true, and 25:52 the tablet in Calcemo's room mentions blinding them, "And as your vison clouds, as the darkness seta in, fear not." so, it's plausible that they first blinded the Falmer BEFORE experimenting with unbinding their souls from Mundus's earth bones
This is dumb. I mean, evolution is a long process, bruh.. If dwemer blinded like.. hundreds of elves, their children still can see. Not blind too like their parents.
@@DBT1007 Evolution as a response to their environment, yes. If the changers were from troglobitic adaptations (evolutionary adaptation brought on by living in dark environments like caves or deep ocean, e.g. pale skin and reduced eyesight/total blindness), it would likely take tens of thousands of years. But, if the mushroom was still used to blind them before using tonal manipulation to experiment on them, it's relatively feasible. This was a long, drawn out process. The falmer were fed this fungus constantly, and the change wasn't immediate. It occurred over generations, taking place over the course of hundreds to possibly thousands of years. The reason this is still feasible is that certain toxins can make specific birth defects much more likely by damaging DNA, and by the end the dwemer had pretty much the entire population of the falmer eating this fungus, reproducing, and feeding their offspring this same toxic fungus. Manipulating falmer DNA through deliberate, artificial means would be much quicker than evolution through natural selection
I think you've missed something important: the player gets to observe a lot of dwemer ruins in skyrim, and as Karliah observes, the dwemer were cruel and violent. There are torture chambers, slave markets, and in at least two instances seating arrangements set around platforms with rotating murder-blades built into them, so dwemer can sit around and watch as someone gets hacked into pieces. So while it's entirely possible that the dwemer did do some tonal magic stuff to the falmer, it's more like a forced experiment on slaves than a peer-assisting-peer relationship.
Remember delving into the ruins repeatedly as a researcher in Skyrim. Somewhere along the lines, I picked up that the Snow Elves were saved but, at a cost of their cooperation. While traveling and finding the various devices used to restrain, it made me think of fear. The elves had run from one enemy they made and into the jaws of an even worse fate albeit unintentionally evil in morale. The Dwemer (Dwarves) initially gave them the idea of escaping or having them help with their plan of reaching a better or more advanced form through use of tonal manipulation. It was willingly at first to repay a debt but, it turned sour and fearful which caused the Dwemer to force it onto them and even capture them. Some were able to flee in order to find sanctuary in what is now, Auriel's Sanctum where the remaining Snow Elves who fled built a safe space to safe guard against foes. This would explain why the falmer were blinded and twisted as they were then forced into experimentation. The Dwemer didn't do it out of malice but rather out of curiosity and to advance their civilization. They were by their lonesome before other civilizations made their way to them. So yes, the Dwemer were not evil but, their selfish reasons to continue their research without any ethical dilemma made them to be perceived as such.
The dwemer where complete and utter nihilists dint care about anyone but themselves (and ended up being there undoing given that they used the tools of kagranac on the heart of lorkhan and basically zero summed themselves out of existence)
To think the dwemer were benevolent in any form towards anyone but themselves is absolutely insane. The Falmer were Guinea pigs AT THE VERY BEST to the conceited and vile technocrats.
The mystery began for me back in the Blood moon DLC for Morrowind. There was a quest to discover evidence of the existence of the falmer. It had my interest from then on in. I scoured solthsteim looking for more snow elf stuff. Meeting a snow elf in Skyrim was a bit of a mind blower for me.
@@anthonyernst999 "child please. I kill draugrs, skeletons, dragons, vampires, bandits, necromancers, giants, mammoths & rarely werewolves on a daily basis. I do quests. Risk my life every single day, I am the Dragonborn: The Dovahkiin. I am the harbinger of the companions, the champion of every daedric prince, I am a werewolf/vampire/vampire lord, I am a cannibal, I summoned and resurrected kaarstag the strongest enemy that isn't even in tamriel, murdered him and made him my bitch! I am the slayer of Miraak: The first Dragonborn. I LITERALLY CAN USE CHEATS IN THIS SO CALLED GAME TO ENABLE GOD MODE, PHASE THROUGH OBJECTS, GO SUPER FAST. ETC! What do you do?! bully a boy and call him a milk drinker."
I honestly wish the next game appears close enough in time for Braith to be grown up and be a companion character. her attitude makes her sound like shed be a great fighter 🤣
I've always found it interesting that the College of Winterhold has a very similar architectural style to the Snow Elf temple ruins you see in the Dawnguard DLC. It looks as though the same materials were used and everything.
@@PronatorTendon It's true and a lot of games do that...However Bethesda never seems to do things with out purpose. Sure skyrim had several plot holes with some quests but looking into the tinier details of this world it's no wonder. It's very possible they had more planned for the college as I believe many things in game have lead to. They even went out of their way to expand on many skyrim quests in ESO. If it be just to continue the stories with out doing a giant update on the game or they actually had some stuff planned but couldnt put it in. The game is fairly old, It's a good possibility more was planned they just couldnt add.
Well, the College of Winterhold was supposedly founded in the First Era, so I think it's possible there could be a connection. And yes, asset reappropriation certainly could play a part, but they didn't necessarily have to reuse it.
I think it’s just reutilized assets, it was Shalidor to build both the college and the city with magic, on top of that the arquitecture of college’s undergrounds doesn’t look elfic at all
Nirnroot are talked about as evolving into their current form in 1E 668, while the dwemer disappear in ~1E 700. That's probably too much of a time gap for your theory, but I'll be damned if I don't believe it.
Dwemer: perform a possibly deadly experiment on an entire race, sacrificing them as test subjects because they feared the outcome. Nate: They didn't have bad intentions after all!
Seriously! I gave this video a second watch and that stone with the message in both languages takes on a real "Arbeit macht frei" sort of tone to it. The deep elves have murder/torture devices set up for public spectacle in places like Blackreach. They were not nice elves.
Also they literally say they don't believe gratitude, so, i guess they don't believe in what is morally right or wrong? There is still more to uncover, but what if they were successful the second time, and maybe they now are preparing, to come back? They could have succeeded in bringing maybe a few falmer with them so they are joint forces in another dimension? - I don't know all the lore so sorry if it doesn't make any sense
Nate did mention in an earlier video that the Dwemer believed in the superiority of being emotionless, which doesn't really excuse their deeds just provides a possible explanation for why they were so unethical...
Remind you of any other races in Elderscrolls? I did always wonder if the Sload had any connections to the Dwemer, neither races to concerned with emotions or morals, but both known for experimenting on others, including their own. Maybe the Sloads were/are an offshoot race of the Dwemer?
I'm pretty sure the Dwemer were using the Falmer to test their theories on how to ascend beyond their metaphysical limitations. The Falmer could not hear the tones as the Dwemer could, so the Dwemer blinded them. This act enhanced their hearing to such a degree that they could hear the tones and become viable test subjects. However, the Falmer were not accustomed to the tones and their souls shriveled in fear of this unknown, leaving their minds and bodies warped and monstrous. Eventually the Dwemer figured it out, and signaled a masse tone which "ascended" all Dwemer. They only saw the Falmer as a means to an end, and that is why the Falmer are still around, albeit much lesser than they once were. But this is just my hypothesis.
Correct every bit of dwemer history was basically a giant test too transcend past there mortal selves making mechanical god in the process(the brass towers such as Numidium)and they succeeded.....but we'll the saying be careful of what you wish for exists for a reason But by transcending there mortal limits they essentially became everything and anything and thus became nothing at all a process called zero sum
34:33 "They didn't feed them a fungus or anything, that was just a myth." Calcelmo's tablet states: "We only wish that you partake... the *fruit of the stones* around us." Seems to indicate that the Dwemer, pursuant to whatever their experiment was, still required the Falmer to eat the weird fungus. "Fruit of the stones" seems to pretty clearly indicate mushrooms.
It doesn't literally mean fruit. "Fruits of your labor"? Fruit of the stones is referring to the tonal manipulation itself. The fruits of their efforts.
@@benp9793 I mean, fungus aren't fruit to begin with, but they can grow on stones, thus the notion that the "fruit of the stones" would be whatever grows on it, i.e. the fungus. Saying that the dwemer "only wish that the falmer would partake in tonal manipulation," is very roundabout and unnecessarily abstruse. that seems like the kind of thing you could just offer someone at face value. then, maybe, what they're saying is that the dwemer required the falmer to allow themselves to be subjected to tonal "attenuations" on a regular basis, and that's what has been going on this whole time instead of just feeding them strange fungus.... but the amount of stretch here just scans to me as unlikely and unnecessary.
