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So Bethesda has picked up the habit of scorching the lands the previous TES games took place in. This is probably so there is less story continuity to keep track of for future content. Morrowind has had a seismological disaster and the Imperial Province has been sacked by an invading army. I'm wondering what will happen to Skyrim.

Will the dragons burn the place down after the dragonborn disappears? Something else? Anyone willing to take any bets?

Civil War.

I think invasion by the Thalmor.

The rabbits who most of us just pass by in Skyrim are plotting on taking over the province.

Revenge of the Falmer.

All the remaining dragons will lose the ability to fly and drop down like aircraft bombs. And then the allmighty cliffracers will return .

Falmer invasion. Definitely Falmer invasion.

Ok, added a poll. The poll option limit of 10 is a bit constrictive, but I guess I covered all plausible scenarios.

The only serious threats to Skyrim (in no particular order):

-Thalmor.
-Forsworn.
-Falmer.
-Dragons.
-Civil War.
-Dwemer (if they return in ES:VI).

Of all these, I believe the Falmer and the Thalmor are worse. The dragons are dealt with, and the Civil War too. There are few Forsworns but since Madonach came back you never know...

Maybe dragons helped keep winters mild, and now that they could potentially fully-disappear, Skyrim will be engulfed by Atmoran-like winters.

Falmer invasion, that would be realistic and epic.

GhostOfNumenor wrote:Maybe dragons helped keep winters mild, and now that they could potentially fully-disappear, Skyrim will be engulfed by Atmoran-like winters.

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice. ~ Robert Frost

I was looking for a good excuse to get that in here. Severe climate change like you mentioned would surely end Nordic "civilization" (I use the term loosely) as they know it, but the people might still be able to eke out an existence as hunter-scavengers like our ancestors did during the last ice age. It would also help that Skyrim still has an ample wooly mammoth population.

Alright, then, here's a scenario.

A group of outcast bunnies having a civil war but then decide to team up and then invade Skyrim, calling on Dragons for help.

No reference to book intended.

Being how obsessive I am, I shall analyze each and every one of the options you have put forth:

*clears throat proffesionally*

Civil War: Not likely. Civil wars occur to rebuild, not to\o completely destroy. A civil war would bring much death and chaos, but Skyrim would quickly be rebuilt by whoever won the war. It wouldn't in any way be demolished.

Dragons: Hmmm... an interesting concept. I personally think that it would be pretty cool for dragons to completely destroy all the cities in Skyrim, or enslave everybody. It would be interesting if for the next Elder Scrolls game (wherever it may take place), you could hear or read about the "Dragon Dominion" in Skyrim, where all men and elves are slaves, and the dragons rule with a fiery might. Whether that's actually going to happen, I'm not sure.

Invasion (by Dominion, Argonians, etc.): An invasion seems like an interesting (if slightly overused) fate for the province of Skyrim. I'm not sure if the Aldmeri Dominion has the forces and patience to travel all the way to the north to sack Skyrim, but if they do, then cheers for them. An Argonian attack would also be cool, but once again, they'd have to travel a long way.Will it happen? We're not sure.

Local Outcasts: It's a likely choice, although a huge army of outcasts would be needed. The falmer don't seem to have the ambition to try to take Skyrim (why do you think they're all hiding underground in the first place?). The forsworn would probably take out Markarth, and then they just might move onto the other cities. It would be very cool if Skyrim was forced to return to its roots at the hands of the Forsworn. I kind of want it to happen.

Natural Disaster: Why has nobody (as of 6:29 on Thursday the 16th) voted for this yet? It's the most likely to happen, after all! I think a Second Collapse would be epic; the entire top half of Skyrim should just fall into icy rubble.

Wizards: Uh... I really doubt Winterhold would have the guts to rebel against the entirety of Skyrim, especially since we've already seen that it only contains about twenty people in the actual College. It seems more likely that the Mages Guild of Tamriel will go north and attempt to sack or convert the College. The people of Skyrim will of course say "NO WAY!" and then a huge war might break out, resulting in the Mages Guild wiping out much of Skyrim. As for the Psijic Order... I long for their bloody return. Yes. Make it happen.

Unholy Intervention (a.k.a. Daedra): Along with a natural disaster, this seems like the most logical choice. If a series of daedric portals arrived and Daedra started to pour out, then they could easily wipe out much of Skyrim. Skyrim is'nt connected to the Empire, so it probably wouldn't have the other Empire provinces to back it up against the Daedra until too late.

Dwemer: Yes, the return of the Dwemer would be very cool. No, it's probably not going to happen. The Dwemer have been certified dead, and their return would be awkward. I just can't imagine it happening. (Sorry, Dwemer lovers.)

Bunnies: This is the most inevitable fate of Skyrim. Make it happen.

Other: Who knows? Bethesda might just make something up that's completely random, just because they can.

There you are. Please, don't take my thoughts too seriously. Thanks for reading!

Mod-Loving Wood Elf wrote:Wizards: Uh... I really doubt Winterhold would have the guts to rebel against the entirety of Skyrim, especially since we've already seen that it only contains about twenty people in the actual College. It seems more likely that the Mages Guild of Tamriel will go north and attempt to sack or convert the College. The people of Skyrim will of course say "NO WAY!" and then a huge war might break out, resulting in the Mages Guild wiping out much of Skyrim. As for the Psijic Order... I long for their bloody return. Yes. Make it happen.

In-game there are 20 mages in the colleges. There are also 60 people living in Windhelm (minus guards). But lore-wise there are at least 1000 of people in Windhelm. You can assume the colleges has maybe 100 mages.

Wizards seems unlikely, considering the Mages of the College are mostly pacifists who have no interest in rule, power or politics outside the College itself.

GhostOfNumenor wrote:Maybe dragons helped keep winters mild, and now that they could potentially fully-disappear, Skyrim will be engulfed by Atmoran-like winters.

But if this were the case, wouldn't this hae already happened when the Dragons disappeared before?

ArgonianDunmer wrote:Wizards seems unlikely, considering the Mages of the College are mostly pacifists who have no interest in rule, power or politics outside the College itself.

I never said they were likely ^^ Only the numbers were 'wrong'.

My guess is that a Falmer invasion will weaken the province substantially, and then the Dominion will do their thing and invade and take over

Except for Morrowind and Orsinium no provinces of previous games have been destroyed. Even those two are being rebuilt.

Well, going by the comments of the innkeeper in Solitude, skeevers are getting bigger. In a hundred years, they'll be roughly the size of mammoths and will roam the countrysides devouring whole villages, and then eventually set their beady little eyes on the major cities.

But there will be a legendary hero that rises up to combat them: The Skeeverborn!

enyamerT wrote: But there will be a legendary hero that rises up to combat them: The Skeeverborn!

Who can wield the ancient power of squeaking his enemies into submission?

The bunnies will be altered by mannimarco, who was never really killed in oblivion, and will turn into unholy, feral beasts that will slaughter everyone and take over tamriel.

The overstuffed containers containing all of Skyrim's stolen sweetrolls will explode, inundating the land with sticky sugary goodness.

What if an army of warriors from Hammerfell bearing curved swords destroyed Skyrim?

And then archers came and shot arrows in every knee.

addictedtomorrowind wrote: And then archers came and shot arrows in every knee.

There but an abundance of guards after that.