus for Enchanting are all Expert level trainers, not Master. But even the ones who are Masters leave a lot to be desired, and you have to wonder who actually promoted them to the rank in the first place. Drevis Neloren, for instance, is supposedly a Master of Illusion, but your first time meeting him he claims he was absolutely sure he was invisible. That's something I would expect out a fresh-faced Novice just getting started at the College, but certainly not out of a College faculty member training at the Master level.

[@dsandstrom93]

Yeah, it's odd how the collage is THE collage of magic in skyrim but it feels kind of empty, and the towns and the cities could be atleast 50% larger, with better fortifications. But i suppose Bethesda thinks that the nords are just "dumb barbarians". 🙁

[@immortaldreams5868]

The shopkeep backstory is one I haven't seen before, I like the creativity in trying to explain why our character is literally useless in the beginning

[@AeridisArt]

As someone who loves playing as mages in RPGs, my very first Skyrim playthrough was a magic-only playthrough and... it was quite the ordeal... I did like that you can dual-wield spells and that it uses the same attack buttons compared to previous titles which have a separate button for spells (causing me to have to relearn controls, which tends to be pretty hard for me when it comes to PC anything), but the lack of spell creation really soured the experience for me.

[@AspenBrightsoul]

Ikr? Not only did they take out spellcraft they removed basically all the interesting spells, like burden and feather spells.

[@josephpercy1558]

@AeridisArt - Bethesda improved drastically in the art of cinematic storytelling compared to the previous ES entries with Skyrim. Body collision and weapon impact also was improved. The focus on these specific improvements shows that Bethesda was making a game with mainly warriors/stealth archers in mind. After so many hours, years of gameplay sunk into Skyrim I've grudgingly come around to conceding this bias. Now, I know that if I feel like playing some solid magic builds then it's usually going to be Morrowind.

[@johnnymcgeez5647]

They had to do that. Simplifying is now a trend in all RPGs. Great majority of any game's player base is casuals, and casuals are the ones who have jobs and spend money on games.

[@Graknorke]

@@johnnymcgeez5647 nah that's the excuse Bethesda uses but it's not true. it could be simple and still good to use.

[@josephpercy1558]

@@johnnymcgeez5647 That's a trend, yes, but it doesn't have to follow a trend. Instead, they need to set the bar high, like CD Projekt Red did with the Witcher 3, for example. Or, more recent is FromSoft's Elden Ring.

[@paradoxicalsg3522]

Can definitely see the Patrician influences here on the discussion, it's like a condensed packaging of points off the work streams. Love the style you bring to it though, and the depth on lore and story theorizing is something I anticipate will be lacking in his analysis. Great work all around, can't wait for the other parts!

[@heiroftheredeemer2828]

Also. I do appreciate Sessions more, optimistic and cheery attitude.

[@chabbab6698]

It seems like a copy and paste from parricians video

[@heiroftheredeemer2828]

@@chabbab6698 not really. You can see the structure from his video. But even then it isn't exact

[@paradoxicalsg3522]

@@chabbab6698 I wouldn't say copy paste at all. It's just interesting seeing Patrician's influence before his actual video is even out.

[@KingOfDarknessAndEvil]

@@chabbab6698 Patrician's videos are great but it's not like he invented analyzing elder scrolls games

[@tristanmcgrath552]

This might be one of my favorite elder scrolls based video simply because it poses a theory about the lore that is completely different from the general consensus in the lore community

[@PrivateSessions]

Outsider opinions can, if nothing else, usually entertain.

[@CommieApe]

The general consensus of the Elder Scrolls community usually sucks anyways especially after the release of Elder Scrolls online.

[@nekrovulpes]

I don't think there's a community for any game where the lore autists aren't completely intolerable. Looking at you, Fromsoft games community. And ESPECIALLY you, WH40K community.

[@kwazhims3lf]

@@CommieApe i got TES3 and 4.. its over now, if they normies are going to pile on and ruin the game, if all the talent/writing talent has left the company post TES4, then fine..... fine.. let the normies have TES, consume its corpse, then gaslight/blame everyone else when TES6 faceplants into the ground i dont care.. its over

[@Darkko88]

@@kwazhims3lf As a Fallout fan, I feel for you.

[@azzor4134]

There's one staff that's useful in Skyrim and that's Chain Lightning, because for some godamn reason it stuns every enemy affected by it, while the player-cast version of it only stuns the primary target.

[@abdalln8554]

Jyrik's staff is also worth noting. It shoots faster than other staffs and deals double magicka damage.

[@justsomeguy6841]

2:09:49 To explain this line: no matter the dragonborn's race, as an avatar of Shor, he/she is destined for Sovngarde upon his/her death. This also means that the dragonborn is immune to any daedra's claim over his/her soul.

[@SlipNperiodSlide]

just use they, its makes more sense and is more concise than “he/she”

[@JackdotC]

​@@SlipNperiodSlidebut that has only been proper English for hundreds of years, why would he/she save time by just using they?

[@SlipNperiodSlide]

@@JackdotC The singular form of they has been in the English language for hundreds of years. Shakespeare used it. It used fewer syllables than “he/she” and uses less characters to get across the same idea

[@Ten_Thousand_Locusts]

​@@SlipNperiodSlidewhy do you care?

[@bubbleslasher]

​@@Ten_Thousand_Locusts it was just a comment on their writing? why do they have to justify that?

