Turns Out This Skyrim Mystery Was Bigger Than We Thought

Skyrim is home to a countless number of creatures, yet perhaps none is as spooky as the Falmer. The twisted Falmer of today were once a majestic people known as the "Snow Elves". However, for some reason, thousands of years ago, the Snow Elves were changed and became much more goblin-like. Why the Falmer suffered said change, is one of The Elder Scrolls universe's biggest mysteries that has yet to be solved. In today's video, we're going to finally try to answer that question. Sit back and relax as we explore what really happened to the Falmer from The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.

[@andrew_ferens]

"they weren't nearly as ugly; they used to be tall, less slimy, had a full head of hair" Hey now, I didn't expect to be attacked like this!

[@goodnight517]

lmao

[@samwich4444]

lmao

[@gohantanaka]

Andrzej Ferens Same, dude. Same.

[@Mr3ppozz]

Good to know I wasn't the only that felt personally attacked xD xD xD

[@itsclemtime2357]

Ok..

[@YlvaTheRed]

Nate: wisp mothers are lost falmer souls, you can tell by the tones. Me, an intellectual: the Dwemer turned into nirnroots.

[@fishhead961]

🤔

[@thewelfairshop4164]

Holy shit bro

[@YlvaTheRed]

@@thewelfairshop4164 😂

[@brandonmireles3249]

Imagine if Bethesda confirms they were turn into Nurnroot I would actually die 🤣😂 but it's kinda Sad

[@verdiss7487]

Nirnroot are talked about as evolving into their current form in 1E 668, while the dwemer disappear in ~1E 700. That's probably too much of a time gap for your theory, but I'll be damned if I don't believe it.

[@isabelleclavering4397]

I think you've missed something important: the player gets to observe a lot of dwemer ruins in skyrim, and as Karliah observes, the dwemer were cruel and violent. There are torture chambers, slave markets, and in at least two instances seating arrangements set around platforms with rotating murder-blades built into them, so dwemer can sit around and watch as someone gets hacked into pieces. So while it's entirely possible that the dwemer did do some tonal magic stuff to the falmer, it's more like a forced experiment on slaves than a peer-assisting-peer relationship.

[@DONTG3TMADCUZI]

Remember delving into the ruins repeatedly as a researcher in Skyrim. Somewhere along the lines, I picked up that the Snow Elves were saved but, at a cost of their cooperation. While traveling and finding the various devices used to restrain, it made me think of fear. The elves had run from one enemy they made and into the jaws of an even worse fate albeit unintentionally evil in morale. The Dwemer (Dwarves) initially gave them the idea of escaping or having them help with their plan of reaching a better or more advanced form through use of tonal manipulation. It was willingly at first to repay a debt but, it turned sour and fearful which caused the Dwemer to force it onto them and even capture them. Some were able to flee in order to find sanctuary in what is now, Auriel's Sanctum where the remaining Snow Elves who fled built a safe space to safe guard against foes. This would explain why the falmer were blinded and twisted as they were then forced into experimentation. The Dwemer didn't do it out of malice but rather out of curiosity and to advance their civilization. They were by their lonesome before other civilizations made their way to them. So yes, the Dwemer were not evil but, their selfish reasons to continue their research without any ethical dilemma made them to be perceived as such.

[@Boomslayer19]

The dwemer where complete and utter nihilists dint care about anyone but themselves (and ended up being there undoing given that they used the tools of kagranac on the heart of lorkhan and basically zero summed themselves out of existence)

[@saymyname2417]

To think the dwemer were benevolent in any form towards anyone but themselves is absolutely insane. The Falmer were Guinea pigs AT THE VERY BEST to the conceited and vile technocrats.

[@vix6276]

im glad the dwemer are gone they were jackasses.

[@lancelottrivino2273]

@@DONTG3TMADCUZI Auriels sanctum was established long before the falmer had devolved though

[@sockmonkeydogtoy]

I've always found it interesting that the College of Winterhold has a very similar architectural style to the Snow Elf temple ruins you see in the Dawnguard DLC. It looks as though the same materials were used and everything.

[@PronatorTendon]

That's what's known as _asset reappropriation_

[@vampybyte7812]

@@PronatorTendon It's true and a lot of games do that...However Bethesda never seems to do things with out purpose. Sure skyrim had several plot holes with some quests but looking into the tinier details of this world it's no wonder. It's very possible they had more planned for the college as I believe many things in game have lead to. They even went out of their way to expand on many skyrim quests in ESO. If it be just to continue the stories with out doing a giant update on the game or they actually had some stuff planned but couldnt put it in. The game is fairly old, It's a good possibility more was planned they just couldnt add.

[@PronatorTendon]

@@vampybyte7812 That's true they do have a lot of remnants of dismantled quests

[@kyleferreira3742]

Well, the College of Winterhold was supposedly founded in the First Era, so I think it's possible there could be a connection. And yes, asset reappropriation certainly could play a part, but they didn't necessarily have to reuse it.

[@theragebringer4424]

I think it’s just reutilized assets, it was Shalidor to build both the college and the city with magic, on top of that the arquitecture of college’s undergrounds doesn’t look elfic at all

[@MaiqTheLiarProductions]

M’aiq once met a snow elf, very polite people. A long time later M’aiq met some weird blind folk, M’aiq got scared and ran away.

[@Fallen_Bagles]

M'aiq The Liar Productions I died from B L I N D

[@lambsauce8272]

By the order of the jarl,stop right there

[@kenwinger7989]

LoL 😂 real

[@kenwinger7989]

@@lambsauce8272 you know your on on the wrong side😭your God was and will always be an imperial will 75%. Amyaways

[@skagchow5928]

Hey i have a question why do people call you the liar?

[@fenrishellhound3982]

"This was Epic Nate and thanks for coming to my TES talk."

[@emmamorgan4128]

This needs to be pinned, I almost coughed out a lung laughing

[@user-tp5yb4hr4w]

Wow! You surprise easily.

[@LordEnder86]

This needs to be the name of this series now.

[@fenrishellhound3982]

Pun aside the video is a pretty good listen.

[@ZacksRockingLifestyle]

TES... Technology, Education, and... Skyrim lol

[@jamesharrison2763]

The mystery began for me back in the Blood moon DLC for Morrowind. There was a quest to discover evidence of the existence of the falmer. It had my interest from then on in. I scoured solthsteim looking for more snow elf stuff. Meeting a snow elf in Skyrim was a bit of a mind blower for me.

[@SW337x7007H]

I'm pretty sure the Dwemer were using the Falmer to test their theories on how to ascend beyond their metaphysical limitations. The Falmer could not hear the tones as the Dwemer could, so the Dwemer blinded them. This act enhanced their hearing to such a degree that they could hear the tones and become viable test subjects. However, the Falmer were not accustomed to the tones and their souls shriveled in fear of this unknown, leaving their minds and bodies warped and monstrous. Eventually the Dwemer figured it out, and signaled a masse tone which "ascended" all Dwemer. They only saw the Falmer as a means to an end, and that is why the Falmer are still around, albeit much lesser than they once were. But this is just my hypothesis.

[@bobbirdsong6825]

i think this is correct

[@walter9240]

How does fear cause your body to warp?

[@Boomslayer19]

Correct every bit of dwemer history was basically a giant test too transcend past there mortal selves making mechanical god in the process(the brass towers such as Numidium)and they succeeded.....but we'll the saying be careful of what you wish for exists for a reason But by transcending there mortal limits they essentially became everything and anything and thus became nothing at all a process called zero sum

[@Thor-Orion]

@@Boomslayer19 that's not what a zero sum is...

[@Marscandy1]

Agreed!

[@breathtaker101]

Maybe the dwarves did blind them so as to enhance the falmer’s hearing. Then they could be more responsive tonal manipulation.

[@driftingdruid]

true, and 25:52 the tablet in Calcemo's room mentions blinding them, "And as your vison clouds, as the darkness seta in, fear not." so, it's plausible that they first blinded the Falmer BEFORE experimenting with unbinding their souls from Mundus's earth bones

[@dbuzzzyb]

this I do like as an explanation

[@senatorstevenarmstrong2807]

Dragon Master23 sir are you ok?

[@DBT1007]

This is dumb. I mean, evolution is a long process, bruh.. If dwemer blinded like.. hundreds of elves, their children still can see. Not blind too like their parents.