The reason markarth even exists is to take it the snow elves from the surface. It's like a big grand entrance from the surface to the undergrounds of the dwarves. It was so well fortified to protect against atmorans and give it the appearance of total safety. It's the only place the dwermer built above ground in a big way within Skyrim.
Except Markarth wasn’t always exposed to the surface, it was inside a cavern until an quake cause the cavern to collapse, revealing it. Then humans moved in to clear the rubble and exploit the Dwemer structures/salvage.
*they were victim to a failed experiment alright-* My theory has always been that the Dwemer performed MULTIPLE experiments on the Snow Elves, one including souls and their properties. This is a very Gaster thing for me to say, TRUST ME I KNOW THAT- but I believe that the Dwemer actually used the Snow Elves and their SOULS to power their automatons, hence why Dwarven automatons drop soul gems when killed. They're soul-powered! More info on this can actually be found in the Dwemer museum in Markarth, primarily with the controllable spider pal and the journal that went with it, or really ANYWHERE in most Dwemer lore. This is probably a very common theory. Just as it said in the video, these experiments would've been a little dangerous for the dwarves to perform on their own species, which is why they used the Snow Elves and their EXTRACTED souls instead. It would also go with the shrunken-soul theory, seeing as the soul gems more commonly found on these automatons were common/lesser soul gems, though there have even been BLACK or GRAND soul gems from time to time, possibly from the less twisted and vile Falmer, and rather taken from the early Snow Elves. I know, technically, the soul gems can vary depending on level, but it's still a cool little theory I've had for a while! I know it's probably not original and is possibly VERY common amongst Skyrim lore and such, but I thought it was worth sharing. *Any input would be GREATLY appreciated, I've been playing Skyrim since I was 5 and have kept up with the lore for YEARS now, but you never know when you could be missing something!*
Nah, one of the writers gave us a translation of Calcelmo's Dwemer Tablet in his museum. Basically the Dwemer tried to enlighten the Snow Elves, turning them away from the worship of the gods.
@@garymartin6873 it hasnt been confirmed that the Dwemer infact went extinct or died, they just Mysteriously vanished. As for the Falmer, I'm lost on that myself...Of course, it's more commonly inhabited by the souls of Humans and Elves and such, more sophisticated species. You dont see wolves or Frostbite Spiders there either. That being said, the souls are probably SO ancient that they've been lost to history, even if they were, at some point, roaming the Soul Cairn. They're most likely FAR from gone.
@@dzvw I watched the same video you did. The theory in this video is pretty damn solid tbh, I'm saying something like this could've ALSO happened during/along side the supposed "enslavement" period of the Snow Elves. They could've easily picked off a Snow Elf or two if they felt the need and/or requirement to use the in their experiments.
The Dwemer weren't deliberately trying to hurt or mutilate the Snow Elves, but they did deliberately use them as living, sentient guinea pigs so that if someone was hurt, it wouldn't be their own people. This have to be one of the craziest, probably accurate theories I've ever heard. I love it. Give me more.
Hey man, Skyrim is timeless. Just because Bethesda shit the bed doesn't mean Skyrim ain't great. Besides, we have an endless variety of mods for whenever you get bored.
God, I remember seeing Gelebor for the first time ever. That was probably my favorite moment in Skyrim ever, followed by Farkas transformation in front of you for the first time, and finding out Paarthurnax was a dragon(yes, that first time absolutely blew me away).
KJ T I was so shocked when I climbed all the way to the Throat of the World, completely misunderstanding shout mechanics and not realizing you had to hold Z for the full shout, thus not using Clear Skies properly and being wrecked by the wind and the ice wraiths only to get to the top thinking I was gonna be talking to another old dude only to be met by a giant ass dragon and being totally blown away.
@@kjt16 me too! I pulled out my sword, completely immersed, going, “oh boy some dumbass dragon prob killed this guy for a plot twist let’s get him” and then he LANDED AND STARTED TALKING TO ME
I straight-up hid behind a rock formation for six or seven real minutes, waiting for him to attack. When he didn't, I felt like such a goober. But in a good way.
Dwemer: “We want to ascend this mortal plane. Let’s test out our methods on the Snow elves first!” “…Oh, that didn’t go well, looks like we’ll have to make a few adjustments.” Great video Nate!
also: when you read the scroll it makes a specific sound, so it might be connected to the manipulation with sound. -> just a theorie and if some world are wrong, english is not my primary language but i am allways happy to improve myself
Not to mention that Shouts might literally be...Well...Tonal Manipulation. With Shouts you can not only attack, but influence the very fabric of existence itself.
@@belisarius6949 Yea this makes a lot of sense when you consider the shouts "become ethereal" and "slow time" and also the "call of valor" which as in another video was discussed that when you "conjure" you actually just transport something from another realm, so "call of valor" can be the tonal equivalent to transport something to another plane of existence (sovngarde in this case), oh and don't forget "soul tear" a shout literally for "cutting through flesh and shattering soul"
When you fight Wisp Mothers whenever they're low on health they make these things called Shades which look exactly like them. Which might relate to what happened to that one Winterhold mage, who also turned into a shade after messing with Dwemer magic....
"Hey, so you're getting slaughtered huh? That sucks, real bad times. Yeah. Come underground, we have this real cool fungus. We're elves, you can trust us." Dwemer are sketchy.
@@CaptainPositron "*burp* Mortiel... I need you to eat this moss" "Oh geez Ric, I don't know about that..." "Shut up and eat the moss Mortiel! *burp* I need you to go blind so we can build things out of tones! Tones, Mortiel!"
I like to imagine that there was one snow elf or a small group of them being the voice of reason when the others were talking about attacking Saarthal: "Shouldn't we at the very least talk to them and ask them what they know? Even if there was an artifact buried there, we don't even have evidence that the humans use magic the same way we do, let alone them knowing what it is."
Two thoughts, firstly: what if the experiment didn't actually fail, what if the Dwemer succeeded and the falmer we see are just the descendants of the early attempts. Secondly, it strikes me that "Solid Sound" fits with how the dwarves might refer to the elder scrolls.
All I'm going to say is that I have reason to believe that just like the show "Lost," they have only a vague idea and make this shit up as they go along to keep the mystery going and string the audience along.
I always felt that because of the thieves guild quest where you go into a dwarven ruin to find the eyes of the falmer that it was more they fully tricked them. I don’t think they said hey you have to eat this fungus and that’s the only stipulation. I felt that they asked for the eyes of your people, the snow elves believing they meant their treasure, they were then made to slave away building the snow elven statue to hold the eyes, however while they built the statue, the only food they would give those elves and their families was the fungus. The snow elves being none the wiser that they’re families and they were slowly being poisoned and experimented on to further the dwarven understanding of tonal manipulation to the point where they could control creatures and mer to a full extent. That’s why the writing of the dwemer say the snow elves new lives began at the fifteen and one tones. Their experiment with tonal manipulation is truly what changed them into what they are, where as the fungus only blinded them taking their eyes.
I know it's been a long time, but I like your theory a lot. Makes me sad it's definatky not the case. Mainly because of one main fact we know for sure, the statue with the Eyes was built in secret. The dwarves didn't know about it's construction. In the thrives guild quest while you're in the ruin you learn "the statue was built in secret by the slaves so their masters wouldn't know." Thats not a direct quote but as best I remember it.
I like this theory. If its true the dwarves were trying to escape mortality by experimenting on snow elves, or just build new tech, they are sick. I do believe this was slavery. I hope when the Altmer try to return to Athenian that they aren't so cruel. But they are averse to change so maybe they won't
The Dwemer weren't looking for slaves, they were using the Falmer as livestock of sorts. Dwemer Animunculi are powered by souls, and the Falmer were being bred and harvested as a resource. Every machine you fight, is essentially a living person who has lost their original body and their memories. Their souls, ripped out and reprogrammed to serve the Dwemer.
@@sea_triscuit7980 nah its specifically references a dwemer spider worker. And then the researcher notes that the gem inside the spider apparently has nothing to do with powering it..
