Miraak: An Analysis of 'Evil' 

Miraak is the dark mirror of the Dragonborn. He wields a staff and sword and his Shouts. He is the final boss of the Skyrim DLCs because, like the Ebony Warrior before him, you are really fighting yourself, or rather what you might become.

You killed Miraak because you thought he was evil. I killed Miraak because he took my dragon souls. We are not the same.

Avarti: "Miirak is Skyrim's most interesting villain" Nazeem: "Sounds like someone doesn't get to the cloud district very often."

I remember killing Harkon when he was talking with Serana while sneaking with a dagger. I just didn’t respect him. But that fight with Miraak is just awesome

One thing I like about the Miirak fight is that it’s essentially a 1v1. In Sovengard you defeat Alduin with Tsun and the Three Tongues, you slay Harkon with Serana, Civil War has your Generals with you, the Companions, College, and TG final fights you have your allies(not counting DB because of no real “boss battles” imo), world bosses you can fight with any follower, but with Miirak it’s just you. I certainly don’t remember his dragons helping him any on his side. Previously you fought alongside friends and allies, but Miirak only had servants and slaves. In the end You are alone, at the peak of Apocrypha, surrounded by dead bodies. You are the last man standing. I just find that an interesting angle.

Hermaeus Mora is the real villain of the Dragonborn DLC. The Skaal make this very clear, and Miraak is regarded more as a symptom of the disease taking hold of Solstheim, but not the disease itself. What's more, even if you had done Hermaeus Mora's quest and become his "champion" in Skyrim, you're still regarded as an outsider, an interloper, in Apocrypha and attacked viciously by all its denizens. Like... what the hell, dude? Too bad you have no option of teaming up with Miraak and taking the fight to ol' Herma-Mora himself.

"I have found a new dragonborn to serve me" A very strong hint as to what happens to the Last Dragonborn after the events of the game. As Mora is the Prince of Knowledge, I assume he knows far more than the LD does and has already created the conditions to bind the LD to his will.

Miraak just got really sick of being surrounded by books all day

I wanted to make friends with him. People like him, Serana, and parthurnaax are ancient and with them gone I feel the world is becoming empty and meaningless because they represent fulfillment in this world. at least for me.

Miraak is the Sharmat, similar to Dagoth Ur in Morrowind. He was never enantiomorphized because of his enthrallment by Hermaeous Mora, who acts as the Observer, so the role of Hortator was never fulfilled between Vahlok/Konahrik. Miraak, the Sharmat, is the Thief or Rebel, who betrays the Dragon Cult (The Tower) for the pursuit of knowledge or enlightenment (the Thief's raid). The Last Dragonborn, the Hortator, embraces the role of the King, or Warrior, who challenges the Sharmat's rule. Mora acts as the role of the Mage, the Observer or the Maim-ee, who witnesses the Enantiomorph between the First and Last Dragonborns (1 and 1). Together, the Player and Miraak become 11, making each other's roles indistinguishable from one another. They are both Alpha, and Omega, both King and Rebel, and so their conflict results in an Enantiomorphic outcome. However, Mora, to prevent being maimed or to prevent a loss of power, fails to uphold his principle as the Observer, killing Miraak and thereby invalidating the Enantiomorph. It is through this understanding that Miraak is a rather tragic character, binded by forces beyond his comprehension, and forced to duel with a counterpart he has no intimate interest in. His destiny, robbed of him by a Daedric prince, is the direct result of his desire to bind the world to his will, characteristic of the Sharmat. It is only fitting that the shout he is known for is aptly given its name.

Miraak wasn't a villain. He was just a bellend. You go in at low level? "You're nothing, punk" You go in at high level? "You killed Alduin? I could have... if i wanted to" He's _that guy_ you've met online in so many games talking smack to you constantly. And you can finally take glorious vengeance. He's not a world shaking terror. Conflict with Miraak is _personal_

I think many Bethesda games are simple on the surface, and that allows for the wide appeal that they have, but the best titles have a beautifully complex underside.

With aldiun it was simply duty and responsibility. But miraak stole my dragon souls, this is personal.

Miraaks always been my favourite character, I wish there was more info on him and his past. I'd loved to have seen him accomplish his goals and return to skyrim as a third player in the main story line

Both Miraak and Ahzidal let their hunger for knowledge and power consume them, though Ahzidal was always a gifted Mage who went ever deeper into magics. The first major human Mage that learned most of his works from the Elves of the Merethic Era, whereas you have Miraak who went through his lengths with the aids of just the Dovah. But in the end, both went to Hermaeus Mora for the endless abyss of the Aurbic knowledge.