[@JohnDoe-xx8yw]

​@@DBT1007 Evolution as a response to their environment, yes. If the changers were from troglobitic adaptations (evolutionary adaptation brought on by living in dark environments like caves or deep ocean, e.g. pale skin and reduced eyesight/total blindness), it would likely take tens of thousands of years. But, if the mushroom was still used to blind them before using tonal manipulation to experiment on them, it's relatively feasible. This was a long, drawn out process. The falmer were fed this fungus constantly, and the change wasn't immediate. It occurred over generations, taking place over the course of hundreds to possibly thousands of years. The reason this is still feasible is that certain toxins can make specific birth defects much more likely by damaging DNA, and by the end the dwemer had pretty much the entire population of the falmer eating this fungus, reproducing, and feeding their offspring this same toxic fungus. Manipulating falmer DNA through deliberate, artificial means would be much quicker than evolution through natural selection

[@kirtemoon529]

“*Boys, girls, dogs, elders: there’s nobody I won’t fight!*” -Y̶s̶g̶r̶a̶m̶o̶r̶ Braith

[@anthonyernst999]

She's the only child I have ever wanted to punch in the face so bad. The amount of disrespect, "I'm not scared of you..." I kill dragons bitch

[@lulzdragon7339]

@@anthonyernst999 I take it you've never met Mayor MacCready.

[@anthonyernst999]

@@lulzdragon7339 Nope

[@Enderwave22]

@@anthonyernst999 "child please. I kill draugrs, skeletons, dragons, vampires, bandits, necromancers, giants, mammoths & rarely werewolves on a daily basis. I do quests. Risk my life every single day, I am the Dragonborn: The Dovahkiin. I am the harbinger of the companions, the champion of every daedric prince, I am a werewolf/vampire/vampire lord, I am a cannibal, I summoned and resurrected kaarstag the strongest enemy that isn't even in tamriel, murdered him and made him my bitch! I am the slayer of Miraak: The first Dragonborn. I LITERALLY CAN USE CHEATS IN THIS SO CALLED GAME TO ENABLE GOD MODE, PHASE THROUGH OBJECTS, GO SUPER FAST. ETC! What do you do?! bully a boy and call him a milk drinker."

[@colbubratbub2649]

I honestly wish the next game appears close enough in time for Braith to be grown up and be a companion character. her attitude makes her sound like shed be a great fighter 🤣

[@alastryona]

The programmer who gave lower leveled falmer lesser souls for gameplay reasons: _nervous sweating_

[@maxrander0101]

even at max lvl they still only fill a lesser gem even the most op ones i know as all of my weapons have soul trap enchants on them at max chance and no falmer has ever given anything bigger

[@jek__]

programmers dont make bethesda game environments, programmers make the bethesda game engine, then world designers layout the map

[@lentlemenproductions770]

@@jek__ but who makes the enemies?

[@jamesharrison2763]

The reason markarth even exists is to take it the snow elves from the surface. It's like a big grand entrance from the surface to the undergrounds of the dwarves. It was so well fortified to protect against atmorans and give it the appearance of total safety. It's the only place the dwermer built above ground in a big way within Skyrim.

[@nvfury13]

Except Markarth wasn’t always exposed to the surface, it was inside a cavern until an quake cause the cavern to collapse, revealing it. Then humans moved in to clear the rubble and exploit the Dwemer structures/salvage.

[@diosama760]

Falmer are terrifying when you don't have sound on and turn around to see one right behind you

[@dendrien]

Fuuuuuuu 😭

[@gptechnologiesmangalore6909]

Dio!

[@jeronimonian]

@@gptechnologiesmangalore6909 LMAO!

[@justyce_yt]

And when you're level five dovahkiin using light armor

[@adarshkamoda9183]

Star Platinum: Za Warudo!!

[@melonenstrauch1306]

Dwemer: perform a possibly deadly experiment on an entire race, sacrificing them as test subjects because they feared the outcome. Nate: They didn't have bad intentions after all!

[@jackrabbitslim8536]

Seriously! I gave this video a second watch and that stone with the message in both languages takes on a real "Arbeit macht frei" sort of tone to it. The deep elves have murder/torture devices set up for public spectacle in places like Blackreach. They were not nice elves.

[@necrobynerton7384]

Also they literally say they don't believe gratitude, so, i guess they don't believe in what is morally right or wrong? There is still more to uncover, but what if they were successful the second time, and maybe they now are preparing, to come back? They could have succeeded in bringing maybe a few falmer with them so they are joint forces in another dimension? - I don't know all the lore so sorry if it doesn't make any sense

[@driftingdruid]

Nate did mention in an earlier video that the Dwemer believed in the superiority of being emotionless, which doesn't really excuse their deeds just provides a possible explanation for why they were so unethical...

[@glprime2814]

Remind you of any other races in Elderscrolls? I did always wonder if the Sload had any connections to the Dwemer, neither races to concerned with emotions or morals, but both known for experimenting on others, including their own. Maybe the Sloads were/are an offshoot race of the Dwemer?

[@obijuanquenobi1911]

The Dwemer were very nice people like our Merchants Guild that does slave trading and skooma dealing for our lord and savior Caius Cosadas

[@wij2012Gaming]

The Dwemer weren't deliberately trying to hurt or mutilate the Snow Elves, but they did deliberately use them as living, sentient guinea pigs so that if someone was hurt, it wouldn't be their own people. This have to be one of the craziest, probably accurate theories I've ever heard. I love it. Give me more.

[@Nightshade17655]

So they did deliberately hurt the snow elves

[@HenningGu]

I like to imagine that there was one snow elf or a small group of them being the voice of reason when the others were talking about attacking Saarthal: "Shouldn't we at the very least talk to them and ask them what they know? Even if there was an artifact buried there, we don't even have evidence that the humans use magic the same way we do, let alone them knowing what it is."

[@siegfriedoffizensburches6228]

"2 and 2 cant equal fish". sheogorath would disagree.

[@planexshifter]

Jyggalag wants to know your location

[@Doomrange]

2 and 2 can equal 0, which is fish speak.... "Bl0b Bl0b"

[@RamadaArtist]

Severely underrated comment.

[@lollipoppergirl]

So would Timmy Turner

[@1helluvaguy738]

2 and 2 equal CHEESE!

[@aedanstarfang]

I love how the army is just a bunch of Gelebor clones.

[@p.samedi2473]

This is because cloning vyrthur would have resulted in a lot of slurpy, icy hanging arounds.

[@anapprentice2089]

Haha

[@uk4evar]

Get the word out, Nate is a racist

[@Jess-P]

Dwemer: “We want to ascend this mortal plane. Let’s test out our methods on the Snow elves first!” “…Oh, that didn’t go well, looks like we’ll have to make a few adjustments.” Great video Nate!

[@GamingforNostalgiaForFun]

Same thing the global elites are doing to the citizens of the world to u n other lowly world system slaves .

[@narthted8200]

They sound like any engineer or scientist.

[@Vassilinia]

I hope that they didn't succeed and just ended up wiping themselves out.

[@Boomslayer19]

"Touches the heart of lorkhan" what can go wrong?

[@awedome3137]

When you fight Wisp Mothers whenever they're low on health they make these things called Shades which look exactly like them. Which might relate to what happened to that one Winterhold mage, who also turned into a shade after messing with Dwemer magic....

[@Robbajor]

Can we just pause and briefly reflect on how great all of this storytelling is, and the fact that a video like this is even possible? Crazy.

[@RIPToNateDoggIHadToRegulate]

Okay Robert...

[@eddiejackson1566]

@@RIPToNateDoggIHadToRegulate hes right you know

[@shiteyanyo1111]

Say what you want about Bethesda; but they know how to make tasty lore

[@alanwatts8239]

@@shiteyanyo1111 Or knew, at least.

[@tav095]

I just discovered this channel yesterday and acquired a newfound interest for Elder scrolls lore. This guy has immense talent for storytelling.

[@mac_without_cheese6102]

the atmorans, committing genocide against the falmer: the dwemer, underground: yall hear smthn?

[@13vatra]

More like: "huh, that looks fun let's try it! But let's see if we can convince them it's somehow a mercy!"

[@cheechong5969]

@@13vatra then blind the poor cunts so they can't find the door

[@DovahkiinKhajiit]

The Dwemer: Biggest assholes in Tamrielic history.

[@user-wr6dj4ib9o]

takes popcorn and watch the show*

[@Boomslayer19]

Well they started it read the night of tears

[@Thor-Orion]

I've always had a soft spot for the Falmer. Such a tragic history.

[@blueninjanoname7338]

Lol what? They're very evil. And they deserve it for trying to commit genocide against humans.

