Is The Dark Brotherhood Quest a Hint?

[Praxius]

¥¥ SPOILERS ¥¥

So pretty much at the end of the DB quest, you have the mission to finally kill the Emperor which in turn brings back the Brotherhood from its near non-existence to it's former glory.

Let's say you did everything possible in the Questline. You killed the fake Emperor, you killed the head hancho of the Penitus Oculatus in Skyrim ..... and his son, you then kill the real Emperor and compelled by the Emperor to kill the guy who had him killed, who in turn wanted to get a little higher in the ranks of power.

This is a pretty big blow for the Empire at a time it really didn't need. With a civil war going on in Skyrim with a real chance of losing control over the entire area to the Stormcloaks, being already weakened from the Oblivion crisis and a war with the Dominion & being forced to sign a treaty heavily in favour for the Dominion to prevent them from rolling over them.... Let's add up all the worst case scenarios:

• The Dark Brotherhood Kills the Emperor, kills the general of the Penitus Oculatus in Skyrim and kills Amaund Motierre who was a part of the Elder Council.

• Ulfric Stormcloak, with the help of the Dragonborn defeat the Imperials, kills General Tullius, Commander of the Imperial Legion and Military Governor of Skyrim and push the Empire out of Skyrim completely, which has already been demoralized from the death of the Emperor as noted by what a number of Imperial soldiers state when talking to them whom feel nothing but shame for it happening under their watch.

• The love and respect for the Emperor was already going down the toilet since the last of the Septims were no longer in power and there isn't any real hint as to who would be next in line.

• This would no doubt pave the way for the Dominion to finally strike and finish off the Empire once and for all as the Empire is leaderless with no Emperor or General for the Penitus Oculatus or Commander for the Imperial Legion.

As with the Dwemer, the Snow Elves, the Ayleids & others.... Is this all finally pointing towards the end of the Empire itself?

To me, Bethesda sure seems to be gearing for such an end result. Afterall, they never really gave you these options before and no matter what happened in past TES games, it seemed like the Empire would last through it all regardless of what decisions you made. You were never given this amount of choice to make give such a blow to the Empire in any fashion.

Sure, you could avoid the DB quest and wipe out the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim, thus saving the Emperor's life, but that's taking out an entire guild from the game, thus a game style players enjoy, so to not have the DB in the next TES game would upset a lot of players and would be like taking out the mage guild, or thieves guild & have them never return.

It would seem that Bethesda wants you to save the DB and kill the Emperor as more work was put in that aspect of the game than the other way around.

So is all of this hinting that Bethesda is planning to finally make a big shift in the series and have the Empire wiped out in the next game?

[Resident Asswhole]

Well, considering Oblivion started with the death of the Emperor...

Hopefully the next game starts while the turmoil is still fresh and the Empire is crumbling, that should give pleantly of quests and high profile siutations.

[Praxius]

Първоначално публикувано от R13-The 2nd Type:

Well, considering Oblivion started with the death of the Emperor...

Hopefully the next game starts while the turmoil is still fresh and the Empire is crumbling, that should give pleantly of quests and high profile siutations.

True, but then it is revealed that he had a son to carry on and save the Empire and you go along in the main quest to help save the Empire.

This time around you have the option to directly kill the Emperor, as well as wage war against the Empire.... And there is no known successor to the throne..... Plus with the Dominion at the doorstep and Skyrim pushing on the other side, the hope just isn't there for the Empire compared to Oblivion.

[SinisterSlay]

I bet the next Hero will be the one who unifies the lands, throws out the thalmor, and becomes the emperor.

[fran25]

The Dragonborn!

[Nan Slapper]

HOPEFULLY with TES 6 we'll see some pretty epic battles as it's next gen. I personally think that all of Skyrim is leading up to a war with the Thalmor. I'd love to see city-seiges etc in a civil war questline that is actually GOOD next time. Hopefully this'll be coupled by the combat being improved to make it quicker and with more options (Dodging, parrying, backstabs would be great in TES if you ask me. But then again, I just LOVE Dark Souls' amazing combat.)

And I'd like to go back to being more... Normal. I did love Skyrim, but I don't want to be bullied into being the Dragonborn agian.

[thedUWUmslayer]

Първоначално публикувано от Speshal Ninja:

HOPEFULLY with TES 6 we'll see some pretty epic battles as it's next gen. I personally think that all of Skyrim is leading up to a war with the Thalmor. I'd love to see city-seiges etc in a civil war questline that is actually GOOD next time. Hopefully this'll be coupled by the combat being improved to make it quicker and with more options (Dodging, parrying, backstabs would be great in TES if you ask me. But then again, I just LOVE Dark Souls' amazing combat.)

And I'd like to go back to being more... Normal. I did love Skyrim, but I don't want to be bullied into being the Dragonborn agian.

Well, you're never quite "normal" in any TES game. In Oblivion, the Emperor sees you in a vision, the same vision he sees himself die in. It is revealed to him that you will somehow help to continue his line and save the Empire, so you're kind of like the chosen one. I'm not sure what the story of Morrowind was (I never played it and haven't taken a look at its story yet), but I know in Daggerfall, I think, you were kinda of a chosen one too. I think the player has always been some kind of chosen one in all TES games.

