UESP Forums

What would actually happen if he slays the dragonborn? o.o
Do we get stuff like Nightfall from Guild Wars?
ie black blasted world with spikes and stuff?

This noting that I never even bothered to complete the mq for some reason.

Not a stupid question at all.

If the Dragonborn should fall, and no other Dragonborn emerges to slay Alduin (which is sooo, sooo unlikely), the dragons would take over the world. Enslave all men, elves, and beasts, as they did a long time ago. Darn Nazi dragons.

The Black Weasel wrote:What would actually happen if he slays the dragonborn? o.o
Do we get stuff like Nightfall from Guild Wars?
ie black blasted world with spikes and stuff?

This noting that I never even bothered to complete the mq for some reason.

Alduin is called the World Eater... I wonder if he got it for any particular reason

If Alduin won, he would eat the world and it would begin anew. Or so say the Nords.

In my understanding, two things could happen. Alduin would re-establish dragons as the merciless rulers of Nirn or he would "eat the world" and begin a new kalpa. Basically press the reset button on the entire Elder Scrolls series. We can't know for sure which of these two would happen since the ancient Nords sent Alduin forward in time. Yes at Time's End he'll eat Nirn but he's clearly content to rule Nirn until that time comes, a la the Dragon Cult. Did he happen to arrive at Time's End or is that still coming when he surfaces from outside of time above Helgen?

Just a thought though: if he had re-emerged at Time's End, why bother resurrecting the other dragons? Why not just start to devour the world?

legoless wrote:If Alduin won, he would eat the world and it would begin anew. Or so say the Nords.

You mean Ragnarok?

The Black Weasel wrote:What would actually happen if he slays the dragonborn? o.o
Do we get stuff like Nightfall from Guild Wars?
ie black blasted world with spikes and stuff?

This noting that I never even bothered to complete the mq for some reason.

If the Dragonborn dies, nobody alive would know the Dragonrend shout and nobody could physically harm Alduin. He'd enslave the entire world and rule it with an iron claw. He'd also revive every other Dragon that the mortals managed to kill over and over.

A lot of people here would tell you he'd actually eat/destroy the world, but dialogue from Paarthurnax makes it abundantly clear that while that was the original reason Alduin was created by Akatosh's oversoul Bormahu, he actually chose not to fulfill that function and took over as ruler of Tamriel instead. He'd probably do that again, since without Dragonrend to render him killable nobody could lay a finger on him.


It's interesting to note that you don't need to actually be Dragonborn to use Dragonrend. None of the three original Tongues who created it were. They were simply powerful mortal masters of the Voice who trained for many years. Theoretically another hero like Ulfric could use the Elder Scroll to observe the Shout, but unlike the Dragonborn he'd have to train for at least a few weeks to be able to use it.

So I'm not saying for sure that Alduin would win or lose because there's too many variables at play here. I don't believe he'd actually destroy the world, though. He doesn't seem interested in doing what he was born to do. He's chosen another path. He wants to be Emperor of all the mortal world.

But they could not even beat him, let alone destroy him. Unless you count Paarthurnax's help, which you should not even on a generous day, we are the only ones who could single handily beat Alduin. The Tongues were strong, but not Shezzarine or even Dragonborn strong, nor doom-driven. It takes more then three words to kill the World-Eater.

And if a mortal did use Dragonrend to defeat Alduin, he would simply recuperate in Sovngarde are return again. It seems unlikely that anyone but the Last Dragonborn could follow him there.

legoless wrote:And if a mortal did use Dragonrend to defeat Alduin, he would simply recuperate in Sovngarde are return again. It seems unlikely that anyone but the Last Dragonborn could follow him there.

Yes, because the Dragonborn is a part of an Elder Scroll's prophecy. That's why he's the Hero.

What I'm saying is that there's always a back path, though. There's always choice. Sheogorath and Haskill have some fascinating things to say about the concept of choice in the Shivering Isles, which I feel to be a story line closely related to the plot of Skyrim more so than Oblivion. Jyggalag is the Alduin of that Daedric Realm - a great destroyer who appears at the end of time to reset the world. His high priest claims that all logic and all prophecy dictate Jyggalag can never be defeated, and yet despite all that the player chooses to defy him and denies prophecy itself.

I believe such a thing could technically be done even in a doomed world. Morrowind's main quest also has a back path - even after killing essential characters including Vivec, it's still theoretically possible to complete the prophecy and remove the Blight. Choice. It's much more difficult but it can be done, and I insist it's technically possible for Skyrim's plot too.

You make a lot of good points about fate and the Dragonborn's special abilities. I'm just saying everything he did could have been done by someone who wasn't Dragonborn, just with much more effort or through other means.

The Black Weasel wrote:

legoless wrote:If Alduin won, he would eat the world and it would begin anew. Or so say the Nords.

You mean Ragnarok?

that's not Ragnarok/Gotterdamurrung...


the dragon eating the world part at least