Villainpedia: Alduin

[@EinFelsbrocken]

Alduin in lore: 🤯👉😎👉😡😳🙏🙏😤😤🐉😱😱🦖👹👿🗣💥💥 Alduin in game: 🐸

[@LexisVoyage]

he was just overhyped by the people who sealed him he was actually weak asf

[@andrews6411]

@@LexisVoyage that name lmao

[@GooberBrainTrollingCorp]

@@LexisVoyage explains why they are wearing scaled armor when you go back in time

[@GwynC]

Even Google can't translate that

[@GwynC]

@Dagoth Ur of course it was meh, you're a god, how can you kill a god?

[@jesseharlan2884]

From Alduin's point of view he wasn't plotting and scheming in the time he was gone. He disappears and reappears thousands of years later and honestly was underprepared for the new world he finds himself in. He's arrogant enough to believe all his old tricks will work because to him they're not old they worked yesterday. The Nords were losing the dragon war, and sending Alduin forward in time was a last-ditch, hail mary play. Really it's not like he even could learn lessons from previous Kalpas, he slept the entire time until the proverbial dinner bell ring. Alduin's biggest flaw is that he didn't want to eat the world, he didn't want to do the one thing he was designed to do. Unlike Mortals the Aedra, Daedra, Atronachs and Dragons can not truly deny their nature. Mehrunes Dagon is the God of destruction if he likes it or not, dibella is the goddess of beauty if she likes it or not. Same goes for flame atronachs, winged twilights, and golden saints. That's the true power of mortality, the reason why some see Lorkhan's plan as a gift or challenge, while others see it as a punishment or prison.

[@ameliakyle7054]

for all we know, he may have had the time to scheme as dragons are beings of time, he may have been able to percieve the very movement of time between the two points he travelled through time, where for humans we dont exactly percieve time we record it and use methods to track it i think it's been said in game that dragons can see the movement of time or something but cannot see past it's end

[@TheSkyrimps3]

The only hole in your statement is that parthunax managed to overcome his nature.

[@dovhadark7108]

@@TheSkyrimps3 more like constantly keeping it in check, and for alduin case we could argue it's as much his nature that it is his rôle and so he really can't escape from it without destroying himself

[@knightgale2120]

@@TheSkyrimps3 has said his nature try’s comes out daily.

[@Liam4Dead]

The reason for that is shy and the way way I am so happy to to hear you and Orks and your smile on my hand when you you get to

[@holloww_dwella]

To me, the Dragonborn DLC feels more like the main quest than the actual main quest.

[@sleepyproduction7166]

Probably was, but game devs now take and divvy up their games and sell it in chunks. It’s why I’m done with MMOs, have to buy a subscription to get necessary game mechanics, and dlcs that have better quests. We need to get back to when dlc meant add on. Or at least games come out complete and working.

[@BlueSpams]

Yeah, after defeating Alduin I felt like I just got rid of an annoying roadblock. After stopping Miraak I really had that “damn, now what?” feeling.

[@DCBiscuit]

@@BlueSpams That’s how I felt after killing the Emperor as my last quest in my 100% achievement playthrough. I then went and ten shot the Ebony Warrior.

[@pyropulseIXXI]

@@sleepyproduction7166 WoW and Runescape classic have sub and that is it; you don't buy extra dlc

[@kianschoeman6574]

Yeah like after I beat him and returned to my house in Solstheim I just put his armour on display and just sat there looking at it for a few minutes and was like Damn

[@jeffdoesntdoanything6901]

I agree, Alduin could’ve been so much more, but DO NOT Slander my main man Paarthanax. If he wanted to rule Tamriel then I’d let him.

[@rejvaik00]

_"Well then you are lost!"_

[@culturecanvas777]

Parthunax is the real master teacher of Skyrim. His wisdom teaches the Greybeards, while the Greybeards are the highest spiritual authority in Skyrim. So basically all Nords of Skyrim are indirect pupils of Paarthunax.

[@hughmann9568]

​@@culturecanvas777 no .. not at all. You just made shit up. 🤣🤣

[@realzachfluke1]

​@@culturecanvas777 lol, except our main Bear [of Markarth], Ulfric Stormcloak! Dude directly studied & meditated with the Greybeards, but turned away from the Way of the Voice, using his Thu'um to slay Torygg. And since he's not Dragonborn, and literally developed his Voice in High Hrothgar with them, the Greybeards simply wouldn't approve of him using it like that. Didn't need to add this, but to hell with it, I've gone and done it anyway 😂

[@xz5685]

If you make a most powerful villains from the villainopedia list i’m looking forward to seeing Tom nook above Alduin the world eater

[@kince7629]

Nook is a powerful foe but restti is far beyond tom. He transcends your ability to fluke the game by not saving, regardless of how much code and time is lost, he always knows your wrong doings and will confront you on them

[@Ghostcharm]

@@kince7629 this is true. there have been reports of resetti coming directly into players houses irl via the floor and berating them. scary stuff.

[@SomethingLame]

Tom Nook is a good guy and I'll die on that hill.

[@rabbitboybrownie86]

Tom nook grew up poor and still holds the fear of it in cannon. He spends 90 % of earned bells to an orphanage. Even then he has no intent to charge more than he asks for on mortgages. Literal 0 interest and pay when you can. If anything I’d say he’s a good guy. Just associated with evil capitalism because he fills the role of a landlord but really just a guy making homes and making a small profit. He isn’t milking anyone like a leech. Now you could say in the first game where he makes you work but it isn’t demanded you work, you can easily do anything you want, but he gives a easy quick cash job to help pay for stuff until you can spend your own time living off the land. Mans is literally one of few business owners I’d give a smidge of respect to. And Tom nook has all mine. If only Nintendo could learn from their friendly tanuki

[@bombomos]

@@SomethingLame you'll die alone against a horde. Flame on

[@MyrddintheBard]

I always felt Alduin's model was way too small. When I first saw him I just thought he was A dragon. Not THE Dragon. I feel like it wouldn't have been that hard to scale him up just a little.

[@frogradar]

probably not, but when you consider that he has to fight in certain areas, land in certain areas and also be able to load in while still looking menacing while the OVERWORLD is working in the background... Perhaps scaling up was causing too many Frame issues.

[@pancakes8670]

It took me a while to realize that was Alduin who destroyed Helgen. I thought it was a random dragon lol That's probably me being stupid tho. Alduin does have some recognizable horns

[@kalamari3288]

@@frogradar Yeah a bit of a necro here, but you have a good point. Keeping in mind that Skyrim was made over a decade ago, it seems only natural that something so big would cause issues. Elden Ring is a good example. If you wake up the giant dragon in Dragonbarrow (using mods), it’s going to certainly cause low frames and likely lead to a crash. Big stuff in open world games is hard to deal with now, and it was hard to deal with a decade ago as well.

[@CZ57-Avenger_]

Few months after the game releases there were mods already that double or triple the size of the dragons... the problem is... it causes havok with the landing animations, messes up with buildings and stuff.

[@Galimeer5]

It actually wouldn't. I could whip up a mod that would do exactly that in under ten minutes, and most of that time would be waiting for various programs to load

[@Exile_Sky]

Alduin Design: 10/10 very cool looking. Alduin Implementation: 1/10 The Skeleton Dragon optional boss was a more interesting fight. Killed Alduin in like three hits.

[@pacefactor]

TBH the idea behind the entire mage's guild quest line was amazing but implemented like a wet turd. The skeletal dragon fight, on the other hand, was one of the cooler moments I had in the entire game.

[@tristanalexander3275]

@@pacefactor I feel like that's the entirety of Skyrim summed up. Fantastic ideas and a wonderful continuation of Elder Scrolls lore post-Kirkbride, but the implementation and quest writing is lackluster in comparison to the quality of Skyrim's foundation. It's as if the third little piggy died after laying the foundation of his home and the first and second piggy came and stacked sticks and straws on top of it - under the surface it's rock solid, but your living space is falling apart and full of holes.

