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Hey, not sure if you're still doing build videos for skyrim. But if you're interested in my ideas I have one that I've personally had a blast with. The holy silver knight. Dark elf. Only silver armor and weps. Onehanded, two-handed, restoration, and heavy armor. Not allowed to have companions until you have a full second set of silver armor if you want extra limitations. Earandur being the go to since he's a priest of mara.
Jarl Balfruuf is more than The Greater, he likes to slip out of his castle to drink with his people at the Bannered Mare and that makes his housecarl Irileth nervous every time.
and he says "Damn it, woman, I'm the Jarl of Whiterun! I won't apologize for talking to my people. You can't protect me every moment of the day." :D i love this man.The ruler who loves his people has the biggest balls. Balgruuf The Greater BALLS..
He's not that bad, if a dragon attacks you in Winterhold he gets his arse off his throne and goes bare knuckle on that dragon. He doesn't do much damage, but he's essential so can't die, makes a great distraction.
Interestingly, Winterhold is the only place you can't have a vanilla house...but then you'll probably be the Archmage of the College which has good views and really nice Boss quarters, so who cares?
Korir annoys me. He hates the college, and wants to make his home great again, but the event that destroyed the city happened before he was born. So what has he done during his entire lifespan to actually help his people? I think part of the problem lies in the storywriters not really understanding timespans. As another example, there's a character in the thieves guild questline that spent twenty years plotting revenge against the leader, and all she really accomplishes is buying a bee farm, donating to a competitor to Maven Blackbriar, and making a single dose of a paralytic poison. Twenty years. Good job.
@@spiderflame04 Yeah, I'm not sure what makes her paralyzing agent any different from anyone else's. I think she mentioned it was the only reason you survived getting stabbed afterwards, so it keeps someone alive while they're being tortured into confessing? Except they're paralyzed, and can't speak.
One of the things I noticed as I played Skyrim was that the Jarls of the Stormcloak-held Holds tended to be racist as a whole, taking their cue from Ulfric. Skald the Elder is oblivious to the threat of the dragons because he thinks Talos sent them; he also believes that all the fighting people in Dawnstar (and the Pale) should not be cheated of their chance for glory against the Empire, even at the cost of the safety of its people. Layla Law-Giver is clueless about what goes on in her own Hold, but the first thing you hear her say to her Steward as you enter Mistveil Keep is that in the event of a catastrophe, "the Jarl should be saved." She's worried about her own butt before her people. The other Stormcloak Jarl wanna-be's are just as bad. It's almost as though Bethesda is pushing you to join the Empire. Just my two cents' worth.
During the Moot i actively try to trade Dawnstar and Falkreath, then NEVER touch the civil war quest. I hate that both Ulfric and Tullius are essential NPCs that i can't just kill them both. I hate the civil war
The Civil War quest line does suck. Aside from a couple "Go grab this special item" quests, it's all inferior forces (albeit with the Dragonborn) taking fortified castles (making you wonder if Bethesda knows why people actually build castles), with everyone bleeding all over the place. In real life, it would take all the Stormcloaks in Skyrim to take even one decently held castle...and all the Imperials to hold one. Or vice versa. Good game, total lack of military tactics or strategy. And not one open field army vs army battle or reasonably conceived seige in the whole game. Neither the Stormcloaks or the Legion could batter their way through the main gates of Solitude or Windhelm...except in Skyrim. (Unless they could call a Dragon...hmm.)
@@donwild50 oh i just in general think the following: • Ulfric needs to die. He only cares about himself and is a sleeper agent for the Thalmor anyway. • Talos worship shouldn't be a thing (in general i do genuinely hate the Jesus allegory that Tiber Septim is, especially with how terrible of a person he was. He's not an Aedra nor will he ever be in my book.) • The Empire should give Skyrim its independence. All those reasons are why i refuse the civil war.