[Praxius]

Yeah my characters are always as intended.... in that they have no history beyond the start of each game and is sent there by whatever power is doing the deed.... in Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim I've always played this way.

No memory but the knowledge of the basics of living and defending myself, yet I know I'm there to do something important.... more important than the average joe.

---------------------

Back to topic, while yes the Empire has faced some drastic situations that challenged its existence, there was always this feeling that you can save it and bring it back from the brink.

In Oblivion for example, after you close the Oblivion Gates and stop that threat, things seem to be somewhat peaceful and back to normal with other quests to do that are not as much of an impact to the Empire as a whole (or anything else for that matter)

But in Skyrim, even if you do everything you can to make things better for the Empire, you still end up with a not-so happy ending as the Empire is still fragile, the Dominion is still putting the pressure on them, popularity for the current Emperor isn't all that great and it's not like all the Nords are going to simply accept the Empire and start hugging rainbows as soon as the Stormcloaks are defeated..... they still have their worship of Talos being taken away, and having one's religious beliefs stripped away by people outside of your homeland is a bigger factor than defeating a military force trying to defend that belief system.

Even if the Stormcloaks are defeated, the main problems still don't go away.... it's just a band aid on an axe wound as I see it and regardless of whatever side you choose in Skyrim, the Empire is either still in a desperate position, or on the brink of total defeat in almost every aspect.

[Brandybuck]

You could look on the death of the emperor as a good thing for the empire. It gets rid of the guy who capitulated to the Aldmeri Dominion. That pissed off more than Skyrim. A change in policy is in order. The structure of the empire stays the same, only the figurehead changes.

[Yuurt]

Note that all faction quests are canon.
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Canon

Първоначално публикувано от Brandybuck:

You could look on the death of the emperor as a good thing for the empire. It gets rid of the guy who capitulated to the Aldmeri Dominion. That pissed off more than Skyrim. A change in policy is in order. The structure of the empire stays the same, only the figurehead changes.

I think this is a more logical view. The government seems very bottom-heavy in ES, or maybe we just don't know enough about the Elder Council.

[voehringer_nitron]

Първоначално публикувано от pandoradog22:

Well, you're never quite "normal" in any TES game. In Oblivion, the Emperor sees you in a vision, the same vision he sees himself die in. It is revealed to him that you will somehow help to continue his line and save the Empire, so you're kind of like the chosen one. I'm not sure what the story of Morrowind was (I never played it and haven't taken a look at its story yet), but I know in Daggerfall, I think, you were kinda of a chosen one too. I think the player has always been some kind of chosen one in all TES games.

Morrowind is another "chosen one" type plotline. Without getting too spoilery, there's a prophecy that an ancient Dumer war hero will return to unite the Great Houses and Ashlander tribes.

[Stirling]

I'm here to give an aditional turn of events: The Dragonborn becomes the next Emperor.
Under the best of circumstances;
-You are an imperial legate, One of the Legion generals considers you a friend
-The Emperor is currently dead
-You have the College of Winterhold, order of Psijic monks, Greybeards/blades, Companions, Thieves' Guild, and the Dark Brotherhood supporting you.
-You are than in all nine holds of skyrim
-You are dragonborn, giving you claim to the same title Talos had in life, 'Stormcrown'.
-You have the ability to bend dragons to your will, and are basically a god in human form, being capable of destroying nearly everything, and possibly have a ton of daedric artifacts in possession, which gives you supports with the Dark elves(Boethiah), Orcs(Malacath), and the general populace(Azura and Meridia).

This means that you might very well be the next in line to become High-King of Skyrim, and if you're the High King of skyrim, you might very well become the emperor too.

[Ayiirogon1325]

well this was alot of reading and pretty interesting too

[libertyu9]

OR... you sided with Ulfric. You're still the Dovahkiin, with all the titles, daedric artifacts, guild leaderships and heroic deeds pertaining thereunto. With Titus Mede II assassinated and the Penitus Oculatus almost destroyed and its remnants largely discredited on account of their recent failures, Cyrodil appears to be in a bad freakin' way. Assuming no major surprises at the moot, Ulfric becomes High King with no wife and no succession plan. Unless Galmar has some invisible fan club stashed away somewhere, you're the clear, perhaps only, choice for plan B. Diplomatic relations (lol) with the Aldmeri dominion will be a sneeze away from outright war from the word go, meaning close ties with Hammerfell are almost inevitable. Meanwhile, the White-Gold Tower is smart enough to simply keep its head down, lick its wounds and be content to let the Nords and Redguard attract fire indefinitely, but would clearly be fragile for the forseeable future. This whole intro and dramatis personae reminds one quite clearly of the end of the Interregnum and the beginning of the third era, and I think that turned out quite well for the central figure of that time period. I'm sure he had no complaints, being called to join the Divines and all.

TL;DR:
So, in summary,agreeing with and going off of Cancerstick's point, either way the civil war pans out, you are probably the most powerful and important single person outside of Aldmer or Akavir. The chances of either becoming the new supreme potentate of the Cyrodilic Empire or eventually establishing your own are fairly good, assuming the inevitable conflict against the Thalmor ends in anything other than a clear defeat.

[VILLAGE PILLAGE ⊕]

You have no lore sources.
1) We don't know if the dragonborn joins the stormcloaks.
2) We don't know if the dragonborn joins the DB.