[@drachna]

The way that Kingdom Come Deliverance does fast travel is the best that I've seen in any game. Basically, it shows you an icon travelling on the map slowly as the sun passes over. There's a small chance to be stopped by enemies or random events, which can be avoided if certain skills are high enough. In addition to this, you can mostly only travel to towns and villages, meaning that if your destination is off of the beaten track, you have to travel to a city and find it on horseback (or foot if you're a peasant).

[@caramel7050]

dragon age origins had a similar system (mainly the random chance attacks during travel)

[@AVerySillySausage]

Good idea for a mod...

[@Darkko88]

I'm sure that system existed since the 80's, it's just that back then it wasn't fast travel, it was the only means the games had to travel the map.

[@famicom_guy]

That's (pretty much) how it was way back in Daggerfall. You'd select a village/city/town/fort (it even had search! Seriously, why didn't they add search to Oblivion and Skyrim), select the method (by foot/horse/ship). It'd indicate the passage of time (no real-time icon on the map because 1996) and you'd be interrupted by random events from time to time. There's also a mod that makes the game show you an extremely sped up version of you travelling which is cool because you can see what you pass and can interrupt the travelling and go visit the landmark.

[@asturias0267]

That's pretty much how Fallout 1 & 2 as well as Pathfinder: Kingmaker does overworld travel.

[@destinygalearies7382]

The "experimenter perk" section was hilarious because I literally watched your character down stuff like glow dust, deer antlers, and NIGHTSHADE back to back in less than a minute. I can only imagine how horrible that would taste IRL (not to mention probably killing you)

[@baronvonbeandip]

Probably not bad considering other edible nightshades and some preworkouts have deer antlers in them. The only weird thing would be glowdust which could taste like anything. I would bet 'caustic'.

[@TheReZisTLust]

​@@baronvonbeandip pre-work out doesn't have raw deer antlers off the skull😐

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

​@@TheReZisTLust Good source of Calcium. Also, you can't skip teeth day. Make them put in some work.

[@Priceeric2]

This is ridiculous in scope and detail. I know you said you don't read these comments so at least I can feed the algorithm beast. Immediately liked and commented when I heard your efforts to benefit the passive watcher. Incredible work, I hope this comment will pursue others to watch the rest of his work!

[@ريّان-ذ4ت]

Paarthurnax trial is probably my favorite analysis of a fictional dilemma I've seen on youtube, good job man

[@duncanharrell5009]

Also more in depth than “Party Snacks is mah boi and Delphine is rude”. Gotta admit I do wish the game did a better job presenting evidence of Parth’s crimes and gave more routes of guilty or innocent.

[@origintrackz5235]

@@duncanharrell5009 Yeah, he basically snitches on his self lol...

[@ye7625]

Its a pretty bad "trial" since it assumes that paarthurnax has not been on trial way before it seems people conveniently forget that the ancient nords are a thing and were in active contact with paarthurax since he was the one who taught the voice which means theres zero chance that immediately after the dragon war that the ancient nords would not have tried to judge paarthurnax since they themselves were the ones who were put through those atrocities... Its literally impossible to assume that they wouldnt atleast try a trial unless we assume them as anime MC morons who forgets the villains action after a few positive interactions.

[@ethanduncan1646]

​@@ye7625comparing it to nazi Warcrimes just made it cringe. If the goddess Kyne and the ancient mortals forgave him then the Blades of today have absolutely zero business pushing for it. Especially when the Blades as an organization has done a lot of nasty and illegal things themselves.

[@ethanduncan1646]

Quite the opposite imo. Arguing that the Greybeards are a biased source but the Blades is not is bs. Giving any weight for a foreign military organization that has committed their own illegal and immoral actions in a human's lifetime cry about warcrimes thousands of years ago is hilarious. The only one who would have any legal authority to order the execution of basically the top religious leader in the country would be the high king or emperor. The blades wonder why they have been reduced to two old geezers hated and outlawed by almost every single government on the continent...

[@angrytigermpc]

Nirya running after Hilda telling her to leave is peak Skyrim bug humor

[@toaletttbord]

Took me about 10 years to find the hidden shortcut over the mountain to Ivarstead, A quality world map is an essential Skyrim mod

[@alphafreak1790]

Me too

[@matiskrawiec]

Regarding shock damage at ~ 3:35:00 : Bethesda did an oopsie and Dragon and Draugr DO use Magicka to "cast" their shouts so shock damage or any other magicka-damage effect will null their shouting ability.

[@MythicTF2]

Same with frost damage. Technically when dragons fly, they use stamina. When they land, they ran out of stamina. Using frost enchantments, spells, or shouts that drain stamina will cause it to permanently be landed, making dragonrend essentially useless.

[@flute136]

@@MythicTF2 yep good luck hitting a flying dragon with ice spells though. i go for lightning and iirc if they lose their magicka they land as well right?

[@MythicTF2]

@@flute136 Oh yeah, its definitely more of an "in theory" thing lol. But dragons do land occasionally so that's why its possible in theory lol

[@mozeytown]

@@flute136 running out of magicka doesn't force them to land like depleting stamina does, but it does leave them with only melee attacks available. Without magicka they can't attack from the air and thus are much more _likely_ to land and stay grounded.

[@-Gax-]

I'm the passive listener and I truly appreciate your work making this more audio friendly. Running around doing all the collecting in the Ezio trilogy (I love it, I know. Its awful, mindless gameplay but I love it) this is perfect. Much appreciated

[@JornadoTV]

No shame there! Assassin's Creed Odyssey is my comfort game. Brain off, just explore, and look at pretty things.

[@kevinsundelin8639]

@@JornadoTV Same

[@darkeninjx5619]

24:56 IMO the natural break for the main quest is when Delphine says she's going to look for a way into the Thalmor base. I can just roleplay that it took her a while to get you the invitation to one of their parties.