Well is it just me or this vidéo is ranking more hightly the jarls of the empire ? Cause it's seems to be that but i think that will be always like that if someone is a stormcloack will said that the stormcloack jarls ar better so i think it's just about a point of view anyways
I'd personally give Idgrod some extra points for being one of the Jarls not blinded either by pride , greed or even hatred as well as being suprisingly proactive politically for the sake of her Hold, even if she doesn't always like it. I mean, we learn that while she cooperates with the Thalmor its not cause she wants to(she makes it very clear she detests their condescending attitude), but because she believes its just the right move As for her strange behaviour, its kind of implied that she uses it to her advantage and lures people's true intentions out by playing the fool
One of my favourite details is that if you befriend her by becoming Thane of Hjaalmarch prior to doing Diplomatic Immunity, she'll appear at the Thalmor party and you can ask her for a distraction, to which she'll basically say "leave this to me, an old woman can get away with anything", and distract everyone by pretending to have one of her "visions". I really wish she was more fleshed out and we got to see more of her outside of like... one side-quest, because she's a very fun character
@@MrVertigoStudios She cracked me up at the party, what a bat shit crazy old woman! And her daughter is hot too, wish I could make her daughter my waifu.
Balgruuf is the one that most impressed me. He cares about his people, and not only that, by not siding right away with one of the two main factions, he managed to keep his people out of the armed conflict, which of course contributed both to save lives and mantain the economy going strong.
If only the civil war hadn't been gutted by Bethesda...there was supposed to be a section where if the Stormcloaks seized whiterun, you would abdicate the throne of Dragonsreach with Balgruuf's court, at least I remember hearing that. Would have been so cool.
Ngl @@yulsummers5807😂 with mods Balgruuf walls still couldn't hold. Plus how dafuq does he have 3 kids and Maven also has 3 kids by Vanilla standards is illegal.
I personally consider Skald to be the worst, considering this is the Jarl that openly threatens to execute his own hold's citizens from his doorstep. Also, best Daedric Artifacts?
@@MrVertigoStudios Spellbreaker I think is quite good. Amusingly it is also the one I always forget is even in the game. Kind of fitting in a way, since Peryite is often described as the weakest of all the princes as well.
I got the amulet of Mara and thought I could marry one of the jarls and live the rest of my Skyrim-life in sheer luxury, but that wasn't possible... I would have had Jarl Balgruuf, by the way.
That's weird; given that it's heavily implied that Balgruuf either had all his children out of wedlock and exiled their mothers from the hold, or straight up murdered them with the Ebony Blade. Call it a hunch, but I have a strong suspicion that Balgruuf is more than just a shitty dad, he's probably a shitty spouse, too.
Jarl Ingrid Ravencrone is my number 1; She is the only Jarl other than Balgruff who actively tries to stop the immediate threat to their main city, and unlike Balgruff she isn’t a shitty parent. Also psychic powers with the chutzpah to pro-magic in town whose favorite sport seems to be witch-burning. Oh she and the woman attends Thalmor parties just so she can keep an eye on the racist a-holes.
Nothing says Balgruff is an espcially bad parent though. He has difficulties with his youngest who's talking to a daedra behind his back, but you could argue that he's occupied with all the other issues to help him out.
@@BP-dn9nv It’s more than just Neilkr - he is unhinged due to Mephala, but he clearly got there due his environment. But Dagny and Frothar are spoiled little snots. Someone failed them in the upbringing process. Meanwhile Jarl Ravencrone has family that hear voices too, but they’re not sociopaths about it. I don’t know all the details of Balgruuf’s parenthood, I do know something went wrong, with all three kids. He is a good Jarl, but I find Ingrid surpasses him.
@@mesektet5776 Yeah, those two kids of his are the only kids I ever truly considered murdering. They're just.....annoying. The other kid, the one who talks to the daedra, is more bearable....ish.
Dagny is my fave child in the whole game she makes me laugh. Braith as well lol. All other kids are actually annoying. Though balgruuf family does make you wonder about all the jarls domestic life here is my headcanon. Balgruuf has two failed marriages one of which ended with the death of the spouse. He is now boning irileth n any hot thing that catches his fancy. Irileth don't mind she's the mephala worshipper. Skalds sons n daughter died in the great war. Elisif is the daughter of a high lord of high rock maybe wayrest or daggerfall but probably jehanna or something. She was also having n affair with both the housecarl n the stewerd who r torrygs brothers lol. Korir is a drunk who's despised by his daughter n wife. Idgrod is one of the three legendary bog witches. Siddgeir is a frat boy living his best life. Igmund has four daughters he's pimping out to various colovian lords. Laila is meh. Ulfrick has two sons n a bastard half elf with one of the thalmor interogators lol.