[@azzor4134]

if alduin wasn't just a regular dragon that fights using regular dragon shouts with a unique model, he would be more interesting. Oh how dumb it is that the firstborn of Akatosh will try to kill you by biting and breathing fire, so much wasted potential. I still don't know how Bethesda could get own dragons so wrong. They created dozens of unique shouts which Dragons supposedly are able to use, but made them into generic flying lizards that bite and breath fire or frost.

[@iancassidy1150]

​@@pacefactor what do you mean

[@plugshirt1762]

@@tristanalexander3275I think the actual writing for the quests is well done and interesting it’s just that the gameplay is so lackluster as it’s the same fetch quest a hundred times

[@juanignaciogennaro8478]

i love Alduins lore, but i don't really like about its ingame depiction

[@cornonthekobi]

that's one thing Bethesda kinda suck at. they can design suuuper cool characters, but only on paper. in gameplay they're always "meh" (besides Dagon and Dagoth)

[@DuBstep115]

@@cornonthekobi How is Dagoth not meh? First encounter you can one shot him and then you just run past him and stab the heart... and he died again. This whole boss encounter takes like 25sec.

[@nicholasmorgan7609]

@@DuBstep115 nice bait

[@DuBstep115]

@@nicholasmorgan7609 Bait? Have you even played that game?

[@nicholasmorgan7609]

@@DuBstep115 Yeah, he makes a better villain than Alduin, but Morrowind does a lot of things better

[@zwhsantwnopoylos5972]

Oblivion : You walk through an Oblivion gate in the first 30 minutes Skyrim : You kill an ancient resurrected dragon at level 3 Fallout 4 : MG goes brrrrr on a deathclaw in the first 10 minutes The trend couldn't be more clear.

[@Cthulhu_bng117]

aCtuAlLy The dragon in the beginning was never resurrected. Murmilniir has been in hiding since the Dragon War

[@jamppamaattori]

@@Cthulhu_bng117 I didn't know that. That's pretty cool.

[@LadyDoomsinger]

Funny thing is, the thing I actually love about Morrowind (Elder Scrolls 3) is how you start out a pathetically weak prisoner, fresh off the boat, barely able to fend off a mudcrab, a rat, or some random bare-handed commoner who murdered the local tax collector. You actually feel like you're out of your depth and have to work to learn your skills fast in order to survive (and do your job) - then as you grow in experience, you become a competent adventurer, capable of handling the average enemy you encounter, as long as you don't do anything stupid - until at the endgame, you essentially become a demigod, wiping the floor with all but the most powerful entities of Vvardenfell. Assuming you do things right, of course. People who don't understand the game mechanics will just whine about how the weapon doesn't hit when they swing it at the enemy.

[@Santiago.Ag11]

​@@LadyDoomsinger Agreed; I prefer Morrowind's rate of progression as well. If you still play Skyrim and want a similar progression pace, you should give Requiem a try if you haven't already; it's a mod that makes changes to leveled lists, enemies, items, and more to give the game something close to a Morrowind feel.

[@foodafen7406]

Fallout 3: You disarm a nuclear bomb as soon as you leave the vault

[@sirsir9665]

Alduin and the last Dragonborn are like physical embodiments of the two natures of Akatosh. Alduin being his his more Dragon nature while the last Dragonborn is his more human depiction. Akatosh is debating whether to spare the world or end it, is symbolized through the characters.

[@voidska]

y..you're telling me that one of akatosh's natures is a catgirl with maxed out speech and questionable clothing? dont even bring up the mods. do not. DO NOT. do N O T

[@danielholmes7142]

​@@voidskamods

[@voidska]

@@danielholmes7142 GET OUT GET OUT OF MY HEAD

[@wiwysova]

You're giving Bethesda too much credit.

[@besttoughbug864]

@@wiwysova that's extremely basic in terms of Elder scrolls lore you not giving Bethesda enough credit

[@explodingplant2]

The Greybeards almoooost hit on what you wished was fleshed out. When I told them if I don't learn Dragonrend the world will die, they were like 🤷‍♂️ maybe it's supposed to die. But also anytime you speak out against my boy party snacks my anti-Delphine reflexes kick in and are ready to 🤺

[@Zedigan]

Fuck Delphine, all my homies hate Delphine

[@elis5820]

I really liked the idea of a neutral, uncaring villain just doing his job. Since there is a startling lack of actual conversation with Alduin in the base game, being able to talk to a villain like that would be super interesting. Great work as always!

[@liandrysanguishinshin7955]

I really hope future TES games take a similar direction to Resident Evil, especially with 7 and 8, focusing more on intelinking lore and explaining the universe, it's the biggest strength of the series, the lore. That's what makes it so much better than Fallout for a lot of people, having your character well, *be* a character, have a personality, be a roleplaying game.

[@fireblast133]

I almost imagine it like this, you can talk to him all you want, but every encounter he's grown closer to his goal, and taking too many attempts to talk to him will result in an impossible victory.

[@RosePierce.]

For mirrak as well. I think he should have been far more of a manipulator and used the dragonborn to further his own goals and change to his side. As for Astrid I think they really should have made her think she’s really doing what’s best for the brotherhood ,and she believes the old ways ruined them. Tell one day you become listener (a living embodiment of the old ways) and sees you as a threat so she has it so she stages a fake betrayal of the brotherhood and frames you and you have to work back to prove your innocence prove your worth as the listener. As for Harkon he’s the lowest quality so he’s hard to fix. Mercer could have accidentally killed a member and was stealing from the guild and hiding his tracks to protect his secret. And arcano from the college of winterhold is a lost cause. The silver hand is fine just could use more depth.

[@firstnamelastname7244]

@@RosePierce. I really think speech should be expanded on in these games. If the Courier can convince the Legate to stand down, I see no reason why the Dragonborn can't convince Tullius or Ulfric to stop the war.

[@LadyDoomsinger]

While I like the idea of him being a neutral, chaotic "force" just doing what he is supposed to do, I also think it was a good choice to not have any direct dialogue with Alduin at all during the game - making the player unable to speak directly to him or influence him in any way makes him feel much more like a "force of nature", rather than an individual creature with a personal agenda. The exposition about what he's doing and why, could easily be provided by supporting characters, or even having him monologue (as he does), but being able to converse with him as an equal would make him far less intimidating (and for lack of a better term: more "human") in my view.

[@Sickliff]

Some of the conversations you have with Paarthurnax make it seem like Alduin is simply a force of nature, and that attempting to defeat him would be going against the natural order of things. It's possible that Alduin was regaining his strength so he could fulfill his purpose, and struggling to overcome his own dominant nature while doing so. I imagine that the use of an Elder Scroll would have humbled him somewhat, causing him to kick it into high gear. But we could go into theories all day. Very thought-provoking video, good work.

[@radicalxg8282]

Alduin is a force of nature and he will come back to fulfill his primary purpose which is to eat mundus for the next Kalpa, the Alduin we fought wasnt really mantling his world eater nature but deviating into a tyrant with intend to rule it instead which is not his destiny and why his father Akatosh send the last dragonborn to correct it, thats why the dragonborn couldnt absorb his soul Aka will make him come back in the future to fulfill the job he was created to do.

[@Dell-ol6hb]

The only reason we as the player were able to defeat him is because he wasn’t actually fulfilling his purpose of eating the world, he was trying to rule over it like he did back in the age of dragons. If he was there to fulfill his true purpose of eating the world and bringing about the next Kalpa, nothing would be able to stop him, because as Parthunaax describes he is a force of nature, a function of universe

[@LadyDoomsinger]

Nature is stupid anyway - We've changed and improved it countless times already to suit us - the argument "it's natural" never made much sense to me, in video games or real life. Fuck nature.