Reading through some other theories on here. Decided to combine them. 1. Dwemer tried to help Falmer ascend from their "earth bones" turning them into wisp mothers and lost souls 2. Dwemer powered their machines/centurions with souls (allegedly Falmer souls, but that would mean more black souls. Doesn't explain how Falmer got white souls) 3. Combining these theories, I think the Dwemer succeeded in helping some Falmer ascend, and failed with others. Either way, they were left with empty Falmer bodies. Seeing as how they already used white souls to power their automata, I think they tried putting souls inside the empty Falmer vessels. That's why the souls are white. It should be impossible to "shrink" a soul, or turn a black soul into a white soul. Only men and mer have black souls, and there's no evidence their souls can be reduced. But there is precedent for other souls being used to create life, e.g., necromancers using black soul gems, Dwemer powering their automata. The Falmer became the Dwemers' first flesh automata. The blindness helped them to keep their creations controllable, because flesh doesn't come with an off switch. But this way, they didn't have to necessarily build more machines -- the Falmer would just reproduce. Whether they decided it was a success and worth it is another matter, but it seems to me that they tested it as a possible replacement for metal automata, or even to be used in tandem with the metal automata.
even at max lvl they still only fill a lesser gem even the most op ones i know as all of my weapons have soul trap enchants on them at max chance and no falmer has ever given anything bigger
Two thoughts. First thought - the Falmer are pretty reminiscent of the Morlocks from H.G. Wells's _The Time Machine._ In that story, the humans of the distant future had split into two species, the beautiful but unintelligent Eloi, and the hideous but intelligent Morlocks who lived underground and ran the technology. Wells imagined this as the result of hundreds of millennia of selective breeding, with social barriers between upper and lower classes eventually leading to a divergence of two species of human. Now, we know that Mer are not unfamiliar with the ideas of selective breeding. It's asserted that the reason the Altmer reproduce so slowly is because they're practicing eugenics, killing any babies that appear too 'different' to try to keep their race 'pure'. What if something similar happened with the Falmer? What if the way they reacted to the fungus guided how they were permitted to reproduce, so that the race effectively split - one side degenerating into the blind, savage goblin-like things we know today, the other side merging into Dwemer society? Becuase that leads me to my Second thought - the Wispmothers are the remains of Dwemer/Falmer hybrids. Elves who had ancestry from both races. When the Dwemer disappeared, we know that it affected _all_ Dwemer, even those in Hammerfell who had no cultural contact with the ones who were mucking about with the Heart. It was something that happened to the _species_ as a whole, not to a society or a region. So what would happen to an individual who was half Dwemer/half Falmer? Perhaps their Dwemer half would disappear with the Dwemer, leaving behind their Falmer half - a soul that had lost half of itself.
I don't think the Altmer actually killed their babies, Imperial Emissaries were very anti-elven back then, but still, Eugenics are in the societies, choosing partners for this reason. Still, if you're a hybrid, you're not either race of your parent, so as much as it's an interesting theory, I'd have to respectfully disagree
In the elder scrolls you are the race of your mother so if I have a nord mom and a bosmer dad then I come out as a nord but have traits of my dad but genetically I’m a nord not a mix.
@@Hoodiehov215 no genetically they are a mix but for bureaucratic purposes it is easier to write down the mother's race as a mother is surely the parent of a child and a father isn't. And honestly if a nord woman and a elven man had a daughter who also has a baby with an elven man of the same race as her father's would her baby who is 3/4 genetically elf still be a nord? And if so how many generations do you need before a elven baby is born?
Bandit Thug: "you picked a bad time to get lost friend!" Me, shuffling Black Soul Gems in my hand, drawing my Soul Trap sword: "uh huh, yep. I sure did mister. How about you come over here and give me directions?"
@@loganjblack NotthatOneGuy is stating that Bandits definately have black souls, and are pretty routine mobs. Therefore, the decision with the Falmer was intentional.
My favorite thing gelebor talks about is how he can tell the Falmer are slowly starting to regain some of their intelligence, and that they might one day become a normal race again, even if not as nice as they once were
Judge: "Does the defendant 'Nate' confess to murdering his wife, and dumping her in a river?!" TheEpicNate: "In the end, only my wife knows, and my wife isn't telling..! ;)"
I'm not entirely sure how souls work in the Elder Scrolls universe, but do you think that possibly the soul is intrinsically linked to the physical body and the "size" determined by the cognitive abilities of the body. Perhaps as the Falmer biologically devolved and reduced in cognitive abilities, the "size" of their souls "shrank" as an effect of that. To back this up, I think when you soul trap a draugr you'll get a lesser soul instead of a grand soul like you would from a "human-sized" soul.
That kinda supports an idea I was forming while watching the video. What if the dwarves were able to separate the Snow elf souls from their bodies into a higher plain of existence. Though the elves' bodies were very much still functioning but without a higher soul could only function at the level of an animal.
@@MandalorV7 i think its a cool idea my only objection would be they display a higher than base animal level of intelligence by fashioning Armour and weapons. I'd say its more likely, that their souls were tarnished by the damadge they recieved to their bodies, minds, and emotional states and ultimately what would be their "humanity". This lose would contribute to them losing sight of morals, emotions, and reason ultimately their "soul" itself shriveled and became a lesser soul.
You are overlooking something. Its not that their souls are linked to their intelligence. Its simply that their souls are corruptible. Its simply the inferior nature of being an Elf. HUMANS FIRST!
Draugr are very old undead. I'm not sure if vampires need black soul gems though, but if they do it's because they aren't really the same type of undead as Draugr or skeletons.
I'd been pointing out the soul color issue for _years._ Been wondering when someone would catch on. I think the soul color shift is what the Dwemer meant by the "new eternity" stuff. And I think the point was to keep Falmer as a sort of cattle, so that the Dwemer could harvest their souls for use.
I'm on board until the end. I've always thought the Dwemer were blind themselves, but used tonal manipulation to Daredevil their way through the world, but also see into other planes of Aedric existence ("From Beyond" style) simultaneously. I've mentioned a few reasons for this in older comments, like the blinding effect Elder Scrolls have on people and how I don't think it's unrelated to tonal magic, the gods, and the Dwemer, but I won't go into all that again, here. (I believe the Dwemer expected the blind Falmer to be able to read carved plaques the same way they did, to that point) I've said before that there aren't really any objectively identifiable sources of light in Dwemer ruins, just extremely dim energy wells in sconces or ceiling mounted structures. Everything in the Dwemer ruins works perfectly as it did when the ruins were just dwellings, except, apparently, for these lights--if they're lights. I don't think they're lights, though. I think they're batteries or power sources, like wall outlets, through which the Dwemer accessed and used larger, more steady amounts of tonal manipulation energy in their daily lives (like we use electricity), but the ambient glow they give off arbitrarily was interpreted as lights by every other race. I don't think the Dwemer used or needed light sources. All sources of profound tonal energy seem to give off an ambient blue to blue-green glow, like Aetherium. The "lights" in Dwemer ruins do this. The fungus most commonly found within Dwemer ruins, and the fungus it's believed the Falmer were given to eat, also gives off a blue glow, and tends to grow in areas also associated with or near Aetherium veins. I think the Dwemer did actually feed the Falmer the fungus. But it was to make them like themselves. It was to grant them the power of Tonal Perception. I believe the Dwmer themselves had been eating it for countless generations. I think it's how they discovered the Tonal Manipulation mysteries to begin with. I think it was only through the consumption of the Fungus, after a set number of generations, that the Falmer could be introduced to the deeper powers of Tonal Manipulation, possibly through exposure to a song or other type of sound pattern. However, the Dwemer hadn't accounted for enough variables, being in a rush to assimilate the Snow Elves. Upon being introduced to the "From Beyond" type tonal visions the Dwemer were accustomed to, the ability to perceive reality beyond the "Earth Bones," the entire Falmer race went insane, some of them even leaving their bodies entirely out of confusion and tonal ignorance, others having their soul irreparably damaged. I don't think they meant to experiment on the Falmer--not initially, anyway. I think they honestly meant to assimilate them in good faith, but fucked up the process due to having to do it more quickly than it should have been done. I believe the Dwemer spent an extremely long time trying to rectify the situation, which is when experimentation began. I think physical blindness is the only way to be able to fully perceive the mysteries and energies of Tonal Manipulation. The Dwemer were so in tuned and developed to experience Tonal manipulation, that I think the tone generated by striking Lorkhan's heart was able to be heard by any blind, tonally sensitive Dwemer on the planet, which is why all Dwemer underwent whatever change took place on the day they all disappeared, even those on other continents (but not those outside the vibrational range of tonal reality, aka places not created by the Aedra, like the planes of Oblivion). I've never played or even really seen much from the Elder Scrolls Online. But the books I'd read in Oblivion and Skyrim led me to believe the Dwemer might be Daredevil type folks, but that plaque kind of confirmed it for me. That's how I interpret all that, anyway.
The fact that we meet a Dwemer in Morrowind can debunk the blind theory. He appears to suggest that he could/can see, because he mentions that his "eyes and hands fail me," among other lines he mentions about seeing things. He may be going blind himself, but that’s down to his disease and age.
