What does the Dragonborn *do* with all those dragon souls?

[baratron]

WHY is the Dragonborn collecting all the dragon souls? Is he or she (from now on I will use "they" as a handy gender-neutral pronoun) taking them back to Akatosh for recycling?

I thought that the DB was collecting the souls to prevent the dragons from being "available" to be reincarnated by Alduin, but after they fight Alduin, they still have all the souls... don't they?

I do realise that it's Kyne or Kynareth who's responsible for the ability to Shout, but as Akatosh is the father god of the dragons, it would make sense that collected dragon souls would go back to Akatosh, right?

If the souls were consumed as the DB uses them to learn a Shout... what happens to that Named Dragon? Does the Dragonborn consume the soul and then send what's left to Aetherius/the Dreamsleeve to be recycled?

Very confused and interested to hear what the Lore Masters have to say about it .

[Eltee]

Considering that when Nords die, their souls go to Sovngarde, and Alduin, the Dragonborn's opposite, can permanently devour the souls of mortals that are trapped there, I would say that the same happens to Dragons when their souls are absorbed. Their life force is absorbed, and their individuality, named dragon or not, is extinguished.

I would assume that when the Dragonborn dies, the souls they absorbed are returned to the circle of life.

[Br3admax]

That was for you Eltee.

Anyway, dragons are not born so their souls do not go back to the "circle of life"

The Dragonborn absorbs souls so Alduin can no longer raise them. Akatosh does not make anymore dragons so I doubt he recycles them.

Kyne is not responsible for Shouting; she is responsible for allowing mortals to shout. Dragons are born knowing how to shout.

When a Dragonborn kills a dragon, they consume their soul and gain their knowledge. These souls most likely just combine with Dragonborn's soul or go back to Akatosh. They do not remain in the Dragonborn's body in a little soul container to be released later. Dragon souls will never enter the Dreemsleeve ever, if that is where you though Dragonborn came from.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

Akatosh directly bestowed the Dragonborn's soul. It didn't come from the Dreamsleeve. Neither did the Dragons' souls. When the Dragonborn absorbs a Dovah soul it merges with his and becomes one soul. He simply integrates their knowledge into his. Only being able to learn one word of one Shout from a Dragon is probably a game mechanic. Or maybe he doesn't perfectly absorb all the information and only learns some of what each Dragon knows. It seems logical to me that if he absorbs a soul he should learn everything the Dragon knew, not just one small thing. That's probably how it happens in lore when someone does it. I believe Akatosh gets the soul back when the Dragonborn dies.

[Dark Spark]

Oh, we are so totally going Highlander with this.

What happens if there are two or more Dragonborn alive at any one time, and one kills another? Do they absorb the soul?

[Br3admax]

If you had played Dragonborn, which you and I can't since it's only on the Xbox,

Spoiler:

you would know that the Dragonborn who lives absorbs the other Dragonborn's soul. It's still the same type of soul to be eaten.

[Eltee]

Spoiler:

Indeed. When you kill Miraak, the fact that he gives you ten souls points to having the souls trapped within the Dragonborn until their expiry.

[Mattbott]

so highlander it is lol

Soooo Akatosh is the source of this type of soul and as dovahkiin you hijack/borrow them as they return to Akatosh, being able to also 'strain' them through a skillz filter (like pea soup) in order to keep some of their energy for your own use (in a generic sort of way - you don't learn shouts specific to that dragon, you gain a shout token to spend later). So when the last dragonborn dies, there will be an almighty soul explosion when all these spare souls fly back to the boss man. Spose it's the dragon version of the Daedric waters of oblivion cycle..?

imo there's potential role play mileage here as well, if you are playing a goodish character and want to justify a character change in order to do some daedric quests.. you could play it that evil souls absorbed altered your perspective on the world and you became more evil (and if you want to be good again, kill Paarthunax see?)

I wonder how many other different soul based energy systems there are in TES

[CBR JGWRR]

Not really. For a start, the there can only be one (Miraak excepted) line is completely irelevant, Queen didn't do the soundtrack to Skyrim, dov can die from wounds which aren't to the neck unlike the immortals, and numerous other differences. Such as no need to visit 1980's New York.

