The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is riddled with more quests than most could count, and there are no shortage of mysteries to be solved. And for the most part, mysteries that present themselves in the game can be solved – but what about the ones that can’t?
The fact remains that there are a few mysteries in Skyrim that simple have no resolution, leading fans to speculate for the past nine years that the game has been out in the world. So let’s take a look at the biggest unexplained mysteries that remain in the world of Skyrim.
First up, there’s a quest in Skyrim called “In My Time of Need.” Some Redguard bounty hunters called the Alik’r ask the Dragonborn to help them find a young Redguard woman who was a criminal fugitive with a hefty bounty on her head. The Alik’r leader Kematu’s side of the story is that the woman betrayed Hammerfell, giving information to the Aldmeri Dominion that led to the fall of Taneth.
The woman turns out to be Saadia, a barmaid in Whiterun’s Bannered Mare inn. Upon discovering her true identity, Saadia tells her side of the story: that she is a noblewoman from Hammerfell who was forced to flee the province after speaking out against the Aldmeri Dominion, which promptly hired the Alik’r to kill her for her dissent. The problem is that there’s really no way to tell which one is telling the truth. The Dragonborn can search all they like, but no evidence in favor of either side ever presents itself. Is Saadia the victim or the traitor? That decision is left to the Dragonborn, who must pick a side based only on their instincts and who they choose to trust.
This question isn’t one that players alone ask; NPCs from inside Skyrim are also confounded and mystified by the existence, and disappearance, of the ancient Dwemer race. It seems impossible for a race as powerful as the Dwemer, who built incredibly technologically advanced structures and more or less annihilated the snow elves from Tamriel, could themselves meet an untimely end. Yet, for all that their ruins and strange mechanical creations remain, the Dwemer themselves are nowhere to be found in Skyrim or anywhere else.
Did they leave Tamriel of their own volition, or did something happen to them? If so, what? Perhaps future installments of the Elder Scrolls will answer these questions, but Skyrim does not.
Rune, an NPC who is part of the Thieves’ Guild in Riften, is a true enigma. The Dragonborn can ask every member of the Guild about their past and reasons for joining, but Rune can’t say much. That’s mostly because he can’t remember much: Rune washed up on shore after a shipwreck as a child, and a farmer found and raised him from there. The name “Rune” was chosen by the farmer because of the strange symbols carved on a stone that Rune carried from the wreck.
The Dragonborn can offer assistance, but there’s no actual quest associated with Rune or his origins, so the truth remains hidden. It’s highly likely that this was supposed to be a quest, and then for whatever reason was not implemented in the final game, leaving a loose end just dangling for players to speculate over.
Ghosts in Skyrim are everywhere, and involved in a number of different quests. However, there’s one ghost with an air of mystery that is never fully explained: sometimes, only at night, the Dragonborn can encounter the ghost of a headless horseman on the road to Hamvir’s Rest.
It’s obviously a reference to the legend of Sleepy Hollow, but this is still a whole other headless horseman in the world of Tamriel – so who is he? One popular theory is that it’s the ghost of Ragnar The Red, a legendary warrior from the First Era of Tamriel. Players who hear the song about him (and it’s had not to, since Skyrim‘s bards will sing it randomly in just about every tavern) will know that Ragnar died by decapitation. Following the ghostly horseman to the end of his route will result in the Dragonborn finding a casket with a skull and battleaxe nearby, but none of those things offer any clues to the horseman’s identity.
Most of the assassination contracts that the Dragonborn fulfills for the Dark Brotherhood come from a known source. The Dragonborn will usually meet with the person who wants someone else dead, before carrying out the deed. Not only that, but there’s usually an explanation for why the person’s death is ordered. However, there’s one contract that has absolutely no rhyme or reason to it: that of Narfi from Ivarstead.
Narfi is a beggar man living in the ruins of his old family home, outside of Ivarstead. With nothing to his name, no family left, and on the verge of insanity, it seems baffling that anybody would want him dead badly enough to perform the Black Sacrament. Perhaps it’s an angel of mercy situation, and the contract issuer wanted save Narfi from the misery of his existence. Or perhaps Narfi was involved in something more sinister than the Dragonborn ever knows, if Narfi’s death is at all related to a side quest that the beggar man himself gives the Dragonborn upon being spoken to.
Because if players speak to Narfi on their own before killing him, they’ll learn that Narfi’s sister Reyda disappeared over a year ago. Narfi wants to learn what happened to her, and asks the Dragonborn to find out for him. If they do, then they’ll find Reyda’s bones with a distinctive necklace that belonged to her under the stone bridge leading into Ivarstead, with two arrows floating nearby.
So, Reyda was almost definitely murdered, but by who? The local innkeeper, Wilhelm, certainly has an odd reaction to Reyda’s necklace if he sees it, so it’s possible he was involved – and perhaps even issued the contract on Narfi to keep him quiet, too. Nonetheless, that’s just a theory, as there’s no official explanation in-game for who was behind the demise of both Reyda and Narfi; it’s just a quiet family tragedy.
Players have to be a pretty high level to experience the wrath of the Ebony Warrior (level 80, to be precise). But, once attaining that level of prestige, a warrior clad entirely in ebony armor may challenge the Dragonborn to a fight. He’s seeking to enter Sovngarde, but needs to die by the hand of a worthy warrior in order to prove his worth. Enter the Dragonborn: pretty much the most worthy warrior on Tamriel.
One of the strangest things about this warrior is that, like the Dragonborn and Ulfric Stormcloak, he can perform a couple of Shouts – although he’s no Dragonborn himself. He’s a Redguard, as evidenced when looted of all his possessions by the Dragonborn, but he doesn’t say anything more about himself before battle. Who is he? Where did he come from? How did he learn to Shout? Unfortunately, the truth continues to elude Skyrim players.
Sometimes, an assassin from the Dark Brotherhood will up and ambush the Dragonborn as they run around Skyrim. When that happens, there’s always a letter on the would-be killer’s body, always with the same message on it: “As instructed, you are to eliminate [the Dragonborn] by any means necessary. The Black Sacrament has been performed – somebody wants this poor fool dead.” The message is signed by Astrid, so we know it’s definitely from the Brotherhood, but little else.
Eventually joining the Brotherhood yields no answers; there aren’t any prompts to ask the other members who performed the Sacrament or why they aren’t concerned about leaving it unfulfilled. After all, the Black Sacrament is supposed to be a binding thing: once performed, there’s no going back. And yet, if the Dragonborn joins up after one (or a few) failed assassination attempts, everyone is fine apparently letting bygones be bygones. As such, it doesn’t seem like we’ll ever find out who wanted the Dragonborn dead so badly.
Skyrim is available to play on PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
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