10 Skyrim Quests That Get Better Once You Know the Lore

Look, The Elder Scrolls lore can get extremely weird, and I'm saying that as someone who is really into Ancient Greek mythology. It has some of the most complex, intricate lore of any game I've played, and it's hard to get that from Skyrim if you aren't reading every in-game book or have played any of the other Elder Scrolls games.

That said, Skyrim's quests can be played with or without knowing too much about the lore, and it'll all make sense. Everything has a whole new meaning if you do know, though, and may even be worth delving into the oddities of The Elder Scrolls' lore.

10 Impatience of a Saint

The Return of an Unexpected Acquaintance

Running into Saint Jiub in the Soul Cairn of all places is a delightful, then horrifying moment of, "Oh hi, it's you." Jiub is the first character you meet in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, a fellow prisoner to be released into Vvardenfell alongside you.

You never see him again, but you can read about his path to redemption as he eliminated all cliff racers in Morrowind, an amusing parallel to the story of St. Patrick eliminating all snakes from Ireland.

Jiub tells you about how he was soul trapped during the Oblivion Crisis in Kvatch, and how the manuscript for his autobiography was scattered across the Soul Cairn. Collecting and returning them is an emotional moment, as you put the soul of an old friend to rest, and it is a great callback to Morrowind.

9 In My Time of Need

Hammerfell's Politics Come to Skyrim

My favorite thing about this quest is that it involves an NPC you've probably walked past or spoken to a hundred times without realizing the depth of her background. The woman is Saadia, a Redguard woman who works at The Bannered Mare in Whiterun. In. My Time of Need gets you involved in some pretty nasty Hammerfell politics that involve the fall of a Hammerfell kingdom.

The politics of Hammerfell are brutal and complex, especially during Skyrim's time period. Hammerfell was one of the most strongly opposed to the White-Gold Concordat, and immediately left the Empire to continue fighting the Aldmeri Dominion.

This is the shadow that looms over this entire quest, making it so much worse to side with Saadia as a traitor to a nation that's held its own against the Aldmeri Dominion for hundreds of years.

8 The Forsworn Conspiracy

A Conflict That Stretches Back Decades

The Forsworn arc in Markarth takes place over several quests, but it doesn't quite capture the tragedy of the Forsworn and their history in Skyrim. The Forsworn have endured humiliation and subjugation from the Nords for decades before Skyrim, and one of the key players in this subjugation was Jarl Ulfric.

Despite his rhetoric, Ulfric is an ultranationalist who believes in Skyrim as belonging to the Nords only, and a lot of the regional conflict comes down to his actions during the Markarth Affair, where he indiscriminately executed Markarth's citizens under the auspices that they were associated with the Forsworn.

7 Joining the Stormcloaks

When You Make the Empire Look Good

The Stormcloaks like to advertise themselves as a virtuous military fighting for the right to religious freedom and autonomy in their lands. In practice, they're an ethnonationalist group who see anyone who isn't a Nord as second-class citizens, and no better than animals for the beast races.

Digging into Ulfric's ideology reveals a lot of ugly things about him. His fight with High King Torygg was considered extremely dishonorable by Nord culture; he's largely responsible for a lot of the conflict in Markarth, he plays right into the hands of the Thalmor, who want a splintered Empire, and his own city has enforced racial segregation. I'm mad at Ulfric for making me choose the Empire, but when they're the better option, you know the other one is truly a lost cause.

6 Sovngarde

Fight Two Gods

From the outset, Sovngarde just feels like the Elder Scrolls version of Valhalla, but it actually has a fascinating place in Skyrim's lore that you can't really get from just playing Skyrim.

Sovngarde isn't just an afterlife; it's a plane of Aetherius created by the gods Shor and Tsun. If those names sound familiar, it's because Tsun is the warrior who greets you before the mead hall, and is himself the dead god of trials.

Shor is the Nord interpretation of the god Lorkhan, who is also technically dead but is still hanging around in pieces and reincarnating in physical form on occasion, such as Pelinal Whitestrake.

5 Unbound

Alduin is Akatosh

Alduin is often criticized as coming across as a bit flat for an antagonist, and I largely agree because of how he is presented in Skyrim. You hardly interact with him, and he feels more like a natural disaster than an actual character.

Alduin has a very long and interesting role in The Elder Scrolls' lore. He's far from restricted to Skyrim and is depicted in different cultures across Tamriel, including the Khajiit, whose home province of Elswyr is as far from Skyrim as you can get.

He's also mentioned in Redguard stories, and is believed by many to be another aspect of Akatosh. That some believe them to be one and the same is very telling, considering Akatosh's relationship with the people who live on Mundus.

4 The Eye of Magnus

The End of the World

The College of Winterhold throws a lot of insane stuff at you without blinking. Bringing in Magnus and the Psijic Order and turning them into background players that are just kind of there in favor of a Thalmor creep was a wild move, but I kind of respect it.

Magnus, who is present through the Staff of Magnus and the Eye of Magnus, is the god of the sun and magic and one of the inadvertent creators of Mundus. Having his artifacts just hanging around the College of Winterhold is a very big deal, and the College of Winterhold doesn't elaborate further than some wisps attacking the town.

The Psijic Order showing up is also a big deal, being the most powerful organization devoted to magic on Mundus and, weirdly, was founded in worship of Sithis, the same god that the Dark Brotherhood reveres.

3 Elder Knowledge

The True Nature of the Elder Scrolls

Despite the name of the series, The Elder Scrolls doesn't include the Elder Scrolls very much at all, nor are they explained unless you take care to read the in-game books about them.

The quest Elder Knowledge goes into some detail about the nature of the Elder Scrolls, but the true lore behind them makes this quest even more remarkable. The Elder Scrolls were not made; rather, they're more like fragments that exist outside of time and space that contain the past, present, and future.

2 With Friends Like These...

The Brotherhood Transformed

I mentioned earlier that the Dark Brotherhood operates very differently from what was established as tradition in previous Elder Scrolls games, but this doesn't become obvious until you actually complete With Friends Like These... and travel to the Falkreath Sanctuary. The structure of the Black Hand has completely collapsed, and things are run by Astrid, the self-proclaimed leader, despite her not being the Listener.

This may feel normal or even just a little off-center for those who aren't aware of how the Dark Brotherhood works, but it's a major walk back from how the organization is supposed to operate. All lines of communication to Sithis and the Night Mother are severed because of the lack of a Listener, and Astrid's hierarchy and ego result in the destruction of most of the Brotherhood.

1 The Mind of Madness

Time to Meet Yourself

My favorite quests in Skyrim all involve the Daedra in some way, and The Mind of Madness is one of them. Getting to chat to the god of madness inside the head of Tamriel's craziest Emperor is already a great setup, but it's even better if you know the lore behind Sheogorath and his relationship with the Septims.

The Sheogorath we encounter in Skyrim is the Hero of Kvatch, who confirms it with this line:

You are the best Septim that's ever ruled. Well, except for that Martin fellow, but he turned into a dragon god, and that's hardly sporting... You know, I was there for that whole sordid affair. Marvelous time! Butterflies, blood, a Fox, a severed head...

It hasn't been confirmed that this Sheogorath is the Hero of Kvatch, but these are all references to events from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion that the Hero of Kvatch personally witnessed, and they ascended to become Sheogorath in Shivering Isles. If it is true, this is the first time in an Elder Scrolls game where two protagonists meet, and it gives this quest an entirely different perspective.