I'm with Bread and Pilaf on what happens to the dov after death.

[Mattbott]

Not really. For a start, the there can only be one (Miraak excepted) line is completely irelevant, Queen didn't do the soundtrack to Skyrim, dov can die from wounds which aren't to the neck unlike the immortals, and numerous other differences. Such as no need to visit 1980's New York.

I'm with Bread and Pilaf on what happens to the dov after death.

lol Queen would have been awesome as soundtrack contributers

no, its more the idea that you suck up the soul and keep a bit of its energy for your own use - the "there can be only one" rule is defunct anyway as even though Conor won the prize in the 80's there were several other immortals knocking around in the 90's tv show

also, like highlander there is an element of conkers where you gain a defeated enemie's score, so for example if a dovahkiin has taken 10 dragons, then you absorb these dragons as well as his soul if you defeat him

[Avron the S'wit]

Not really. For a start, the there can only be one (Miraak excepted) line is completely irelevant, Queen didn't do the soundtrack to Skyrim, dov can die from wounds which aren't to the neck unlike the immortals, and numerous other differences. Such as no need to visit 1980's New York.

lol Queen would have been awesome as soundtrack contributers

I would be so okay with that.

Actually, the model of a warrior consuming the knowledge and/or strength of his defeated foes is a very common element of many cultures throughout the age. It is the sign of ultimate ability - the triumph of the strong over the weak - and also serves as a way to sort of fantasize the things the victorious warrior learns or has learnt to get so far - so thus the absorbing of your victim's knowledge/strength/what have you as symbolism of the things you have learnt from your battle. It's fabulous storytelling symbolism!

[Hissien]

They play cards together and do skooma with each other.... I thought it was obvious...

[The SheoDovah]

The Dovahkiin absorbs the soul of a dragon when he kills one thus he effectively wipes them out from existence but instead of the soul being destroyed, it merges with his, so he gains the knowledge that dragon possessed and may even be able to gain memories of the dragon. It may even cause his thu'um to become even more powerful. But he is vunerable to being absorbed by a dragon if he is called as all Dragons can absorb the soul of their fallen brethren and the Dovahkiin is just a dragon in Nordic form. I suspect Dragonborns can absorb the soul of other dragonborns but i wonder if a dragonborn that only discovered that they are dragonborn kills a dragonborn that has killed a lot of dragons will absorb the soul of the fallen dragonborn or if they only consume a small part due to their soul not being capable of handling that much power?

[CBR JGWRR]

"...Dovahkiin is just a dragon in Nordic form. ..."

Mortal form, not just nords, and all the soul absorbed most likely. I won't explain why since to do so would spoil some of the DLC that is coming to PS3...

[GodsBePraised]

Dragonborns absorb the soul. That soul becomes one with their soul.

What happens when the dragonborn dies, who knows? Some have gone to Sovngarde. Who knows where Reman went? We all know where Tiber Septim and Wulfharth went.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

The Dovahkiin absorbs the soul of a dragon when he kills one thus he effectively wipes them out from existence but instead of the soul being destroyed, it merges with his, so he gains the knowledge that dragon possessed and may even be able to gain memories of the dragon. It may even cause his thu'um to become even more powerful. But he is vunerable to being absorbed by a dragon if he is called as all Dragons can absorb the soul of their fallen brethren and the Dovahkiin is just a dragon in Nordic form. I suspect Dragonborns can absorb the soul of other dragonborns but i wonder if a dragonborn that only discovered that they are dragonborn kills a dragonborn that has killed a lot of dragons will absorb the soul of the fallen dragonborn or if they only consume a small part due to their soul not being capable of handling that much power?

I don't think it really works that way. If a Dragonborn or Dragon is in close proximity to a dead Dragonborn or Dragon, they absorb the soul.

Spoiler:

Miraak demonstrated that if two people with a Dovah soul are in close proximity of a slain Dragon, the one with the greater mastery will absorb the soul. He stole three or four from me during my playthrough, not to mention the ones he is scripted to steal during the main boss fight.