It would’ve been pretty damn cool if he was actually the one to fight Alduin and use the Elder Scroll to “destroy” him. Perhaps then parallels between good and evil would’ve been more ambiguous and it gives him a personal reason as to wanting to take the player out, his insecurity of not being the one to finish the World Eater would be a massive slight against his pride. Edit; when talking about the fight, I mean the one that happened ages ago when Alduin was sent through time with the Elder Scroll

Miraak was a man who discovered that he had the same innate power as the ones he worshipped as gods. He learned that he could kill his gods. He learned he could be beyond his gods. He learned there were no gods. Only the one. Himself.

what always kept Skyrim below FNV for me was the severe lack of choice. In New Vegas there are always many choices and ways to end quests the way that you like. Imagine if you could have helped Miraak free himself from Hermaeus Mora even if he betrays you in the end which i think would be likely, Also the fact you have to kill Parthurnax to complete the Blades questline. Very few times where the player has choice, i pray they acknowledge this in ES6.

I’m a big fan of the thematic parallels between Miraak and Darth Vader

I feel like even Alduin could have been given more nuance. After all he is literally the main antagonist of Skyrim. What if his goal is misunderstood. He doesn't want to devour the world, but instead have a new Dragon Cult take over Skyrim so as per controlled ritualistic sacrifices (which the Dragon Cult was known to do) aswell as with atrocities towards possibly rebellious cities and villages, he would have a steady and unlimited stream of souls to devour in Sovngarde. The conflict would then not just be about defeating him but his servants all over Skyrim with Alduin being not just morally questionable, but also unwilling to face punishment by Akatosh for betraying him. It would make him more than just a moustache-twirling bad guy.

Miraak seeks power for power’s sake. This is the only reason to seek power. One does not seize power to safeguard a revolution, one makes the revolution to seize power. Power is not sought to be relinquished, power is sought to be immortalized. Power is flux, and power that does not stabilize itself by always confluxing within itself will always become other than itself, and dash away. Power is not a means to an end: it is the end. Power for “the greater good” is like using fire to cool your home. Power does not seek its contradiction to be made stable; it seeks contradiction to be contradicted, and to be made unstable. Miraak’s mistake was not an original mistake; it was simply foolish to think that a man could truly desire power as his final end. Man does not arise by power; he arises out of nothing by love. Power seeks itself to possess itself, but cannot go out into the other and find itself-it can only evacuate the will of what is already there and impose itself in the hole left behind. But love already possesses what it desires, and can pull infinity out of a hat, and a hat out of infinity. It finds in every place the reflection of itself, and does not need to impose anything, because the other’s hand is already outstretched for a shake. Man desires, is desired by, and is already the desire of love; power is an illusion and has been overcome at Golgotha. Miraak to the very end did not seek power, but sought power so strong that it could defeat power, and set himself free from it. But He who has sat on the throne has said, “I am making everything new,” and has elected Miraak and all souls a place at his table, where every seat is the best seat in the house, and every guest is the guest of honor. He has chosen, before and after all time, flesh-the flesh of mankind-as his vessel, because he is already, “I am becoming the shape of boundless bliss,” and so has naturally ascended down into the human form and made his judgment: “I am flesh is worthy of me,” and, “for your crimes against yourselves and God, your sentence is mercy, for the duration of forever, in the palace of love.” All is reconciled: we have not been saved from the world, but the world has been set free. He has brought himself into the world that is already the spoken word “I am”, that is not a secondary moment in him, that is already the decree, “I am who I am.”

I don't think the struggle between LDB and Miraak is a question of morality. I think it's just two of the dragonblood acting in accordance to their nature. They share the will to dominate and overcome. I don't think two Dragonborn could ever exist simultaneously without each being compelled to destroy the other.

This reminds me of the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Ganondorf in that game was given a sense of humanity by way of the conversation with Link, at the final battle on top of Ganon’s Tower. I now see Miraak as a person, rather than just an embodiment of evil😎

The thing about Hermaeus Mora is that he is not opposed to chaos and violence, but the fact that Miraak used his power to try to have himself worshipped as a god and take over Solstheim was why he was against it in the Dragonborn DLC

Add Miraak to the short list of well-developed Elder Scrolls antagonists: -Dagoth Ur -Almalexia -Mankar Camoran -Jyggalag

LET ME SHOW YOU TRUE POWER 🎶🔥

Miraak is not a misunderstood "Anti-Hero" - he is a power-hungry narcissist that failed his attempt at a jailbreak.

there was a bit of cut content in the ending of this DLC there were more than one way to end the fight with Miraak there was the way we know already, but there was another end fight of Miraak where you use "Bend Will" on him a few times and by the end of that one he turns into a Follower. This cut content still has voice lines if you know where to look.