[@zacharypendragon49]

I always felt that because of the thieves guild quest where you go into a dwarven ruin to find the eyes of the falmer that it was more they fully tricked them. I don’t think they said hey you have to eat this fungus and that’s the only stipulation. I felt that they asked for the eyes of your people, the snow elves believing they meant their treasure, they were then made to slave away building the snow elven statue to hold the eyes, however while they built the statue, the only food they would give those elves and their families was the fungus. The snow elves being none the wiser that they’re families and they were slowly being poisoned and experimented on to further the dwarven understanding of tonal manipulation to the point where they could control creatures and mer to a full extent. That’s why the writing of the dwemer say the snow elves new lives began at the fifteen and one tones. Their experiment with tonal manipulation is truly what changed them into what they are, where as the fungus only blinded them taking their eyes.

[@dreadpirateroberts1358]

I know it's been a long time, but I like your theory a lot. Makes me sad it's definatky not the case. Mainly because of one main fact we know for sure, the statue with the Eyes was built in secret. The dwarves didn't know about it's construction. In the thrives guild quest while you're in the ruin you learn "the statue was built in secret by the slaves so their masters wouldn't know." Thats not a direct quote but as best I remember it.

[@Miss_Camel]

I always feel sad that the game makes me kill them, the torture rooms literally made me emotional 😭

[@ThreadBareHope1234]

I like this theory. If its true the dwarves were trying to escape mortality by experimenting on snow elves, or just build new tech, they are sick. I do believe this was slavery. I hope when the Altmer try to return to Athenian that they aren't so cruel. But they are averse to change so maybe they won't

[@grave7209]

there was a phrase parthurnax sad: "the very bones of the earth are at your disposal" when returning with the elder scroll.

[@grave7209]

also: when you read the scroll it makes a specific sound, so it might be connected to the manipulation with sound. -> just a theorie and if some world are wrong, english is not my primary language but i am allways happy to improve myself

[@ebolachanislove6072]

@@grave7209 and repeatedly reading the scrolls makes you blind too. . .

[@belisarius6949]

Not to mention that Shouts might literally be...Well...Tonal Manipulation. With Shouts you can not only attack, but influence the very fabric of existence itself.

[@azevol216]

I wonder what dead god nirn belongs to

[@AntaresSQ01]

@@belisarius6949 Yea this makes a lot of sense when you consider the shouts "become ethereal" and "slow time" and also the "call of valor" which as in another video was discussed that when you "conjure" you actually just transport something from another realm, so "call of valor" can be the tonal equivalent to transport something to another plane of existence (sovngarde in this case), oh and don't forget "soul tear" a shout literally for "cutting through flesh and shattering soul"

[@songbird6414]

God, I remember seeing Gelebor for the first time ever. That was probably my favorite moment in Skyrim ever, followed by Farkas transformation in front of you for the first time, and finding out Paarthurnax was a dragon(yes, that first time absolutely blew me away).

[@kjt16]

I loved meeting Paarthurnax for the first time. I almost shot him.

[@lunarequine7734]

KJ T I was so shocked when I climbed all the way to the Throat of the World, completely misunderstanding shout mechanics and not realizing you had to hold Z for the full shout, thus not using Clear Skies properly and being wrecked by the wind and the ice wraiths only to get to the top thinking I was gonna be talking to another old dude only to be met by a giant ass dragon and being totally blown away.

[@songbird6414]

@@kjt16 me too! I pulled out my sword, completely immersed, going, “oh boy some dumbass dragon prob killed this guy for a plot twist let’s get him” and then he LANDED AND STARTED TALKING TO ME

[@alanwatts8239]

@@songbird6414 By tradition, the elder speaks first!

[@quinn7876]

I straight-up hid behind a rock formation for six or seven real minutes, waiting for him to attack. When he didn't, I felt like such a goober. But in a good way.

[@praetorianplays9945]

I feel the point about high level falmer dropping wisp wrappings is a bit of a stretch considering falmer just drop random potion ingredients.

[@SojoTaku]

Yeah like they could have just killed a random wisp mother or looted an already dead wish mother

[@hedgehog3180]

@@SojoTaku which makes sense given that it's only the high level ones and they live in the same area.

[@FaeraOthronus]

My favorite thing gelebor talks about is how he can tell the Falmer are slowly starting to regain some of their intelligence, and that they might one day become a normal race again, even if not as nice as they once were

[@nocomment6421]

I mean they use bows and wear armour. So they are not completly dumb. There musz ne a way to communicate with them

[@ihavealifeyaknow6827]

The last time I was this early, the Falmer were Snow Elves.

[@GlennSkywalker2305]

Have you heard of the HIGH ELVES

[@jammer212]

@@GlennSkywalker2305 ever heard of force healing 🤫😉

[@GlennSkywalker2305]

Devin Garcia yea they are crap in oblivion

[@jammer212]

@@GlennSkywalker2305 did you get the star wars reference or no lol

[@GlennSkywalker2305]

Devin Garcia oh s**t I forgot

[@RamadaArtist]

34:33 "They didn't feed them a fungus or anything, that was just a myth." Calcelmo's tablet states: "We only wish that you partake... the *fruit of the stones* around us." Seems to indicate that the Dwemer, pursuant to whatever their experiment was, still required the Falmer to eat the weird fungus. "Fruit of the stones" seems to pretty clearly indicate mushrooms.

[@johnathonmarquez4327]

I really didn’t understand what your trying to say

[@johnathonmarquez4327]

Ohh I understand now that I’m later in the video

[@benp9793]

It doesn't literally mean fruit. "Fruits of your labor"? Fruit of the stones is referring to the tonal manipulation itself. The fruits of their efforts.

[@RamadaArtist]

@@benp9793 I mean, fungus aren't fruit to begin with, but they can grow on stones, thus the notion that the "fruit of the stones" would be whatever grows on it, i.e. the fungus. Saying that the dwemer "only wish that the falmer would partake in tonal manipulation," is very roundabout and unnecessarily abstruse. that seems like the kind of thing you could just offer someone at face value. then, maybe, what they're saying is that the dwemer required the falmer to allow themselves to be subjected to tonal "attenuations" on a regular basis, and that's what has been going on this whole time instead of just feeding them strange fungus.... but the amount of stretch here just scans to me as unlikely and unnecessary.

[@danipoet5702]

"fruit of the stones" could also literally mean soul gems, considering the only place in Skyrim that you can find geode veins is in Blackreach....

[@apelord7310]

Falmer Fal-Mer Fallen Mer Fallen Elves Can’t believe it took me this long to realize that

[@user-wr6dj4ib9o]

fal = snow genius

[@owenswabi]

@@user-wr6dj4ib9o lol

[@kenmelvin8969]

Interesting. It may be coincidence, but if you remember Katria from the Aetherium Quest, there was mention that she detects as alive, can smell, doesn't like steam, so was she hit by the 'solid sound' and instead of being killed (as she thinks), did she have her soul popped out of her body as the Wispmother's might? The fact that her fulfilling her 'quest' allows her to pass on, may suggest that it isn't the case but it's something to consider.

[@jaredmccann1140]

I'm amazed that you're still making skyrim content and even more amazed that it's still entertaining

[@fishhead961]

Fax

[@andrehuffman4018]

Hey man, Skyrim is timeless. Just because Bethesda shit the bed doesn't mean Skyrim ain't great. Besides, we have an endless variety of mods for whenever you get bored.

[@thatgun6726]

I just bought the special edition discounted today

[@fishhead961]

Cody Sims welcome to addiction

[@thatgun6726]

@@fishhead961 oh I've got 100+ hours on my old xbox 360

[@mikeberrange9470]

"Hey, so you're getting slaughtered huh? That sucks, real bad times. Yeah. Come underground, we have this real cool fungus. We're elves, you can trust us." Dwemer are sketchy.

[@topwargear]

hehee

[@smithjones3548]

Dwemer are capable of all manner of evil in their pursuit of knowledge, only they consider it an acceptable loss if people are harmed in the process.

[@vivecthepoet36]

around elves, watch yourselves

[@CaptainPositron]

They're kind of like Rick to the Falmer's Morty...

[@vivecthepoet36]

@@CaptainPositron "*burp* Mortiel... I need you to eat this moss" "Oh geez Ric, I don't know about that..." "Shut up and eat the moss Mortiel! *burp* I need you to go blind so we can build things out of tones! Tones, Mortiel!"

[@franciscastiglione5832]

Here is my biggest rebuttal to the Dwemer enslaving theory: you touched on it, but I’ll take it a step farther; why would the Dwemer seek to enslave any race? As you stated, labor isn’t an issue, but if we consider it also, knowledge wasn’t either. As advanced beyond anything else in Tamriel the Dwemer were, they would have been welcomed to share knowledge with any race. And, I would argue, as advanced as they were, there wasn’t a race of men or elf on the planet that could have stood against them them, should they have desired to take the land by force. Imagine, robots created to build robots of war, would build soldiers around the clock, making it impossible to defeat them by attrition; while the Dwemer themselves would remain locked and hidden in their underground fortresses, letting mecha fight the war for them. Because they never took that step, why then would they suddenly want slaves?