I have no doubt in my mind that Mirmulnir was a much more advanced Thu'um master than the Dragonborn will ever be. He was ancient and the Dovah tongue was embedded in his blood. Yet, when he was slain by the Dragonborn - the Dragonborn's first kill - the soul was absorbed. Now, the question is if Alduin or another powerful Dragon was nearby, would that individual have absorbed the soul instead? Miraak's example seems to suggest they would have because they could bend the soul to their will. Perhaps this is a skill a Dragonborn gets better at the stronger he gets, but he can absorb any Dragon's soul from the very beginning. Like I said, Atlas of Dragons lists Milmurnir as a living Dragon. He survived the Dragon War. Alduin never resurrected him because he never died. He survived on his own for thousands of years. He must have been extremely knowledgeable and crafty to pull that one off. His only downfall was his arrogance and his ignorance of the Dragonborn being present. He may have used a different tactic or teamed up with other Dragons in that case.

[Br3admax]

I can answer your question, Pilaf. The answer is no. That would defeat the point of Alduin existing(for the dragons). If he absorbed the soul, he wouldn't be able to bring them back. (Yes I know what you really meant)

[Pilaf The Defiler]

I can answer your question, Pilaf. The answer is no. That would defeat the point of Alduin existing(for the dragons). If he absorbed the soul, he wouldn't be able to bring them back. (Yes I know what you really meant)

Clearly, an untested claim. The process may very well work in reverse for all we know. He's Akatosh's "son" after all. If Akatosh can give Dragon souls and he usurped his throne, maybe he can too.

[CBR JGWRR]

Umm, guys, the dragon's soul stays with the slain body - All everybodys favourite dead dragon god of world ending did was flesh time opposite (of), Ie... reclothe the dead dragon with new flesh. Nuttin more.

[GodsBePraised]

Umm, guys, the dragon's soul stays with the slain body - All everybodys favourite dead dragon god of world ending did was flesh time opposite (of), Ie... reclothe the dead dragon with new flesh. Nuttin more.

Uhm.. what?

[Br3admax]

Sleen Tiid Vo means Flesh Rot Opposite of. All Alduin does is give their body form again. Which is what I said, so why does that post say guys?

[GodsBePraised]

Perhaps. Unless Alduin (being a part of Aka) has power to grant the soul back to dead bones, but I think it makes sense that Alduin is simply raising the dragons "killed" by non-dragon/dragonborns.

[CBR JGWRR]

Bread - tiid is time, not rot. Have a look at the slow time shout. (Although the ressurection shout makes sense whichever word it is)

Ok, so I put an extra word in, just ignore it.

[baratron]

When the Dragonborn absorbs a Dovah soul it merges with his and becomes one soul. He simply integrates their knowledge into his.

I know that you are the Lore Master, but where did this information come from? Is it something that various players have worked out and decided, or is there an in-game citation for it?

I'm just having trouble understanding how dragons are immortal, and yet can be killed apparently permanently by the Dragonborn. It would make far more sense to me that you're killing their mortal body, taking the knowledge from their soul, then when you die, their souls are returned to the Dreamsleeve and/or to Akatosh. Rather than the souls somehow merging into one within you.

Though I agree with Mattbott about the role-playing implications.

[Br3admax]

When the Dragonborn absorbs a Dovah soul it merges with his and becomes one soul. He simply integrates their knowledge into his.

I know that you are the Lore Master, but where did this information come from? Is it something that various players have worked out and decided, or is there an in-game citation for it?

That's in game. The Greybeards tell you the life force and knowledge are absorbed directly.

I'm just having trouble understanding how dragons are immortal, and yet can be killed apparently permanently by the Dragonborn. It would make far more sense to me that you're killing their mortal body, taking the knowledge from their soul, then when you die, their souls are returned to the Dreamsleeve and/or to Akatosh. Rather than the souls somehow merging into one within you.

No. Actually that would make less sense, since dragons are not born, unless they are mortal; they would never enter the Dreamsleeve. You might have a misunderstanding of what dragons are. Dragons do not have mortals bodies. Their bodies do not die because Time does not effect them. While you or I may row boats down the stream of life and time, dragons fly over it. They are Children of Time itself and are not effected by it. Their souls do not leave their bodies when they are defeated. This is also stated in game. At best a dragon's body can only be stunned, at which point it can wither, until it's soul is taken away. Only the soul of another dragon can removed the soul from the dragon's body.