[@DonMadruga72]

​@@radicalxg8282 Unless the last Dragonborn turns in to a Vampire and is ready to extend this Kalpa once more in 8 thousand years.

[@thomasdawicki141]

@@DonMadruga72currently playing a character that goes on to become a vampire after the main quest for that reason

[@uxorioushornet]

Alduin was such an absentee villain, that my wife had forgotten about him entirely even after putting hundreds of hours into the game

[@point-five-oh6249]

The biggest problem I had with Alduin is that you only see him like 5 times in the main quest... once at Helgen, once at Kyne's Grove, twice at the Throat of the World, and one last time in Sovngarde. I would've liked to see him play a bigger role than just another invisible hand moving fate along. More battles between Alduin and the Dragonborn, maybe even scripted that you lose vs. Alduin once, before the player character realizes they need to go to the Greybeards to learn more about Thu'ums. Not to mention that it's a little rough now to officially say that you can kill Alduin with a fishing rod, the mightiest dragon to ever exist, child of Akatosh and all that jazz, slain by a thin piece of wood.

[@pyropulseIXXI]

I put thousands of hours into the game and forgot about him; this is because Skyrim is open world and I do every BUT the main quest... .saving the main quest for 'here and there' moments, only doing it after I've done a bajillion side thingies first

[@toastedt140]

​@@point-five-oh6249Would have been neat to have Alduin interfere with progress. Not necessarily gate it, but disrupt civil wars battles and major quests until you resolve it.

[@zibblobet3425]

It's because of the terrible/amazing pacing of the main quest. There's a few places where the game just lets you off the hook and almost expects you to put the main quest off for a bit because you're not actively working against alduin until you find alduin's wall, you're mostly just trying to figure things out until the battle at the throat of the world and then it's basically over

[@plugshirt1762]

@@point-five-oh6249it’s funny to think he appears far more times than any other main antagonist with all of them showing up 1-2 times total and yet they manage to have so much more of a presence than alduin somehow

[@gasmanoo2]

The one cool thing about Alduin is his design. While the avatar of Akatosh in Oblivion is depicted as this huge golden-fire dragon. Alduin in Skyrim is his exact opposite. Dark, grey, he almost looks like his body has been burned. Perhaps the nords are right and Alduin and Akatosh are the same being, only at different stages of power/lifecycle.

[@Gorgovoid173]

Partysnacks does mention how we've now essentially prevented the next kalpa from forming by killing Alduin and does try to get us to question the weight of our actions. But we just say: "nah, it'll work itself out" and Partysnacks is like: "Yeah, you're probably right."

[@culturecanvas777]

But he did admit that was just him being overly philosophical. But you are right, though, and nice way of putting it. 🤭😂

[@nathen4171]

Bethesda’s way of telling us that we’ve just prevented the next ES game 😨

[@silverthehero1295]

Doesn’t the the last Dragonborn’s presence mean the next kalpa wasn’t yet meant to come, since a Dragonborn gets their power from Akatosh?

[@Scynthor]

With all the means and possibilities of reality splitting and shifting in Tamriel's universe, there's a guaranteed 50% chance it will 😅

[@nicholasm3265]

This form of alduin is not the world devourer, if he was he would... Destroy everything. He came back when akatosh did not want him too and so his powers are zilch.

[@evandenham3823]

I really like the concept of Alduin being a force of nature. There is a great deal of potential in a grand story telling perspective: imagine Alduin rending entire sections of Skyrim as you progress in the story. This also allows for the Dragonborn to take on a role of a “10th Divine” and potentially pull a Martin Septim, using their accumulated power to destroy Alduin and reverse the destruction of Skyrim and potentially Tamriel: have more of a fallout esque ending. Really good video!

[@shekeldealer]

all of this game to one shot alduin with mehrunes dagon's dagger.

[@Thoregor]

That's Dagon's revenge for getting his ass kicked back into his oblivion plane by a shiny dragon.

[@diablerietandino1941]

My issue with alduin and skyrim (or most bethesda games of this kind) is that we are supposedly facing this world ending threat, but it never feels that way. Even with a civil war going on you travel to different cities and it just feels like everyone is carrying on normally with their day to day lives. There doesn't seem to be any real panic or fear or paths of destruction outside of Helgen. No sense of urgency or that the world around you is being affected for the worse. Alduin has nearly no presence in the game until the very end and I felt nothing when I just hacked his face off with my alchemically enhanced sword. Even Borderlands 2 had a much better villain who was constantly taunting you and mocking you every step of the way and in most cases you at least had some motivation to go after them.

[@handleonafridge6828]

Yeah, Bethesda definitely does better on the small scale. Which is why the Dragonborn DLC is just better, the same goes for Far Harbor in Fallout 4. The smaller the scale the better Bethesda does with memorable villains like Miraak that have both amazing lore and game presence or the constant rising tensions between the factions of Far Harbor that you can either diffuse or let loose in a spree of killing, allowing for every faction to die if you really wanted. Also it’s hard to compare any villain to handsome Jack, no elder scrolls villain is anywhere near his level and Fallout only has the Master. The only villain I can think of that is better than him is Glados.

[@adudeontheinternet8246]

I agree that alduin being a more neutral force would be much more interesting, But I also find most modern villains are held to a standard of complexity and depth that isn't always necessary-- This does not excuse bad writing however, and the skyrim main quest is certainly poorly written. Delphine and esbern both want parthunnax dead, for seemingly no other reason then "conflict." Despite his role as a powerful ally and advisor both past and present, neither of them even sound convinced of their own conviction. Like you mentioned, alduin's wall is a bit convoluted as well, since it was intended as a reminder when the temple was locked with a special blood seal. There's a lot of missed opportunity in the base main quest, and alduin is probably one of the biggest.

[@jupiterrising887]

Moral relativism is stupid. Everybody tries to be deep and morally grey but no one responds to that. Audiences don't care. We want to see Luke Skywalker cross sabers with Darth Vader. That's what's cool. That's what gets people excited. Good VS Evil is the best kind of story.

[@adudeontheinternet8246]

@@jupiterrising887 I somewhat agree. Moral relativism certainly isn't for everyone, but sometimes it's cool to have a villain also serve as an ally on occasion, or a villain who's only serving the main bad guy because one of their family is being held hostage or something and then them turning on them in the finale to fight alongside the hero. I think it's a kind of pendulum effect. At first people wanted more complex stories and villains, and now people want to return to the more simplistic ones because they're getting tired of moral relativism. I definitely see your point, and moral relativism probably isn't for you, but I think both black and white and moral relativism have a place in storytelling.

[@DarkOmegaMK2]

The problem with Skyrim's Blades is that it comes out as petty, without your intervention, there would not be any chance at all for The Blades to resurface, Delphine and Esbern should, at the very least, respect you and hold you on high regard for taking the initiative on restoring the defunct organization. As thanks for this monumental effort on your part, they hold their services hostage until you kill a dragon that has helped you quite a lot. The Blades really do deserve their extinction if this is how they treat their "superior".

[@antipsychotic451]

@@jupiterrising887 that's fine for certain, simple stories, though it's completely fair to be disappointed at alduin's saturday morning cartoon writing ESPECIALLY since morrowind set a really high bar for villains that make sense, are well-written, and have motivations that the player can clearly understand if they pay attention. i would seriously argue against completely abandoning the idea of a morally grey villain, since that sort of character can add a lot to a story with the proper writing and context

[@tristanalexander3275]

People seem to conflate "deep" and "realistic." A good, convincing villain doesn't have to be deep, and just because a villain is deep doesn't mean they're good. I think Alduin is perfectly fine for what he is, though I certainly wish he had gotten more exposition, buildup, and screen time rather than appearing twice and then being fought to the death. Evil exists in this world. Some people are psychopaths, and some people are so comically evil they put caricatures to shame - shallow villains are perfectly realistic. To me, the main story of Skyrim was always really the Thalmor's plots to unbind Mundus and end Lorkhan's grand experiment for good - if you want your villains that are simultaneously deep and convincing, look to the Thalmor; my respect for them and their writing is only surpassed by my hatred for them, and I love the fact that they are a convincing evolution of previously established elven beliefs and principles from prior entries in the series. Anyway, I think Alduin filled his role perfectly fine, albeit a little boringly. He has no need for additional depth - his two conflicting natures of hungering for souls while also coveting their worship, and his greed overriding his hunger leading to his demise is all the depth that he needs.