[@fizzplease6742]

“That’s why this video is 7 hours long ,and why the rest will be lengthy too” Ah nothing I love more than a loooooooooooong form video. I’m gonna enjoy all of these.

[@inkarnator7717]

My biggest criticism towards Skyrim is that nothing happens in the world without the player doing stuff. In Mount and Blade it is possible to literally do nothing, and still characters will travel from place to place, people will get robbed in the countryside, armies will patrol around, wars will be waged and kingdoms will fall.

[@BarthWarth]

10:51 as someone that has been stuck in a dead end retail job for the past 7 years I completely agree

[@PrivateSessions]

I did 9 years. That line was from a deep personal place.

[@samuelhayden5163]

Amen

[@sigma6656]

I don't think that's actually true. I only did retail for 4 months and that was 10 years ago, but i believe i gained more valuable skills there than i did cutting out pink flamingos in a factory. How to talk to and treat customers, how to accept abuse from customers stoically without letting it bother me, organization, etiquette, personal presentation, etc. the mere fact that you can stay standing on your feet for 8 hours gives you an edge over highschool/college graduates. Of course, having skills and being able to communicate to an interviewer that you have skills are two separate things. 7 years of retail work might not be all that attractive on a resume depending on the position.

[@Loromir17]

1:32:27 I kinda disagree. Considering that Malborn's capturers walk right in on the player and announce themselves even if the player is hidden, it's safe to assume Malborn just flat out told them everything about the mission, so by the time player starts beating their faces Malborn has outlived his usefulness. Note that, if Malborn lives, he's tracked down by Thalmor the next time you see him; while Delphine permanently flees Riverwood as soon as the player's got Esbern. And the reason they've been torturing the Thieves Guild member seems to be linked to Esbern living in the Ratway. Where, again, Thalmor guys appear pretty much immediately following the player.

[@PrivateSessions]

I didn't really consider Malborn losing his cool: he's skiddish from the beginning, after all. Still, if I was the Thalmor I'd be hanging onto him for further "questioning."

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

@@PrivateSessions In the case of "They know enough about our operations to sneak in" holding onto him just means he hears more information and is let out by someone else. Better to let him out and watch him to see if he returns to his "allies" or flees.

[@RJManette]

Just found this video and I have to say I commend how much effort you put into creating a role play and giving him a little backstory as context for your playthrough and experience. They're called role playing games for a reason and that little touch helped make the video become something greater than the sum of its parts. Excellent video ❤️

[@Goblinaro]

2:07:00 I'll also mention that lorewise it's actually totally fine for the Dragonborn to open the elder scroll! And this lore is also given to the player directly in the main quest line, though the player could choose to not read it. In your playthrough you instead bypassed the quest marker to go to Urag at the College to get the two books on elder scrolls, and one of these two books is Effects of the Elder Scrolls. It actually goes into detail about the 3 groups of people and their effects upon reading an elder scroll. The first group is called The Naifs. This refers to people who have received no training in the history or nature of the elder scrolls, and to these people the scroll is basically inert. No knowledge can be gleamed from them but neither will they affect the person looking at them. Anyone that is incapable of reading the elder scroll won't actually suffer negative effects from looking at them! I didn't know this for years either, I actually only started a playthrough a few weeks ago and decided to read some books in more detail with titles that caught my attention and reading this I learned a lot about elder scrolls. Incidentally the third group, Mediated Understanding, is the group that the Ancestor Moths fall under, while the second, The Unguarded Intellects, are the most at risk as they're the ones that have the knowledge to read the elder scrolls but don't have the adequate mental discipline and fortitude to withstand the negative effects that reading the elder scrolls gives. This group will actually develope immediate blindness on their first scroll reading, permanently, and while they will gleam some knowledge from the scrolls it will be far less than those in the third group that gradually study the scrolls over a long period of time. Elder Scrolls games have some pretty fascinating books at times!

[@eatmynutsarchmage4883]

hey that is pretty neat, thanks for the info!

[@chadbergquist1383]

If the people of Dawnstar went to the tower, they would find one large room with a some broken pews and an altar. You forgot that Erandur does some magic on the back wall and then you can walk through it.

[@OlympusPublicAffairs]

True. But the tower is huge. From the outside, you would know that there has to be much more to the place than just one small room.

[@Elitekross]

At 6:27:00, the "maze" is actually incredibly apt for a place called labyrinthine, as the classic Creten labyrinth is generally depicted as a single line that curves around itself to the center. It the myth, it's described as being complex enough to trap the minotaur and require a line of twine to escape.

[@abdalln8554]

Also if he wants a real labyrinthine check out its portrayal in Arena. A much larger mess of corridors with 2 seperate puzzles to find two keys to complete it. ...or you use passwall.

[@ryangaskin4796]

Something I would've really enjoyed, and what would have made Alduin a much better villain in my opinion, would have been to embrace Alduin's position as World Eater. Rather than just making him a big evil dragon that wants to conquer the world, instead make him a neutral force that is simply following his destiny to consume the world, without malice, without cruelty, but because it's his job.

[@schmecklin377]

If he was just a world eater then the dragonborn would never have existed. We only exist because alduin is going off script and ignoring his divine duty. If he just did it, there would be nothing to stop.