@@chene-aurelgaudreau1072 mean in fairness it’s probably not that difficult to tell. By the sounds of things those parties are normally very tight with the same selection of high status people going to each one, so the Dragonborn to the more intuitive and observant partygoers sticks out like a sore thumb (Since you’re meant to play the main questline first, the Dragonborn canonically is a nobody at that time and screams spy).
I don't think Laila Law-Giver should rank better than Idgrod : she has a bad judgement about ... everything (Thieves Guild, Maven, her son, the skooma problem ...), she said something like "If Riften should fall, it's only right that its leader be spared" which makes me think she doesn't care about her people ... On the other hand I take the side of the Empire but to me Maven, Elisif and Siddgeir are bad jarls each in their own category
Hate her or love her, Maven brings wealth into Riften, yeah she’s corrupt but because of there meadery and the thieves guild she brings bank into riften, just a shame we don’t see it
Maven's only downside is that she's "corrupt." But like someone else said, she brings wealth to Riften as well as reputation. She's a helluva lot better than Laila and that one Jarl from Markath (forgot his name, he's just stupid too.)
Weirdly find Siddgeir to be very amusing. Incredibly sassy, apathetic, and morally corrupt, but Nenya and Helvard are easily able to talk him down from any truly rash decisions like with the guard's wages and the taxes.
I love this guy, he is such a frat bro. But yeah, thankfully his staff could keep him under control with his bad ideas. Nenya and Helvard , those folks I got a soft spot for and seem rather decent folk. I made Falkreath my home instead of anywhere else.
In his defense, he still may be barely out of his teens, and very few people manage to go through their teen years without being little pieces of shit. Hopefully he'll grow out of it with some responsible advising.
he straight up tells you that he is taking kickbacks from bandits preying on his own people. he sends you to kill them, but only after they stopped paying.
I personally bump Ulfric further down the list for one simple reason. The quest to become Thane. Whiterun - Kill the dragon threatening the hold with the support of the Yarl Morthal - Kill a vampire that is threatening the hold with the support of the Yarl (granted, Ravencrone didn't know about it until you investigated it, but she encouraged the investigation) Skooma dealer...Forsworn attackers...bandits...just about every hold has you do something for the protection of the citizens. Windhelm? Find the serial killer that Ulfric has no interest in. He's the Thane of his city and two young woman are killed even before Suzanna and nothing is done to protect the citizens. Imagine him becoming High King with this level of disinterest in the protection of his citizens. Forget that, Elisif may be a puppet, but when it was made clear crazy necromancers were trying to revive Potema she had Falk fully support you. Ulfric? He gives zero support. Tells you alot about the type of leader he is
Maven becoming Jarl of The Rift is probably the only backlash of siding with the Empire. But Balgruuf, Brunwulf Free-Winter, Brina Merilis, and Kraldar make up for it. Also, Idgrod Ravencrone is underrated. She probably actually has visions from the divine and if she hadn't taken in Falion, Morthal would have probably been overrun by vampires and other undead. The guy is seriously one of the most impressive mages in the lore. She is also very nice and honest.
LOOL nope look I get your pro-empire and that usually means you have a feeble mind but Balgruuf is not better than Vignar at all the dude talks about mutual advantage even though there is none
Siding with opressers is the big backlash from siding with empire. Also they just wanted to execute you because whatever. Also if you join them, its weird to join dark brotherhood to kill emperor😅
@@killjoy7346 Joining the Dark Brotherhood is always evil. Doesn't matter which side you support. The Dark Brotherhood is inherently evil. But did you know that Titus Mede II probably WANTED to be assassinated to blame the Thalmor and become a marthyr? Tactically, it's good for the Empire and all of Tamriel. Here is some background on that: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tvDCtFZn40g.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RbH38045xHM.html But anyway, I don't think that the Empire is oppressing Skyrim at all. The Stormcloaks like to make it seem that way, but actually Skyrim is FAR better off as a part of the Empire. The human races of Tamriel are better together, especially with the Thalmor threat. Also, an Imperial win in Skyrim would be much worse for the Thalmor than a Stormcloak win. A strengthened Empire would be the worst for them. In other words, if the Empire wins in Skyrim, both Skyrim and the Empire become stronger, if the Stormcloaks win, both are severly weakened. The Stromcloaks are also racists.
