[So why did Alduin decide to attack Helgen?]

Its never truely revealed in the story.

* Alduin will actually kill you, if you linger too long outside -> he is not there to save you.

In this case, I like to think he prevented my death because I was showing my worthiness by facing my death for past crimes maybe I did commit. Had I been acting like the runner, he probably would not had interfered. I can't even picture it happening without laughing.

 

I never meant to imply he's saving you in the sense you're using it, as if on a rescue mission. He's the first born, so an older brother to you. Maybe he's wanting you to make him proud while still thinking he's the better, with doubts, maybe even wouldn't mind being beaten by you, but unlike a father, he may still kill you if you give him reason.

 

Its actually explained somewhere you where no criminal, but happened to be on the same boat as Ulfric, that was all your crime.

 

I don't believe this "brother" thing, you are not that special a dragonborn, there where several before. At least 3 of them banished him into the time whirl in a fight.

[So why did Alduin decide to attack Helgen?]

He can sense the Dragonborn, he didn't save him on purpose. He was going to devour his soul, a soul much more powerful then any from Sovngarde.

 

In that case he would go after you again, as soon you are under the sky again. Nah, he just decided after seeing you at Helgen, you are too puny for him to take care of.

[A Letter From a Friend]

Talos.

 

It needs to be either a divine or at least a person with clairvoyant abilities. Not only does s/he know of every possible faction in the game, you shouted near them, s/he also knows when you have learned a new shout, which by no social interaction could ever be known, if you ran in a dungeon until the word wall or not. Or s/he must seriously stalk you. (which brings back to the theory its the messenger itself). However a divine or clairvoyant or serious stalking entity wanting to help you, for whatever reason, why would s/he wait until you shouted near people? Perhaps as excuse so you don't raise suspicion to much, that somebody knows everything about you, and thus waits for you to shout near people, and hope you don't give it too much thought.

 

While playing I did that and simply just assumed straight away, it would be the Greybeards. But seeing this topic, yes it makes no sense, how should they know if you shouted near people? They would never know, they have hardly to no social contacts. Currently I just suppose Bethesda wanted to keep players pushing to the right directions, without giving too much story thought about it. The mysterious helpful "friend" who write anonymous letters/messages is an almost too overused gaming cliché. This one at least limits him/herself to shouts.

[So what I think may have happened to the Dwemer]

I hope the next Elder Scrolls game has "The return of the Dwemer". That would be cool. Either as partners to the protagonist so s/he must bring them back, but they also would give excellent antagonists, who where brought back by some evil wizard, and who must be stopped, to continue to do whatever they where doing. Anyway, I consider doing more of rumaging through their mysterious ruins becomes boring anyway, so instead of doing the same thing again in the next game, they should either just leave them away (they havent had any settlements where ever it will take place), or make something original with 'em.

 

BTW: In Morrowind it was told in many places, their experimenting with the dead god-hearth and attacking it with the tools was the cause for their disappearance, not an elder-scroll. Something similar happens to Arniel who becomes a shade, but since he had only some twisted soul gem, instead of the true thing, it only happened to him instead of his whole race, like the Dwemer.

[So why did Alduin decide to attack Helgen?]

- Wanting the war to go on, to get more souls.

 

While I agree with the other points, I disagree with this one. Two issues speak against it: Alduin has no communication with humans, so he doesn't know who is who and likely doesn't care about human politics anyway. He has no human form, or any human that works with him, that could tell him about Ulfric. Second, he does never interfere again to have the war go on. I would believe this issue more if he would at the final battle at Windhelm or Solitude working against you to continue the war.

[So why did Alduin decide to attack Helgen?]

Its never truely revealed in the story.

 

Out-of-world-explanation is pretty easy/obvious. Bethesda wanted to begin the game with a bang, so dragon, and the prison/arrival thing allows the player to have no mention worthy past, so its up to the player to form his character. Bethesda never cared too much, to tie this into the story later on, except Delphine who makes wrong suspicions and falsely points you to the Thalmor. In-world its somehow complicated.

 

Facts:

* Alduin never attacks directly any other city himself. So Helgen was somehow special.

* Alduin never interferes another time, so for example to save Ulfric again, once you claim Windhelm.

* Alduin will actually kill you, if you linger too long outside -> he is not there to save you.

* Alduin does not have any human followers, or is able to take a human form (no where hinted at, except the story you make up at the bards college) so he has no idea who Ulric is, and sure not of the political consequences of the event.

* Alduin will not attack you again, unless you lern the Dragonrend much later. So at helgen his not on a kill mission too you. Otherwise he would just pop up again once you leave the cave.

 

What I suppose makes most sense, Alduin gets kicked out of the time warp at the throat of the world, unaware what had actually happened to him. Possibly your presence as dragon born close to the timefracture might have triggered that, but maybe its also just random. For him the 3 guys who just attacked him were puff just gone. He was just mad at the uprising humankind and either just attacked the next village (Helgen is pretty close to the throat) or felt your presence and came to investigate, or supposed what he felt, would be one of them. While attacking the village he realized what happened to him, and that the other dragons are all dead, so from there on he concentrates on resurrecting them instead of attacking. He also observed you and what he felt, and judged you to be too puny to be worth of his personal attention any more.