[@atagon1]

One thing to mention as well about the Vaermina quest is that Erandur actually has a ton of unique dialogue depending on locations you go to, including different cities and types of dungeons, similar to Mjoll. So, ultimately you still only take him along for role play reasons, but he is a bit of a better reward than you give him credit for

[@irishcream9004]

After using to Nuremburg trials to try and justify Esberns choice, there is no doubt in my mind that the blades most be exterminated

[@goranpersson7726]

ye those trials were a bit of a sham, for example the ones with the doctors and intelligentsia of the german regime was basically entirely contrived out of nothing, why? because the allies were also doing stuff like eugenics and the likes pretty much for the same reason as the germans pretty much at the same time as the germans (infact, some of the germans behavior was inspired by the americans)

[@Chedring]

Dragons not spawning until after the watch tower event was a good thing if you didn't want to do the quest. I became a master thief and not having to deal with a dragon every 5 minutes was VERY nice.

[@Slender_Man_186]

Seriously, I recently made a character that’s level 50 and still hasn’t even touched Bleakfall.

[@jamescole4317]

i was incredibly hungover, and put on this video as i went to sleep, and every time i woke up, it was because this video stopped. i carried on watching in the morning, and this video is one of the best videos i've ever watched on youtube, i've never thought about skyrim this deeply, but man it's fun

[@kiptheott5932]

At 1:18:58 you said something about Mercer opening the puzzle-door with a lockpick, but he doesn't. He opens it with the Skeleton Key, the magical artifact that can unlock anything.

[@the_last_ballad]

The skeleton key, _an unbreakable lockpick_ that can be inserted into anything, even concepts. It's been a lockpick since Morrowind, and an unbreakable one since Oblivion.

[@Vayxes]

@@the_last_ballad the skeleton key is a daedric artifact that unlocks things beyond the physical realm, including your own mental skills. So yeah it's a bit more than an unbreakable lockpick. That's just how it works as a game mechanic

[@asturias0267]

Shame you can't use the skeleton key on other puzzle doors, or at least that's how I remember it being.

[@TheReZisTLust]

​@@asturias0267 Then use the magical Skeleton Key of (squiggly key) then type Unlock and bam. Working Skeleton Key 🤠

[@nataliedickens1289]

I just want to say about Benor, he is actually my favorite follower. Why you may ask? Because he’s just a Skyrim guy. He doesn’t have special “chosen one” abilities, he’s just a normal dude. I bumped into him on my first play through and my khajiit badass with questionable morals fell in love with him. I married him as soon as I could and we went on many adventures together. He never cowered or ran away from a fight and I actually had to retire him because he kept dying once I started encountering high level enemies. I love Benor, but I know no one else does. Perhaps because we were married, it might have overwritten some of the undesirable traits, I don’t know. I don’t think I ever used him as a follower without being married to him so I never experienced those negative sides. He was brave and fearless and took great care of our kids. And still found time to cook for me when we were out trekking the wilds of Skyrim.

[@Acerthorn]

There is indeed a quest that takes you to Karthwasten. It's called "The Heart of Dibella," and it starts in the Markarth Temple of Dibella.

[@somedude832]

Yeah but as he mentioned in the video most people don't really go to marksrth and consider it extremely boring and bland

[@Acerthorn]

@@somedude832 That doesn't mean it doesn't count. That's an entirely subjective opinion.

[@somedude832]

@@Acerthorn his point about people not going to karthwasten was because no quests go there he also talked about how the majority of people consider markarth boring and dont bother going there unless it's to to do the very minor role it has in the thieves guild and dark brotherhood quests meaning most people will never find this quest. Technically you are right but most people ( if he's correct in this video) will never find that quest let alone do it Edit: furthermore to start this quest you have to go to a sort of obscure and out of the way part of the city further lowering the chance of the quest being found

[@Acerthorn]

​@@somedude832Well, that "obscure" location to start the quest does have at least one thing about it: It's the only place in the game where you can get a guaranteed flawless sapphire, regardless of level. Back when this game was brand new, when I did the fetch quest for the Riften Argonian jeweler, I typically just go there, get the flawless sapphire (and also get the quest), do the quest over the course of 10 in-game days, and then, by the time I brought the girl to the Temple, the sapphire would have respawned so I could get the second one. It was a great way to kill two birds with one stone! EDIT: Correction: It was one of two places (not counting DLCs, which weren't out yet), and the only other place where I could get one was at the end of a dungeon, so this was the quickest and easiest way to get it.

[@Acerthorn]

@@somedude832Also ... *"most people ( if he's correct in this video) will never find that quest let alone do it"* They don't even have to DO the quest! They just have to GET the quest to know that it takes you to Karthwasten. Karthwasten is mentioned in the dialogue when you receive the quest. It's even voice-acted so it can't possibly be random. At that point, even if you never do the quest and just leave it in your quest log forever, you'll still know there's at least one quest in the game that takes you to Karthwasten.

[@aran998]

Back when I first played Skyrim, I remember being fairly disappointed by the lore compared to Oblivion. It just felt pretty simplistic aside from the Thalmor/Imperial conflict. Going back and reading the wiki years later, I realized that there is actually a whole lot of good lore packed in there. It is just so glazed over in the actual gameplay that you don’t realize it unless you go around reading every book. It’s a shame they came up with all this stuff and then didn’t bother to present it to the average player

[@kwazhims3lf]

1:48:00 around here he touches/speculates on bethesda here in regard to lore.... and considering the rest of "broad appeal, streamlined stipped down dumb'd down skyrim" i believe it to be true... this isnt for fans of rpgs, fans of TES its for normies

[@jbark678]

Love the dialogue in your character's voice. "Show me the dragons, Todd!"