Igrod should have been higher since she's the only other Jarl that can actually help you in the main quest. If you've helped her, you can ask her to cause a distraction at the Thalmor Embassy.
And Igmund. And Balgruff, should he be present due to the completion of the Battle for Whiterun. And Vittoria Vici And Orthus Endario Check the UESP page for the quest, many more guests can show up and most are persuadable.
I like that there are good and bad Jarls for both sides. Brunwolf is definitely my favorite, simply because he wants to help the Argonians and Dunmer, but he also realizes that he can’t just make that happen immediately after taking over.
If you pay attention to the lore it makes sense why Ulfric segregates Winhelm. If you put dark elf with Argonians together then you'll end up with civil conflict in the city streets. These two races never get along and most likely never will.
@@nobodyspecial115 Yeah, especially considering that the Argonians just invaded Morrowind in retaliation after years of enslavement. So Dark elves and Argonians living together is a powder keg just waiting to happen
@@SpookyMarine Right! Ulfric's smart for segregating them an if anything shows he at least cares about his neighbors the Dunmer. At least he's let them make a place of their own inside the city. The Grey Quarter could be nice if they'd actually try to fix it up but instead they somehow expect Ulfric to kick Nords outta their homes so they can move into the nice houses! Y'all squatters gotta solve a murder mystery and become Thane just like everybody else!
@@nobodyspecial115 Again, it is never smart to segregate. How are they gonna stop hating each other if they remain segregated? That's the purpose of Ethno-States, to insure that Miconseptions about the other side remain in power.
I don't find Sorli the Builder particularly interesting either, but what I do like is that Teeba-Ei, an Argonian, becomes her steward if she's made Jarl. You don't see that very often.
@@thearnorianruby4681 If the Stormcloaks take Hjaalmarch, she becomes the Jarl. She's from a mine named Stonehills. I don't understand why she became the Jarl, she's not really relevant at all.
While I DID stick it to Ulfric when I played, I hated seeing Laila get put under house arrest; my desire to kill Maven was never stronger than the moment I witnessed her on the throne of The Rift.
skald is actually even worse. i remember a conversation i heard from him and his housecarl (jod or sum i forgor☠️) about how if skald keeps giving his guards to the stormcloaks they aren’t gonna have enough to properly protect the city, much less the entire hold. skald basically says he doesn’t care and doesn’t want it brought up again.
This is kinda funny to me because Jarl Elisif and *her* Housecarl have the same issue: she's giving away too many of the city's guardsmen to Tullius. Elisif still does it anyways not because she doesn't care but because she's simply too naive to know when it's okay to say "no" to the Empire. And I guess it's also because she thinks that her saying "no" to Tullius when it comes to this will be a treasonous act. And the *last* time a Queen of Solitude defied the Empire, she ended up getting killed by opposing forces in a war that she (Potema) started.
@@Angelo-nd4lg Be real...General Tullius is the power in Solitude because he's got a freaking army. Besides, he represents the Empire and Elisif would side with him simply because Ulfric murdered her husband.
@@donwild50 i don't disagree but a general is no governor he has the power but he can't rule the people of solitude the steward does which makes sense if you consider the steward and housecarl to be torrygges brothers
got a soft spot for Idgrod, she's a reasonable authority figure during the vampires-trying-to-take-over-her-town questline, and for that, she helps you out in infiltrating the Thalmor Embassy, knowing that you're out to cause trouble. her strangeness is not even a detractor for me, she's just all around a cool older lady
Ideas in case you REALLY run out of things to rank: - doors ranked - bosses ranked - Thalmor Agents ranked - alchemical ingredients ranked - ennemies ranked - dark brotherhood members ranked - loading screens ranked - furniture ranked
With the High-King of Skyrim mod, I usually have maven executed and put Law-Giver back in power. Thing is, if you talk to Law-Giver, she doesn’t even really support Ulfric, she just wants her people to be well off.
Always found it odd that Riften was Stormcloak and Markarth was Imperial. It makes sense from a gameplay perspective to evenly divide Skyrim but the lore didn't really make sense. If not for Ulfric Igmund wouldn't even be Jarl
@@Ernicification well Igmund betrayed Ulfric after being put back to power, so that make sense lore wise. That's also one of the reason why I love him (and his father), because it is the only jarl who had to actually take a difficult decision in a situation where he would have lost no matter what! Most of them just take the only logical decidion they had to do to resolve their problems, if they even know there is one!
