Many fans ofThe Elder Scrollsseries enjoy each main title’s focus on exploration and player freedom. Players can do whatever they wish inSkyrimandMorrowind, which is a far cry from many narrative-driven RPGs.
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That doesn’t meanThe Elder Scrollslacks interesting stories, however.The Elder Scrollshas some of the deepest lore out of any intellectual property. That said, much of it is buried under many mind-bending concepts that are downright nonsensical. From small towns to Dragon Breaks, here are ten things that make little sense aboutThe Elder Scrollsuniverse. Story spoilers from the mainlineElder Scrollsgames are mentioned in this article.
10Rorikstead
Rorikstead is one of the most forgettable locations inSkyrim. No unique quests or NPCs are stationed here. What’s strange is that this otherwise desolate town has some of the most fertile soil in Tamriel, which is so rich in nutrients that the inhabitants are planning to sell the dirt to other towns.
Needless to say, this is rather fishy. Players can find soul gems in every house in Rorikstead and, even stranger, a man named Rorik that runs the town. The latter wouldn’t be strange if it wasn’t for records indicating that a man named Rorik originally build this farmstead a few eras ago. Old Rorikstead also had a magical surge in value with its soil, resulting in the farmstead making a large sum of money. Why could this be? Did the townsfolk turn to necromancy to bring Rorik back from the dead? Are all of Rorikstead’s inhabitants Daedric worshipers?
9The Disappearance of the Dwemer
The disappearance of the Dwemer is one ofThe Elder Scrolls’largest mysteries. According to records from the Battle of Red Mountain, the Dwemer race vanished after interacting with the Heart of Lorkhan.
Well, all exceptMorrowind’sYagrum Bagarn. He was in the Outer Realm when the event happened, resulting in him being the only known Dwemer to survive the incident. Yagrum has studied the incident ever since to no success. What exactly caused the Dwemer people to vanish? Some speculate that the Dwemer transcended mortality and became the skin of the Brass Tower Numidium while others believe the Chimer caused their extinction.
Nords were depicted as having a separate pantheon of gods they followed in previousElder Scrollstitles. WhenSkyrimbrought players to the snowy mountains of the province, some lore enthusiasts were shocked that nearly every Nord worships Talos instead of Shor.
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What happened? Ysmir is Talos' name in the Nordic pantheon, so why do Nords seldom refer to Talos as Ysmir? Has Imperial colonialism affected Nordic culture that severely, or was this a means of simplifying the pantheon of gods forSkyrim?
7Argonians And The Oblivion Crisis
Just before the Oblivion Crisis occurred, the Hist from Black Marsh called all Argonians back home. It is believed they were all mutated by the Hist to become massive in size and strength. According to the novelThe Infernal City, the Argonians were so strong they rushed into the Oblivion Gates in such large numbers thatMehrunes Dagon was forced to close the gates.
Why did the Hist only enact such strength during the Oblivion Crisis and not during any other conflict in the past? Couldn’t Mehrunes Dagon send an infinite supply of Daedra through the gates until the Argonians submitted? Argonians have a long history of being enslaved and losing battles, so it’s strange that the Hist would grant them enough power to overrun the realm of a Daedric Prince. The most likely explanation for all of this is that the text is exaggerated. Otherwise, most of this story seems hard to take at face value.
6The Levitation Act
As a means of explaining why levitating spells were absent inOblivion, certain NPCs will mention the passing of The Levitation Act. In 3E 421, the Empire banned the use of levitation magic for unknown reasons. It was most likely passed as an explanation for the absence of levitationmagic inOblivion, but this just feels like a lazy copout by Bethesda. From an in-universe perspective, what made the events during the late third Era require the enactment of such a law?
5Fourth Era Books Exist In The Second Era
The Elder ScrollsOnlineandDaggerfalltake place during the second Era inThe Elder Scrollstimeline,yet both titleshave books that were written during the third and fourth Era. It somewhat makes sense inDaggerfallas the game takes place during a Dragon Break—when parallel realities occur simultaneously and coalesce into one. Evidence showsESOisn’t in a Dragon Break, so that is unlikely the reason these books exist.
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Assuming it isn’t, the only explanation the game gives on this is a loading screen tip that suggests a cultist of Hermaeus Mora brought books from Apocrypha into the material realm because she loved them so much. No one makes note of these books at all in the game, not even the Mages Guild.
4The Birth Of Malacath And Orcs
Legend states that Malacath was once the great Aedra Trinimac who was turned into the exiled Daedric Princeafter being swallowed whole and excreted by Boethiah, Daedric Prince of deceit. This event turned the once-powerful Aedra into an Orc. All of Trinimac’s followers supposedly also turned into Orcs after this occurred. If eating gods can downrank their power, why isn’t this done more often? It should be rather apparent how eating a person whole and turning them into another species is a far-fetched idea.
3CHIM
CHIM isThe Elder Scrolls’unique take on spiritual enlightenment. In essence, those that achieve CHIM realize that their existence is part of a godhead or dream. Everything is interconnected in this dream and most are oblivious to it. Those that achieve CHIM reach one of two revelations: their existence is futile and individualism is a lie or their actions make them an individual and, therefore, capable of great change. Those that fall in the former category manage to “zero-sum,” removing themselves from existence and recorded history. Anyone in the latter effectively turns into a god.
If all ofThe Elder Scrollsis in a dream, can that entity be part of another godhead? Does reality have a definition inThe Elder Scrollssince CHIM exists? Is the fourth wall canon because of this? CHIM raises so many questions aboutThe Elder Scrollslore that it becomes a disorientingphilosophical exercise that leads down some strange rabbit holes.
2Dragon Breaks
To make every ending inDaggerfallcanon, Bethesda decided to invent the concept of Dragon Breaks. Dragon Breaks are when the universe undergoes multiple parallel instances simultaneously that people experience at the same time, even if events in each instance contradict one another.Daggerfall’sDragon Break is called the Warp in the West, and documentation on the event is sparse at best.
Suspending any disbelief on the logistics of a Dragon Break, how have the denizens of Tamriel not focused on researching these breaks? This seems likethe perfect setupfor a Mages Guild or College of Winterhold guild quest in anElder Scrollstitle, yet so few NPCs mention this phenomenon it’s rarely explored.
1Canon Is Relative
In an effort to unify lore theorists inThe Elder Scrollsfandom, Michael Kirkbride—considered the godfather ofTESlore—createdC0DAin 2014. This document presents the theory that lore is relative to its beholder. In other words, the player’s experience in eachElder Scrollsgame is canon.
Does that mean that mods are canon? If players install Thomas the Tank Engine dragons inSkyrim, does that mean that Alduin is canonically a train? What if Bethesda decides that theStormcloaks win the Civil Warin the nextElder Scrollsgame but players sided with the Imperials? Kirkbride’s strides to unify theElder Scrollsmythos are admirable, but they immediately fall apart when Bethesda chooses the canonical series of events in their nextElder Scrollsgame. C0DA just makes discussing the lore ofThe Elder Scrollseven more confusing than it already is.
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