I do really like this theory and I've never heard anyone speculate that the about blindness being caused like that, however my one main problem is that I don't remember the dwemer guy morrowind being blind although I could be mistaken
Blindness could be dubious, but the general concept works, I belive too the dwemer fed the fungus to the falmer to prepare them for their experiments with tonal manipulation and souls. What made them blind, that or the experiment itself?
Riften Guard If he was able to see with sound, how would you know? I don’t take these things that seriously, but it was just what some of he books made me think when I played Oblivion a in 2007.
Interesting. It may be coincidence, but if you remember Katria from the Aetherium Quest, there was mention that she detects as alive, can smell, doesn't like steam, so was she hit by the 'solid sound' and instead of being killed (as she thinks), did she have her soul popped out of her body as the Wispmother's might? The fact that her fulfilling her 'quest' allows her to pass on, may suggest that it isn't the case but it's something to consider.
something else to note with the falmer having non-black souls....all dwemer combat machines have soul gems with varies sizes as loot. its possible the falmer were bred and changed to make them easier to harvest and whatever soul experiments they were doing was to make them lose the Black category and be much easier to soul trap. blackreach is the only place you can find soul gem mines and the dwemer arent really known for having farms or land to raise animals on. a race of creatures with easily trapped souls that survives on mushrooms grown underground? perfect fodder.
The experiment must have been something the Snow Elves thought was potentially worthwhile. Like being able to unbind themselves. The falmer and wisp mothers are those who couldn’t complete the process. Presumably for other Snow Elves they may have been successful, and the Dwemer learned from them and then were able to do the same thing, maybe without the fungus and/or without the blindness.
@@drs4983 I'm not 100% sure on the timing, but I would think south was ruled out because the Ayleids were living in Cyrodiil, and they were not a pleasant bunch (especially if the Snow Elves had proven themselves inferior by losing to men). Considering how the Ayleids treated humans, I don't think they would have been exactly friendly to Snow Elf refugees.
Here is my biggest rebuttal to the Dwemer enslaving theory: you touched on it, but I’ll take it a step farther; why would the Dwemer seek to enslave any race? As you stated, labor isn’t an issue, but if we consider it also, knowledge wasn’t either. As advanced beyond anything else in Tamriel the Dwemer were, they would have been welcomed to share knowledge with any race. And, I would argue, as advanced as they were, there wasn’t a race of men or elf on the planet that could have stood against them them, should they have desired to take the land by force. Imagine, robots created to build robots of war, would build soldiers around the clock, making it impossible to defeat them by attrition; while the Dwemer themselves would remain locked and hidden in their underground fortresses, letting mecha fight the war for them. Because they never took that step, why then would they suddenly want slaves?
Don't bother trying to talk sence to people who are unaware that we know exactly what caused the Dwemer's disappearance, and also exactly when it happened. Or that there is a Dwemer you can talk to in a main series game who'se pretty sure that the rest of his people ascended to immortality at the consequence of no longer being able to live in the mortal world (ya know, like Daedra...). Seriously, Zoomers, this was all explained in the MAIN QUEST OF MORROWIND! *Fucking watch a letsplay!*
@@MeepChangeling Except a huge part of the Elder Scrolls is based off replicating a sense of how we identify our own history. There’s unreliable narrators telling things that could very well be outright lies, and that Dwemer was not there for the event, so while he might have his theory, it isn’t anything conclusive. There’s so much that seems set in stone but realistically, could be overturned with some changes on Bethesda’s part. Speculating and theorizing is only natural when we do it in our own world as well. And while I do agree Nate seemed to ignore some important details, for the most part he was pretty good.
If i remember correctly, dwemer did try to make a mecha god that used lorkhan's heart. They did power it and it was so powerful that it created lots of branching realities.
Humans couldn’t shout until Akatosh and Kynereth allowed the nords to do that when the dragons took over, which was wayyyyy after the snow elves v atmorans. I do agree though, that would be terrifying.
@@Mikcha212 notice that none of the Dragon Priests can do shout, no matter how strong they are. because they lived before Kynareth and Paarthurnax teach the shouts to the Nords/Atmorans.
My impression is the same as yours; that the Falmer were only partially transposed into an alternate reality and thus left diminished (or in the case of Wisp Mothers, lost) in this one. The Dwemer were fully transposed, leaving nothing of themselves behind, but to where or to when we do not know.
29:00 I'm pretty sure that "The Hanging of the Gardens" is just a mistranslated copy of the same text contained on Calcelmo's tablet. There are certain similarities in the flow of the text and the wording contained in each. For example, "guide Altmer-Estrial led with foot-flames for the town-center where lay dead the quadrangular gardens" lines up relatively well with "your people were given passage to our steam gardens" as well as details from the line beginning with "many of your people had perished", while "asked the foundations and chains and vessels their naming places" lines up with "we only request you partake of the symbol of our bond, the fruit of the stones around us" if you look at "and" as a mistranslation of "of". "Why they did not use solid sound to teach escape from the Earth Bones nor nourished them with frozen flames" corresponds with "know only our mercy and the radiance of our affection, which unbinds your bones to the earth before, and sets your final path to the music of your new eternity", and the final line of "the word I shall have once written of, this 'art' our lesser cousins speak of when their admirable ignorance" strikes me as being a misplaced mistranslation of "and as your vision clouds, as the darkness sets in, fear not".
Tbh I think the Dwemer were curious about the Osimer transformation. So much so that they traded with Mora for information. With that information they traded Volendrung to Malacath to learn how a Mer can be transformed. From there they sought Peryite and traded Spellbreaker for the secrets needed to turn the Snowelves of Skyrim into the Falmer they are today. Thoughts?
Alternative explanation: the Falmer have shrunken souls, and the robots often have soul gems inside them. The Dwemer tore their souls apart to power their robots.
about the automatons i think you may be right, as i have a theory for the functioning of them Basically, i think they are like a really huge and optimized spell(tho i dont know how to explain why the gem doesnt get empty), one that complex that it hasnt been used again, only found by the dwemer (or probably their race power/ability)
26:28 This passage contradicts your idea that the blinding via toxic mushrooms was entirely fabricated, although I do agree with the overall conclusion of this all being a failed experiment. My thinking is that the Dwemer did intentionally blind the Falmer, but this was done in order to force them to compensate by strengthening their hearing with the goal of seeing if this would enhance the effect of Tonal Manipulation on them. Or perhaps they intended to teach the art of Tonal Manipulation to the Falmer and wanted to see if this would improve their ability to use it.
"The fruit of our stones" could mean that they were fed mushrooms to blind them, as the next lines talk about the falmer accepting the darkness and giving in to the dwemer's experiment
@@norfar377 "the fruit of our stones" could also refer to the tones emitted from said stones... it's not entirely clear-cut as to what that particular phrase means :/
It doesn't literally mean fruit. "Fruits of your labor"? Fruit of the stones is referring to the tonal manipulation itself. The fruits of their efforts. Literacy and vocabulary are greatly lacking these days.
That theory sounds solid, and maybe the Falmer were the last step in the experimental trials to transcend to Aethirium. What if the sudden disappearance of the Dwemer was by their own design? And after using the Falmer as lab rats they finally deciphered how to use tonal manipulation to leave Mundus and go live with the gods in aethirium, hence, completely disappearing without much explanation.
I like to think that somewhere in Bethesda game studious there is a book maybe Todd Howard’s journal locked away full of all the answers to every mystery in Skyrim
They do have lore masters but I think they sometimes leave stuff unanswered for fans and for future lore. But Todd Howard probably has a secret book. ;)
i honestly think that todd burned all the Weirdest lore when they were making Oblivion. the series has been afraid of its own worldbuilding and unique weirdness since Morrowind
Ok seriously tho, this guy deserves his own show where he just talks about the crazy mysteries and details in Skyrim. I would definitely binge watch that show every single day
This reminds me, in Solstheim the Earth Stone gives you an Effect called "Bones of the Earth" which protects you from 80% of physical damage for a limited period of time. Are these things related to the Earth bones, and if yes then how? Edit: I am also wondering, in Skyrim we can become ethirical for some time which prevents us from taking any damage, while in that state is the dragonborn unbound from the earth bones?To add to that I wanted to say I find it very interesting that the sound alters reality as what do dragons use to alter reality?That's right, shouts! The thing about shouts is that they are similar to aedric powers as when humans use magica they simply turn one energy into another or use that energy to alter what already exists whereas a shout creates something out of nothing, so it ony makes sense a shout enables us to become ethirical, perhaps the Dwemer found a way to tap into the same power by imitating shouts of dragons or even surpassing the power of the thu'um.
in the case of the earth stone in solstheim, i think the bend will shout specifically says something about bending the earthbones to your will or something. i mean your already altering reality through primal tonal manipulation, theoretically with a strong enough will and understanding a tongue user (or the LDB) could fuck shit up pretty bad. Hell give them a prince's neonymic and i wouldn't be surprised if they could bend will a daedric prince. Though that would require a LOT of will
The Dwemer didn't want the Snow Elves to see their experiments and be able to copy them. They didn't want to risk them hearing things and learning things either so they devolved them so they couldn't follow them where ever they went. (Or maybe the Falmer got used to their new ways to the point that they went savage on the Dwemer and eat them all)
One other thing! While, as you mentioned, Falmer have “Lesser” souls, wispmothers have “Greater” souls. While it isn’t a 50/50 split, perhaps the Falmer and wispmothers are two halves of the same creature, instead of “some Falmer had their soul shrunk, and some turned into wispmothers.” Perhaps for each Falmer there was a wispmothers created, for instance- the dwarves took the *majority* of the falmers’ souls (but not all, as they still have “lesser” souls) and the taken bits were turned into the wispmothers! Eh, just a thought.