[@Markis2bi4]

Alduin being a villain was okay. I would have liked him to admit something surprising. He may have gotten tired of restarting the cycle, seeing new life simply repeat itself with no iteration that actually differed between one another that much. Sure, the praise and fear of mortals was like icing on the cake, but I would have liked to seen Alduin defy his nature not out of arrogance, not at first, but actually out of curiosity for mortals. Why did the gods “love” these little creatures, and yet why was he tasked to destroy them and restart the Kalpa again, and again? Maybe his actions could have been the orignal thought process for Paarthurnax: “Which is better: to be born good, or to overcome your evil nature with fear effort?” For Alduin it could have been “Is it better to follow nature without thought, or is it better to try something different for the sake of change, but from within rather than without?”. It is easy to overlook that no matter prophecy’s potency, free will and choice make great differences when acted upon major decisions. Imagine Alduin saying all of this and asking you: “Which is better, Dovahkin: to be reborn forgetting your mistake, doomed to repeat them again in the next Kalpa, or to live one single life and decide for yourself what is right, and having the power to do so?”

[@ziephel-6780]

That would've made Alduin more multi-layered, yeah. But Bethesda's team on Skyrim weren't the same as Morrowind, so they haven't thought that far.

[@RandomKai27]

I would have loved it they explained that Alduin just got bored and started looking for a greater purpose because he knew there was no greater purpose. A sort of dark Undertalish reflection on the mindset of the player as they grow jaded to this amazing intricate world But whatever, Miraak was fun

[@GodlyDra]

The problem with your idea is the extremely ironclad never changed law of TES that beings with immortal souls cannot change their nature, they can deny parts of it while leaning into the other but never truly change, they will always feel the urge. Parrturnax denies his inherent lust for power by following his instinctual subservience to the greater gods. Alduin does deny part of his nature, his purpose as the end of time and dives headfirst into his species instinctive need to dominate and destroy, but he got the really short end of the stick considering the 2 sides to his nature is “dominate and destroy” or “eat the world”, he has exactly zero positive options, he doesn’t even have the “obey greater gods” thing Parrthurnax could fall back on considering he is the firstborn of akatosh and also the embodiment of the end of time, which places him on equal footing with his own father technically, and above any of the other 7 Aedra.

[@doadm5077]

25:19 This description somewhat reminds me of Grigori, the Dragon and antagonist in Dragon's Dogma. From what I remember of Dragon's Dogma's story, Grigori's purpose is to test the Arisen (the main character) who must eventually rise up and slay Grigori to complete the test. Grigori doesn't do any of this simply because he hates the Arisen but because its his purpose to do so, even sparing the Arisen until they are ready to challenge him. Theres even a cult dedicated to worship Grigori, who they consider to be a being to bring about destruction (and in their mind, salvation). Their goals are completely at odds with the Arisen, who is meant to slay Grigori, and so they consider the Arisen an enemy to be destroyed. During a key point in the story, the cult's leader, Elysion, goes on a monologue, welcoming the arrival of Grigori, who then only shows up to squish Elysion halfway through his speech. Grigori openly mocks Elysion, stating that the future events hold no place for Elysion or the cult, and that the only way to stop him is to kill him, and that when the Arisen is ready, they should seek him out to do so. (NOTE: If I have gotten anything wrong or left anything out, feel free to correct me, since its been a very long time since i've played Dragon's Dogma.) kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2TQZntnfr91rpI

[@unamericano]

I adore Dragons Dogma. The Grigori fight is possibly one of my favorites in gaming history.

[@dinkelpapa]

Who cares though

[@eleanorgreywolfe5142]

Grigori is also a previous Arisen that successfully killed their dragon but then failed in taking the mantle of essentially god, and are then turned into a dragon to restart the cycle.

[@goodenoughright5433]

I was expecting Mehrunes Dagon to get a video first but I can't complain about Alduin

[@midkn1ght231]

as someone who was introduced to TES with skyrim, alduin failed to stick out to me as a villain. i found myself finishing nearly all the side quests before i remembered that i had the entire universe to save. i loved the lore going on outside the main quests and found myself immersing myself in the story's online long after playing the game. even though alduin wasn't very complicated, i think they successfully balanced a wide appeal while still including more lore through the side quests that made skyrim able to have been as popular as it was.

[@dard1515]

I believe Alduin saved the Dragonborn from his execution because of the prophecy of one or the other needing to die. If the Dragonborn died, Alduin would have to end the world; If Alduin were to die (obviously not possible right?) then the world goes on until Alduin reconstitutes or reincarnates or whatever. It's Alduin's arrogance to think that just the act of saving the Dragonborn would communicate this idea so he just leaves to start his dragon-necromancy, expecting the Dragonborn to be content with just being alive.

[@marksimmons5872]

17:08 - THERE WAS NO MURDER! Ulfric challenged Torygg. He beat the High King in fair combat. Such is our way! Such is the ancient custom of Skyrim, and ALL NORDS!

[@UncensoredScion]

well I've always thought that Alduin doing what he was in Skyrim WAS fulfilling the world eater ideal as he's eating people in Sovengarde to gain power - and Talos is suspiciously missing from the hall - so it was as if the Gods were separating themselves from the world to allow Alduin to do his thing finally. But Akatosh - who has previously sided with Mortals - gave us a fighting chance by allowing the birth of a Last Dragonborn at the right time after the great Tamerelic Dragonborn Emperors have all died out.

[@River-pg1uk]

alduin is indeed the firstborn of akatosh as attested by several dragons alduin himself with nordic legend considering akatosh and alduin seperate entities.

[@normalguy5953]

Man you killing it. Don't burn yourself out, you hear. I love the content

[@DressedRunner]

If alduin turns the entire Nordic population down to age 6.. doesn’t that make them invulnerable?

[@fezbear5099]

Bruh they are still immortal at that age

[@astra3310]

He was under-utilised. I’d have had him possibly talk about how he was tired of being a Destroyer only. A tool with no choice of his own. He is a Dovah. Moreover he is the Firstborn of Akatosh. The first dragon. To be a tool with no agency is an insult. Maybe he was sick of it and decided “I can destroy it whenever. Why shouldn’t I have a bit of fun for once? I’m tired of doing only one thing all the time!”

[@GentleBones1]

This vid better shoot up to thousands of likes and comments cause this is good.

[@Crow_Rising]

I feel like Alduin actually was just obeying the "code of the universe" so to speak with his mission to end the world and restart it anew. Sure, he was being kind of a dick about it, but it is still his purpose to do so. There's even a conversation about this the player has with Parthunaax regarding it, in which whether or not stopping Alduin is even the morally correct thing to do and whether stopping him would deny the next world it's right to existence. All I'm saying is if you want Alduin to be deep, he can be. If not, he doesn't have to be. This, I think, makes Alduin really unique as a villain. Who else comes off as an incredibly simple villain to first time players but has a wealth of philosophy to dive into for those who want it?

[@toiletman5589]

I totally agree, his depth is up much time and thought you put into him as a villain.

[@LadyDoomsinger]

It's not really a "conversation" as much as a brief musing; paarthanax (and the graybeards) point out that maybe the world is supposed to end, the player says "no" or "I don't care" and the story goes on. Not much of a philosophical debate, if you ask me.

