Before I start to get into some of the juicy details that connect these two games, let me start by saying that this article will have MAJOR spoilers for those of you who have not beaten The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. If that is the case and you have not beaten it, I suggest you get your copy and run through it before Skyrim releases in November because it is nothing short of amazing.
With that said, I recently went back and beat Oblivion since the release of Skyrim is drawing ever closer and found that there were some interesting plot points that could lead to a huge tie in with the story of the upcoming Elder Scrolls game.
First we will start with what we already know about Skyrim. You play as a member of a group of legendary individuals known as the Dovahkiin (fun fact:in the dragon language this is translated as Dovah meaning “dragon” and Kiin meaning “child”), or Dragonborn, and you are tasked with finding out why dragons have returned to Skyrim and are wreaking havoc on the land. From what has been officially announced so far, you start the game out in prison and are about to be led to execution. The charge? Crossing the border into Skyrim. For reasons that are yet unknown to us, you are freed and set out on your adventure.
From what we learned in Oblivion, The descendants of Tiber Septim are known as Dragonborn and are the only ones who could properly use the Amulet of Kings to its full potential. After the death of Emperor Septim and most of his sons, only Martin Septim was left as the last hope for the land of Cyrodiil. You soon learn that Martin is the last of the Dragonborn and that he is the only one that can carry on to rule the lands once he relights the Dragonfires with the use of the Amulet of Kings. In the final battle of the game against the Daedric Lord Mehrunes Daegon, Martin uses the amulet and shatters it, releasing the power inside it and transforming him into a dragon. After defeating Mehrunes Daegon the dragon turns to stone meaning that Martin is dead along with the Dragonborn.
Fast forward to where we are today and we learn that players will take the role of a Dragonborn in the upcoming game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. But how is that possible if Martin was supposedly the last of their kind? There are a few different perspectives that I have on this.
The first is that there is a potential plot point within the game that explains either how the Dragonborn returned or why they never disappeared in the first place. This could appear as a crucial plot point part way through the game or even be explained in the very begining. Hell I would even settle for a set of books or a conversation that explains the origin of the Dragonborn. My second guess is that perhaps there are multiple different types of Dragonborn throughout the different provinces of Tamriel, though this seems like it would be a weaker and more diluted explanation for the connection. It would be interesting if they found a way to keep the storyline truly consistent with Oblivion and had a great explanation as to why there is another Dragonborn out in the world other than just saying “Oh there are different types of these unique people.” But hey, only time will tell what the story of Skyrim holds for us fans.
What do you readers think? Feel free to leave your comments or discuss your own ideas/connections in the comment area below.
gmoney549
July 9, 2011 at 11:18 PMSkyrim is an all new game. I don’t think they made skyrim to follow were oblivion left off.
chantienyee
July 10, 2011 at 12:31 AMIf you read about the history and culture of the Elder Scrolls in the in-game books, you get a good idea of the larger picture and how everything in the games ties together, and even how future games might fit in. It’s all really well written and can be found on a few websites. Here’s an article on the Dragonborn: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Way_of_the_Voice
chantienyee
July 10, 2011 at 12:36 AMSorry, not Dragonborn, I mean the shout magic.
DJGamer
July 10, 2011 at 1:08 AMI remember reading in some thread that there once were many Dragonborn but by the time of Oblivion they were believed to have been reduced down to the Septim bloodline. The key word here of course is “believed”.
I don’t really know if they’ll properly explain if the player character is a lost heir to the Septim bloodline or simply descended from one of the other Dragonborn of old. It might very well be left for the player to decide for themselves.
Also, are you sure the crime the player committed is specifically going to be that s/he illegally crossed the Skyrim border? That seems out-of-character for an Elder Scrolls game in my opinion-the whole point of starting the player out as a prisoner is to give them a starting point where they are forced to flesh out a bit of backstory for their character starting with “How did I end up here?”. What crime(s) is/are s/he accused of and are they actually guilty of them? I do have a small problem with the fact that an execution is involved because that seems to “narrow it down” a bit-but if they’re going to be specific this time again it feels like it goes against the whole point of the player starting out as a prisoner.
Nio
July 10, 2011 at 1:59 AMIn Oblivion when you talk to the blades in cloud ruler temple after beating the main story they say something quite interesting about biding their time until the next Dragonborn rises.
Reilly
July 10, 2011 at 3:00 AMAccording to Oblivion, the Septims are repeatedly described as ‘Dragonborn’ or ‘Dragonblood’. Whether or not this is difinitively the same thing as Dovahkiin has (as far as I know) not been confirmed, but it would be strange if they had used the phrase with no link in mind between the two. In ES4, it is made clear that the only people who can light the Dragonfires are the Septims – or Dragonborn – and thus they are the only legitimate claimants to the throne of the Empire.
With Martin’s death (and the destruction of the amulet of kings) the barrier between oblivion and tamriel is sealed permenantly, so that dragonborns are no longer needed to keep the daedra out with the dragonfires ritual. This would help explain why the Empire seems to have at least partially collapsed in the 200 years between Oblivion and Skyrim; the lack of a legitimate successor in addition to the provincial problems described in ES4 provide ample opportunity for the provinces to break away from the Empire (Morrowind anyone?).
