So the Helgen attack was a massive coincidence?

[Penetrator]

Alduin attacked just in time to save you and Ulfric from the block. Why did he burn Helgen to the ground and not any other towns?

He could have easily pulled a Daenerys and burned both Whiterun and Solitude. Heck why not fly straight to Imperial City? He's an immortal dragon after all.

[Valden21]

Lore-wise, I've always figured it was because he sensed that you're a Dragonborn, and therefore, a threat to his plans. He figures to kill you before you learn your true nature and become dangerous to him. For him, the longer you're alive, the more dangerous you get.

[Penetrator]

Originally posted by Valden21:

Lore-wise, I've always figured it was because he sensed that you're a Dragonborn, and therefore, a threat to his plans. He figures to kill you before you learn your true nature and become dangerous to him. For him, the longer you're alive, the more dangerous you get.

I thought that too, but then why can't he sense you after you survive and you're running around Skyrim? Surely he would have heard the Greybeards summoning you and you training.

[GrimCat]

Everything unfolded as Akatosh had preordained.

[Valden21]

Originally posted by Inundated Insomniac:

Originally posted by Valden21:

Lore-wise, I've always figured it was because he sensed that you're a Dragonborn, and therefore, a threat to his plans. He figures to kill you before you learn your true nature and become dangerous to him. For him, the longer you're alive, the more dangerous you get.

I thought that too, but then why can't he sense you after you survive and you're running around Skyrim? Surely he would have heard the Greybeards summoning you and you training.

Standard super-villain arrogance on his part. He probably figures that one of the other dragons will get you eventually and he doesn't need to do anything else.

[CoRteZ]

i think it was to save the dragonborn and Ulfric. With Ulfric alive the war keeps going and Alduin eats souls in Sovngarde that dont make it to the hall of valor. Im not sure why he saved the dragonborn, but he clearly knows your dragonborn, because if you hang around while alduin is destroying helgen he says something about you being dragonborn.

[voehringer_nitron]

Originally posted by Valden21:

Originally posted by Inundated Insomniac:

I thought that too, but then why can't he sense you after you survive and you're running around Skyrim? Surely he would have heard the Greybeards summoning you and you training.

Standard super-villain arrogance on his part. He probably figures that one of the other dragons will get you eventually and he doesn't need to do anything else.

From Blade in the Dark--Alduin: Ful, losei Dovahkiin? Zu'u koraav nid nol dov do hi. ( So, my false Dragonborn? I do not recognize you as dragon.) You do not even know our tongue, do you? Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah.
Sahloknir, krii daar joorre. (Sahloknir, kill these mortals.)

[alexander_dougherty]

Originally posted by Inundated Insomniac:

Alduin attacked just in time to save you and Ulfric from the block. Why did he burn Helgen to the ground and not any other towns?

um.....Plotwise he did burndown other towns, just they aren't in the game, because it takes up too much memory to make skyrim big enough to add towns and villages just to show he was burning down everything.

Originally posted by Valden21:

Lore-wise, I've always figured it was because he sensed that you're a Dragonborn, and therefore, a threat to his plans. He figures to kill you before you learn your true nature and become dangerous to him. For him, the longer you're alive, the more dangerous you get.

Probably, he can sense a dragon soul, but it's not awakened yet so he can't pinpoint it to you.

[Penetrator]

Originally posted by alexander_dougherty:

Originally posted by Inundated Insomniac:

Alduin attacked just in time to save you and Ulfric from the block. Why did he burn Helgen to the ground and not any other towns?

um.....Plotwise he did burndown other towns, just they aren't in the game, because it takes up too much memory to make skyrim big enough to add towns and villages just to show he was burning down everything.

How do you know this? You can hear the townsfolk and guards talking about story events that happened to you like Whitewatch tower, Kynesgrove etc, but no one ever mentions other towns.

Originally posted by Valden21:

Originally posted by Inundated Insomniac:

I thought that too, but then why can't he sense you after you survive and you're running around Skyrim? Surely he would have heard the Greybeards summoning you and you training.

Standard super-villain arrogance on his part. He probably figures that one of the other dragons will get you eventually and he doesn't need to do anything else.

That's fair but it runs contrary to the idea that Alduin was looking for you at Helgen. Also once you have killed dozens of dragons that he resurrected, it would be logical for him to come and kill you.

Before "Diplomatic Immunity", which is a relatively early quest, Alduin has seen you 3 times. Once at Helgen and twice and dragon burial mounds at which he talks directly at you. You would think he would try and stop you at some point.