Perspective: Your a snow elf just seeing the underground dwemer complex you live in now, they gather you all up and are just like “so uh welcome... we are happy to have you here. EAT THIS WIERD MUSHROOM WE FOUND YO!”
I thought it was so cool to see an actual snow eld in the dawnguard dlc!, and obviously to have the armor and see the architecture and stuff, even if the snow elf was a bad guy
I always thought it was weird that the snow elves snuck into the nord city and started the slaughter, especially if their entire race could be wiped out by a single army of 500. If they were as smart as they seemed to be then they probably wouldn’t have started a war they had no hope of winning. It just seems out of place you know? My theory is that the Dwemer actually committed the act leaving only Ysgramor alive and somehow (probably using tonal manipulation) made him believe the attack was by the snow elves, orchestrating the Nordic-Falmer war from the background, knowing their Elven brethren would eventually have no choice but to turn to them for the preservation of their society. Ultimately the Dwemer found a way to enslave the snow elves without really any effort on their part, allowing them to be used as guinea pigs for their sound experiments and stuff that brought the devolution of the falmer, most likely giving the Dwemer the knowledge to transcend the mortal plane. It makes more sense to me, because the Dwemer seem much more capable of an unprovoked slaughter than the Snow Elves do, and it’s totally the type of societal manipulation you’d expect from a race that ignores emotions in favor of scientific discovery. I mean really if any race in Skyrim was gonna play God like that, it would be the Dwemer right?? There’s not much evidence to support it, it’s almost completely speculation but it makes a lot of sense to me
Yeah that makes alot of sense. Because it still seems like the dwemer enslaved the falmer just not for manual labor. At best you could say they took advantage of a people who apparently had no other option but flee to the dwemer or die. The tablet reads as much as a reminder that the falmer owed the dwemer as anything else.
Spoilers for the video, I watched all of it so you can too ;3 Nate: The Dwemer had ultimately good intentions with turning the Falmer into goblins! The Dwemer: Okidoki artichoke-y lads, mushrooms sometimes make you high, perhaps this is how we'll ascend back to Aetherius? Be a pal, Snow Elves, and try these. Snow Elves: Sure! Snow Elves: Snow Elves: We're collectively Gollum now. The Dwemer: -furiously taking notes- Yes, yes, good, very good, fascinating! This experiment ended horribly! Next we'll just tap the heart of Lorkhan and see what that does.
Dwemer 1: "Okay, the first experiment went... nightmarishly wrong. We might have horrifically mutated an entire species into nightmare creatures, but hey, science demands sacrifice. What's our next test?" Dwemer 2: "Uh... I got a hammer. Could just dink the thing." Dwemer 1: "GENIUS!"
26:55 its important to notice, that the message on this wall was meant for the snow elves to read when they could still see - save to assume they didnt instantly go blind as they consumed "the fruit of their stones" which i assume was the fungus fed to them. it reads to me like the dwemer knew that these fungi set off a painful transformation that steals the consumers eyesight but they are trying to calm the snow elves (who probably were confused as to why they were subjected to such pain) and assure them, that this transformation will "unbind their bones to the earth before and set their final path to the music of their new eternity" (some sort of salvation or sth idk)
10:13 you know if I had been a Nord at that meeting the snowelfs may still be alive “”these weak little elfs butchered everyone you say? But yet somehow you and only you (and your sons) survived? So what your actually telling us is at the first sign of a fight you turned tail and ran like a little bunny rabbit, you didn’t even attempt to help your brother and sister Nords you just fled?”” Mocking him would have been so easy.
Nord: Ysgramor! You return to Atmora! Ysgramor: The Snow Elves have destroyed Saarthal! Nord: What?! Why?! Ysgramor: I dunno -its definitely not because we found a doomsday weapon in the basement- Nord: Elf bastards! Ysgramor: Get me 500 of our best men and we'll destroy the Snow Elves Nord: 500, sir? Ysgramor: yes why do you ask? Nord: even with 500 of our best we couldn't beat the snow elves. Ysgramor: Fine, get me 10000 men, but write it as 500 in the history books to make me sound badass tl;dr: Ysgramor is a prick
@@metetural9140 If a single user of the voice like Ulfric or the Dragonborn already do the damage that they do imagine 500 men of the best of the best, plus they are all nords... that Ice resistance and power of making the enemy flee with a simple battlecry are nothing to sneeze at even if they didn't use the thu'um...
@@metetural9140 the same as all history i think most absurd things elves write or believe are completely garbage, they just want sound like the supreme and perfect being thinking only them can be gods, denying that if talos wasn't a true god his god damn shrine wouldn't even work in first place.
@@metetural9140 and one more thing, were real 500, do not mock the nord prowess because while elves think they are so powerful and full of glory nords were dealing with imortal godlike dragons, even the akavir fought dragons and they did not knew how to thu'um, the old nords saved the world so dragonborn could finish the work properly later, alduin was a king, a ruler with an army of imortal dragons, what would the dominion do against him? cast fireball? oh and also the nords were guarding the eye of Magnus, that's why they protect it till skyrim day, they are not an stupid elf like ancano that cannot resist greed, draugrs are things that come to life with the sole purpose to protect their tombs and guard whatever is inside, its their purpose of existence, so this proves ysgramor and his folk never wanted to use the eye, but i think the elves reeeeeaaally wanted to use it, for them to come attack that place out of nowhere for no reason, greed ones they are.
Bro, what... this is so entertaining yet absolutely crazy. You're like that guy with the whiteboard and all the red lines that point to countless pictures, articles, books and idk... more whiteboards across the whole room! That was flashy, quality content! I'm shook.
One thing i think you got wrong is the "the fungus is a myth" theory, because it is specifically stated on the dwemer tablet that they give them the fungus. Also, what happens when you take away one sense from someone? The other senses get better, in the case of the falmer the dwemer took away their sight so the hearing would get way better and thus the falmer would be able to hear and understand the fine tones of tonal-architecture or at least that is what the dwemer hoped would happen.
now that you've mentioned wismother's having a tone my mind is stuck on nirnroot and crimson nirnroot which is specifically found in blackreach. Could that possibly tie into this somehow?
this has a lot to do with lorkhan and the heart of lorkhan (see morrowind, viz., sunder and keening, tuning forks) and eventually the very disappearance of the dwarves from mundus/nirn (i don't remember which specifically, but every bit of obscure lore i know about this makes me certain that it would be nirn only). there are tonal/musical themes throughout (sword singing in akavir, green singing of the bosmir [only in an ESO book iirc?], and the thu'um immediately come to mind). likely related is the concept of the jha-kah'jay and the dances/climbing of the khajiit. (they keep the best secrets, after all). related to the khajiit's climbing/dancing (but not to music and tones) is the mythology of sidestepping (redguard). back to khajiit, it's worth looking into the proper nature of azura and why it's not a "plot hole" that she could manifest even with the dragonfire barrier (contrast, compare to the lunar lattice). rabbit trails, but good stuff. back to "earth bones" which makes me think very much of lorkhan but also literally the ehlnofey. there's not much to say about them, but it's definitely worth looking into the REAL differences between the aedra and daedra and what happened when the aedra chose to incarnate. blah blah, i could go on. the reason i say "look into" instead of saying exactly what i think is because so much of it is open to interpretation and viewpoints. literally, it's all about viewpoints. also, fun fact, "utmora" and "altmora" sound pretty similar. weird! i'm sure that has nothing to do with anything, like the battle between auri'el and lorkhan, or why elves and humans don't like each other, or [...]