[@Crow_Rising]

@@LadyDoomsinger It's as much a conversation as is possible in the game. It's not like the tech is to the point where we can input our own responses and get well reasoned, in-character replies to whatever input we entered.

[@toiletman5589]

@@LadyDoomsinger The way i see the main story of skyrim is that Alduin has strayed so far from his original task of destroying the world and during the events he is not trying to destroy the world but conquer it once again. I took the purpose of that last dragon born was to kill alduin so he can be reborn less arrogant and able to eat the world. I think the fact that during the last fight we do not consume his soul meaning that he is not truly killed like other dragons.

[@LadyDoomsinger]

@@Crow_Rising Lol. Fallout 3 had more complex conversations. The technology is there, it was a deliberate writing choice to avoid the story getting bogged down in deep discussions about morality or the meaning of things.

[@sirrocu659]

Holy shit, this is a fucking diamond in the rough channel, Fantastic videos talking about the lore and background to some of my favourite characters from some of my favourite games. Please for the love of god keep going!

[@Ghostcharm]

aint nothin stoppin me chief

[@tristanalexander3275]

@@Ghostcharm I don't even know how I stumbled upon your channel, but I'm so glad that I did. Not only is your content easily digestible and well-presented, but your dry humor is impeccable. Big respect, homie G.

[@windhelmguard5295]

alduin works perfectly as a being created for one purpose, choosing to reject that purpose and finding his own. alduin also works as a foe that urgently needs to be stopped. sure in game there is no urgency, but logically speaking, he is immortal and you are not, so at the end of the day all he needs to do is to chill where you can't get to him until you just drop dead, that is why alduin works so well for me, he doesn't take a very active part in the story, because he doesn't need to and i find that very unique because in most stories, the villain is the active party of the conflict, sending monsters or assassins to have you taken out of the picture. alduin doesn't do any of that, upon realizing that you're dangerous, he just fucks off, no cultists or assassins coming for you and even the dragons you do fight usually just happen to stumble across you by accident unless YOU are invading their turf. this forces the protagonist side of things to take the active role, you need to find a way to get to alduin so you are actually conspiring with the major forces at play, you are manipulating events in your favour, odhaving doesn't come for you under alduins orders, he comes because his ego compels him to answer YOUR challenge. in other games most of what you do is reacting to what the villain is doing OR what you're doing was part of the villains plan all along., skyrim has the villain react to your actions instead and i consider that perfectly fine.

[@lthefifteenth661]

When you propose the idea of the Dragonborn fighting a neutral Alduin who is fulfilling his duty as world eater, it immediately reminded me of the undead from Dark Souls 1 who are assisting in the continuation of the age of fire. Considering how Skyrim and DS1 came out roughly the same time, it would have been an interesting comparison of philosophy

[@DeltaSig6]

A video on Alduin’s Wall would be time well spent.

[@thrinmon]

I always found Alduin to be pretty disappointing, from an ingame standpoint. Maybe its just because I got the big surprise in Oblivion of having Mehrunes Dagon appear in Tamriel but I just found it a bit lackluster that Alduin was essentially just another dragon but a bit more spikey.

[@Kal-qn9rw]

I made some iron daggers and suddenly had enough power to crush alduin.

[@Cthulhu_bng117]

My Dad got the collectors edition of Skyrim back in 2011 that had the statue of Alduin. I still have it sitting around

[@theJellyjoker]

He was such a disappointing final boss fight

[@dr.calibrations7984]

Buddy of mine 1 shot him with an iron dagger sneak attack

[@wyattbottorff2473]

One of the most disappointing

[@tastychunks]

@@wyattbottorff2473 Alduin isn't great but at least it wasn't like Oblivion where every boss at the end of a questline was easier than the enemies you faced to get there due to the broken level scaling

[@wyattbottorff2473]

@@tastychunks all true. At least you got to fight Alduin yourself.

[@TheMagnumDon]

@@wyattbottorff2473 well, and with 3 other Nords. I just hope they improve and make the fight with the final boss in RedFall fantastic which i guarantee is going to involve the Thalmor because if anyone hates the Thalmor more than the Stormcloaks and the Imperials, its the Redguards.

[@puddingsimon2626]

One of my favorite lore bits of TES are the Malestrome arena, a daedric arena where every beeing no matter if daedric or mortal can fight for the spot of becoming the campion of the arena, the most hellish place with different arena themes from dwemer to clockwork to Blackmarsh to the burning fields of Merunes dagons real even to the most disgusting and evil place anyone can imagen, Coldharbor. I like also the lot about Molags bal plan to fuse Nirn with Coldharbor with the planemeld, but unlike Merunes Dagons oblivion crisis, molag bal just got ducked over ten fold, at the very same time his plan started rolling, his enemy’s already started working against him. Also you should make an episode about Molag bal, in TES lore there are little to none characters who are pure evil, most of them have atleast one thing that doesn’t make them look as bad. And then there’s molag bal, the fucking dude thought it would be a nice little prank to the god of life to just rape and murder his most loyal Prietres who’s also a virgin, aaaaaand so the first ever vampire was born, thanks a lot Mr edge lord.

[@sevenproxies4255]

Here's an idea for an alternate ending and Alduin: instead of being evil, he's dutybound to destroy the world and finish the cycle. The final battle is not against a hateful evil dragon, but against a dragon that has begun to question the rules of Akatosh and thinks that it's a bit of a waste to just "reset" the world over and over. When you finally beat him, insteas of dying outright, Alduin has a conversation with the player, eventually deciding that the player characters courage and might does not deserve to simply be snuffed out by an apocalypse. And so Alduin decides to refuse to end the world, facing his maker and whatever punishment his maker might impose upon him.

[@IvanStalkerson]

I personally assumed "Firstborn of Akatosh" meant that Alduin was the first physical manifestation of the dragon deity that freely roamed Nirn

[@ShadowofMephiles]

I understand this video is 9 months old at this point but speaking on the theory of dragon gods and using real world religions. The Aztecs believed that the world has been reborn multiple times, and each rebirth was begun by a deity of sorts sacrificing themselves to become the sun of each new world. So with this it could be that Auriel, Akatosh and alduin are the same but they were each a part of the world ending myth. All of them could be world eaters for their own respective world ,explaining why most accept that Akatosh is essentially the beginning of Time as he ushered in the world of nirn, and it could be that Alduin is supposed to bring in the next, but in his meddling he attempted to divert the course the world was supposed to take. Just an observation I wanted to point out as plenty religions and stories across the world, have a lot of commonalities.

[@MrDeadDivision]

You should try and go into cool plot elements like Dragon Breaks. Incredibly complex under the hood but a MASTERFUL storytelling device. I haven't seen any videos really grasp the scope of them and explain them in a way that would satisfy a more casual audience. They're always brushed off in timeline or lore videos and I'm really interested to see how you'd handle the topic. Much love, very impressed with the overall tone and quality of all of your videos!

[@SebasTian58323]

I've never really had a problem with Alduin in the game. I thought his design was awesome, and I always had a ton of fun fighting him. Also the ancient heroes used the elder scrolls because even with Dragonrend they could not kill him. They used the scroll to vanish Alduin from time in the hopes that he'd be outside of time forever. But given the prophecy inscribed on the wall of Alduin, it's destined that he was going to be sent to the time Skyrim takes place.

[@shivasayian]

Underrated long form analysis channel.

[@fridibs3]

The first time I played Skyrim I didn't understand everything since I was a kid and english is the third language I knew and I didn't even know that Alduin was the dragon that "saved" you in the beginning. Dramatic entrance yes but it didn't have a "main bad guy" vibe at all.