Situation would be then that the rise of a Dragonborn in Skyrim, the turning back of an invasion of Dragons, is a precursor to the protagonist being either the key to saving the Empire (possibly by becoming Emperor) or signalling it’s final end. I seem to remember an interview in which Todd Howard described that your character would have the power to decide whether Skyrim remains part of the Empire, but my money is on the ‘Dragonborn’ having a much larger impact than that.
JS
July 10, 2011 at 3:28 AMKeep in mind, this new game takes place 200 years after the events in Oblivion, and Todd Howard said that players wouldn’t be lost if they had never played Oblivion before.
nayrbarr
July 10, 2011 at 7:46 AMIt’s already been confirmed that there are (or, more accurately, were) multiple lines of Dragonborn. The Septim line was the only one which remained known to most of the inhabitants of Cyrodiil by the events of Oblivion because that was the only line which still served a purpose (lighting the Dragon Fires).
When Tamriel was plagued with dragons, the gods infused a certain number of individuals with the power of the dragons in order to give the races of Tamriel a chance at survival.
To my knowledge, all lines other than that of the player have died out by the events of Skyrim.
Urgelt
July 10, 2011 at 8:09 AMOoo, speculation time! Great!
The Septim clan was called “Dragonborn” – in recent times, at least – because of its relationship with Akatosh, the god who appears as a dragon. I haven’t seen anything in the lore that says that the Septims were literally descended either from Akatosh himself or from dragons more generally. But it does seem possible that breaking the Amulet of Kings (which was, I think, made from Akatosh’s blood) woke the power of Martin’s own dragonblood for a short time. Not being a pure-blooded dragon, he couldn’t survive in that form for very long, perhaps. But long enough.
It’s a theory, anyway.
Akatosh himself is an ascended dragon (the only dragon to ascend, I think). If statues are to be believed, he is able to assume the form of a humanoid, but he sometimes appears as a full dragon. He is usually shown holding an hourglass; time is his sphere of influence. Stories about The Dragon (Akatosh) breaking time qualify in my book as highly mysterious, if not downright incomprehensible. I don’t remember any lore stating explicitly that Akatosh mated with humans and produced offspring, either before or after his long-ago ascension.
So: the Septims either are blood relations of Akatosh himself; or the Septims were just a variant of dragon-descended humans whose first generation ancestor, Tiber Septim, made a magical pact with Akatosh (which would set them apart from other dragonborn); or the Septims are called “dragonborn” not because of their bloodline but because of their magical pact with Akatosh. And Martin did or did not have dragon blood in his own veins which, combined with the blood of Akatosh, did or did not enable him to become a dragon for a short time.
Which means what, in terms of the Skyrim plot line?
Eh. The protagonist might or might not be related to the Septims by blood. The protagonist might or might not have a connection to Akatosh like that of the Septims. The protagonist might or might not have any connection at all to the Septims. We’ll just have to wait and see.
One thing’s for sure. Turning into a dragon is probably a bad idea for a humanoid with a trace of dragon blood in his veins, unless he has a death wish. In which case, if one can do it at all, it’ll be a burst of glory and a quick end.
Another couple of loose dragon-wise ends in my mind are:
– The Akaviri, whose connections, or lack of connections, to dragons is also up in the air.
– The Taesci. Ditto for them.
Someone who knows the lore better than I do might know how they figure into dragon lore. If either race has dragon blood, might their mating with humans be responsible for traces of dragon blood in humans today? Or did modern dragonborn get it some other way?
I’ve wondered for a long time now when Bethesda will get around to working in either Akaviri or Taesci, or both, into their games as more than ancient stories or as sources of equally-ancient equipment. Thus far, it doesn’t sound like Skyrim will be answering those questions for us.
Remember the rumor that the Nereverine went haring off to Akavir? I sure would like to know what he/she got up to over there. :-)
Dragonborn
July 10, 2011 at 8:26 AMThis is an interesting incite but I have been thinking of something even more radical and you’re definitely right Skyrim has some major spoilers thus far if you’ve watched the story and read the books all the way back from say Morrorwind.
The following is tremendously huge spoilers for Skyrim possibly as well as for those that haven’t played Morrorwind and Oblivion….You’ve been warned !!!!
Here are some interesting fun facts and some of my stipulations that one should look at :
-The Nerevarine WAS a Dragonborn in Morrorwind
-Some Incarnation of Talos gave you an ‘lucky coin’ before Red mountain to face a god……does that sound familiar ? *cough* Skyr.. *cough*
-At the end of Oblivion,Akatosh supposedly appear and Martin explained pretty much what he thought by mixing his blood w/ the Amulet of Kings.I think the Skyrim videos are showcasing a lot more than they would like in this regard.It makes me wonder that is what the TRUE quest is for Dragonborn which is to gain Alduin’s blood to create a new Amulet of Kings !!!!!!!!