One thing I'd like to add/think about with that whole "fungus thing": If you think about Blackreach, you can find those gigantic glowing mushrooms you can not collect for alchemy, they're just... there. But, what else is in Blackreach, in particular in the soil of Blackreach? Aetherium, which, as somewhere else is mentioned in one of your videos, has connections to Aetherius. What if those giant mushrooms you can see, are actually full of Aetherium or aetherial energy? And feeding it to the Falmer was part of the preparation for unbinding them from the earth bones. Just a small thing one might be able to add to the whole Falmer-Dwemer-conspiracy.
@Cody Allen thats a funny one actually, what would happen if you kill the dragonborn and get his soul in a gem? would it have all the souls of dragons and his?
Usually, those revolts happened on account of people in power feeling guilt about those they subjugated, mixed with how you can't really keep your slaves locked up if you want to use them. Allowing an opening for weapons and other tools to slip through. These guys seem extremely logic obsessed, and their civilization is based underground with very easy to watch exits, it would take decades of careful work to sneak a tunnel that could potentially reach the surface, so I doubt that would have been a problem.
I want a game where you play back in the ancient days of Tamriel, where you can play as a Falmer (before the change) or a Dwemer or other races around at that time. There could be a lot of stories that the player could help influence, and it could probably be done in a way where it will not affect the timeline too horribly. But I'd love to see the Dwemer and see more Snow Elves.
All these years I had the plan to one day sit down and actually read my way through the mountain of books I feel compelled to collect, and now I found your channel I find it a lot more comfy to listen to your amazing videos.
It's crazy that Skyrim is almost 10 years old and we are still finding amazing pieces of the game that we have only now discovered and it shows how amazing this game really is
The tones tore the souls of the Falmer asunder, leaving most of the soul disembodied but bound within solid sound, the rest to inhabit a body warped by the process, and neither with enough of its aetherial nature to ascend beyond mortal existence.
I cant belive nobody knows this: Auriel killed Lorkham, cut the heart of Lorkham and sent it to Tamriel in an arrow, shooting with the bow. It landed in Red Mountain. The Heart of Lorkham was discovered by Dwemer in secret by accident in the Red Mountain during the first Era. The Red Mountain VVaderfel was the first Dwemer Imperium built in all Tamriel, it has 4citadels. They had a pact with High Elves (the elves of this region will become dark elves by the ashes of the mountain with the time) and they ruled together, against the expeditions of nords and orcs trying to settle on this region. Dumac king of Dwemers and Nerevar king of Elves were friends during thousands of years, until Nerevar discovered what Dumac and his Dwemer were doing all the time: reconstructing Lorkham, because Lorkham promised to Dumac to be a God crossing the immortal plane. Nerevar told the First Council to stop them. And the war began. Dwemer asked for help to Nords and Orcs and the battle of the Red Mountain ended with a strange victory for elves, Nerevar king of Elves died during the battle, the dwemers activated the sound mechanism to open ALL portals they built on some of their subterranean cities, kept the Heart of Lorkham inside a magikal key and a magikal lock. The sound mechanism opens a portal out of Nirm, it consist on a ball bell like the bell in Black Reach were you can fusrothar it and a secret dragon appears. Dumac asked to Nords to take the Lorkham heart inside the key to their safest city (Saarthal) and wait until the time of gods comes, protect it and dont use it, because the effect is different for every race when use it. Humans cant use it because they dont have blood mer. When all the Vvanderfel Dwemers were safe crossing the portals to the realm plane like Dumac did, the other Dwemers signed a peace pact with Elves and they abandoned Morrowind and settled definitely in Skyrim to live "in peace" with snow elves (not implicated in the conflict of the red mountain, neutral behavior until the night of Saarthal)while thinking in the revenge against Elves, developing a fungus. They let Nords to keep the heart of Lorkhan (eye of magnus wrong called) because they cant use it. But after long time snow elves knew the existance and location of the heart of Lorkham, the enemy of Auriel, in Saarthal. Then they attacked to Nords killing most of them until the last subterranean floor but in the last chamber the female snow elf commander Aumriel tried to destroy the Heart she was transformed in a mother wisp and soldiers around her in that moment were turned in soul wisps. Snow Elves abandoned Saarthal without touching the heart because it was dangerous. Ysgramor landed some years later and began to kill elves, snow elves and high elves. When snow elves asked for help to the dwemers, they knew it was the right moment to exterminate them before opening the sound portals and leave Nirm, and back with Dumac and their people in the immortal plane. The video explains very well what happened after snow elves drink the fungus, went blind and became falmers.
I like this theory for the most part, but I feel like you missed a clue in the form of the soul sizes. First, number the soul sizes like this: 6. Black 5. Grand 4. Greater 3. Common 2. Lesser 1. Petty Now, if you add the falmer soul (2. Lesser) to the whispmother soul (4. Greater) it would equal the highest soul (6. Black). So rather than the falmer and whispmothers being 2 DIFFERENT effects of the Dwemer experiments, I theorize that the whispmothers are snow elf “spirits” that have been separated from their falmer bodies. I think this was the goal of these experiments, except the entire soul was intended to stay with the spirit. Since their souls were ripped in two, both the bodies and the spirits of those snow elves were corrupted. That would explain why they are both hostile entities. Eventually, the Dwemer were able to stop the soul from being torn apart in this way, and once they were able to successfully transcend their bodies, they gathered together and ascended together. But this is of course just a theory.
I cannot express enough my love and excitement for these types of videos that you put out. I literally been binge watching them, Skyrim and Fallout. I love everything about these videos and it's good to sit back and listen to while doing something else. Thank you for these videos, Nate!
@@GlennSkywalker2305 Well actually in TES 3 Morrowind you can meet the last surviving Dwemer, but I don't think Nate was uploading back in 2002 so I guess your comment still holds up.
I this point I would like to believe that TheEpicNate315 is just a Skyrim game that achieve sentience and is using the Mandela Effect and time travel to be keep coming up with skyrim content this long.
Ok I have another theory that might be worth looking into, but bear with me because it's a long one.. What if the reason the falmer went blind is because the dwarves were forcing them to read the elder scrolls? They didn't just randomly stumble upon all this amazingly advanced knowledge randomly, or pluck it out of thin air, they'd been reading the elder scrolls for generations and obtained all this forbidden knowledge. But then maybe they had too many of their best and brightest going blind or suffering the other effects, so when they found the abundance of falmer desperate to escape the nords they brought them underground with them, and made them read the elder scrolls which is what made them go blind. They didn't make them eat a strange fungus, they made them look for a way to escape the plain of mundus, as in a way to pass into the realm of the gods. And THAT'S why you can sometimes find elder scrolls in dwarves ruins. Fungus and mundus could've easily just been a translation error. So the tonal frequencies, vibrations are a common theme in spiritual areas, especially looking at astral protection (the process of separating the spirit from the body), the dwarves were looking at moving to another plane of existence and needed knowledge from the elder scrolls to do it.
@@jaydentaylor36 I always thought the elves shunned the place, and that the nords carved the hawk there to honor Kyne, whose totemic representation was a hawk, amd whose dominion was nature and sky.
What if the Dwarves really did shower them with affection and treated them almost like pets and the Falmer began to souly rely on them and when they vanished the falmer forgot how to live and reverted, with a lack of hunting skills or real food sources they devolved
"they weren't nearly as ugly; they used to be tall, less slimy, had a full head of hair"
Hey now, I didn't expect to be attacked like this!
lmao
lmao
Andrzej Ferens Same, dude. Same.
Good to know I wasn't the only that felt personally attacked xD xD xD
Ok..
Maybe the dwarves did blind them so as to enhance the falmer’s hearing. Then they could be more responsive tonal manipulation.
true, and 25:52 the tablet in Calcemo's room mentions blinding them, "And as your vison clouds, as the darkness seta in, fear not."
so, it's plausible that they first blinded the Falmer BEFORE experimenting with unbinding their souls from Mundus's earth bones
this I do like as an explanation
Dragon Master23 sir are you ok?
This is dumb. I mean, evolution is a long process, bruh..
If dwemer blinded like.. hundreds of elves, their children still can see. Not blind too like their parents.
@@DBT1007 Evolution as a response to their environment, yes. If the changers were from troglobitic adaptations (evolutionary adaptation brought on by living in dark environments like caves or deep ocean, e.g. pale skin and reduced eyesight/total blindness), it would likely take tens of thousands of years. But, if the mushroom was still used to blind them before using tonal manipulation to experiment on them, it's relatively feasible. This was a long, drawn out process. The falmer were fed this fungus constantly, and the change wasn't immediate. It occurred over generations, taking place over the course of hundreds to possibly thousands of years.