[@lucasflaming5330]

The idea that he is an inevitability of nature would make him sympathetic especially if parthanax would mention something like "much to alduins own Krosis, he must destroy this world and slumber for another cycle" but I think it's more appropriate to have the dragon priest Konahrik infuse his body with Alduin and you have to explore Skyrim defeat the dragon priests to gain access to sovngarde instead of ohdaving. That way they could elongate the plot, give reason to halt the story progression and give a Canon reason to explore. And have esbern or parthanax give you the locations after a certain amount of quests completed. (except morokei put him in shalidors maze instead of the main chamber) After Konahrik infused his body, Alduin not only wasn't able to compete his purpose, but he now is imbetted with a dragons desire for power, a humans corruption, and it gives a genuine human for to defeat eventually. As every villain had a human subject or was a human. The heart of lorkhan is aedric, dragon is aedric, so returning to a human villain using aedric power would be useful for the plot.

[@LordProteus]

1. Fails to kill, subdue or try to turn the Player or anyone else to his side from the games start to finish. 2. Never tries to attack or sabotage the player while they are questing to defeat him before we aquire the means to defeat him. 3. Destroys 1 town nobody cares about and never does anything to personally wrong the Player. In-fact he actually saved the Players life at the start of the game, sealing his own fate. 4. Faces the Player only after they gain the power to defeat him and loses sp spectacularly he loses whatever tenuous respect he once had amongst other Dargons. 5. His Army of Dragons are weak and unorganized, with no cooperation or plan what-so-ever. 6. After his first defeat, he retreats to the one place he can finally be killed once and for all, not considering that he could be followed. He is then betrayed by one of his own Luitenants(the second time it has happened) who then brings the Player to where Anduin can be killed. 7. His goals are inconsistant or even completely non-existant. Does he want to enslave the world or destroy it? He bounces between both these goals constantly. 8. Overhyped. Talks big but is as weak as any other Dragon. 9. One of the oldest, possibly THE oldest, Dragon in history, and yet only knows about 6 Shouts and only uses 3 in combat. 10. Cannot damage three dead Heroes he effortlesly defeated when they were alive and at their prime. 11. No personality. Had no discernable motives besides his actions simply being in his nature.

[@poogmaster1]

I feel like Alduin could’ve been used better, but I do love the idea of the Dragonborn as a man against time destroying the world eater the avatar of time and renewing the Kalpa without destroying it (perhaps temporarily if the Thalmor destroy the last tower)

[@Why79-dx4rf]

6:43 im no lore expert, but i would say alduins own words of what he is are probably the most reliable peace of information. This also make the most sense when you actually think about it as well, as alduin does not function in the same manor as the other aedra, nor does he function like auriel or akatosh, so clearly he cant be a god comparable to the divines, nor can he be an equal aspect of akotosh/auriel. With this in mind, it makes far more sense for him to just be the first born of akatosh, as he claims to be.

[@9manny99]

I wish you could do the reapers but you know that’s not really a character but a species.

[@albdamned577]

I kind of like the idea that the prayers, worships, sacrifice, etc in elder scrolls imparts a piece of the devotee to the god. So while certain qualities maybe already present, the worship can amplify/negate those qualities. This would explain the seeming personality changes of deities. I find it especially interesting when thinking about the Tribunal.

[@Cheyruz]

Omg Alduin can eat the souls of mortals, and Dragonborn can eat the souls of dragons! Dovahkin is to the dragons what Alduin is to men and mer! Why did I never notice that

[@phoenixsword2452]

Or a kingsnake to a regular snake.

[@JonatasAdoM]

I'd weird how Alduin is the villain because he doesn't want to *destroy* the world. Everything that exists, does because he refused to eat the world. If anything, he's the merciful ruler, ousted in a divine coup, attacked by his own subjects aided by his equals. Alduin the merciful, in his betrayal, became Alduin the ruthless and the historians of the time Neroed him. Ps: Think about it. Nothing can destroy him when he returns; yet does he destroy a single city with exception of that forsaken fringe outpost in his anger? Only thing he does is rebuild his pals to restore the regime.

[@thunderbird7020]

Is it really a bad thing for humanity that Alduin lost sight of his purpose? Sure it was horrible what he did, but they wouldn’t have been able to stop him if he didn’t, and their Kalpa was able to survive, and it’s possible that because of Alduin’s arrogance that the kalpa will never end.

[@juanignaciogennaro8478]

how about doing a villainpedia entry for mannimarco? he spans several games

[@tonyeltigre1088]

I've always thought the good ending was to let Alduin restart the cycle lol excited to see what it's actually about.

[@WyrdBlackCat]

Absolutely loved the video! I've been watching your other elder scrolls related ones and throughly enjoying them, specially because I didn't get to play the other ones before Skyrim and you do a recap, so thanks a lot for the good work :) About Alduin, I've discussed about Skyrim's worldbuilding, visually and narrative wise, on my master's degree, and the catch 22 (let's put it this way) is that even though the narrative is very simplistic (straightforward characters, no hidden motives, etc) it taps into the collective cultural consciousness of the public playing it. There's a TON of stylistic and narrative decisions that can't have been made as arbitrary, and such decisions are heavily inspired by bronze age tales, myths and real world objects that can be found in the game. So, in a sense, despite the apparent simplicity of the characters, the player feels more attuned and invested into the story, because differently from other tes games (and even rpg games in general) in Skyrim you're not an onlooker watching a story, you're effectively in a story you know and that you've heard before. Kinda like a reader insert fanfiction with real world counterpart lmao Anyway, I hope this is intelligible. English is not my first language and I got too excited typing it lmao

[@philosophicaljay3449]

26:14 I mean, I think that Paarthurnax is a villain. Paarthurnax means Ambition Overlord Cruelty, the language of the Dovah is one of what is reality. You speak fire and there is fire, which means Paarthurnax, so long as he is Paarthurnax, is Ambition Overlord Cruelty. Just learning a new shout changes you, look at what you are told about Dragonrend. "When you learn a Shout, you take it into your very being. In a sense, you become the Shout. In order to learn and use this Shout, you will be taking this evil into yourself." That is just learning a shout, now imagine being the embodiment of one. Paarthrunax is Ambition Overlord Cruelty on such an ingrained level that it is the essence of his very existence. He was also the 2nd in charge before, but not the head honcho. What happened? He assisted in the downfall of the only Dovah that could appose him, Alduin. Kyne shows up, goes "Help the Nords take down Alduin" and so he does so, but Alduin is not fully defeated. He is sent into the future instead. Then comes to prophecy of the LAST Dragonborn. The only ones that could oppose him are Alduin and a Dragonborn, and there will be an end to the line of dragonborns, there will be a last one. So, what happens if you assist this last dragonborn in defeating Alduin and then wait until this final dragonborn dies? No one will be able to oppose you. Dragons are, on some level, eternal beings. What is waiting a couple thousand years before an eternity of rule? Spend that time acting like you turned over a new leaf in order to motivate the Last Dragonborn into sparing your life, lead a new order of followers that know the Thu'um, learn how to empower the Thu'um even further, etc. and then you will be able to easily cement yourself as the new leader of the new dragon cult. Let your Ambition guide you to this point of being an Overlord, and then once again enact the Cruelty you did when you played second fiddle to Alduin.

[@RealHaydo]

"Which is better? To be born good? Or though great effort overcome your evil nature?" - Parthanax.

[@7gone7]

I think your missing the point that it’s Paarthurnax’s whole character to overcome his evil nature, and it’s why he’s such a good character. He notes that everyday is a struggle not to go back to this evil nature, but he fights it anyway.

[@artsyhoodies]

I really hope the Thalmor are the main villains of the next game. They hyped them up so much in Skyrim that it feels natural to have them be the next villains.

[@meatycitadel]

Check out Skyrim: Extended Cut. It's a main quest overhaul for Skyrim currently in development. The mod tries to make the storyline so much better and bring justice to Alduin and the Nord Pantheon.

[@farmboyjunior]

Hey bud, quick question Is that mod out yet?