Yeah, I always found it odd the Empire elevates Maven over Laila. It's probably because Riften is such a freaking dump, rife with corruption and crime, that they figure Maven's the only one who can keep it under control. I reckon they tolerate her, so long as she keeps all the bullshit confined to Riften.
@@legionarybooks13 Riften is a trade center with Cheydinhal in Cyrodiil and also close to Morrowind. As it has a connection with Cyrodiil in the northeast, any trade routes would not be close to any Aldmeri strong points. Maven wants power...trade = money and money = power. Plus she would probably clean up the Rift the way a Mafia family cleans up it's territory...totally controlled but everything in order. (She would almost certainly reinstate the skooma trade but ...hey...skooma=money too.
all this about “racists” but if you have a group of high elf’s trying to take away your god or a bunch of dark elves that enslaved the Argonians. There’s bound to be race issues.
Have you ever done a ranking od daedric artefacts? I'd love to know what you think about each of them. Brunwulf Free-Winter is my 2nd favourite jarl, right after jarl Bulgruf, and even tho I dislike Ulfric I can not deny that he is a very fleshed out character, kind of sad that he realised how wrong he was only after he died.
He was only wrong BECAUSE he failed. His regret was losing, not trying. Which is why I always make sure he takes his rightful place as Skyrim's High King. But even Brunwulf admits that Ulfric is a great leader, his only issue is that he puts his own people first (those that fight for Skyrim, not necessarily Nords).
@@Ernicification As a former child that grew up during a time of war and lives with the mental scars from that time (Nato bombing of Yugoslavia, Google it) I will never support war no matter what the cause, the empire is not guiltless in this story but they are self aware at least. Ulfric is a great leader no doubt about that, however in my opinion both the thalmor and ulfric are wrong for even starting wars and they are not much different from each other, both sides discriminate as brunwulf pointed out, ulfric rises an army only when nords are beeing threatened.
Do any of the Jarls have spouses? Feels like a lot of quests were dropped in the game. The whole Civil War barely seems to be happening! I’m playing Living Skyrim, the Wabbajack mod list. It’s loads of fun and massively fleshed out!
Yeah, it does seem like a surprising number are either bachelors or widowed. Most don't have children either, besides Balgruuf's insufferable brats. I'll have to check out the Wabbajack mod list. I'm reinstalling Skyrim, having gotten bored of it over a year ago, and will have to thoroughly scrub my mods again. I do like the ones which make the civil war into an actual war, and you come across pitched battles in progress. I also try to beef up the Imperials, who are essentially Roman legionaries. Being professional soldiers with superior armour and training, they'd realistically have a decisive advantage over the Stormcloaks.
@@legionarybooks13 You would think the Stormcloaks could get something other than light armor...I mean there's a lot of mines up their way and more than a few Stormcloak leaning smiths. Comedian: Captain Ulfric, this is Captain Tullius. Flip the coin, Tullius call it in the air. Tullius calls Heads...it's Tails. Ok...Stormcloaks vote to recieve, get to know the terrain from Markarth to Riften, hide behind trees and rocks and everywhere, Imperials must wear red and march in a straight line.
I think Elisif not knowing how to run the kingdom gives her a lot of character, and it's delivered in a way that is as subtle as Skyrim gets. But if you look at her initial encounter, she's trying her best, but she just doesn't understand the world she's thrown into. Which is actually kind of ironic because the job her advisor said wasn't worth the manpower turned out to be incredibly dangerous for the fate of Skyrim. It's just really entertaining to me that Elisif, had they listened to her and sent men to the cave, would have averted a potential disaster by sheer dumb luck. True, they still sent the Dragonborn who could probably equal the might of an imperial regiment, but Falk doesn't know that when he sends you. The quest is written like you're either some random adventurer or like the world doesn't know you're the legendary hero of prophecy just yet. Either way, I just find it really entertaining that just by dumb luck Jarl Elisif could have averted a disaster by ignoring all conventional wisdom being like, "Weird sounds in a cave? Sounds like something that an entire regiment of soldiers should take care of."
It's the innocence factor, Falk is knowledgeable and practical, he is fully aware they don't have the resources to go spending on things they don't know about, Elisif just wants to help her people because she wants to be a good Jarl, even if she isn't, in her mind a good Jarl would help the small regular citizen/town, of course as you said it was a bit of dumb luck that actually it would've taken a small army to clear out that cave, or the dragonborn.