[@Tetramorre]

This is your best video by far. You’ve managed to dial in the level of analysis and critique and the pacing is incredibly well done. I love that you haven’t entirely abandoned the poetic recapturing of your playthrough either, instead you managed to find the balance between that style and your analytical commentary so that one doesn’t step on the other’s toes. You even managed to use it for some emotional gut punches (explaining why your character chose to do that thing in the main quest) which were very well written and presented. Excellent work, looking forward to more.

[@opheliagrey2597]

I will say one thing about Shock damage and Dragons and that it ABSOLUTELY is effective against their shouts. On my own pure mage character, if you manage to deplete a dragon's magicka and keep up the assault, they will attempt to shout but it will fail. It's quite funny as the sound effect of them inhaling/speaking the first word of the shout will play, but then be abruptly cut off as they are unable to cast.

[@dhayris160]

I have a grudge against J’zargo. His flame cloak scroll damages followers and made Sven kill me. Apparently, that’s fairly common too.

[@honda6353]

Faendal died this way under the college in winterhold recently...

[@philosophicaljay3449]

When you brought up a use for the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller, it immediately made me think that it would be awesome if it could be used to help fight dragons (if dragons were actually designed well). Imagine blowing the horn to ground dragons instead of needing Dragon Rend (then Dragon Rend could do something else that makes fighting dragons easier). Make it so the only other time dragons ground themselves is when they are low in HP, make it so that random dragons do not spawn until after the horn (but there are designated areas that they spawn, which are designed to allow you to fight them and have allies nearby to assist), etc. It would make it seem like you are slowly arming yourself to actually fight dragons. You get a horn to ground them, a sword that deals extra damage to them, make it so you have access to an enchantment through the Blades faction that makes you resist breath attacks, then you also get a shout that helps slay them. Flesh out the Blades faction and you then also get a team to assist in dragon hunting. For a game that is about killing dragons, this would be amazing! You start the main quest with dragons being a real threat that you struggle against, and slowly arm yourself to kill them easier throughout the main quest, until the moment you are prepared enough to take on Alduin himself. Then we could also add content to flesh out the Greybeards and the Dragonborn. Maybe make it so learning new shouts not only gives you access to them, but enhances your abilities as a Dragonborn. The Greybeards assist you in learning new shouts, change some to locations where you need to show proficiency in shouts already, culminating in you slowly growing strong enough to take on Alduin. The Blades ultimately arm you with weapons, enchantments, etc. while the Greybeards ultimately arm you with enhancing your abilities as Dragonborn (with some overlap, like the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller being from the Greybeards and the Blades pushing you to learn Dragonrend).

[@ZorotheGallade]

Perhaps add some lore behind it, such as that the horn carries the authority of the ancient Dragonborn and issues an undeniable demand to the dragon to face you in "fair" combat for a bout, which they are forced to oblige. But then when you encounter higher ranking dragons such as Alduin's commanders they can spurn the horn's command since they deem themselves too powerful to be cowed to such a demand.

[@drankduck]

Kinda surprised to not see spellbreaker considering how much you talked about loving wards, but I suppose it is better for the melee character… very excited for the next two videos, this one is fantastic and I’ve already watched most of it at least 2 or 3 times now

[@DMThisIsPam]

Who else watched the video in one sitting? It got me through my whole work shift just shy of about 30 minutes. Excellent video, can't wait for part 2.

[@maeves.w.7156]

I listened to it for my work shift too! So great for focusing

[@lordedmundblackadder9321]

The Thalmor “stepping in” at Helgen is in reference to the moment when we see them talking with General Tullius. Ralof says something like “damn elves, I bet they planned this” (which is an idiotic comment, he’s literally at war with the empire yet he believes they wouldn’t execute him unless the thalmor said so?) but in reality the thalmor were trying to stop the execution.

[@tlozfreak888]

Karthwasten has a Divines quest that leads to it. Which is a fairly hard to find one, as it needs you to sneak into the Temple of Dibella in Markarth and get caught, at which point you can choose to do the quest. Also, Markarth features in a Thieves Guild quest and in a Dark Brotherhood quest. So no, some major questlines do go there.

[@escalatingbarbarism5096]

Ulfric isn't a knowing pawn of the Thalmor, but every single thing he does works to their interest, so he might as well be. That's generally the point and it's why people love using the dossier as a big example for why he's not great for Skyrim. The Thalmor are an illuminati trying to perpetuate a forever-conflict which would keep the mostly human, most anti-elf province of Skyrim destabilized indefinitely. Ulfric wouldn't be able to properly "win" against the Empire, they'd keep sending more legions for Tullius or whoever succeeds him, while the Empire could never truly stamp out the traditional Nordic belief systems that keep the Stormcloak rebellion going, Ulfric would obviously be a martyr in death. Either side needed an unstoppable hero like the Dragonborn to do most of the heavy lifting, and even Ulfric/Tullius head being chopped off doesn't change anything at all. The only meaningful difference (lore-wise, at least), is that Tullius hates the Thalmor and seeks to undermine them where he can while Ulfric hates the Thalmor but is being unknowingly propped up by them.

[@WoobertAIO]

TL;DR Ulfric is Ichigo, Tullius is Shinji, the Thalmor are Aizen.

[@nicholaslowry2366]

Counterpoint, the Empire already lost against the Thalmor. Having already lost Hammerfell, full of the “most naturally talented warriors in all of Tamriel,” what makes you think the second war would be any better for the empire? Breeding? The Khajiit fill in the ranks of the foot soldiers and the destructive magics of the Thalmor will make quick work of any large formations. Not to mention that Thalmor are allowed to roam around the imperial provinces with impunity. Something I’m sure the penitus oculatus aren’t doing in Thalmor territory.