[@MeepChangeling]

Don't bother trying to talk sence to people who are unaware that we know exactly what caused the Dwemer's disappearance, and also exactly when it happened. Or that there is a Dwemer you can talk to in a main series game who'se pretty sure that the rest of his people ascended to immortality at the consequence of no longer being able to live in the mortal world (ya know, like Daedra...). Seriously, Zoomers, this was all explained in the MAIN QUEST OF MORROWIND! *Fucking watch a letsplay!*

[@kittensareawesome2789]

@@MeepChangeling Except a huge part of the Elder Scrolls is based off replicating a sense of how we identify our own history. There’s unreliable narrators telling things that could very well be outright lies, and that Dwemer was not there for the event, so while he might have his theory, it isn’t anything conclusive. There’s so much that seems set in stone but realistically, could be overturned with some changes on Bethesda’s part. Speculating and theorizing is only natural when we do it in our own world as well. And while I do agree Nate seemed to ignore some important details, for the most part he was pretty good.

[@mdahsenmirza2536]

If i remember correctly, dwemer did try to make a mecha god that used lorkhan's heart. They did power it and it was so powerful that it created lots of branching realities.

[@RaynmanPlays]

I'd been pointing out the soul color issue for _years._ Been wondering when someone would catch on. I think the soul color shift is what the Dwemer meant by the "new eternity" stuff. And I think the point was to keep Falmer as a sort of cattle, so that the Dwemer could harvest their souls for use.

[@ED-yy4te]

Bethesda: *puts lesser soul to falmer to make them mob monsters* Nate: AHA!

[@ReederOnTheRun]

Bandits are much more convenient to hunt and they're black souls

[@ALovelyBunchOfDragonballz]

Bandit Thug: "you picked a bad time to get lost friend!" Me, shuffling Black Soul Gems in my hand, drawing my Soul Trap sword: "uh huh, yep. I sure did mister. How about you come over here and give me directions?"

[@axeldornelles5292]

Doylist Vs. Watsonian analysis exemplified.

[@loganjblack]

They should have black soul gems, the same as bandits.

[@BlackTalonGaming]

@@loganjblack NotthatOneGuy is stating that Bandits definately have black souls, and are pretty routine mobs. Therefore, the decision with the Falmer was intentional.

[@connormacgregor9460]

I thought he would say "everything changed when the dwemer nation attacked

[@BigAutisticDaddy]

everything changed when the dwemer nation made them an offer they can't refuse*

[@AnthonyDaFox]

His entire video was Basically Saying the Dwemer Blinded the Falmer with Science

[@mxxaphan]

Toni Technaclaw 👏

[@eltonj888]

Connor MacGregor fuckin’ oath

[@lvlwowable]

Everything changed when Connor McGregor attacked.

[@khalaq2]

My impression is the same as yours; that the Falmer were only partially transposed into an alternate reality and thus left diminished (or in the case of Wisp Mothers, lost) in this one. The Dwemer were fully transposed, leaving nothing of themselves behind, but to where or to when we do not know.

[@jamchiroptera4258]

Wow, transposed had never sounded so threatening

[@kingjasperii3155]

"Tonal Manipulation" Do you mean they just screamed at the wall or rock and it just moved like they wanted it to?

[@trafledrakel7118]

Exactly. Tonal manipulation is how dwemer call the thu’um.

[@DysmasTheGoodThief]

Nah. The tonal manipulation they referred to was what prompted a the striking of the heart of lorkhan with keening sunder and wraithguard. Bet. After they hit it they disappeared. Their ultimate experiment with tonal manipulation

[@Mr-Trox]

@@trafledrakel7118 The Thu'um is a type of tonal manipulation, but not all of it.

[@hedgehog3180]

Actually they played some sick metal and the rock moved willingly. The Dwemer were so powerful because they were the first to invent the electric guitar and shredded, they disappeared when someone played a solo that was just way too sick and the universe could no longer contain their sheer raw metal power.

[@ClimbLikeAGirl-vz3gt]

This is my new headcannon. Maybe they were a very lost chapter of slaneeshi noise marines.

[@future1894]

*they were victim to a failed experiment alright-* My theory has always been that the Dwemer performed MULTIPLE experiments on the Snow Elves, one including souls and their properties. This is a very Gaster thing for me to say, TRUST ME I KNOW THAT- but I believe that the Dwemer actually used the Snow Elves and their SOULS to power their automatons, hence why Dwarven automatons drop soul gems when killed. They're soul-powered! More info on this can actually be found in the Dwemer museum in Markarth, primarily with the controllable spider pal and the journal that went with it, or really ANYWHERE in most Dwemer lore. This is probably a very common theory. Just as it said in the video, these experiments would've been a little dangerous for the dwarves to perform on their own species, which is why they used the Snow Elves and their EXTRACTED souls instead. It would also go with the shrunken-soul theory, seeing as the soul gems more commonly found on these automatons were common/lesser soul gems, though there have even been BLACK or GRAND soul gems from time to time, possibly from the less twisted and vile Falmer, and rather taken from the early Snow Elves. I know, technically, the soul gems can vary depending on level, but it's still a cool little theory I've had for a while! I know it's probably not original and is possibly VERY common amongst Skyrim lore and such, but I thought it was worth sharing. *Any input would be GREATLY appreciated, I've been playing Skyrim since I was 5 and have kept up with the lore for YEARS now, but you never know when you could be missing something!*

[@garymartin6873]

Why are there no Dwemer or Falmer in the soul cairn?

[@shivpat4089]

G. Martin Bethesda didn’t feel like putting them in there ;)

[@dzvw8840]

Nah, one of the writers gave us a translation of Calcelmo's Dwemer Tablet in his museum. Basically the Dwemer tried to enlighten the Snow Elves, turning them away from the worship of the gods.

[@future1894]

@@garymartin6873 it hasnt been confirmed that the Dwemer infact went extinct or died, they just Mysteriously vanished. As for the Falmer, I'm lost on that myself...Of course, it's more commonly inhabited by the souls of Humans and Elves and such, more sophisticated species. You dont see wolves or Frostbite Spiders there either. That being said, the souls are probably SO ancient that they've been lost to history, even if they were, at some point, roaming the Soul Cairn. They're most likely FAR from gone.

[@future1894]

@@dzvw8840 I watched the same video you did. The theory in this video is pretty damn solid tbh, I'm saying something like this could've ALSO happened during/along side the supposed "enslavement" period of the Snow Elves. They could've easily picked off a Snow Elf or two if they felt the need and/or requirement to use the in their experiments.

[@SopranoOfTheNight]

"Enough monologueing" he says right before he talks for half an hour straight lol

[@necrobynerton7384]

@Lee Anderson you can skip but also some folk like me don't particularly remember such deep lore so i always sit through the recap

[@cripkilla5146]

@Lee Anderson lol ikr

[@fallsbat3574]

The Dwemer didn't want the Snow Elves to see their experiments and be able to copy them. They didn't want to risk them hearing things and learning things either so they devolved them so they couldn't follow them where ever they went. (Or maybe the Falmer got used to their new ways to the point that they went savage on the Dwemer and eat them all)

[@leonidasvonsparta]

No bones?

[@silverowl4403]

What if the Dwarves really did shower them with affection and treated them almost like pets and the Falmer began to souly rely on them and when they vanished the falmer forgot how to live and reverted, with a lack of hunting skills or real food sources they devolved

[@crazychickSHENA]

Makes sense 😆

[@LittleShmuplet]

I do have to say the Falmer along with the Dwemer are among my favorite groups

[@greeneyeballs]

Little Shmuplet garvey settlement gang

[@drs4983]

Should we evacuate this part of the continent? "Nah, let's just go underground and get experimented on

[@lop90ful1]

Nah they had nowhere to go

[@adamstevens5518]

The experiment must have been something the Snow Elves thought was potentially worthwhile. Like being able to unbind themselves. The falmer and wisp mothers are those who couldn’t complete the process. Presumably for other Snow Elves they may have been successful, and the Dwemer learned from them and then were able to do the same thing, maybe without the fungus and/or without the blindness.

[@drs4983]

@@lop90ful1 did they ever explain why the Falmer couldn't flee south, east, or west?

[@TranscendentLion]

@@drs4983 I'm not 100% sure on the timing, but I would think south was ruled out because the Ayleids were living in Cyrodiil, and they were not a pleasant bunch (especially if the Snow Elves had proven themselves inferior by losing to men). Considering how the Ayleids treated humans, I don't think they would have been exactly friendly to Snow Elf refugees.