The reason this is still feasible is that certain toxins can make specific birth defects much more likely by damaging DNA, and by the end the dwemer had pretty much the entire population of the falmer eating this fungus, reproducing, and feeding their offspring this same toxic fungus. Manipulating falmer DNA through deliberate, artificial means would be much quicker than evolution through natural selection
I think you've missed something important: the player gets to observe a lot of dwemer ruins in skyrim, and as Karliah observes, the dwemer were cruel and violent. There are torture chambers, slave markets, and in at least two instances seating arrangements set around platforms with rotating murder-blades built into them, so dwemer can sit around and watch as someone gets hacked into pieces. So while it's entirely possible that the dwemer did do some tonal magic stuff to the falmer, it's more like a forced experiment on slaves than a peer-assisting-peer relationship.
Remember delving into the ruins repeatedly as a researcher in Skyrim. Somewhere along the lines, I picked up that the Snow Elves were saved but, at a cost of their cooperation. While traveling and finding the various devices used to restrain, it made me think of fear. The elves had run from one enemy they made and into the jaws of an even worse fate albeit unintentionally evil in morale. The Dwemer (Dwarves) initially gave them the idea of escaping or having them help with their plan of reaching a better or more advanced form through use of tonal manipulation. It was willingly at first to repay a debt but, it turned sour and fearful which caused the Dwemer to force it onto them and even capture them. Some were able to flee in order to find sanctuary in what is now, Auriel's Sanctum where the remaining Snow Elves who fled built a safe space to safe guard against foes. This would explain why the falmer were blinded and twisted as they were then forced into experimentation. The Dwemer didn't do it out of malice but rather out of curiosity and to advance their civilization. They were by their lonesome before other civilizations made their way to them.
So yes, the Dwemer were not evil but, their selfish reasons to continue their research without any ethical dilemma made them to be perceived as such.
The dwemer where complete and utter nihilists dint care about anyone but themselves (and ended up being there undoing given that they used the tools of kagranac on the heart of lorkhan and basically zero summed themselves out of existence)
To think the dwemer were benevolent in any form towards anyone but themselves is absolutely insane. The Falmer were Guinea pigs AT THE VERY BEST to the conceited and vile technocrats.
im glad the dwemer are gone they were jackasses.
@@DONTG3TMADCUZI Auriels sanctum was established long before the falmer had devolved though
"This was Epic Nate and thanks for coming to my TES talk."
This needs to be pinned, I almost coughed out a lung laughing
Wow! You surprise easily.
This needs to be the name of this series now.
Pun aside the video is a pretty good listen.
TES... Technology, Education, and... Skyrim lol
Falmer are terrifying when you don't have sound on and turn around to see one right behind you
Fuuuuuuu 😭
Dio!
@@gptechnologiesmangalore6909 LMAO!
And when you're level five dovahkiin using light armor
Star Platinum: Za Warudo!!
The mystery began for me back in the Blood moon DLC for Morrowind.
There was a quest to discover evidence of the existence of the falmer.
It had my interest from then on in.
I scoured solthsteim looking for more snow elf stuff.
Meeting a snow elf in Skyrim was a bit of a mind blower for me.
M’aiq once met a snow elf, very polite people. A long time later M’aiq met some weird blind folk, M’aiq got scared and ran away.
M'aiq The Liar Productions I died from B L I N D
By the order of the jarl,stop right there
LoL 😂 real
@@lambsauce8272 you know your on on the wrong side😭your God was and will always be an imperial will 75%. Amyaways
Hey i have a question why do people call you the liar?
“*Boys, girls, dogs, elders: there’s nobody I won’t fight!*”
-Y̶s̶g̶r̶a̶m̶o̶r̶ Braith
She's the only child I have ever wanted to punch in the face so bad. The amount of disrespect, "I'm not scared of you..." I kill dragons bitch
@@anthonyernst999 I take it you've never met Mayor MacCready.
@@lulzdragon7339 Nope
@@anthonyernst999 "child please. I kill draugrs, skeletons, dragons, vampires, bandits, necromancers, giants, mammoths & rarely werewolves on a daily basis. I do quests. Risk my life every single day, I am the Dragonborn: The Dovahkiin. I am the harbinger of the companions, the champion of every daedric prince, I am a werewolf/vampire/vampire lord, I am a cannibal, I summoned and resurrected kaarstag the strongest enemy that isn't even in tamriel, murdered him and made him my bitch! I am the slayer of Miraak: The first Dragonborn. I LITERALLY CAN USE CHEATS IN THIS SO CALLED GAME TO ENABLE GOD MODE, PHASE THROUGH OBJECTS, GO SUPER FAST. ETC! What do you do?! bully a boy and call him a milk drinker."
I honestly wish the next game appears close enough in time for Braith to be grown up and be a companion character. her attitude makes her sound like shed be a great fighter 🤣
I've always found it interesting that the College of Winterhold has a very similar architectural style to the Snow Elf temple ruins you see in the Dawnguard DLC. It looks as though the same materials were used and everything.
That's what's known as _asset reappropriation_
@@PronatorTendon It's true and a lot of games do that...However Bethesda never seems to do things with out purpose. Sure skyrim had several plot holes with some quests but looking into the tinier details of this world it's no wonder.
It's very possible they had more planned for the college as I believe many things in game have lead to. They even went out of their way to expand on many skyrim quests in ESO. If it be just to continue the stories with out doing a giant update on the game or they actually had some stuff planned but couldnt put it in. The game is fairly old, It's a good possibility more was planned they just couldnt add.
@@vampybyte7812 That's true they do have a lot of remnants of dismantled quests
Well, the College of Winterhold was supposedly founded in the First Era, so I think it's possible there could be a connection. And yes, asset reappropriation certainly could play a part, but they didn't necessarily have to reuse it.
I think it’s just reutilized assets, it was Shalidor to build both the college and the city with magic, on top of that the arquitecture of college’s undergrounds doesn’t look elfic at all
Nate: wisp mothers are lost falmer souls, you can tell by the tones.
Me, an intellectual: the Dwemer turned into nirnroots.
🤔
Holy shit bro
@@thewelfairshop4164 😂
Imagine if Bethesda confirms they were turn into Nurnroot I would actually die 🤣😂 but it's kinda Sad
Nirnroot are talked about as evolving into their current form in 1E 668, while the dwemer disappear in ~1E 700. That's probably too much of a time gap for your theory, but I'll be damned if I don't believe it.
Dwemer: perform a possibly deadly experiment on an entire race, sacrificing them as test subjects because they feared the outcome.
Nate: They didn't have bad intentions after all!
Seriously! I gave this video a second watch and that stone with the message in both languages takes on a real "Arbeit macht frei" sort of tone to it. The deep elves have murder/torture devices set up for public spectacle in places like Blackreach. They were not nice elves.
Also they literally say they don't believe gratitude, so,
i guess they don't believe in what is morally right or wrong?
There is still more to uncover, but what if they were successful the second time, and maybe they now are preparing, to come back?
They could have succeeded in bringing maybe a few falmer with them so they are joint forces in another dimension?
-
I don't know all the lore so sorry if it doesn't make any sense
Nate did mention in an earlier video that the Dwemer believed in the superiority of being emotionless, which doesn't really excuse their deeds just provides a possible explanation for why they were so unethical...
Remind you of any other races in Elderscrolls? I did always wonder if the Sload had any connections to the Dwemer, neither races to concerned with emotions or morals, but both known for experimenting on others, including their own. Maybe the Sloads were/are an offshoot race of the Dwemer?
The Dwemer were very nice people like our Merchants Guild that does slave trading and skooma dealing for our lord and savior Caius Cosadas
I'm pretty sure the Dwemer were using the Falmer to test their theories on how to ascend beyond their metaphysical limitations. The Falmer could not hear the tones as the Dwemer could, so the Dwemer blinded them. This act enhanced their hearing to such a degree that they could hear the tones and become viable test subjects. However, the Falmer were not accustomed to the tones and their souls shriveled in fear of this unknown, leaving their minds and bodies warped and monstrous. Eventually the Dwemer figured it out, and signaled a masse tone which "ascended" all Dwemer. They only saw the Falmer as a means to an end, and that is why the Falmer are still around, albeit much lesser than they once were. But this is just my hypothesis.
i think this is correct
How does fear cause your body to warp?
Correct every bit of dwemer history was basically a giant test too transcend past there mortal selves making mechanical god in the process(the brass towers such as Numidium)and they succeeded.....but we'll the saying be careful of what you wish for exists for a reason
But by transcending there mortal limits they essentially became everything and anything and thus became nothing at all a process called zero sum
@@Unapologeticweeb that's not what a zero sum is...
Agreed!