[@meatycitadel]

@@farmboyjunior no need to be rude :(

[@soliennanyhte9701]

"What if here in the game Alduin was scheduled to devour the world not for any malicious or selfish reason but because he must? We could have had a neutral, uncaring, and justifiable villain who is simply following the code of the universe and in a certain sense doing what could be best for the world to end the current kalpa and give new life an opportunity to rise from the rubble" sounds a lot like the Reapers from the Mass Effect series, which could definitely be an interesting entry in the Villainpedia "There possibly could have even been multiple endings if it went that route" ah yes, Mass Effect 3

[@thebigbrodie]

I actually put Alduin and Dagon in the same level of uninteresting characters from gameplay. Dagon is a god who's only motivation is to destroy, just because that what he is the god of. Where is Mankar Cameran does all the heavy lifting and has certain beliefs so is subsequently more interesting because of that. Alduin really lacked that human motivation and suffered because of it.

[@timsickler5125]

So, you didn't like that the dragon lacked human motivation? Huh...

[@HeresorLegacy]

Though the Kalpa idea of Anduin seems plausible, I think it's much more likely that Alduin is supposed to be the harbinger of Ragnarök, since Skyrim is mainly inspired by Norse concepts, like Solstheim being a stand-in for Valhalla. The destruction of the world so it can be born anew is also present in the Norse mythology. Is it possible that they borrowed from Eastern concepts, because of Kirkbride's influence? Absolutely. But Ragnarök is still a more likely candidate for inspiration, especially since the ender of the world in the "Dusk of the Gods" is Nidhöggr, the dragon feasting on the roots of Yggdrasil and the bodies of those unworthy to be ascended to Odin's hall of valor in Asgard, Valhalla.

[@Katie-gr6qq]

Alduin was absolutely underused in Skyrim, however, I think the implications of his death could redeem that when (and IF) we get the next game. The natural balance is totally screwed up because with his death, the cycle can never begin anew. What would that look like? How would that manifest in Nirn? Would the use of magika be different? Would the connections between other planes be affected? Would Merunes Dagon actually be able to take over now?? Now, do I think the next game will actually address any of this? No. I think that they'll just ignore the literal death of the World Eater, and act like the biggest think that happened in Skyrim around this time was the civil war. I get opening the game up to a wider audience, but I do wish they could figure out how to do that, and not deprive us of cool ass fantasy stuff.

[@SolaceSoLong]

i misheard the beginning as 'i will facetime your soul in songarde' and with that image in my head i will continue the video now

[@NonTheNord]

I find Mankar Camoran from TES IV more interesting than Alduin

[@bluephoenix731]

I think that it's important to remember that the dragonborn (at least in conversations with the greybeards and paarthunaax) believes they are stopping the end of the world. They believe they are stopping alduin from starting the next Kalpa. I really like the theory that the dragonborn was chosen by akatosh to destroy alduin's corrupted form so he can be reborn anew and eat the world like he's supposed to. Paarthunaax even makes a comment that your efforts could hasten the end of the world. I think that adds some depth to this story. Granted, you have to play the game a few times or be really perceptive or you may miss those comments and what they really mean.

[@darugger1130]

Hi, just found your channel while listening to some dagoth wave. I think a cool concept for the next elder scrolls is to have the thalmor attempt to destroy the adamantine tower (what’s theorized the last of the 8 pillars) since the aldmery dominion wants to destroy all calpas and return to primordial goo.

[@dakkotalang-church1649]

I think a better story for both Alduin and Miraak would have been casting Alduin as a neutral force of nature and Miraak as the primary antagonist, revealing at some point toward the end of the story that Alduin's return is the result of postponing an inevitable part of the universe's nature. This would have helped create more ambiguity and impact regarding player role and choice in the world. Maybe it turns out that the player is misguided and prolonging the cycle is a bad thing. Or maybe we learn that we can defeat Alduin to stop the cycle and that Miraak is in the way, misguided by his arrogance. In any case, I agree with the idea that there were significantly more rich opportunities for storytelling here. Four preceding games' worth of lore which culminate in "dragon bad, player good" made the game more marketable but less interesting from a story perspective.

[@flyingface]

wow, morrowind had such original writing relative to this

[@lokycara2263]

Would you do a video on how wasted mannimarco was in oblivion? Also it breaks my heart that Vanus Galerion only appears in ESO

[@zalseon4746]

I think Alduin being just evil was the right choice. He did, after all sway from his purpose. That lead to his ultimate downfall. Really stop and think about that, nobody, not even the gods, are exempt from destiny and niche. The Daedra even fear this. Alduin did it, and it cost him his existence. The universe broke.

[@Suran329]

I think that's okay but they shouldve made this backstory a larger part of the story.

[@gophcycle9764]

2:58 Small correction here. MK left Bethesda well before the release of Morrowind. That said, he did contract writing for both Oblivion and Skyrim, and has written all sorts of interesting stuff in an unofficial capacity.

[@Fuhrious]

So did you put out the poll questioning if alduin was an acceptable subject before you made this video, or after to judge how your community would react? Just curious. Great video regardless. Top notch production as expected.

[@Ghostcharm]

I was nearly done with this video when I made the poll, and it was pure curiosity on my end. sometimes when working on a video for so long I start to feel crazy so it was nice to realize most people think Alduin is a slightly lame worm

[@Fuhrious]

@@Ghostcharm people are going to watch whatever you put out. You have established an expectation of high level research and production and I for one will support you to the end. Keep it up!

[@CoolerGuy121]

I remember when I first got Skyrim I was already a Veteran of Elder Scrolls games with over a decade of experience in them, and Skyrim frankly was looking to be a bit of a disappointment with most of the features that I came to love being gutted even further from the prior two games. I remember joining the Thieves Guild and doing the Dark Brotherhood with my first character just to see if those questlines are even good and being distantly enthralled. My second character join the Fighters Guild and I can't say that I was all that happy to be a werewolf but it was a very fun quest line, it wasn't until my third character that I decided to actually play the fucking game and go and kill Alduin.. I can appreciate Skyrim now even with all it's cut features, for reaching out to such a wide audience and making so many people appreciate open world RPGs.

[@andrewjacobs7975]

Just discovered your channel, this is sick work. Was wondering if you would do a cutiepedia on this guy named Ghostcharm?

[@CmdrDingus]

Idk man the more I think about it the more I think I should just team up with alduin. I mean, how badass would it be to vibe with the dragon lord. Flying around, setting shit on fire, digesting souls. Just dragon stuff yknow.

[@Gotz_the_iron_hand]

Great video! Let us pray that the nine divines.. err, the almighty algorithm sends this video into everyone's recommendations.

[@madman123456]

Alduin was still too complicated. He is not "just" an evil dragon whom we must kill to save the world, there's more to him. Just a shame it's not that much. Alduin is what remains once you "streamlined" kirkbride's lore a bit, which to be fair is a bit dense at times and could use some trim here and there. But you can have both very dense background lore *and* "cinematic" kaboom-pow action out the wazoo. "Matrix" showed us that in the cinema. The world is merely a virtual play set and there are people logging into it in their VR chairs to do epic kung-fu/gun battles. And if you want you can take it as that and it'll be a really good movie just with that all by itself. Alternatively you can think about the philosophy behind it and find new questions to ponder over decades later no one ever thought about. Like this one for example: When we learn a skill, it does something to us, we become someone different. I'm not just "jeff" but now i'm "Jeff, the carpenter". My creativity is channeled into certain ways and when i see something i would, after having learned a skill, idly ponder on how to improve something using that skill. If i learned smithing i might create a wrought iron fence and if learned carpentry i might prefer a wooden fence. How would my personality be changed if i stuck a needle up my neck and learned many new skills? Did Trinity get an appreciation of the bird's eye view of the world from above when she learned to fly the helicopter? Would they all have an appreciation of the Balance of things when learning Kung-fu?