[@user-oz1ny]

@@nicholaslowry2366 you shouldnt try to undermine the empire's strength in numbers as itll ultimately even out the two. doesnt help that the dominion is gonna have to deal with a dragonborn and is already dealing with some pissed off redguards

[@chesterstevens8870]

@@user-oz1ny The ultimate takeaway is that the Empire is dying: they lose Valenwood and Elseweyr to the Thalmor almost immediately after the Oblivion Crisis, end up ceding Hammerfell away with the White-Gold Concordat, and have very little functional control over their remaining Provinces despite it all. House Suda and the Ra Gada actually end up forcing the Thalmor out of Hammerfell in the lore, so there's nothing to suggest that _even if_ Elenwen and the Funky Bunch think they're playing Ulfric for a sap, the Stormcloak Rebellion wouldn't ultimately be successful in the long run.

[@vanyadolly]

Tullius also doesn't have any personal claim to power. He's just doing his job. Ulric wants to be high king and what he's willing to do to ensure that is up for debate.

[@MisterManTheBestMan]

On Paarthurnax - there once was a man who killed his own child by raising the window to his home to let in the cold air so that it might die from hypothermia. Upon the child coughing, a pitiful thing, the man shut the window and went to attend to the child for he had realized the mistake he done. He had wanted to kill the child because he never wanted it, he explains that he was a creature that couldn't do to be left in solitude. The love of his life comes along and he knew her parents would never consent to him marrying her if they figured out he had a child, and the child was birthed by a woman whom he still liked, but never could love. The rest of his years, with this event being forever unknown, he does his best to atone for this - giving to charity, working as a volunteer, being a family man to the two children he raised later in life, even his children remembered him fondly and that's an accomplishment in itself. He expressed his regret in his last will, now - are we to suppose that someone can never turn themselves over and reform? Paarthurnax lived his many years in what seems to be regret and suffering just as this man might - he is to be condemned to death later by these blades which have decided it's their holy duty to slay him. Say, if this man lived for years - suffering and being a good person at the same time, just how many years does he have to live to turn a new leaf? Or is he forever corrupted by his sin? Will he only be forgiven by his death?

[@Kris-wo4pj]

what did Paarthumax say "is it better that he was born without sin or learned to overcome his nature and overcome it for the rest of his life day by day?" or something like that. sure its a stain on his soul/rep but all those that he harmed are dead and forgotten who cares if he is killed now that we know he was a better soul with good deeds and regret. its hard to be more understanding like this in real life but this is a fantasy world ya can be your best or worst self without actually consequences this way.

[@lordodin5755]

Although i disagree with forgiving child murder and would have the man hanged it isn't a good comparison. The example given about a Nazi officer was more apt. So i ask would Himmler be forgiven?

[@MisterManTheBestMan]

@@lordodin5755 It's a statement of how murder has changed these people in these hypothetical situations, caused them to regret it and be better people for the rest of their lives in guilty repentance for what they have done.

[@lordodin5755]

@@MisterManTheBestMan Ah sorry the nuance was lost on me english not being my native language makes me miss some things. My bad mate

[@MisterManTheBestMan]

@@lordodin5755 Oh no worries friend, I'm always happy to try and elaborate for folk.

[@youngcanuck5397]

I'll be honest, Skyrim is a game that I can sit down and legitimately have fun while playing. Oblivion holds a special place in my heart as one of the first RPGs I ever played (right up there with Fable). Morrowind has my favourite story with really cool guild quest lines that actually clash with each other (which I found really cool) and leave you in a position where you can't just blindly follow the questgiver. I also really appreciated the creativity of making your own spells. Daggerfall was a game that I wasn't sure that I'd enjoy but I had way more fun than I thought I would. My favourite thing to do in Daggerfall is go to every city and just map out the town. Raid every shop and visit every temple. I really loved the special advantages/disadvantages, the game-generated backgrounds that, depending on your class, gives a different reason for why the Emperor would send you on an important quest and trust you to handle it. Which I find so funny since my first character was a teenage khajiit thief (seriously, in his background, it says that he's sixteen). I'm also legit salty that they got rid of the wagons. I found something enjoyable and fun in each elder scrolls game and I salute you sir for making a 7 hour long video

[@Sebbir]

25:27 I was one of those players who unknowingly wandered off in the beginning before triggering dragons. When i came to Riverwood some lady told me to take whatever i needed from her inventory. I thought i didn’t want to take this poor womans stuff so i just left all of it. As it turns out, the main quest doesn’t progress until you take something. So i was confused what i was meant to do and just wandered off to explore. I reached around level 20 before some kid at my school told me it’s weird i haven’t seen any dragons or gotten dragon shouts yet. It took me so long to realise what i had to do to fix it

[@somenitrogenconsumer8859]

Or you could talk to Sven but I don’t know if this option was there in the beginning and I also realized that so late 🥲

[@gewuerzwanze5627]

I dont know about oldrim but going to whiterun and talking to baalgroove will trigger the main questline. 'Alternate start-live another live' will require you to visit helgen before that but vanilla skyrim doesnt

[@ramendude4062]

Yeah I took everything I could from her and sold it. Skyrim has only fueled my kleptomaniac tendencies.