We need a video to explain the backstory of the dragonpreists their masks and diffrent abilityes makes me wonder what they where like and the diffrence between them

I think miraak is evil because of his hunger for power. He would happily serve the dragons as a tyrant over his people. And when he finds out he is dragon born he chose to betray the dragons and the cult, as he knows he has the power to betray them and become something even greater than they. He will do anything for tyrannical power. This is evil.

I can't help but disagree for couple reasons. I would argue he is the most or second most evil villain, second only to Harkon. As a dragon, Alduin is compelled by his nature as such to behave a certain way. So much so that is gets in the way of his purpose of ending the cycle. This makes Alduin debatably evil by nature because it's a dragon being painted through a human lense of morality. Miraak is the opposite of that point as by his very nature, he can be painted by human morals. He is selfish, cruel, and only values others based on what he can get from them. His ambivalence to the suffering of his fellow man is juxtaposed his desire to being the on top of the hierarchy. He would and does oppress others for his own selfishness. He is so blinded by his inflated self worth that like Harkon, he is a fool. I would argue Harkon is in fact the most evil here because out of the 3 main antagonists, Harkon had the most choice you could say in his path. I'm giving slight consideration that by the nature of being dragonborn, Miraak isn't entirely human so this could play a part, though I don't find it a strong or genuine point by the contrast of how literally every other dragonborn in history acted. I never thought Miraak was a boring ot I'll defined villain. I have always felt he was a fool and the world was better off without him. He should be forgotten as punishment for his literal lack of any meaningful accomplishment with his life. Even Dragon Priests left more of a mark and accomplished more with the power of others than the natural potential Miraak held. He is no anti hero. There is nothing remotely redeeming or heroic about him. You are right in he is a foiled protagonist. That's my opinion and I'm standing by it. Though I fundamentally disagree, I still like your video. I lament there aren't more idiots to talk about in video games. Lol

Didn't Miraak basically just do exactly what the player does? Rebel against the dragons, use their remains for stuff, then get screwed around with by Daedric Princes.

Been getting into a lot of skyrim versus debates and miraak scales way higher than people give him credit.

I think that miraak did have a plan, what if his plan was to become a daedric prince? He obviously wants the power to never be a servant again and after he realised that no matter where he gets his power from he will always be a servant. He prob realised that he needs to gain that power the same way the daedric princes do which is through worship, and the only way he can do that is with moras help, by gaining the bend will shout, and honesty if the dragonborn didnt come along i think he could have, idk the full extent of moras power but could he kill a dragon for good? Its stated only akatosh and dragon kin can actually kill a dragon and by extension dragonborn so can mora actually kill miraak without another dragon there? So in theory if you just ignore mora and miraak, then moras actually kinda fked but obviously mora wouldnt do this without a reason but that reason is the skal. All of this is actually brought on by mora wanting the skals secrets and he knew that he could leave this scuffle between dragonborns and daedric princes with those secrets but the question is would mora risk creating another daedric prince in return for knowledge and i think he would.

Late to the party, but I've been playing Skyrim for the umpteenth time and am about to duel Miraak again. Strangely enough Miraak kind of reminds me a bit of Agent Smith in the first Matrix movie. I can just picture Miraak saying to the Dragonborn in Apocrypha, "I...hate this place. this zoo. this prison. this reality, whatever you want to call it." Both are stuck working for bosses they hate and share the same thoughts about it in a way. Idk, thats just my thoughts, great video.

I actually got a theory: that in the next elder scrolls game we will get a story that tells the tale of the dragonborn of the 4th era, the last dragonborn, and that he protected the world against alduin during the skyrim civil war where he/she negotiated a truce between the 2 opposing side but refused to join either, after alduins defeat the Imperials would win the war but not without the cost of a weakend empire and all the political corruption in skyrim and unfriendly people would make the dragonborn want to leave tamriel. but then he gets word of something strange happening on solstheim and when he goes over there and figure it out and battle miraak he/she is consumed by or made the new champion of hermaeus mora..i think the fact we actually get to have an encounter with Septimus Signus which leads to an encounter with lord hermaeus more god of secrets and fate is a too big coincidence and then have an expansion/dlc where we interract even more with hermaeus more, +when it comes to the dawnguard dlc i would safe it is probly an event that the dragonborn is not part of even tho the elder scroll of dragons are needed in the game, i think that everything outside of the main story, the civil war arc and the dragonborn dlc are events that will transpire in skyrim during the 4th era, mabe not at the same time but are events they put in the game to let the player know how it would feels to there during one of these events(dark brotherhood quest line. winterhold college questline, thieves guild quest line, the companions questline) - this is just a theory and arent built on any new groundbreaking facts

