Last Dragonborn or Latest?

[Br3admax]

His dialogue made him sound surprised. His followers knew of us. There is no proof he knew, per say.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

His dialogue made him sound surprised. His followers knew of us. There is no proof he knew, per say.

Except for the written note from Miraak instructing them to slay the "False Dragonborn".

And yet the son could wear the Amulet, and his bloodline continued all the way down to Martin.

And all his step siblings it would seem... Well that's just confusing

Uriel Septim intended his son Geldall to succeed him, but Geldall was slain. I'm assuming if not for that, Geldall would have become the Dragonborn - but only at the moment of coronation.

[CBR JGWRR]

Personally, I would say for definite he was not aware of us, but his cultists were - they decided that it would be a good idea to take our Dovahkiin out, and inform Miraak after the event.

Pilaf - the note doesn't specify Miraak, only that our character is to be killed: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Dragonborn:Cultists%27_Orders
It's quite plausible that it was a cultist only idea.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

I somehow can't imagine Miraak's cultists are the type of people to go behind his back. They seem strongly under his control. He was surprised to see you in Apocrypha specifically. He was amazed by your progress, not your existence.

[Br3admax]

Well Mirrak did not right the note, otherwise he would not need to return, he already would have. Besides he says you are Dragonborn, not the Dragonborn.

[CBR JGWRR]

Also, he came across as more suprised you were there - he was quite dismissive about the fate of alduin at the player's hands.

At least, that's my impression.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

He could have still communicated the thought to his followers on Solstheim, though. The idea of completely brainwashed cultists somehow formulating an assassination plot independently doesn't seem to mesh with what we're shown about Miraak's mind control. I'm not convinced his minions have that kind of free will.

[Hejerrick]

And since he knows so much about you, and your exploits in Skyrim aren't exactly a secret, I'd imagine some news might have traveled from Skyrim to Solsteim, and in turn, to Miraak. Why wouldn't he know of you?

[BetaB17]

Miraak is your secret admirer. Just besides sending flowers he just sends a group of murderous cultists ^_^
At least no adoring fan. Now that is punishment worse than death.

[Hejerrick]

At least no adoring fan. Now that is punishment worse than death.

By Azura! I second that

[Br3admax]

And since he knows so much about you, and your exploits in Skyrim aren't exactly a secret, I'd imagine some news might have traveled from Skyrim to Solsteim, and in turn, to Miraak. Why wouldn't he know of you?

That was not my point. My point is he knows there is a Dragonborn, not what he looks like.

[Hejerrick]

And since he knows so much about you, and your exploits in Skyrim aren't exactly a secret, I'd imagine some news might have traveled from Skyrim to Solsteim, and in turn, to Miraak. Why wouldn't he know of you?

That was not my point. My point is he knows there is a Dragonborn, not what he looks like.

Why would that matter? Him being surprised by you reaching apocrypha has nothing to do with how you look, why should it?

[Br3admax]

The Cultest knew, but he didn't. Weird.

[Hejerrick]

Also Miraak has the power of bending wills, and the wills of the crew manning the Northern Maiden were definitely bent. Did his followers bend their wills? They'd have to be dragonborn themselves or have made some sort of crazy deal with Old Herma Mora. I'm quite sure none of those two options make as much sense as Miraak sending the cultists himself.

[Hejerrick]

The Cultest knew, but he didn't. Weird.

How about this: Miraak tells his followers to go to Skyrim and kill the Dragonborn. They go to Skyrim, finds out he's a Breton (in my case) they go to some place he may visit at some point, and bobs your uncle.

How do the couriers know what you look like? They find out the same way the cultists found out. Common sense is a skill more people than the PC possesses.

[BetaB17]

I think he simply underestimated you, as he continued to onwards. He did show you respect but not as his equal, seeing as he was consumed with power and thus only saw you as a mere obstacle. Seeing as you were able to reach him once he was impressed and saw that you were dragonborn, but more as a lesser sibling. He continues to mock your strength and toy with you, maybe in an attempt to show it is worthless. It is also possible he wanted you to survive, thus in a way manipulating you so that he can still show his value to Mora, despite his plans of betrayal. That or had some desire to take you under his wing and so avoiding a battle. Regardless his continue underestimation of your skills is what led to his own fall. To the end he was unable to see this, and was blind to his own death at the hands of Mora. I do wonder though if he was at his full power by the time you fought or was he still waiting

[Hejerrick]

I imagine he wasn't at his maximum power level(might have been at 8000 or something) when you reached him, the construction work around Solsteim was disrupted, thereby preventing him from reaching his full potential, which is why you had to go to apocrypha to face him, and not the other way around.