[@deptusmechanikus7362]

I figured that “Fortress of Ice” from Arena might just be another part of Saarthal that was unearthed for a while when a glacier shifted. It happens in Antarctica, when people sometimes see old abandoned research bases frozen into a wall of iceberg, when part of them break off. Fortress of ice might have been just some old disconnected catacombs of Saarthal or something like that

[@wafflingmean4477]

If it weren't for Paarthurnax playing a crucial role in potentially pacifying the race of dragons as a whole (cos once they start fleeing on sight from the dude who killed Alduin, there's no way a wingless dragonborn could kill them all and therefore they will remain on Tamriel for the foreseeable future) I'd say confining him would be an appropriate punishment. Paarthurnax said not a day goes by when he's not tempted to return to his nature. He's immortal. So essentially he's a ticking time bomb until the end of the kalpur. But as I said above, leaving him free could be the more productive option.

[@Spinach-Man]

I don't know if anyone else brought this up but the only reason Mercer Frey can open up the Nord Puzzle Door is because he has the Skeleton Key. A key that can open up doors to other dimensions if I remember correctly

[@kellen987]

It is amazing how few people know about mazes - like, the concentric circles maze is an actual thing for meditation. A maze is not just the thing on the back of a cereal box

[@InvestmentBankr]

It's like sudoku, I don't waste time doing things a computer can do faster with a simple algorithm. (Admittedly I made this principle in the days before Language processing AIs), but before them - the difference was humans triumph on logic and inference puzzles, while math and iteration based are beneath us.

[@thychozwart2451]

I like how benor's hidden stats explain his backstory of not becoming a guard

[@richertai]

The Nuremberg reference rings very hollow in light of Operation Paperclip. Also, Paarthurnax did more than just switch sides when the tides turned. He turned the tides. If not a John Brown type, then Oscar Schindler, at least.

[@richertai]

The Greybeards' philosophy is insufficient. Like pure pacifism, it allows evil to pass unopposed. Worse, actually, since they do nothing to help in any other way. Delphine is at least right about their fear of power and committing themselves in anyway to anything. Delphine is also wrong, though. She and Esbern say the Blades purpose is to serve the Dragonborn, then tell you what you should do and believe. Fuck that. It's very "Another settlement needs your help, GENERAL."

[@israeldavila27]

Alright, took a month off of work for this, it’s gonna be a good time.

[@daniellarge9690]

"You can't shout while swimming so I used the combination of the surrounding docks and land to... scream at the fish." what a fucking quote lmao

[@gewuerzwanze5627]

You yell a slur so vile at dragons that they need to sit down a minute to properly process what you just said

[@CoercedJab]

Draggas

[@cizzymac]

Skyrim really did mages dirty. I understand they wanted to scale back the power of spells since they were completely busted in Morrowind and Oblivion, but they went completely overboard with the magic nerfs. Whenever I play a mage, I go out of my way to get 100% spell cost reduction for Destruction spells asap, so I can actually play the game.

[@asturias0267]

In this setting it makes sense for spells to have a way higher potential for damage than conventional weapons though. In Morrowind you can absolutely make a viable melee or even ranged build. Mages have a harder early game and stronger late game than martials as a tradeoff.

[@platinumchromee3191]

In late game when i have to do more serious combat encounters i put on 0% destruction magic cost set and chug down +destruction potion to make damage output comparable to physical weapons in same late game.

[@petrus9067]

Not even the simple mechanic of increasing spell damage with equipment or just by leveling the skill or int/willpower (rip atrributes). Having to use potions to increase spell damage should be a bonus, not the "basic" way to do it

[@abdalln8554]

Magic is honestly ok in Morrowind...as a mage. Its alchemy and Enchanting that's broken. Alchemy because for some reason no one decided to hard cap attributes at 300 or something. And Enchanting because the enchanting skill itself doesnt do enough to limit you in how you can use enchsnted objects.

[@greendragonfly4831]

This is definitely in my top 50 most favorite Skyrim retrospectives. But really... good work. I especially like the direct style of narration and the breadth of your ability to objectively analyze literature. It's a truly meaningful skill.

[@cjaymeme]

This series is really proving the meme of how video essays will eventually be days long. I actually am looking foreward to that future, however, so I guess I win. If you see this comment, keep it up. Your commentary is great and thoughtful, dare I say some of the best I've seen.

[@AspenBrightsoul]

The TotR boxset but when you put in the disks it plays 13 hours of skyrim video essays.

[@whatablake]

I remember committing to a Magic Only run. Not being able to open locked doors and containers really hurts. I missed a lot of Oblivions spells tbh.

[@MegaStromboli]

That first take about the player character's clean slate restricting roleplaying has me wondering now. How many people actually wrote intensive backstories about how experienced their character apparently is despite starting out in-game as the complete opposite? lol

[@Loromir17]

Playing a dunmer in Dragonborn DLC is particularly hilarous with how blank-slate all the dialogue options are.

[@SuperToaster25]

@@Loromir17 there was one line from Neloth saying "you're too young to remember the nerevarine" or something like that and I just kinda thought "I am?". If Neloth is still around after 2 centuries and can clearly still fight, who's to say an elven dragonborn isn't too

[@neoqwerty]