-In Skyrim,supposedly Alduin(Akatosh) is also a god I believe on or around “The Throat of the World” in which “The Greybeards” live on High Hrothgar.Perhaps they were the original incarnations of “The Blades” in which to test a New potential Emperor and to protect any entrance to Alduin.
-The Developers have been mummed about transformations and one wonders why.There was a first person view of a Dragon !!!! Martin also used the Amulet to Transform !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-It also makes me wonder why “Imperials” have a ‘Voice of the Emperor’ power.Could what I have said dictated how the Imperials were created from the Nords !!!!!
Raz
July 10, 2011 at 11:45 AMIn Morrowind, the player was a dragonborn, according to the Lost Prophecies:
“Neither Hound nor Guar, nor Seed nor Harrow,
But Dragon-born and far-star-marked”
DJGamer
July 10, 2011 at 2:26 PMI’ve heard on the Bethsoft Forums that the Nerevarine being referred to as “Dragonborn” is merely a reference to the fact that they came from Cyrodiil. Words can have multiple meanings in Tamriel just as they can in real life.
I think the first person view of the dragon in the Skyrim trailer was most likely just a visual flair, intended to show the perspective of the dragon chasing the Dragonborn rather than the Dragonborn flying over Skyrim as a dragon. It is possible to “simulate flight” by turning off collision detection in the game which is how they may have achieved the effect. Of course it’s still possible that one of the shouts will allow the player to transform into a dragon and they actually used that mechanic to achieve that effect but I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions.
More suspicious is their silence regarding transformations, which is understandable given the fact that being able to turn into a dragon would be such a badass ability that they’d want to keep it a surprise. I’d doubt they’d be so hush hush if they were planning on including playable werewolves since that’s something they’ve done before (in Bloodmoon) and therefore wouldn’t be all that unexpected.
sheo720
July 10, 2011 at 3:13 PMI remember seeing an interview with Todd Howard where he clarified that they are two entirely different, unrelated things. Both forms of dragonborn simply share a common name.
Chanda
July 10, 2011 at 4:25 PMMy thought on how your character is able to be a Dragonborn is that Martin, who said in Oblivion that he used to follow the Daedric god Sanguine, had a few trysts with ladies who might have gotten pregnant and bore children. Martin might not have known that he had children. So your character is actually a blood descendant from Martin. Even if you’re an Argonian or Khajiit, that doesn’t mean you couldn’t have descended from Martin’s illegitimate children. Everyone’s heard about the Lusty Argonian Maid, I’m sure.
Eric
July 10, 2011 at 4:25 PMI’m pretty sure that in the 20 minute podcast Todd Howard did with GI not to long after the announcement of Skyrim he goes into a little detail about it, from what i remember you are a Dragonborn with no relation to the Septim line.
Jordan
July 10, 2011 at 8:12 PMI dont think your character has anything to do with the septim line. In many articles bethesda has posted they say that the dragonborn are apointed by the gods. So maybe the nine saw the world needing a dragonborn and so gave a child they saw fit, the soul of a dragon. I dont think that you have to come from a line of dragonborn to be one, the gods can choose someone they deem worthy of protecting tamriel. Perhaps you are somehow related to the septims, i like how everyone beleives you come from martin when the emperor had 3 other sons that could have had a pleasant night with a lady. haha mostly speculation..I guess we will find out on 11-11-11.
FW
July 12, 2011 at 8:03 AMIt’s worth noting that Tiber Septim was a user of the Voice magic well before he became Emperor. The Greybeards are longtime users of the Voice magic as well, and they predate both Tiber Septim and the pact with Akatosh. So technically the Dovahkiin of TES5 isn’t even the only one alive, since the Greybeards are still around.
I think the Dragonborn have a special connection to Skyrim, as it’s where they came from (like Tiber Septim). I also think their origin is something new to Elder Scrolls that will be explained, and I think it will predate most Elder Scrolls lore that we already know.
This assumes that to be a Voice user, you must have dragonblood in yo veins.
Isaac
July 13, 2011 at 11:56 AMI love how well Bethsoft made these games. It like a alternative universe because they don’t know there history completely and you get everything like lore, gods and bloodlines. It just so well done. It just mind blowing how much depth there is.
buddybuddy
July 17, 2011 at 12:51 PM@gmoney549
Skyrim is not an all new game, just like Oblivion wasn’t. It’s part of the Elder Scrolls series,and therefore has to tie in with Oblivion at least lore wise. The same thing happened from Morrowind (ES3) to Oblivion, they had to explain the disappearance of the hero from Morrowind in Oblivion. So they probably will touch on this tie in.
Braton
July 20, 2011 at 4:41 PMi think you could be the son of the character in oblivion. remember that it doesn’t mention why you are in prison, or why you are special but it all just happens so i think that that character could be an orphan or urial septim, but that wasn’t officially recognised as a dragon born as your mother could have been a different race/part of society. anyway long story short without realizing it you travel to skyrim to find work or adventure so you can follow in the footsteps of your father
Nbkbauer
July 22, 2011 at 4:40 AMI think that it would be interesting if you find out that you are Talos (Tiber Septim) reincarnate come to stop Akatosh from destroying Nin.