I do like the idea of Miraak taking you under his wing though, maybe he knew he couldn't beat Herma Mora, but he thought you'd have the potential to do so. Even though it's completely unlikely it's still a thing to consider, since you did grow in power immensely while doing the dragonborn quest line, and finding the black books, books you wouldn't have had access to without his influence bringing you to Skyrim.

[Br3admax]

The Cultest knew, but he didn't. Weird.

How about this: Miraak tells his followers to go to Skyrim and kill the Dragonborn. They go to Skyrim, finds out he's a Breton (in my case) they go to some place he may visit at some point, and bobs your uncle.

How do the couriers know what you look like? They find out the same way the cultists found out. Common sense is a skill more people than the PC possesses.

The sender tells them, I would. Your way is kind of complicated for a courier.

[BetaB17]

But he still underestimated you and more over believed in his own power. He wouldn't simply take you under his wing because he valued your skills but rather to improve his own skills. In the end, he would eventually betray you because he would feel that all should be under his control. In fact, he's worse than Alduin >_> at least he permitted some free will and wanted his race to thrive. His only true flaw was his pride. Still Miraak should of been more prepared waited before luring you. Using oblivion as more of a trap. Tricking you into thinking he was not at full power then once you come to face him for the final fight, he turns around and escapes to Mundas. Yes he may run the risk of you running a powerful deal with Mora, but you'll either be a slave or just trapped. If you did escape, he would only have to worry about you and not Mora

[Br3admax]

Miraak needs your soul to escape. He knows you are Shezzarine(I think, anway).

[Hejerrick]

The sender tells them, I would. Your way is kind of complicated for a courier.

Though not unlikely, otherwise a lot of the senders are watching me while I sleep.

Anyway, my point about how the Cultists find you still stands, they would not have been the first agents of someone, who were sent out to track down and kill a person, add that to the fact that Miraak was the only one able to bend the will of the crew of the Northern Maiden, and we end up with this: Miraak sent those cultists to kill you, they didn't track you down of their own volition. Miraak knew of you before you entered Apocrypha, he can only have been surprised to see you reaching him.

[Hejerrick]

He wouldn't simply take you under his wing because he valued your skills but rather to improve his own skills.

I was just contemplating the ins and outs of an unlikely theory. I'm quite certain Miraak was just as bad as any other villain. It would have been cool though, if he was like some sort of Dragonborn Darth Vader, but he wasn't so it doesn't matter.

[BetaB17]

The sender tells them, I would. Your way is kind of complicated for a courier.

Simple, they have an army of couriers. Hundreds travel through skyrim, many ending up as lunch for dragons, wolves, and even the deer! How they do this, mmmm. I say either they have a very large family of siblings who all look alike Through alchemy or science created clones or they are a new form of deadra spawn that some evil mage conjured up Dear god, sheogorath help us... No, not the string! Anything but the string!! You doomed us all!!!!

[Br3admax]

The Northern Maiden isn't being controlled, otherwise they wouldn't take you to him.

The sender tells them, I would. Your way is kind of complicated for a courier.

Simple, they have an army of couriers. Hundreds travel through skyrim, many ending up as lunch for dragons, wolves, and even the deer! How they do this, mmmm. I say either they have a very large family of siblings who all look alike Through alchemy or science created clones or they are a new form of deadra spawn that some evil mage conjured up Dear god, sheogorath help us... No, not the string! Anything but the string!! You doomed us all!!!!

[Hejerrick]

The Northern Maiden isn't being controlled, otherwise they wouldn't take you to him.

You forget everything you do while under his control. Do you not remember the captain saying that he didn't know how he ended up in Windhelm? Maybe it was just an inconvenient case of amnesia that hit the whole crew simultaneously, though that seems unlikely. The people of Raven Rock are being controlled by night and still help you after he has stopped controlling them during the day.