Ending

[Cthuloot]

So... This has irked me for a while and I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned or talked about more often.

 

The end bit, in Sovernguard, where you team up with the 3 dudes. What was that? Combine the powers of our Thu'um? Everybody shout on three? Like seriously? Was I the only one that felt like they were somehow warped into some sort of odd My Little Pony fan fic? I stopped playing for a month after this scene. I didn't even kill Alduin there. I just quit.I know Bethesda has been kind of lacking in writing with Skyrim, but this Friendship is Magic crap was they best they could come up with? Seriously?

[sinnerman69]

Alduin was too powerful for just one to kill and he needed assistance from the hero's of Sovernguard, later when you defeat Alduin Tsun awards you the shout Call of Valor that well summon one of the three that helped you kill Alduin, the award to summon a hero was intertwined with defeating Alduin

 

 

I've played games from other developers that had worse ending's then skyrim

[Cthuloot]

It wasn't bad, and it make sense, just the way that they did it. It felt kind of... Out of place really.

[Inquart]

I think it's also worth mentioning that after his apparent defeat at the hands of Dovahkiin in Sovngarde, Alduin's soul was not absorbed as it was with any other dragons. When later asked about that, both Paarthurnax and Arngeir say that maybe he was not permanently defeated (i. e. killed), but simply banished and that one day he might return to once again play his role as a World Eater.

 

As for the ending itself - it wasn't that bad. It was even kind of symbolic that the Dragonborn - powerful as he is by himself - has united the power of his own Thu'um with the very same Thu'um-wielding heroes of old that have defeated Alduin before. It's like a message to World Eater: no matter when you show up again, no matter how powerful, fearsome and arrogant you will be, there will always be someone to stand against you and defeat you - in this world or the next.

Edited September 8, 2012 by Inquart

[gsmanners]

Was I the only one that felt like they were somehow warped into some sort of odd My Little Pony fan fic?

 

That would have been an improvement over this crappy writing.

[Fasendil]

That's like saying Lord of the Rings was like My Little Pony (ignoring the fact that LOTR came first) because of the Fellowship and Sam's part. I like it more than having some super-overpowered person who does it all solo. It's not that weird to have help considering you are fighting the World Eater.

[Lachdonin]

There is a rather long winded explination for the strange and abrupt ending of Skyrim. It's all about numbers, the nature of creation and so on and so forth, but i shall try to summarize it as best i can.

 

Anduin is a creature of Nirn (3). In order to defeat him, you need something which trumps Nirn (3). The 3 heroes of the Dragon War, together, only accounted for a match for Alduin. With the inclusion of the Dragon Born, the 3 became 4, thus alowing for superiority over Alduin. It may also have been Oblivion vs Aetherius, numerology isn't my thing. Regardless, it was 3 vs 4. This may explain why the Dragonborn couldn't absorb Alduin, because he alone didn't have the numerical advantage.

 

Of course there are problems with the whole arguement. The Dragonborn being equal to Alduin himself being one of them, so it actually became 3 vs 6... And the fact that all of this implies that the Bethesda story team is capable of this type of abstract thought without Kirkbride around to direct them.

 

I do feel that it was another in a long line of missed opportunities, mind you. Something interesting does come out of the whole encounter though, that being the obviously missing Shor, who is supposed to be confined to the Underworld.

[gsmanners]

And the fact that all of this implies that the Bethesda story team is capable of this type of abstract thought without Kirkbride around to direct them.

 

"Story team?" LOL

 

You make it sound like they actually hire people who are qualified to write. Or are literate. Or that MK is something more than a lame William Gibson ripoff artist.

[Cthuloot]

In response to Fasendil, at no point in LOTR did anybody say "We have to combine our X to Y"

 

I mean really? Combine your Thu'um? That was a thing? Why weren't Draugr combining their Thu'um to shout ridiculously powerful waves of force and throw the Dovahkiin spiraling into walls at forces that wouldn't be achieved by man until hundred of years later.

 

Lachodin, that's all well and good, but that doesn't seem to be really mentioned or worked towards at any point in the game. Also, the lore says when one Dov kills another that Dov absorbs the loser's power and soul. This made no sense that Alduin was too powerful for one to absorb. The explanation I came up with was that his soul escaped to Sovernguard and while in Soverguard we defeated his soul, in essence destroying it entirely.

 

gsmanners. I've come to rather enjoy a lot of your posts. While I'm sure they had a story team, I get the feeling a lot of what the story team wanted to do was shut down for technical reasons, as well as their desire to appeal to younger audiences.

[Lachdonin]

And the fact that all of this implies that the Bethesda story team is capable of this type of abstract thought without Kirkbride around to direct them.

 

"Story team?" LOL

 

You make it sound like they actually hire people who are qualified to write. Or are literate. Or that MK is something more than a lame William Gibson ripoff artist.

 

Considering Harry Potter and Twilight have both made it onto the "Best Sellers" list, i think the qualifications for writing have dropped off considerably, to the point where a vomitious toad can produce first class literature. You are also assuming that William Gibson was not, himself, ripping off earlier works. I challenge you to find one truely original piece of literature from the last 1000 years. It can't be done.

 

Lachodin, that's all well and good, but that doesn't seem to be really mentioned or worked towards at any point in the game. Also, the lore says when one Dov kills another that Dov absorbs the loser's power and soul. This made no sense that Alduin was too powerful for one to absorb. The explanation I came up with was that his soul escaped to Sovernguard and while in Soverguard we defeated his soul, in essence destroying it entirely.

 

First off, it's not my explination, i am simply transcribing (and rather poorly i suspect) someone elses idea. Second, there was no escaping of a soul prior to the confrontation in Sovengarde. Had you actually defeated Alduin at the Throat of the World, the explination would make sense, but he activly gets up and leaves, hale and whole. The simpel, undeniable fact is that, by Alduin's soul escaping, they ensure they can bring him back whenever they want. It's a classic comic-book copout.

Edited September 9, 2012 by Lachdonin