I support both the empire and the stormcloaks…I believe Skyrim should have its independence but also that the empire needs the loyalty of Skyrim to have a chance against the thalmor. Neither side is really wrong. There could definitely be more diplomacy. Tulius may have been a bad choice. Executing ulfric at the first opportunity could have created a martyr and inspired other nords to rebel. I think it would have been possible to negotiate skyrims independence with loyalty to the empire in any conflict against the thalmor.
What if the Empire could've given Skyrim the same kind of situation that Canada has with great Britain? We Canadians aren't officially a part of the British Empire (mostly because there *isn't* a British Empire anymore) but if Britain comes under attack from a foreign enemy, Canada will be there to militarily lend aid to the UK should that need arise. Maybe if the Empire created an Imperial commonwealth that can have Skyrim be a part of the Empire without actually being a part of the Empire, both Tullius' and Ulfric's wants would be satisfied. And there are genuine flaws with the Empire. For example: The Imperials say that the Empire is the one thing that's keeping the Dominion out of Skyrim, but y'all are literally letting them be Tamriel's version of the Gestapo by letting them roam around Skyrim, kidnapping and arresting people in the middle of the night for worshipping Talos! That's one of the reasons this Civil War started! Secondly, by trying to execute Ulfric, you didn't just create a martyr, but you also proved their point; that the Empire is bad and they should be driven out of Skyrim. And I love how, by the end of the Imperial part of the Civil War questline, General Tullius acknowledges this fact after Ulfric's just been killed and then brushes it off like it's nothing to be worried about. Like, no, dude, more people *are* going to rebel for as long as this impasse you guys have with the Thalmor is going on and as long as the Talos ban is still in effect!
@@DoctorWhoKage something like that would probably work. Like Skyrim still have its own laws high king and jarls but allegiance with the empire. I generally don’t disagree with the empires designs and know the thalmor have put them in a rough predicament but I think their efforts in Skyrim could’ve been handled differently.
@@DoctorWhoKage yeah, an alliance of equals really makes the most sense to me, like “okay listen, fighting you just really isn’t worth it, we both need to build our strength to take on the Thalmor, so you can have your independence, and practice your own laws, but if either of us is attacked, it’s time to back each other up.”
@@DoctorWhoKage Hey...I support the Empire because it's the Empire...and also because I'm glad there are Thalmor around....gives me someone to slaughter every time I meet one out in the country with no regrets. I never let Elenwen stay at the conference at High Hrothgar but part of me wishes I could...if only so I could Unrelenting Force shout her off the top of the Throat of the World...and listen to her scream all the way down.
yoooo balgruuf just wins straight up. i remember playing the stormcloaks side and when you take over whiterun he just guilt trips you such disappointment in his voice
Even though I think the Empire is better from a min-max perspective, it's way too fairy tale happy ending for me, that's why I like the Stormcloaks more That said the only characters I make who side with the Stormcloaks are Nords, since it just doesn't make sense for a non-Nord to care all that much. **especially** an Argonian or Dark Elf who sees firsthand how screwed up Ulfric treats their people Stormcloak is better plot-wise since a Nord makes more sense to the plot anyway, but Empire is the "better" option
Did you know… Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun is one of the first few characters the player meets at the beginning of the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The ruler of Whiterun, he’s known for being a cautious man with a bit of a temper. He has three children - Frothar, Dagny, and Nelkir. It’s no secret to the people of Whiterun that Nelkir is a troubled boy, and when you investigate, you learn that he is in fact under the influence of the Daedric Prince of secrets, sex, and murder - Mephala. Mephala’s artifact is the Ebony Blade, a beautifully crafted sword which is locked behind a door only Balgruuf and his court wizard Farengar can unlock. It is never said how it actually came into Balgruuf’s possession, but he clearly knows about its existence and tries to keep it secretly contained, seeing as he carries a key to the door. But why is this? That I hope to explain. Again, Mephala is the Daedric Prince of secrets, sex, and murder. And Nelkir himself reveals that he does not have the same mother as his two other siblings, but hesitates to explain. What could this mean? Well, there are very few conclusions that can be drawn from this - maybe Balgruuf