[Ilja]

He does. Why do you think most of the dragons are hunting you? :p

Of course Alduin isn't the smartest dragon around. He just makes Dohvakiin stronger, by feeding him more souls. Instead the silly lizard should have just tried to fry him/her after Dohvakiin got recognized.

[alexander_dougherty]

Originally posted by Inundated Insomniac:

Originally posted by alexander_dougherty:

um.....Plotwise he did burndown other towns, just they aren't in the game, because it takes up too much memory to make skyrim big enough to add towns and villages just to show he was burning down everything.

How do you know this? You can hear the townsfolk and guards talking about story events that happened to you like Whitewatch tower, Kynesgrove etc, but no one ever mentions other towns.

Experience!!

When they did Oblivion there was only one city to fall, and no towns, in Skyrim the books tell you the Daedra destroyed many towns and several cities.

When the next game comes out, the in game books will tell you Alduin personally burned down hundreds of villages and Towns.

[Penetrator]

Originally posted by alexander_dougherty:

Originally posted by Inundated Insomniac:

How do you know this? You can hear the townsfolk and guards talking about story events that happened to you like Whitewatch tower, Kynesgrove etc, but no one ever mentions other towns.

Experience!!

When they did Oblivion there was only one city to fall, and no towns, in Skyrim the books tell you the Daedra destroyed many towns and several cities.

When the next game comes out, the in game books will tell you Alduin personally burned down hundreds of villages and Towns.

You can't make a point based on what you think might be written in a book in a future TES game. Maybe the books will say that dragons attacked towns mercilessly, as they do in the game.

[alexander_dougherty]

Originally posted by Inundated Insomniac:

Originally posted by alexander_dougherty:

Experience!!

When they did Oblivion there was only one city to fall, and no towns, in Skyrim the books tell you the Daedra destroyed many towns and several cities.

When the next game comes out, the in game books will tell you Alduin personally burned down hundreds of villages and Towns.

You can't make a point based on what you think might be written in a book in a future TES game. Maybe the books will say that dragons attacked towns mercilessly, as they do in the game.

You can with Bethesda, they are not the most original storywriters in the industry. The fact they've done it before with other games(I only limited myself to Morrowind, they've done it with other TES games too) means they will probably do it again with this game.

My point was (and still is) that they didn't put those towns and villages into the game because they would take time to create and serve no purpose other than to be destroyed. And they would take up space, both in game and in your computer's memory, that they just weren't prepared to waste.

Assume Alduin did destroy most of the towns and villages he came across, and you will probably be close to the what's supposed to have happened than the game portrays.

[freerangechikn]

Alduin was stopping the execution of Ulfric to prolong civil war in Skyrim. We can see why chaos in Skyrim would benefit Alduin. With the Empire and the Stormcloaks at war, he faces significantly weaker resistance. This is alluded to during the truce in High Hrothgar.

I don't think he knows about the Dragonborn until the Greybeards summon you, which he certainly would have heard, but that's just my opinion.

[Penetrator]

Originally posted by freerangechikn:

Alduin was stopping the execution of Ulfric to prolong civil war in Skyrim. We can see why chaos in Skyrim would benefit Alduin. With the Empire and the Stormcloaks at war, he faces significantly weaker resistance. This is alluded to during the truce in High Hrothgar.

I don't think he knows about the Dragonborn until the Greybeards summon you, which he certainly would have heard, but that's just my opinion.

I doubt he had any idea about Skyrim politics or that Ulfric was captured. Remember, he would have come through the time-wound and the only other dragon alive was Paarthurnax. There's nobody to tell him what's happening in Skyrim.

[Valden21]

Originally posted by freerangechikn:

Alduin was stopping the execution of Ulfric to prolong civil war in Skyrim. We can see why chaos in Skyrim would benefit Alduin. With the Empire and the Stormcloaks at war, he faces significantly weaker resistance. This is alluded to during the truce in High Hrothgar.

I don't think he knows about the Dragonborn until the Greybeards summon you, which he certainly would have heard, but that's just my opinion.

What makes you say that? If he wanted to prevent Ulfric's execution, all he had to do was attack the convoy. But he doesn't, which means that he has other goals concerning that. Alduin looks right at you when he lands on the wall, and his appearance was JUST before the headsman was about to bring the ax down on your neck. You can't tell me that he didn't time it so that he would get to kill you instead of someone else doing so. That's the level of arrogance he has; he doesn't trust anyone BUT dragons to kill you.