[@drs4983]

@@TranscendentLion that still leaves Hammerfell, Morrowind, and High Rock

[@SebastianShadows]

Tbh I think the Dwemer were curious about the Osimer transformation. So much so that they traded with Mora for information. With that information they traded Volendrung to Malacath to learn how a Mer can be transformed. From there they sought Peryite and traded Spellbreaker for the secrets needed to turn the Snowelves of Skyrim into the Falmer they are today. Thoughts?

[@dienumight]

Woah that’s a crazy theory, super interesting

[@hernandovisbal8189]

That theory sounds solid, and maybe the Falmer were the last step in the experimental trials to transcend to Aethirium. What if the sudden disappearance of the Dwemer was by their own design? And after using the Falmer as lab rats they finally deciphered how to use tonal manipulation to leave Mundus and go live with the gods in aethirium, hence, completely disappearing without much explanation.

[@cherylvollen8426]

Nords: *practically destroy the falmer civilization* Falmer: It's just a prank bro

[@NiquelBones]

"Usually found in wolves or... really stupid cows" hey i have a name thank you very much

[@firebymisfire2640]

Usually found in wolves, really stupid cows AND Niquel Bones and myself

[@Art3mis28]

Ok seriously tho, this guy deserves his own show where he just talks about the crazy mysteries and details in Skyrim. I would definitely binge watch that show every single day

[@iamsam322]

I always thought it was weird that the snow elves snuck into the nord city and started the slaughter, especially if their entire race could be wiped out by a single army of 500. If they were as smart as they seemed to be then they probably wouldn’t have started a war they had no hope of winning. It just seems out of place you know? My theory is that the Dwemer actually committed the act leaving only Ysgramor alive and somehow (probably using tonal manipulation) made him believe the attack was by the snow elves, orchestrating the Nordic-Falmer war from the background, knowing their Elven brethren would eventually have no choice but to turn to them for the preservation of their society. Ultimately the Dwemer found a way to enslave the snow elves without really any effort on their part, allowing them to be used as guinea pigs for their sound experiments and stuff that brought the devolution of the falmer, most likely giving the Dwemer the knowledge to transcend the mortal plane. It makes more sense to me, because the Dwemer seem much more capable of an unprovoked slaughter than the Snow Elves do, and it’s totally the type of societal manipulation you’d expect from a race that ignores emotions in favor of scientific discovery. I mean really if any race in Skyrim was gonna play God like that, it would be the Dwemer right?? There’s not much evidence to support it, it’s almost completely speculation but it makes a lot of sense to me

[@ShopRat-cf9tr]

I like it. I like the fact that Bethesda keeps everything open ended enough that they could potentially use fan theories like yours to make new content.

[@jacquelineking5783]

Yeah that makes alot of sense. Because it still seems like the dwemer enslaved the falmer just not for manual labor. At best you could say they took advantage of a people who apparently had no other option but flee to the dwemer or die. The tablet reads as much as a reminder that the falmer owed the dwemer as anything else.

[@averyroff-nichols4358]

Two thoughts, firstly: what if the experiment didn't actually fail, what if the Dwemer succeeded and the falmer we see are just the descendants of the early attempts. Secondly, it strikes me that "Solid Sound" fits with how the dwarves might refer to the elder scrolls.

[@AnActualGoose]

That’s such a good connection, too... the dwemer having their own knowledge and interpretations of the scrolls and shouts

[@rylian21]

All I'm going to say is that I have reason to believe that just like the show "Lost," they have only a vague idea and make this shit up as they go along to keep the mystery going and string the audience along.

[@hedgehog3180]

@@rylian21 I think The Elder Scrolls isn't entirely that but with things like the Dwemer they probably just haven't decided and never will.

[@shea1762]

Imagine how scary it was for the snow elves all thoses 500 nords knew how to shout imagine 500 fus ro dah’s coming at you

[@sythesz]

Humans couldn’t shout until Akatosh and Kynereth allowed the nords to do that when the dragons took over, which was wayyyyy after the snow elves v atmorans. I do agree though, that would be terrifying.

[@Mikcha212]

khajiit atmora was controlled by the dragon cult before yssgramor lead the companions to conquer Skyrim.

[@sythesz]

Mikcha212 yes, but they only got given the gift from the gods after they revolted, in the turning of dragon war.

[@AizenV7]

@@Mikcha212 notice that none of the Dragon Priests can do shout, no matter how strong they are. because they lived before Kynareth and Paarthurnax teach the shouts to the Nords/Atmorans.

[@jessebrown1996]

@@AizenV7 Althought quite a few Draugr can.

[@WorldElderScrolls.]

Bruh put these on Spotify as a podcast. Best thing to listen to while replaying skyrim for the 26th time)

[@medioqre]

?

[@VforVengeance159]

Man, I love your videos. You really dove into the lore, taking us the readers with you with your story telling. I love Skyrim. Thanks for your videos!

[@Shitbird3249]

“Welcome home have some shrooms.” -Dwemmer dude

[@battydude]

The Dwemer weren't looking for slaves, they were using the Falmer as livestock of sorts. Dwemer Animunculi are powered by souls, and the Falmer were being bred and harvested as a resource. Every machine you fight, is essentially a living person who has lost their original body and their memories. Their souls, ripped out and reprogrammed to serve the Dwemer.

[@bry7954]

That makes alot of sense

[@ernstgottschalk8023]

Im not quite sure but doesnt the research notes in Alftand say that the gems apparently has nothing to do with powering the automatons?

[@sea_triscuit7980]

How do you think their machinery is still going? I believe it's because the native Falmer souls are being harvested slowly throughout their dwellings

[@sea_triscuit7980]

@@ernstgottschalk8023 I'm thinking it's moreso the entire building and it's systems

[@ernstgottschalk8023]

@@sea_triscuit7980 nah its specifically references a dwemer spider worker. And then the researcher notes that the gem inside the spider apparently has nothing to do with powering it..

[@AerisShenlin]

All these years I had the plan to one day sit down and actually read my way through the mountain of books I feel compelled to collect, and now I found your channel I find it a lot more comfy to listen to your amazing videos.

[@mareofmaers3590]

One thing I'd like to add/think about with that whole "fungus thing": If you think about Blackreach, you can find those gigantic glowing mushrooms you can not collect for alchemy, they're just... there. But, what else is in Blackreach, in particular in the soil of Blackreach? Aetherium, which, as somewhere else is mentioned in one of your videos, has connections to Aetherius. What if those giant mushrooms you can see, are actually full of Aetherium or aetherial energy? And feeding it to the Falmer was part of the preparation for unbinding them from the earth bones. Just a small thing one might be able to add to the whole Falmer-Dwemer-conspiracy.

[@hihi-nm3uy]

Judge: "Does the defendant 'Nate' confess to murdering his wife, and dumping her in a river?!" TheEpicNate: "In the end, only my wife knows, and my wife isn't telling..! ;)"

[@Xazyv]

Lawyer: "your honor, my client declares he did not murder his wife to death."

[@realzachfluke1]

Xazyv LMFAOOOOOOO (to both of you wonderful people) 😂🤣😂🤣😂

[@lukewade4276]

hahahaha cool!!

[@IndependentOreo]

Lmao-

[@realzachfluke1]

Luke Wade very very cool, I agree...lol

[@passerby5735]

Reading through some other theories on here. Decided to combine them. 1. Dwemer tried to help Falmer ascend from their "earth bones" turning them into wisp mothers and lost souls 2. Dwemer powered their machines/centurions with souls (allegedly Falmer souls, but that would mean more black souls. Doesn't explain how Falmer got white souls) 3. Combining these theories, I think the Dwemer succeeded in helping some Falmer ascend, and failed with others. Either way, they were left with empty Falmer bodies. Seeing as how they already used white souls to power their automata, I think they tried putting souls inside the empty Falmer vessels. That's why the souls are white. It should be impossible to "shrink" a soul, or turn a black soul into a white soul. Only men and mer have black souls, and there's no evidence their souls can be reduced. But there is precedent for other souls being used to create life, e.g., necromancers using black soul gems, Dwemer powering their automata. The Falmer became the Dwemers' first flesh automata. The blindness helped them to keep their creations controllable, because flesh doesn't come with an off switch. But this way, they didn't have to necessarily build more machines -- the Falmer would just reproduce. Whether they decided it was a success and worth it is another matter, but it seems to me that they tested it as a possible replacement for metal automata, or even to be used in tandem with the metal automata.

[@entropicflux8849]

beastmen also have black souls: argonians and khajit don't have white souls.