adopted him, or he simply split for Frothar and Dagny’s mother, and then had a child with another woman. But remember Nelkir’s hesitance to tell you about his lineage. Why would he be so reluctant to talk about being adopted or the like? Neither of those things seem like something you’d be so nervous to talk about. I think it’s something a little more...scandalous. What I’m implying is that Nelkir was conceived in an secret affair Balgruuf had with another woman - while he was married to Frothar and Dagny’s mother. This would fit the theme of Mephala well - with sex, secrets, and lies. But I’m going to take this one step further. I don’t think that’s the only thing Balgruuf is hiding. Remember, Mephala is about sex, lies, and lastly...MURDER. The Ebony Blade itself is powered by the blood of a betrayed loved one. So why would it be appearing in Dragonsreach? Because Balgruuf used it to murder his wife. Say she found out about his affair and confronted him about it. Balgruuf is seen to have an anger issue, so imagining the heated argument that would ensue from this wouldn’t be difficult. When she threatened to come forth with this information and make it public, he was angry and desperate. That’s when I believe Mephala appeared to him and granted him with the blade. After he had killed her, he realized what he had done and wanted to get rid of the blade. As we know, he tried to burn it in the Skyforge, but he could not, so he settled for locking it up in the room and holding onto the key. Now, does his court know about this? That’s a tough question. Farengar knows about the blade itself, but whether he knows its actual backstory is unknown. Seeing as no one mentions the blade or his wife, I’m inclined to believe that they do, but keep it quite. I could see both Irelith and Farengar swearing to secrecy about it. I could even go as far to say that the skeleton under the Dragonsreach bridge is what’s left of his wife when he tried to hide the body. that’s why jarl balgruuf killed wife
To be honest that's what I hate about the Civil War in skyrim. Depending on which side you choose the rotten individuals become Jarl (Thongvor and Maven). I feel bad for the people of Riften and Markarth depending on the outcome but what can you do, I guess?
Especially if you don't play the Civil War, and do the Main Quest's peace treaty where they trade holds, at least one of them and usually both of Markarth and Riften (being Major Holds) get replaced with the awful alternative jarls. Now, if we could in that quest only trade minor holds for peace that would be better. I would happily trade the original rulers of Falkreath and Dawnstar for their replacements no matter which side of the Civil War I am on.
I feel like Maven Black-Briar would be dead last if it weren't for her role in the Thieves' Guild. Honestly I'd be tempted to put her dead last anyway since she's that hate-able
@@dragonslayerornstein2361 the thing is Maven is in charge anyway, why have a bunch of morons on the throne bowing to her when she can take the throne herself?
It's hard for me to side with the Empire despite knowing it's what's best, The Stormcloaks are the side for the idealists, the fresh faced rebels, the old veterans who feel betrayed by their command [and racists *cough*]. While the empire is the side for cynical schemers and snobby aristocrats [while also bowing to racists *cough*]. So forgive me for finding it a little difficult to abandon rebellious idealism in favor of Roman politics, such as backstabbing, subterfuge, and religious prohibition.
Hey! So a ranking that is hard to do : Adoptable Children! Because they all deserve to be adopted (I damn you Sony for not allowing me to adopt more than 2 kids because your mods are garbage), but who deserve it the most?
Honestly, I supported the empire simply because of Jarl Balgruuf. Vignar is fine and all, but Jarl Ballin is the biggest chad in Skyrim. If it weren't for him, I may have supported the stormcloaks just because I like the idea of a free Skyrim, but that meant replacing Jarl Balgruuf, so not worth it.
On my first playthrough i supported the Stormcloaks, but when i had to go against Balgruuf i wished i wasn't. I sided with them, because the Imperials tried to kill me, and that gave me a grudge.
@Akula Doctor I got into Skyrim long after it came out, so I was pretty familiar with the story line. If I had gone in blind I definitely would have sided with the stormcloaks. Plus Ulfric, despite his numerous shortcomings (aka being rascist, and honestly kinda stupid for using the voice against torygg) actually would have been a leader, not just a pointless puppet like Elisif. While I wouldn't say Ulfric is the better of the two, he has beliefs, while Elisif doesn't.
@@astercat49 I played it when it came out so no spoilers. All i had is what i saw in-game, and i didn't took the hours of research about the past. I went with Ralof, because the Imps tried to kill me, and joined Ulfric for the same reason.