[@DaveAlan316]

Alduin's Lore & Wall are great, but the main story is one of the least interesting paths to follow, to the point that I'm level 32 in my most recent playthrough and haven't been to the Western Watchtower or fought a dragon yet 😂

[@justinmccurdy9319]

Honestly, I think there's nothing wrong with the way they used Alduin. There's a reason why villains with simple motivations like him transcend time and culutre, appearing in myths and stories going back to the dawn of mankind. They represent problems and evils which are common to our species: greed, tyranny, murder, hatred, and rebellion against the natural order to name a few. I love complicated villains as much as you, but sometimes it is good and necessary to remind ourselves that simpler evils also exist and villains like these can be just as entertaining if only to act as something for the protagonist to overcome.

[@SirVyre]

Hehe, get my refreshments ready? No, friend. No chewing noises to cloud the air while your calming cadence of a voice strums softly of the entirety of worlds' lore into my waiting ears! Though I do get my dumbbells ready, and I workout while listening. Watch when the exercises let me face my monitor. 6430 Subs by the end of May, not quite 10k, but I'm still rooting for you to hit the five digits, because the quality of your work deserves it, man. As far as Alduin goes, I am with your initial framing, and I find him to be very boring. It's like you stated several times though. Bethesda has crafted Skyrim to be a gateway drug to their series, and I must absolutely respect it for getting my GF into video games well before I ever met her. It is still her favorite game by far, though it did addle her brain with mods somewhat. I am hoping that they do not try to weigh down the future Elder Scrolls series by making each and every further installment continue the trend of bowing to what is popular. Though I will also say that they did keep it weird in some ways, as I think barring Flight of Dragons the animated movie with Sir Orrin Neville-Smythe, it is one of the more unique approaches to the dragons' backstory. I should have liked to see some Steam Centurions fight dragons though.

[@pacefactor]

That pretty much sums up my issue with Skyrim writing - they turned Elder Scrolls into an anime where you kill god in the end. Even with your own new special power to boot. Mind you, I did like the game and played it extensively, but its not on the same level as say, Morrowind or The Shivering Isles. Not really an Elder Scrolls feel - where your normally a nobody in a much bigger world and you only played a part in it. Powerful and important, yes, but also some guy who had a choice to just go work on a farm rather than 'meet their destiny'. At this point, I'd prefer to read books about it than experience the next iteration without heavy Kirkbride influence. IMO the big reason Skyrim had mass appeal is that Bethesda finally figured out a set of good mechanics for playing on most platforms that wouldn't frustrate the living hell out of players that weren't huge RPG fans. Its their best to date. This was at the cost of really good worldbuilding and storytelling, which most mainstream players don't really care for complex stories anyways. The land of the Atmorans, the ancient, original humans from another 'world' (continent) had so much potential, and you see it with the dragon priests and mummy crypts, even all the way back in the Morrowind expansion that first introduces you to the Nordic culture. They really dropped the ball with these elements by kind of making it a Saturday morning special version of Elder Scrolls lore - its all there, its just 'clean and consumable'. I mean, I also had this issue with the way the Aldmer were kind of glossed over in Oblivion, but having an invasion of Deadra was interesting - despite how much I hated the Deadlands instances (there really should have been more variety or fewer overall portals; also buffed Clanfears were horrible to fight). This is all in stark contrast to how the Dwemer were used and introduced in Morrowind, and even how things were handled in the expansions to Morrowind. Really lost a lot of its uniqueness. And you can see that the company had something weird going on creatively inside - as they just kept re-releasing Skyrim over and over and then decided they could profit off of the modding community for a game they kept re-releasing.

[@therationale2289]

Great vid, can't wait to watch it.

[@Palmieres]

Thank you for all the little comments about the annoying gatekeeping tendencies in some portions of the fandom. Although I'm not a young player I only really got into TES series with Skyrim. I have Oblivion but never really got into it (I blame it on the persuasion system with that awful colored wheel). But ever since 2011 I've kept looking into the lore, read so much, watched so many in-depth videos about the history of Nirn, Mundus and beyond, and every time some idiot says "but real fans like Morrowind, only peasants like Skyrim" it's just very disappointing. Because this is something to be shared, to be enjoyed as a community. Let us learn without judging us, ffs. Let us become interested enough that we go back and do everything, learn everything, catch up on what we didn't know existed.

[@ErokLobotomist]

Love the videos man! Definitely scratches a deep, irritating, Lore itch. You're the closest thing to a legitimate Video Game documentary channel I've seen on YT.

[@billymartin2220]

All that is left is mankar camoran and jagar tharn. Not to mention mehrunes dagon. Keep up the good work!

[@Goobergal8705]

Crazy thing I just found out: Charles Martinet voices Paarthunax. Yep. Mario and Paarthunax are the same guy.

[@KingOfCorinth]

I played Skyrim almost 7 years ago. You've made me feel the beauty and awe I first felt when I played it, all those years ago. Thank you💙

[@PatriotWatchman1776]

I think the Dragonborn (the protagonist of Skyrim) is the real villain of the story.

[@el-violador]

With Alduin, there are a few changes I'd make. First up I think Alduin holds the most potential but realises it the least. He is an awesome concept for a villain but just lacks complexity. Second thing is 1/3 of the points I'll make are other people's work, 1/3 are thought up during watching your video (and likely full of holes) and a 1/3 are a pre-existing thought I'd had since playing Skyrim. My changes are that Alduin is not the child of Akatosh but a kind of manifestation of him. His ultimate goal, like the game is to consume really to birth it again. He is not evil but more Lovecraftian cosmic horror. His motivations are so far from our comprehension that we can't understand them. Think Mass Effect Sovereign crossed with Paarthurnax wisdom. He has sympathy for your plight but ultimately understands you are fated enemies. The Dragonborn however is not a blessing of Akatosh but Shor. Ever trying protect the reality he fought to create and died for he blessed Miraak with the ability to stop the natural end to the kalpa. Corrupted by his power he follows a villains path to the DLC. Before he is taken to apocrypha he creates dragon rend and turns the war. Alduin is hurled through time, blah blah here we are. Gameplay wise I wish dragon fights were treated as more epic. I'd have the lesser unnamed dragons as random encounters. They attack villages and whatnot and challenge early game Dragonborns but eventually you become very adept at killing them. The stronger dragons however stay closer to Skuldafn and only bother with you once you're a threat. This way they can keep their precious leveled enemies while keeping it Lore relevant and also adding that "oh shit" moment when you think you have dragons nailed down before a named dragon who's bigger and uglier than any you have seen challenges you to a "debate". This keeps the dragons epic rather than a pest Sorry for the essay. But you did ask for my opinions. Really enjoying the videos mate

[@Talrion]

What's the name of the song at 0:04

[@ceasefire2825]

Sovngarde

[@MrMoreDOTS]

I've never seen that "End Times" mod before but that's definitely how they should have depicted Alduin in the vanilla game. He looks way more mythical and menacing and more close to how the legends describe him in that mod than he does in the vanilla game which is pretty much just "standard dragon but with slightly different skin".

[@MettaKing]

Your channel is underrated!

[@noahkleppolsen9465]

Theres a deity similar to Azathoth, in the way that if he wakes up the elder scrolls universe is over. Any kind of problems like the world not being destroyed when its meant to means, that he gets confused and might realize its a dream. Alduin becoming a dictator of skyrim instead of destroying it was either meant to happen, or he was closer to waking up.

[@CottonPanzer]

Boomers: Okay we'll postpone this bitch into the future so future generations will have to deal with it. Future generation: I'mma re-awake the boomer generation so they can deal with it.

[@brentwilder1513]

I agree with your hail mary where it would have been cool to see paarthurnax as the main villain. During my first play through, the final Alduin fight was so easy that I suspected I was going to have to fight Paarthurnax after. I guess he did actually just want peace xD