[@ladyvoldything]

@@entropicflux8849 yeah they do lol, you need a black soul gem for argonians and khajiit

[@ravi87910]

@@entropicflux8849 and orcs

[@deanmalto1386]

Orc is elves/mer, orsimer

[@danmcguire2410]

Your videos are amazing!! Thank you so much! And I absolutely second a previous suggestion, these should be on a podcast!

[@joshquivey6990]

Here's a mystery that I haven't seen addressed: (For a moment leaving aside the Daedric-mutated Dunmer) Why/how did the various elves evolve into different species so quickly after leaving the Summerset Isles even? Doesn't such significant evolution usually take far longer? Is there something about Tamriel that causes species to rapidly mutate?

[@MVP111233]

My guess is that elves simply adapt to their surroundings far quicker that any other species.

[@hedgehog3180]

@@MVP111233 But the humans also adapted really quickly, Redguard, Nords and Imperials all have different abilities.

[@EvelynnWinters2000]

18:20 "1 of 6 soul sizes" *Sad dragonsoul noises*

[@vexile12]

Dragon Souls are in a class of their own (they can't be soul trapped I think)

[@EvelynnWinters2000]

@@vexile12 But theyre still a type of soul

[@razatlab2804]

@Cody Allen thats a funny one actually, what would happen if you kill the dragonborn and get his soul in a gem? would it have all the souls of dragons and his?

[@jordanholloman5907]

@@razatlab2804 You are the dragon soul gem.

[@Goffy]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/ql6VZpJrnaelgrM

[@Werrf1]

Two thoughts. First thought - the Falmer are pretty reminiscent of the Morlocks from H.G. Wells's _The Time Machine._ In that story, the humans of the distant future had split into two species, the beautiful but unintelligent Eloi, and the hideous but intelligent Morlocks who lived underground and ran the technology. Wells imagined this as the result of hundreds of millennia of selective breeding, with social barriers between upper and lower classes eventually leading to a divergence of two species of human. Now, we know that Mer are not unfamiliar with the ideas of selective breeding. It's asserted that the reason the Altmer reproduce so slowly is because they're practicing eugenics, killing any babies that appear too 'different' to try to keep their race 'pure'. What if something similar happened with the Falmer? What if the way they reacted to the fungus guided how they were permitted to reproduce, so that the race effectively split - one side degenerating into the blind, savage goblin-like things we know today, the other side merging into Dwemer society? Becuase that leads me to my Second thought - the Wispmothers are the remains of Dwemer/Falmer hybrids. Elves who had ancestry from both races. When the Dwemer disappeared, we know that it affected _all_ Dwemer, even those in Hammerfell who had no cultural contact with the ones who were mucking about with the Heart. It was something that happened to the _species_ as a whole, not to a society or a region. So what would happen to an individual who was half Dwemer/half Falmer? Perhaps their Dwemer half would disappear with the Dwemer, leaving behind their Falmer half - a soul that had lost half of itself.

[@justinpettit8282]

This makes perfect sense to me

[@thalmoragent9344]

I don't think the Altmer actually killed their babies, Imperial Emissaries were very anti-elven back then, but still, Eugenics are in the societies, choosing partners for this reason. Still, if you're a hybrid, you're not either race of your parent, so as much as it's an interesting theory, I'd have to respectfully disagree

[@Hoodiehov215]

In the elder scrolls you are the race of your mother so if I have a nord mom and a bosmer dad then I come out as a nord but have traits of my dad but genetically I’m a nord not a mix.

[@silferdeath]

@@Hoodiehov215 no genetically they are a mix but for bureaucratic purposes it is easier to write down the mother's race as a mother is surely the parent of a child and a father isn't. And honestly if a nord woman and a elven man had a daughter who also has a baby with an elven man of the same race as her father's would her baby who is 3/4 genetically elf still be a nord? And if so how many generations do you need before a elven baby is born?

[@GoldenSunAlex]

@@Hoodiehov215 It doesn't work like that...Bretons, for example, are the result of Elves and Humans breeding.

[@demonmprint]

This game is full of fun. Been playing it since it launched. I loved the backwards flying dragon glitch that broke the game from the start

[@amarionjohnson5585]

I know this was three years ago but I love your channel so much thank you so much for all the amazing memories

[@aessitaha8028]

At this point, I know more about the history of elves and dwemer more than I know about my own race

[@casablahca]

Lol same

[@SolutiionxD]

Ethnic Group, not race. Thats something else like neanderthals.

[@daltondurham5942]

@@SolutiionxD nope, just nope. Nowhere does your comment mean anything useful.

[@flamingstallion]

SolutiionxD, no it’s race. Neanderthals were an entirely different species.

[@SolutiionxD]

@@daltondurham5942 you cant say an african man is another species than an european ? That would be ethnicity and not race

[@nicholasepsilon3534]

1:42 Everything changed though... Me: “When the fire nation attacked?”

[@divius98]

Nah when the Dwarven Nation attacked

[@mrtb7148]

Homosapians, reptiles, feline, elves long ago these races use to all live together in harmony then everything change when the nords attacked

[@TheHornedKing_27]

Hahahahahaha!!!

[@TheHornedKing_27]

@Elisabeth MacCurdy but everything changed when The COPPA nation attacked

[@Alwais_Elsweyr]

I said it when he started the phrase 😅

[@natemedders1287]

There is a room in a Dwemer ruin known as “slave pens” that you can find in the thieves guild quest line. I think that pretty much confirms that Bethesda decided the falmer were kept as slaves.

[@kanorcubes329]

That's in blackreach, where human slaves resie

[@Boomslayer19]

Slaves/test subjects

[@blender4464]

That can be a bit fuzzy because the races aren't a monolith and slavery doesn't have to begin and end with the falmer. Perhaps some populations were kinder or crueler than others, perhaps some dwarves (or indeed anybody who happened to wander by) were themselves kept as slaves. Not to mention, many functional things found in populated ruins are undoubtedly not ancient dwarven artifacts. Wooden tools being used thousands of years later? Yeah right. What you see and hear (from books and npcs) now in this time can't be fully taken as truth due to passage of time and spread of the dwarves across skyrim.

[@goeremusic]

Bro, what... this is so entertaining yet absolutely crazy. You're like that guy with the whiteboard and all the red lines that point to countless pictures, articles, books and idk... more whiteboards across the whole room! That was flashy, quality content! I'm shook.

[@GeorgeWinterborn]

I'm on board until the end. I've always thought the Dwemer were blind themselves, but used tonal manipulation to Daredevil their way through the world, but also see into other planes of Aedric existence ("From Beyond" style) simultaneously. I've mentioned a few reasons for this in older comments, like the blinding effect Elder Scrolls have on people and how I don't think it's unrelated to tonal magic, the gods, and the Dwemer, but I won't go into all that again, here. (I believe the Dwemer expected the blind Falmer to be able to read carved plaques the same way they did, to that point) I've said before that there aren't really any objectively identifiable sources of light in Dwemer ruins, just extremely dim energy wells in sconces or ceiling mounted structures. Everything in the Dwemer ruins works perfectly as it did when the ruins were just dwellings, except, apparently, for these lights--if they're lights. I don't think they're lights, though. I think they're batteries or power sources, like wall outlets, through which the Dwemer accessed and used larger, more steady amounts of tonal manipulation energy in their daily lives (like we use electricity), but the ambient glow they give off arbitrarily was interpreted as lights by every other race. I don't think the Dwemer used or needed light sources. All sources of profound tonal energy seem to give off an ambient blue to blue-green glow, like Aetherium. The "lights" in Dwemer ruins do this. The fungus most commonly found within Dwemer ruins, and the fungus it's believed the Falmer were given to eat, also gives off a blue glow, and tends to grow in areas also associated with or near Aetherium veins. I think the Dwemer did actually feed the Falmer the fungus. But it was to make them like themselves. It was to grant them the power of Tonal Perception. I believe the Dwmer themselves had been eating it for countless generations. I think it's how they discovered the Tonal Manipulation mysteries to begin with. I think it was only through the consumption of the Fungus, after a set number of generations, that the Falmer could be introduced to the deeper powers of Tonal Manipulation, possibly through exposure to a song or other type of sound pattern. However, the Dwemer hadn't accounted for enough variables, being in a rush to assimilate the Snow Elves. Upon being introduced to the "From Beyond" type tonal visions the Dwemer were accustomed to, the ability to perceive reality beyond the "Earth Bones," the entire Falmer race went insane, some of them even leaving their bodies entirely out of confusion and tonal ignorance, others having their soul irreparably damaged. I don't think they meant to experiment on the Falmer--not initially, anyway. I think they honestly meant to assimilate them in good faith, but fucked up the process due to having to do it more quickly than it should have been done. I believe the Dwemer spent an extremely long time trying to rectify the situation, which is when experimentation began. I think physical blindness is the only way to be able to fully perceive the mysteries and energies of Tonal Manipulation. The Dwemer were so in tuned and developed to experience Tonal manipulation, that I think the tone generated by striking Lorkhan's heart was able to be heard by any blind, tonally sensitive Dwemer on the planet, which is why all Dwemer underwent whatever change took place on the day they all disappeared, even those on other continents (but not those outside the vibrational range of tonal reality, aka places not created by the Aedra, like the planes of Oblivion). I've never played or even really seen much from the Elder Scrolls Online. But the books I'd read in Oblivion and Skyrim led me to believe the Dwemer might be Daredevil type folks, but that plaque kind of confirmed it for me. That's how I interpret all that, anyway.