@@SuperToaster25 Technically, he's a Telvanni (and already considered old by Morrowind's time, so he's closer to 4 centuries). Telvanni wizard lords are kind of known for telling time to feck off. See also Divayth Fyr who's over 4,000 and looks 70-ish and seems physically in his 50s. For most non-mage dunmer, 200 years is about 80 in human time, and there's implications that altmer probably have roughly the same setup, give or take maybe 50 years. Let's go with current IRL science that you can only start making permanent memories at 4 years old, and assume the Nerevarine is freshly-disappeared, presumably for Akavir, just before the Oblivion Crisis, and that the dunmer feel abandoned by them and reject them as folk-hero two years after the Red Year when they don't show back up to help guide Morrowind. So your PC is a dunmer, just old enough to remember the time where people are turning away from the Nerevarine after the Red Year's aftermath. They're 4 in 4E7, Skyrim's in 201, which makes your character 198 years old, old enough to recall the waning of the Nerevarine's hero-cult even if they've never been alive at the time the Nerevarine was still around Morrowind. Dragonborn and elven doesn't mean you're immortal-- or even skilled at magic, much less the kinds of restoration and/or alteration magic that a time-defying mage would require to reject normal aging. There's plenty of ways his line wouldn't make sense (if you're the Archmage, if your Restoration or Alteration are high enough stats for people to comment on it, if you're a vampire, IF YOU HEADCANON THE NEREVARINE'S DRAGONBORN since they might just be corprus-ageless now...). But his assumption actually makes a certain amount of sense race-wise because the Dragonborn is, if nothing else, not an old person (you don't have a choice to make an "elder" version of your race-- and btw that's 20 years more generous than the upper bound Oblivion allows, 40 years old), which caps your max age to maybe 60 on the upper bound-- in dunmer years that'd be 170ish. Also it's Neloth, he's a condescending prick who has 0 respect for you, of course he's gonna look at your face and dismiss you with a "oh, you couldn't POSSIBLY remember the Nerevarine, I *met* the Nerevarine and he was my errand boy" kind of snooty superiority vibe.

[@user-oz1ny]

i agree, its way more interesting when you have to rp around a fixed start (eg. why was your character trying to cross the border illegally and howd they get caught)

[@MegaStromboli]

@@user-oz1ny I didn't say that

[@ShikiRen]

The problem with not fasttraveling to try and find stuff is that the enemy variety, and the things happening in the overworld are abysmal in quantity. I've once run the entire path from Markath to Riften seing exacty 2 wolves, a bandit camp in the distance, and a giant. EDIT: Oh right, also stopped once by courier. Nevermind that there is exactly 4 types of dungeons/caves (Falmer, Fwemer, Bandit, Draugr), with a lot of enemy types just being, in essence, reskinned bandits.

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

Even if they changed it that wouldn't fix it. You've been to your destination and you've gotten here. This means you're walking back through everything you've done. Even if there was millions of unique events Fast Traveling would be better because you cleared the way.

[@petrus9067]

​@@Buglin_Burger7878the thing is you can make more lore natural fast travel systems. Receive a quest to a remote location -> Take the caravan to the nearest place / go on foot. You will have encounters and find things on the way, but you may or may not stay focused on your quest. After clearing the place, use a scroll of teleportation to the next shrine or to a marked location on your map. Boom, you actually acted like an rpg adventurer

[@petrus9067]

You forgot fortress type dungeons but otherwise yeah. They would have to design the map in a way non fast travel adventure makes sense (while also keeping transportation methods like caravans, boats and teleport).

[@amannamedsquid313]

@@petrus9067 That's exactly why I like what Morrowind did: Fast travel was tied to lore and gameplay mechanics. Another game called "Underrail" does something similar: You pay for a train ride to major settlements in upper and lower underrail which are connected via railway and you could pay a ferry captain to take you to major settlements in the caves that are connected via the waterways. You can also teleport using rifts in time and space that you can find throughout the world. The catch is that you can only do so after you have finished a specific questline and you can only teleport to rifts that you have already visited and activated.

[@draventhegloriousexecutioner]

42:20 My favorite Skyrim Playthrough was when for a few months, I couldn't fast travel without my game crashing to desktop. Obviously not an ideal way to make me forgo the system, but it made me see so much more of the game that I completely missed beforehand.

[@olinkaspar9711]

This is great. I'll start it when going to sleep and when I wake up it's still playing. And in case I wake up in the middle of the night it effectivelly puts me to sleep again. Already tried it two times, will do third time as well. I am not trying to say this is boring. It's soothing.

[@alistareapalex983]

He has a very dulcet tone yes

[@thedeebo410]

This must have been so much work! I'm definitely going to watch the whole series whenever you get around to making the next episodes.

[@code25010]

100% on your analysis on the deficiencies of magic in skyrim. I really hope Bethesda learn from vids like this and make magic great again in TES6.

[@nicholasgignac7065]

Thanks for the 7 and a half hours of entertainment! Keep up the great work. Looking forward to what comes next.

[@GamingYooler]

Kinda hoped there'd be more about the effect of creation club spells on mage life. Elemental bolt in particular as that ability uses ALL your perks for shock, fire and frost.

[@duncanharrell5009]

There’s also a lot of other cool spells, specifically Dentil’s Welcome and that one spell that casts invisibility and allows you to breathe underwater for fifteen seconds. VERY handy for a mischeviois mage.

[@tob564]

At 6:45:30 giants have greater souls, yet mammoths have grand souls.

[@wiebitteichhabeesvergessen]

Frankly an unexpectedly amazing analysis with a lot of depth in explaining lore and mechanics. Keep up the good work!

[@Goldenblitzer]

How cool would it have been if in Saarthal we could actually see the effects of the genocide, like if there were small skeletons huddled in corners, or if Saathal was actually a ruined city with houses and such, or if you could find some farmer/snow elf equipment, or literally anything that points to the elves destroying it

[@Jouzou87]

Dragons might not be able to destroy villages outside of cutscenes, but they can wreak other kind of havoc. I once saw Morthal alchemist get killed trying to take one on with a dagger.

[@jasper_the_ghost]

Man desperate to be a town guard: coward script Random citizen in a backwater town: Will charge the biggest threat to all men and mer on the face of Tamriel with a pointy twig

[@vexile1239]

I've seen some beggars attack the dragons with their fists