That would be interesting. I think Elisif's steward, Falk, ranks pretty high. Balgruuf's steward, Proventus, is kind of weak and disappointing, especially considering his daughter, Adrianne (owner of Warmaiden's), is pretty bad-ass.
Counterpoint: Nothing changes in Riften regardless of who wins the Civil War, Maven rules Riften regardless, the only difference is whether the title is official or unofficial.
Seems like you didn't give enough attention to dawnstar during your various playthrough all these years, you didn't know about both Brina Merilis and Erandur. It's very interesting to me cuz i only started the game a month ago and was getting bored of the similar npcs and quests after playing a while until i came to dawnstar, that place has the best npcs.
My least favorite is Skald from Dawnstar and Korir or other racist My favorite is jarl Balgruf because he’s the only one that care about his city and deserves to be high king
Alredy commented, but its worth mentioning that Elisif's Court Wizard is a vampire. So its possible that, while Falk Firebeard and Tulius have Elisif's best interests in mind, she is obviously being exploited from positions that don't garner AS much attention Though, interestingly enough, if you yourself become a vampire and question Stentor , she shoos you away and tells you that her only goal is to use Elisif's lack of experience as a leader to advance her own position and ensure herself a comftorable life for a few decades Now, whether you believe her or not, is up to you
Another point about Stentor is that, once you stop Potema's resurrection, she'll leave Elisif's court and stay in her room for the rest of the game. Not to mention that Stentor was the most dismissive of Varnius' warnings of Wolfskull Cave to begin with, strongly suggesting to Elisif that they do nothing (by contrast, Elisif's gut reaction was to send a whole legion to rout the cave, while Falk Firebeard was ambivalent, assuming that Varnius was overreacting but sending you to scout the cave just in case). Stentor's "scrying" found nothing, but you go there yourself and find a bunch of necromancers trying to revive Potema. My own personal theory is that Stentor was either in on the plan to resurrect Potema, or thought she could benefit from her return when she scryed it, and lied to Elisif to keep the Solitude guards from interfering. She may have even been involved in getting those vampires into the Solitude catacombs. It was just Stentor's bad luck that the last Dragonborn arrived at the Blue Palace at the same time Varnius did to foil the whole scheme.
Honestly, I'd switch Ulfric and Balgruuf. Ulfric's backstory is huuuuugeeee, I honestly think he is probably the most fleshed out character in the entire game, by far. While I do not agree with some of his decisions (grey quarter, forcing argonians to the docks) I think its really hard to not see him as a strong leader. Imo, he is more fleshed out, and a better leader than Balgruuf, which gives him the edge.
To be honest, I sympathize with Ulfric after learning his backstory thru the game. I did him a favor by ending him as the Dragonborn to give him a better tale. After the shit hes been thru, coming back from the war he fought for the Empire against the damn elves to find that everything he fought for got betrayed. Then he tried to pacify Markath just to be thrown in prison by the damn Empire he fought for. And while he was in prison, his dad died and his home province was left in chaos until he got released and took over as Jarl. After all this shit hes been thru, how could you continue to take it up the butt like that? I do agree with his decision to rebel, but I dont agree with the concept of a civil war, nords killing nords when there are elves to kill and instability to Skyrim to fix. I dont see him much as a villian in Skyrim story, more of a Fallen Hero.
5:00 I mean… looking at FudgeMuppet and Camelwork videos… he may not be wrong. And it may be the reason why Tolfdir start sounding like an old man when you mention the Augur.
Always hated that there was no vanilla quest to unfuck the fuck stain that is riften. You can either join or eradicate the vampires or dark brotherhood but by some nonfuckery the legendary dragonborn cant kill.....a group of random crappy theives or expose maven for being just the worst person.
I love Falkreath but hate Dengeir's Nephew. He has always been my third least respected Jarl after Skald the Elder and Maven Black-Briar. Dengeir is paranoid to the point of being worrisome, but he at least wants to see his people thrive, no matter who they are.
@@GlidingZephyr I can see why he is paranoid. The imperial found a way to put is nephew in his place of jarl. Then (if you do is second quest) we lear that he have a familly member that is a vampire... poor him lol
Not racist, a high benchmark that really shouldnt be. I personally think that one of balgrufs best traits is how he is actively trying to supress mephala's influence. on the world.