[@masansr]

Pretty sure the Dwemer guy you meet in Morrowind isn't blind.

[@metalswifty23]

The fact that we meet a Dwemer in Morrowind can debunk the blind theory. He appears to suggest that he could/can see, because he mentions that his "eyes and hands fail me," among other lines he mentions about seeing things. He may be going blind himself, but that’s down to his disease and age.

[@goblintootsies]

I do really like this theory and I've never heard anyone speculate that the about blindness being caused like that, however my one main problem is that I don't remember the dwemer guy morrowind being blind although I could be mistaken

[@giuliob7358]

Blindness could be dubious, but the general concept works, I belive too the dwemer fed the fungus to the falmer to prepare them for their experiments with tonal manipulation and souls. What made them blind, that or the experiment itself?

[@GeorgeWinterborn]

Riften Guard If he was able to see with sound, how would you know? I don’t take these things that seriously, but it was just what some of he books made me think when I played Oblivion a in 2007.

[@TheWhiteDragon3]

I'm not entirely sure how souls work in the Elder Scrolls universe, but do you think that possibly the soul is intrinsically linked to the physical body and the "size" determined by the cognitive abilities of the body. Perhaps as the Falmer biologically devolved and reduced in cognitive abilities, the "size" of their souls "shrank" as an effect of that. To back this up, I think when you soul trap a draugr you'll get a lesser soul instead of a grand soul like you would from a "human-sized" soul.

[@MandalorV7]

That kinda supports an idea I was forming while watching the video. What if the dwarves were able to separate the Snow elf souls from their bodies into a higher plain of existence. Though the elves' bodies were very much still functioning but without a higher soul could only function at the level of an animal.

[@TheWhiteDragon3]

@@MandalorV7 Now there's a grand idea right there

[@ignis5616]

@@MandalorV7 i think its a cool idea my only objection would be they display a higher than base animal level of intelligence by fashioning Armour and weapons. I'd say its more likely, that their souls were tarnished by the damadge they recieved to their bodies, minds, and emotional states and ultimately what would be their "humanity". This lose would contribute to them losing sight of morals, emotions, and reason ultimately their "soul" itself shriveled and became a lesser soul.

[@darken2417]

You are overlooking something. Its not that their souls are linked to their intelligence. Its simply that their souls are corruptible. Its simply the inferior nature of being an Elf. HUMANS FIRST!

[@loganjblack]

Draugr are very old undead. I'm not sure if vampires need black soul gems though, but if they do it's because they aren't really the same type of undead as Draugr or skeletons.

[@hunter5822]

20:02 ...OH, when I first noticed they only had a normal soul gem, I thought it was a mechanical mistake or simple way to get around people using falmer as an easy source of black souls.... ....but If what your implying was intentional (which I have no reason to doubt) then perhaps the dwemer were experimenting with the souls, and perhaps using them as soul sources for their machines!!!!

[@hunter5822]

OH, what if the underground dragon we find was actually helping to teach the dwemer how to use their tonal resonance that they use for some of their machines!!!

[@vectorforce5748]

Escaping the earth bones sounds like they wanted to unbind the Falmer's souls from the universal physics.

[@suspect2780]

I like to think that somewhere in Bethesda game studious there is a book maybe Todd Howard’s journal locked away full of all the answers to every mystery in Skyrim

[@pingASS_]

They do have lore masters but I think they sometimes leave stuff unanswered for fans and for future lore. But Todd Howard probably has a secret book. ;)

[@TheAnomaly00]

@@pingASS_ Its the complete, full length novel version of The Lusty Argonian Maid

[@Msannber]

One book? Haha it would be many...With all the quests with each country race and the games before....so yesss...many books

[@ladyvoldything]

i honestly think that todd burned all the Weirdest lore when they were making Oblivion. the series has been afraid of its own worldbuilding and unique weirdness since Morrowind

[@IEVLV8]

@@pingASS_ Todd is Herma Mora, holding the Books of Knowledge. The dwemer were trying to unbind from time to attack and secure these books

[@faunxe1435]

Perspective: Your a snow elf just seeing the underground dwemer complex you live in now, they gather you all up and are just like “so uh welcome... we are happy to have you here. EAT THIS WIERD MUSHROOM WE FOUND YO!”

[@rogehmarbi]

"Think of it as a welcome dessert... What? Your vision goes all blurry? Must be an allergic reaction..."

[@skullyeverret9761]

"vison getting a bit blurry, its alright fam, thats normal"

[@faunxe1435]

Rogeh Ha

[@faunxe1435]

skully everret all part of the plan

[@SwooshJush83]

Maybe they thought they were the fun kind of shrooms

[@gonfin350]

Honestly, keep making these. I have watched theseboth concious and going to sleep. You are the best bro, keep making amazing content.

[@neotheresa]

This is definitely one of those TES theories I 100% subscribe to. And with how convincingly (and easily understood) Nate argued that being the case, I’m even more subscribed to it.

[@ovni2295]

Alternative explanation: the Falmer have shrunken souls, and the robots often have soul gems inside them. The Dwemer tore their souls apart to power their robots.

[@razatlab2804]

about the automatons i think you may be right, as i have a theory for the functioning of them Basically, i think they are like a really huge and optimized spell(tho i dont know how to explain why the gem doesnt get empty), one that complex that it hasnt been used again, only found by the dwemer (or probably their race power/ability)

[@ledanoir1239]

what about the automatons on Hammerfell, as TESO shows? unless those cities were conected to skyrim by blackreach, wich I think its not the case

[@jordanholloman5907]

How Eggman of the Dwemer.

[@dylanschmidt9056]

They had robots before they took in the Falmer, and they had convectors to fill the soul gems, though.

[@calvin1176]

@@dylanschmidt9056 id imagine you would make sure to have those before enslaving people to harvest

[@scottc5675]

Nate: "Calcelmo's stone rubbing." Me, internally 12: *giggles*

[@wispyz0]

after the whole thing about the lost souls in eso, and them being lost from the dwemers’ attempts to experiment on them, i kinda remembered their fates seem somewhat similar to that of arniel gane after his quest, because all we have left of him is a shade that appears at least somewhat similar to the wisp mother’s

[@d.maxwell8669]

It keeps bothering me that 500 companions was enough to overwhelm the entire Snow Elf civilization. As there's a theory that Ysgramor was a dragon priest, would it make much more sense if he was able to defeat/massacre all the Snow Elves with the help of 500 dragons instead? This would have paved the way for dragon rule and would fit perfectly in the timeline.

[@AutoAndChill]

Or maybe Ysgramor wasn't really to blame. He's seen as a heroic figure elsewhere so killing Snow Elves for no reason doesn't sit well with me. I wonder if we are getting the story warped in some way. We only have what we read in the books in Skyrim.

[@skyscall]

I like to think that the 500 were just the lead group, and that many came after them. Or even, that the 500 Companions were just that, the 500 members of Ysgramor's personal distinguished unit, and many other groups of not-so-distinguished warriors also came alongside the 500 to assist. It's a similar story to King Leonidas' 300 men in the battle for Thermopilae in our real history -- there were considerably more men present, it's just that the 300 were part of a legendary unit that became written about over the centuries. Even though the 300 lost, with Leonidas I dying in their last battle.

[@jasonlazar3569]

29:00 I'm pretty sure that "The Hanging of the Gardens" is just a mistranslated copy of the same text contained on Calcelmo's tablet. There are certain similarities in the flow of the text and the wording contained in each. For example, "guide Altmer-Estrial led with foot-flames for the town-center where lay dead the quadrangular gardens" lines up relatively well with "your people were given passage to our steam gardens" as well as details from the line beginning with "many of your people had perished", while "asked the foundations and chains and vessels their naming places" lines up with "we only request you partake of the symbol of our bond, the fruit of the stones around us" if you look at "and" as a mistranslation of "of". "Why they did not use solid sound to teach escape from the Earth Bones nor nourished them with frozen flames" corresponds with "know only our mercy and the radiance of our affection, which unbinds your bones to the earth before, and sets your final path to the music of your new eternity", and the final line of "the word I shall have once written of, this 'art' our lesser cousins speak of when their admirable ignorance" strikes me as being a misplaced mistranslation of "and as your vision clouds, as the darkness sets in, fear not".