You killed Miraak I bent his will We are not the same.... in a mod though😅

Miraak and the Dragonborn would be unstoppable on the same side

Idk why but hearing Mirrak’s mantra, minus the first and last lines, sounded almost like a lullaby. I've heard it plenty before but for some reason it hit difftent. It sounded so soft and regretful, like at any moment he'd be interrupted when he could no longer hold back his tears. Especially that line about him "growing near".

Disagree. his actions so far speak of his actions to come. his use of the dominate shout goes beyond juat the use of it because dlc. his altering of the stones sacred to skaal is done as a means to amplify the shouts power acting as an antenae to boost sigmal strength. Closer proximity would greatly amplify the range. He was overwhelmed and exhausted the last time he was opposed. so he understands that even a lion can be consumed by ant so he seeks to remove the one thing his power cant break. Peoples will. miraak is a creature of ambition. When he had everything he could get from the priests he took those who would follow him an left. when power wasnt enough he sought knowledge and when he had it he was ready to bounce. Hes the dark mirror because like the protag he is like a dragon just different traits. He wont stop until he has subjigated all even dragons and gods wouldnt be safe. Consider the chant as the stones are altered and the prayer like conotations. Why would a clan leader of the skaald forgo a vow to never let herma mora acquire their knowledge if there wasnt a bigger threat looming on the horizon and not just some poor unfortuante soul longing to be free and feel the sun on his face.

Yeah no, I like your video's avarti. But miraak is very evil, just because he has human desires does not mean he is any less purely evil in his actions and desires

He also looks really cool.

Also there is cut dialogue of him that implies he wanted to return and in his words set things right also from what I can discern via cut dialogue our characters try's talking sense into him but seems to fail

I insulted Miirak every step of the way. Then again when I played it I was in middle school.

Lies. Nazeem is clearly the ultimate enemy in Skyrim.

Great vid as always, we'd love to see more Elder Scrolls character analysis from you

Miraak got dragon blood, it is in the dragon to dominate other. But unlike us, he just follow his dragon blood.

In canon Toldfir is reffered to as one of the best Alteration mages of the current era by Maribel. Levitation spells are canon in Morrowind so they probably just got a group snd levitated there. Also i believe fhe black sacrament being a ritual had a magical tie to the brotherhood do they will find out one way or another.

Whaaaaa?! Bethesda? Lazy!?

Last I heard Miraak opened a deli store in Whiterun called Miraak's Bakery

Miraak was probably the dopiest villian in Skyrim. How exactly do you think you are gonna hide a secret plot from the Daedric God of Secrets and Forbidden Knowledge IN HIS OWN REALM OF OBLIVION???? Make it make sense. That's like a toddler trying to hide behind the curtains of your bedroom while you have cameras installed.

I was going to let him live because. Ya know, I got sweet rolls to steal and a house that doesn't have enough loot. Then some mf wants to steal my dragon souls. Now it's my problem

Glad to see you're still making videos

Miraak sure is boring. Even in this dlc the game never explains what the new dragonborn concept is supposed to be. They retconed it and didn't even explain it. Saying he was the first dragonborn is very questionable. It contradicts Reman Cyrodill and all thr others. Explain Bethesda explain. Everything in Skyrim has to have people reaching because Bethesda couldn't be bothered to write it themselves. Everything is nebulous even the focal points of storylines. Skyrim never commits to it's ideas.

All this video does is give me more motivations to not be a power hungry old fart like miraak.😺

Me and my one shotting legendary dragons dragon bone war-hammer camping at Miraak’s respawn point during the final battle: “this is the most disappointing game of whack-a-mole ever!”

I think Miraak is a great character that could have been even better if they added more dialogue and perhaps also his perspective on he events. We know that in the ES universe the lore is biased sometimes, so perhaps Miraak has a different recollection of what happened. Add that with the fact that he has seen what goes on into the world or likely knows about it due to the watchers collecting information, and you end up with a person who coul have a deep conversation with the Dragonborn regarding what they have been through and what they could accomplish together. It sucks that he dies at the end, imagine roaming Skyrim with Miraak at your side, with him recalling what the land was like before he was trapped in Apocrypha.

