So why did Alduin decide to attack Helgen?

[BrettM]

If you look at the Atlas of Dragons, Mirmulnir is one of those listed as "known to live." I suspect that he was never killed, but came out of hiding when he sensed Alduin's return or heard Alduin's voice during the attack on Helgen.

 

I would also point out that the graves marked on the map were all constructed by the Dragon Cult for dragons that fell during the Dragon War, but Mirmulnir survived that war. The Dragonguard would hardly have ceremoniously buried the dragons they killed in marked graves, and the Dragon Cult was no longer around to find and bury those corpses. If Mirmulnir was killed at some point, it would have been after the Atlas was written, so we would have no way to tell where he was killed or correlate it with the map.

 

Alduin was clearly following the pattern of the marked graves, but it isn't clear why. Perhaps if they were all killed before he was banished, he already knew where they were. Or perhaps those graves were just easy to see from the air and Alduin just flew a logical search pattern. Or perhaps he just started with those because they were somehow easier to sense than those without formal burial. We can't even be sure that Alduin was able to find the others, since we never met either of the named dragons killed by the Dragonguard.

 

While Alduin has powers other dragons lack, I'm wary of ascribing anything he does to some unknown power if there is an alternative theory that seems to fit the facts. There just isn't any support I can see for supposing that he sensed a dragonborn at Helgen. I also think that everything we do know can be explained without making this supposition.

 

The Greybeards don't summon you until shortly after you have absorbed Mirmulnir's soul. Mirmulnir's last words ("Dovahkiin! No!") seemed surprised, as if he did not realize your nature until he was on the verge of death, perhaps feeling your power tugging at his soul. Miraak must also have been able to sense this tug, since he could appear just in time to steal the soul from your kill. Absorbing dragon souls seems to be the common factor that reveals you as dragonborn, even to the ordinary people who are around when you do it. But there is no evidence that anyone -- ordinary dragon, Greybeard, Miraak, or Alduin -- can sense dragon blood that has not yet manifested itself by soul absorption.

 

I don't favor the theory that Alduin sensed us at all in Helgen, since he never even hinted at this in his dialog. He only boasted, in the dragon tongue, that the Elder Scroll didn't defeat him, calling the mortals arrogant and foolish for thinking their plan would work. I got the impression that he had just returned and had no idea yet that millennia had passed. He may have thought he was attacking rebel forces, not their remote descendants who could no longer understand his language and his taunts. But I heard no taunts about mortals claiming to be dovah until we saw him again at Kynesgrove.

 

My guess is that Alduin came out of the time wound still thinking he was in the middle of the war, and then attacked the first town he saw. Shortly after Helgen, Mirmulnir caught up with him and filled him in on the history. Alduin then began resurrecting more followers. Mirmulnir may have been ordered to start spreading destruction in the meantime. Or perhaps he was helping to search for dragon graves, hitting any targets of opportunity he ran across in the process, such as the watch tower. Or maybe he was just wandering around amusing himself while Alduin was rebuilding his forces.

 

I think this scenario holds together pretty well. The timeline is a bit tight if you go immediately to Whiterun, but it might allow for a couple of resurrections and word of more dragon sightings to reach Delphine before you are sent after the Dragonstone. (Actually, if you travel around first, you never see a single opened grave until after facing Mirmulnir. This may be a gameplay thing, though, that doesn't quite fit the story as we're supposed to understand it.)

[Lachdonin]

 

I think this scenario holds together pretty well. The timeline is a bit tight if you go immediately to Whiterun, but it might allow for a couple of resurrections and word of more dragon sightings to reach Delphine before you are sent after the Dragonstone. (Actually, if you travel around first, you never see a single opened grave until after facing Mirmulnir. This may be a gameplay thing, though, that doesn't quite fit the story as we're supposed to understand it.)

 

The timeline is only tight if we take Skyrim's scale. If we adjust for the worlds true-scale, the trek from Helgen to Riverwood, and then Riverwood to White Run would have covered at least a week, probably considerably more. I mean, from Helgen to Whiterun is almost as far as from Rome to Pescara. That's a bit more than 200km. Average walking speed of a human is 5km/h on even ground. Absolute bare minimum, the trip would take 42 hours. That's not accounting the rough terrain, poor equipment, need to hunt/sleep, any diversions... Yea, a week would be a quick jaunt.

 

That's a lot of time for Dragons to move about. Assuming Dragons are as slow as an un-laden Swallow, they're moving 7x as fast as the Dragonborn on foot (so about 35km/h). Within 42 hours, Alduin could have traveled almost 1500 km. Within a week... He could have been to Alinor and back.

 

Also, 1800 posts. I feel like there should be cake or something.

Edited May 12, 2014 by Lachdonin

[notmyhome]

http://barringtonstageco.org/media/potato.jpg

Sorry, couldn't make cake on such short notice, so the remains of my dinner will have to do.

Could stick a few candles on that, though...

here you go.

http://jewishappleseed.org/apple/images/silverpotato.jpg

 

 

Ah... Yea. In regards to the post. I just fired up Arena and had a look. It claims the distance between Riverwood and Whiterun is 180 KM and suggests a travel time of 3 days per horse.

So yea, Skyrim scaling is a B*tch.

[BrettM]

I'd still call it tight. During that time Delphine would have had to learn of the attack and additional dragon sightings -- all from travelers who wouldn't be moving much faster than you can even if they had horses. She would then have to figure out a possible connection between those facts and the rumored, long-forgotten Dragonstone. Finally, she would have to get word to Farengar ahead of your arrival, because he already knew that his mysterious employer wanted him to find some daring thick-wit to fetch that item. It's a lot to get done, though I'm sure it's possible if you factor in that your character is going to have more travel delays than natives of the area.

[notmyhome]

We can of course debate the worth of TESI: Arena as a lore source in general.

It's like a completely different game background with exception of the landmass and a few names that sound alike.

[Moksha8088]

Besides being part of the story, perhaps making a grand entrance in Helgen and saving the Dragonborn was Alduin's way of acknowledging a Dovahkiin being sent at that point in time. Much like the big sandworms from Dune paying homage to Paul Atreides when he became the Kwizatz Haderach, Dovah honor required a live and functioning Dovahkiin.

[deadblood01]

alduin was banished at throat of the world and there is where he would come back again helgen is just down that mountain so maybe he decided to have some fun and let the world know he is back

[Lachdonin]

alduin was banished at throat of the world and there is where he would come back again helgen is just down that mountain so maybe he decided to have some fun and let the world know he is back

 

It's still over a hundred km away. In fact, logistically, Iverstead is probably closer to where Alduin re-emerged. The only thing reason he would have had to go to Helgen was the Dragonborn.

[TheVampireDante]

Plus, if it was a matter of simply heading to the most established looking settlement to raise some hell - I'm pretty sure he would have headed straight for Whiterun, much more prominent target.

 

Or as stated, if going for the closest then he would have went right down into Ivarstead. It's right at the base of the mountain, so he would have literally just had to swoop down and land on the place. No effort required.

[BrettM]

If Alduin came out not knowing yet how much time had passed and thinking that the Dragon War was still in progress, he might well have headed for a place where he assumed he would find rebels to fight. Perhaps Helgen was the site of a rebel stronghold during the Dragon War. Did Ivarstead even exist back then? Whiterun certainly did, but I don't think sensible rebels would have used it as a major base given that it sits in the middle of open tundra.