[@pulsefel9210]

something else to note with the falmer having non-black souls....all dwemer combat machines have soul gems with varies sizes as loot. its possible the falmer were bred and changed to make them easier to harvest and whatever soul experiments they were doing was to make them lose the Black category and be much easier to soul trap. blackreach is the only place you can find soul gem mines and the dwemer arent really known for having farms or land to raise animals on. a race of creatures with easily trapped souls that survives on mushrooms grown underground? perfect fodder.

[@oldgamerchick]

Really well thought out theory's. Thank you for sharing. 🙃☕❤

[@mcnlj24]

These videos are fantastic. Thank you. 👏👏

[@GentIemanThief]

26:28 This passage contradicts your idea that the blinding via toxic mushrooms was entirely fabricated, although I do agree with the overall conclusion of this all being a failed experiment. My thinking is that the Dwemer did intentionally blind the Falmer, but this was done in order to force them to compensate by strengthening their hearing with the goal of seeing if this would enhance the effect of Tonal Manipulation on them. Or perhaps they intended to teach the art of Tonal Manipulation to the Falmer and wanted to see if this would improve their ability to use it.

[@norfar377]

"The fruit of our stones" could mean that they were fed mushrooms to blind them, as the next lines talk about the falmer accepting the darkness and giving in to the dwemer's experiment

[@driftingdruid]

@@norfar377 "the fruit of our stones" could also refer to the tones emitted from said stones... it's not entirely clear-cut as to what that particular phrase means :/

[@benp9793]

It doesn't literally mean fruit. "Fruits of your labor"? Fruit of the stones is referring to the tonal manipulation itself. The fruits of their efforts. Literacy and vocabulary are greatly lacking these days.

[@hedgehog3180]

@@driftingdruid Not really when they talk about tonal manipulation earlier without using those terms.

[@chrisppx]

You know what’s bigger? This settlement that needs your help; here, i’ll mark it on your map...

[@GlennSkywalker2305]

You are in the wrong franchise

[@At1asTheProto]

@@GlennSkywalker2305 Same as you Anakin lol.

[@farisidrizi9785]

Ah shit here we go again

[@JoyWSnow]

He needs your help. He switched games just to find you General!

[@ALovelyBunchOfDragonballz]

Hey! No. I'm a raider now. I got my raider buddies. I don't need you anymo......shit, I killed one. Where was that settlement?

[@jamchiroptera4258]

Great vid! And daaaaaaaamn that mod of Winterhold looks amazing

[@abeltejada8084]

Man everytime I come back to your channel it makes me wanna play skyrim all over again. And I think I will.

[@AshtraskaPanthera]

now that you've mentioned wismother's having a tone my mind is stuck on nirnroot and crimson nirnroot which is specifically found in blackreach. Could that possibly tie into this somehow?

[@imseti7991]

this has a lot to do with lorkhan and the heart of lorkhan (see morrowind, viz., sunder and keening, tuning forks) and eventually the very disappearance of the dwarves from mundus/nirn (i don't remember which specifically, but every bit of obscure lore i know about this makes me certain that it would be nirn only). there are tonal/musical themes throughout (sword singing in akavir, green singing of the bosmir [only in an ESO book iirc?], and the thu'um immediately come to mind). likely related is the concept of the jha-kah'jay and the dances/climbing of the khajiit. (they keep the best secrets, after all). related to the khajiit's climbing/dancing (but not to music and tones) is the mythology of sidestepping (redguard). back to khajiit, it's worth looking into the proper nature of azura and why it's not a "plot hole" that she could manifest even with the dragonfire barrier (contrast, compare to the lunar lattice). rabbit trails, but good stuff. back to "earth bones" which makes me think very much of lorkhan but also literally the ehlnofey. there's not much to say about them, but it's definitely worth looking into the REAL differences between the aedra and daedra and what happened when the aedra chose to incarnate. blah blah, i could go on. the reason i say "look into" instead of saying exactly what i think is because so much of it is open to interpretation and viewpoints. literally, it's all about viewpoints. also, fun fact, "utmora" and "altmora" sound pretty similar. weird! i'm sure that has nothing to do with anything, like the battle between auri'el and lorkhan, or why elves and humans don't like each other, or [...]

[@imseti7991]

also, perhaps most obviously (i can't believe i forgot), moth priests. 'nuff said.

[@snazzydrew]

​@@imseti7991 I thought Sword Singing was Yokudan?

[@imseti7991]

you're right, RIP me

[@Holtkid13]

Last time I was this early. The dwemer were still around

[@AlphaLykkan]

Lol

[@GlennSkywalker2305]

No shoot Sherlock

[@blackandwhiteduo4971]

Last time I saw a comment like this, I was a hour younger

[@drakejoshofficialyoutubech5569]

@@GlennSkywalker2305 Well actually in TES 3 Morrowind you can meet the last surviving Dwemer, but I don't think Nate was uploading back in 2002 so I guess your comment still holds up.

[@GlennSkywalker2305]

Drake&Josh Official KZbin Channel lol

[@jaredtandle2596]

Truth be told Todd has elder scrolls 6 finished he just wants us to actually finish Skyrim.

[@M8K6R7]

That was some really interesting thesis. Have to say that it makes way more sense than all other theories I have heard before

[@AnthonyDaFox]

oh yeah using your Distraught elven brothers and Sisters for experiments Really is pure hearted. Kagrahnac should obviously get the nobel peace prize.

[@metetural9140]

Well Kagrenac was in Vvardenfell and was a tonal engineer so he would have nothing to do with experimenting of the Falmer

[@youwillpayforyoursins9372]

Why are you getting so worked up about? It's just a theory.... A ga-

[@AnthonyDaFox]

@@youwillpayforyoursins9372 Go back to your Metapod.

[@trotskiftw]

“JuSt KeEp ThEm AwAy FrOm WeApOnS” - that’s worked so well to deter revolts throughout history

[@FastForwardPlans]

Usually, those revolts happened on account of people in power feeling guilt about those they subjugated, mixed with how you can't really keep your slaves locked up if you want to use them. Allowing an opening for weapons and other tools to slip through. These guys seem extremely logic obsessed, and their civilization is based underground with very easy to watch exits, it would take decades of careful work to sneak a tunnel that could potentially reach the surface, so I doubt that would have been a problem.

[@oldtimetinfoilhatwearer]

Zolen fed

[@talhahassen98]

What he was essentially saying was that it would be way less ineffective if they were to revolt.

[@DAsrada]

Chauruses: what're you looking at me for? ...oh no.

[@hedgehog3180]

@@FastForwardPlans No it didn't what the fuck are you talking about, like that has literally never happened in any historical slave revolt.

[@simplyskrypt3914]

My personal theory is that the fungus fed to the falmer didn't actually blind them, but instead making them capable of being affected more deeply by the dwemer's tonal architecture frequencies, and the dwemer weren't lying. The tonal frequencies (i forget what numbers) would blind the falmer, in exchange for allowing them to ascend into chim along with the dwemer. However, the frequencies probably triggered the collective awakening before everything was ready (yagrum bagarn was in oblivion at the time so he couldn't resonate with the others) and instead of achieving chim, they collectively zero-summed. The falmer, most likely not completely transformed at that time, didn't feel those frequencies and were left alone, with noone to guide them, cure them or end them. Without tonal frequencies to help them integrate the fungus correctly, they devolved into mindless 'animals' over the years, as the fungus corrupted their very souls and altered their appearance beyond recognition

[@mikeweaver8495]

I like this theory for the most part, but I feel like you missed a clue in the form of the soul sizes. First, number the soul sizes like this: 6. Black 5. Grand 4. Greater 3. Common 2. Lesser 1. Petty Now, if you add the falmer soul (2. Lesser) to the whispmother soul (4. Greater) it would equal the highest soul (6. Black). So rather than the falmer and whispmothers being 2 DIFFERENT effects of the Dwemer experiments, I theorize that the whispmothers are snow elf “spirits” that have been separated from their falmer bodies. I think this was the goal of these experiments, except the entire soul was intended to stay with the spirit. Since their souls were ripped in two, both the bodies and the spirits of those snow elves were corrupted. That would explain why they are both hostile entities. Eventually, the Dwemer were able to stop the soul from being torn apart in this way, and once they were able to successfully transcend their bodies, they gathered together and ascended together. But this is of course just a theory.