*clutching my seat as i read through this comment section because i am a miraak apologist first before anything* 🫣 this is most likely the story writer in me, but Miraak has SO MUCH potential for more than he was given in-game. i want to learn about his past, how being in the dragon cult shaped him, how Apocrypha probably did irreversible damage on him and either made him 1000x worse or made him just want Freedom (or both), just… Man. he really is just an anti-hero, with a potentially* rather tragic story of you think way too hard about it like i do. as much as he definitely is one of Skyrim’s top most interesting characters, there is still so much more room for speculation and discussion over him. im just gonna say it, anyone who says he’s “just a villain and that’s that” is so boring LOL. if you’re looking at him from a one-dimensional pov, sure?? but i will always argue that there is SO much more to him than that. *i say potentially since i am the kind of person to delve into headcanon/theory territory haha, i know know everyone is the same but 🤷 good video op 💪

Does the Dragonborn belong to Hermaeus Mora after the DLC?

My only issue with Miraak is the lack of explanation on why he’s a “bad guy”. I theorize perhaps he wanted more than to just go home. Dragons or anyone with a Dragon’s Soul wants to compete, dominate their peers. And they say that Dragonborns can see more than lesser men, like the Septims. Notice Uriel Septim was so trusting of us in Oblivion when we were just a prisoner? And look what we ended up doing for the world, helped Martin end the Oblivion Crisis. So perhaps the Last Dragonborn sensed that Miraak was up to more sinister plans than just returning home. But us the player can decide just what we sensed in Miraak. Plus, if all he wanted was to go home, he wouldn’t have instantly sent out the Last Dragonborn from Apocrypha at first sight. He would’ve explained his situation and asked for help, although probably not since he’s so arrogant. Still though, if he was good he wouldn’t have attacked us. He didn’t kill or attack the Ancient Dragonborns when they asked for his help, why us now? Only thing here i wouldn’t get, is why did the other Dragonborns not seek to dominate or compete? The ancients freed humanity from the Dragon’s tyranny, the Septim Emperors were Emperors, but not complete dictators. The Last Dragonborn, evil or good, still helped the world ultimately by killing Alduin. So are some Dragons/Dragonborns more ambitious and arrogant than others, like Miraak? And others remain unaffected and do heroic things? I’m guessing that’s it, since only Miraak is one evil Dragonborn we’ve seen. So i’m guessing perhaps Miraak during his time in Apocrypha learned knowledge of how to govern, lead and things like that, and being trapped in that realm drove him a little crazy, so now his arrogance has further influenced him. Now he plans on controlling all of Tamriel using the Bend Will shout, maybe more.

Miraak was my absolute favorite boss. Dawnguard was good...but I'm still exhausted from the oversaturation of vampire YA fiction from the early 2000s. So yeah, wasn't too fond of more vampires. Serana was cool, though. No arguments there. Just wasn't big on Harkon. HE was the boring villain. Miraak was anything but and he's got some interesting lore implications.

One of my favorite villains of all time

I heard runmors once that Mora whispered ambitions into Alduin's mind, planning for Akatosh to intervene with something like a dragonborn, like Miraak. Why, possibly because a shaman wouldn't share their secrets.

Thought for a moment this video was from The Vile Eye.

Oh really Miraak? Freedom? Kind of like how your fellow Nords wanted to be free of the Dragons?

no plan survives first contact with the enemy. if the plan doesnt fall apart by itself, the enemy will copy it as part of some kind of arms race.

He‘s basically dark link. Mirroring what could have been and be.

Comment for the algorithm. Merry Christmas, Avarti.

Miraak should be interesting And then Bethesda ruined it at final battlr with their bugs

Are you going to make a video about the Soulsborne games?

Very nice analysis

It's been so long since I watched your video glad to see you old friend

Can you do this kind of video for mannimarco

More more more more more more more more more more more more elder scrolls

Anyone know what the outro song is?

Love all your videos

Yes

Mirrak is weak because he lacks the ability to use plates to walk through walls and have seemless immortality via vampirism without having the weaknesses of being one. The last dragonborn is immortal, has durnaviir, an army of undead as well as a whole clan and castle ready to take over all of tamriel and nobody can stop him because he is also a god level alchemist and enchanter. Miraak could only dream of that type of power.

Miraak is not the first Dragonborn that honor goes to Alessia

Hameious moria is a belllend

I wish skyrim didnt shit on you all the time also that it was an rpg