Can we just pause and briefly reflect on how great all of this storytelling is, and the fact that a video like this is even possible? Crazy.
Okay Robert...
@@RIPToNateDoggIHadToRegulate hes right you know
Say what you want about Bethesda; but they know how to make tasty lore
@@shiteyanyo1111 Or knew, at least.
I just discovered this channel yesterday and acquired a newfound interest for Elder scrolls lore. This guy has immense talent for storytelling.
34:33 "They didn't feed them a fungus or anything, that was just a myth."
Calcelmo's tablet states:
"We only wish that you partake... the *fruit of the stones* around us."
Seems to indicate that the Dwemer, pursuant to whatever their experiment was, still required the Falmer to eat the weird fungus. "Fruit of the stones" seems to pretty clearly indicate mushrooms.
I really didn’t understand what your trying to say
Ohh I understand now that I’m later in the video
It doesn't literally mean fruit. "Fruits of your labor"? Fruit of the stones is referring to the tonal manipulation itself. The fruits of their efforts.
@@benp9793 I mean, fungus aren't fruit to begin with, but they can grow on stones, thus the notion that the "fruit of the stones" would be whatever grows on it, i.e. the fungus.
Saying that the dwemer "only wish that the falmer would partake in tonal manipulation," is very roundabout and unnecessarily abstruse. that seems like the kind of thing you could just offer someone at face value.
then, maybe, what they're saying is that the dwemer required the falmer to allow themselves to be subjected to tonal "attenuations" on a regular basis, and that's what has been going on this whole time instead of just feeding them strange fungus.... but the amount of stretch here just scans to me as unlikely and unnecessary.
"fruit of the stones" could also literally mean soul gems, considering the only place in Skyrim that you can find geode veins is in Blackreach....
The reason markarth even exists is to take it the snow elves from the surface. It's like a big grand entrance from the surface to the undergrounds of the dwarves. It was so well fortified to protect against atmorans and give it the appearance of total safety.
It's the only place the dwermer built above ground in a big way within Skyrim.
Except Markarth wasn’t always exposed to the surface, it was inside a cavern until an quake cause the cavern to collapse, revealing it. Then humans moved in to clear the rubble and exploit the Dwemer structures/salvage.
"2 and 2 cant equal fish". sheogorath would disagree.
Jyggalag wants to know your location
2 and 2 can equal 0, which is fish speak.... "Bl0b Bl0b"
Severely underrated comment.
So would Timmy Turner
2 and 2 equal CHEESE!
*they were victim to a failed experiment alright-*
My theory has always been that the Dwemer performed MULTIPLE experiments on the Snow Elves, one including souls and their properties. This is a very Gaster thing for me to say, TRUST ME I KNOW THAT- but I believe that the Dwemer actually used the Snow Elves and their SOULS to power their automatons, hence why Dwarven automatons drop soul gems when killed. They're soul-powered! More info on this can actually be found in the Dwemer museum in Markarth, primarily with the controllable spider pal and the journal that went with it, or really ANYWHERE in most Dwemer lore. This is probably a very common theory. Just as it said in the video, these experiments would've been a little dangerous for the dwarves to perform on their own species, which is why they used the Snow Elves and their EXTRACTED souls instead.
It would also go with the shrunken-soul theory, seeing as the soul gems more commonly found on these automatons were common/lesser soul gems, though there have even been BLACK or GRAND soul gems from time to time, possibly from the less twisted and vile Falmer, and rather taken from the early Snow Elves. I know, technically, the soul gems can vary depending on level, but it's still a cool little theory I've had for a while! I know it's probably not original and is possibly VERY common amongst Skyrim lore and such, but I thought it was worth sharing.
*Any input would be GREATLY appreciated, I've been playing Skyrim since I was 5 and have kept up with the lore for YEARS now, but you never know when you could be missing something!*
Why are there no Dwemer or Falmer in the soul cairn?
G. Martin Bethesda didn’t feel like putting them in there ;)
Nah, one of the writers gave us a translation of Calcelmo's Dwemer Tablet in his museum.
Basically the Dwemer tried to enlighten the Snow Elves, turning them away from the worship of the gods.
@@garymartin6873 it hasnt been confirmed that the Dwemer infact went extinct or died, they just Mysteriously vanished.
As for the Falmer, I'm lost on that myself...Of course, it's more commonly inhabited by the souls of Humans and Elves and such, more sophisticated species. You dont see wolves or Frostbite Spiders there either.
That being said, the souls are probably SO ancient that they've been lost to history, even if they were, at some point, roaming the Soul Cairn. They're most likely FAR from gone.
@@dzvw I watched the same video you did. The theory in this video is pretty damn solid tbh, I'm saying something like this could've ALSO happened during/along side the supposed "enslavement" period of the Snow Elves. They could've easily picked off a Snow Elf or two if they felt the need and/or requirement to use the in their experiments.
The Dwemer weren't deliberately trying to hurt or mutilate the Snow Elves, but they did deliberately use them as living, sentient guinea pigs so that if someone was hurt, it wouldn't be their own people. This have to be one of the craziest, probably accurate theories I've ever heard. I love it. Give me more.
So they did deliberately hurt the snow elves
I'm amazed that you're still making skyrim content and even more amazed that it's still entertaining
Fax
Hey man, Skyrim is timeless. Just because Bethesda shit the bed doesn't mean Skyrim ain't great. Besides, we have an endless variety of mods for whenever you get bored.
I just bought the special edition discounted today
Cody Sims welcome to addiction
@@fishhead961 oh I've got 100+ hours on my old xbox 360
God, I remember seeing Gelebor for the first time ever. That was probably my favorite moment in Skyrim ever, followed by Farkas transformation in front of you for the first time, and finding out Paarthurnax was a dragon(yes, that first time absolutely blew me away).
I loved meeting Paarthurnax for the first time. I almost shot him.
KJ T I was so shocked when I climbed all the way to the Throat of the World, completely misunderstanding shout mechanics and not realizing you had to hold Z for the full shout, thus not using Clear Skies properly and being wrecked by the wind and the ice wraiths only to get to the top thinking I was gonna be talking to another old dude only to be met by a giant ass dragon and being totally blown away.
@@kjt16 me too! I pulled out my sword, completely immersed, going, “oh boy some dumbass dragon prob killed this guy for a plot twist let’s get him” and then he LANDED AND STARTED TALKING TO ME
@@songbird6414 By tradition, the elder speaks first!
I straight-up hid behind a rock formation for six or seven real minutes, waiting for him to attack. When he didn't, I felt like such a goober. But in a good way.
Dwemer: “We want to ascend this mortal plane. Let’s test out our methods on the Snow elves first!”
“…Oh, that didn’t go well, looks like we’ll have to make a few adjustments.”
Great video Nate!
Same thing the global elites are doing to the citizens of the world to u n other lowly world system slaves .
They sound like any engineer or scientist.
I hope that they didn't succeed and just ended up wiping themselves out.
"Touches the heart of lorkhan" what can go wrong?
there was a phrase parthurnax sad: "the very bones of the earth are at your disposal" when returning with the elder scroll.
also: when you read the scroll it makes a specific sound, so it might be connected to the manipulation with sound.
-> just a theorie and if some world are wrong, english is not my primary language but i am allways happy to improve myself
@@grave7209 and repeatedly reading the scrolls makes you blind too. . .
Not to mention that Shouts might literally be...Well...Tonal Manipulation.
With Shouts you can not only attack, but influence the very fabric of existence itself.
I wonder what dead god nirn belongs to
@@belisarius6949 Yea this makes a lot of sense when you consider the shouts "become ethereal" and "slow time" and also the "call of valor" which as in another video was discussed that when you "conjure" you actually just transport something from another realm, so "call of valor" can be the tonal equivalent to transport something to another plane of existence (sovngarde in this case), oh and don't forget "soul tear" a shout literally for "cutting through flesh and shattering soul"
I love how the army is just a bunch of Gelebor clones.
This is because cloning vyrthur would have resulted in a lot of slurpy, icy hanging arounds.
Haha
Get the word out, Nate is a racist
When you fight Wisp Mothers whenever they're low on health they make these things called Shades which look exactly like them. Which might relate to what happened to that one Winterhold mage, who also turned into a shade after messing with Dwemer magic....
"Hey, so you're getting slaughtered huh? That sucks, real bad times. Yeah. Come underground, we have this real cool fungus. We're elves, you can trust us."
Dwemer are sketchy.
hehee
Dwemer are capable of all manner of evil in their pursuit of knowledge, only they consider it an acceptable loss if people are harmed in the process.
around elves, watch yourselves
They're kind of like Rick to the Falmer's Morty...
@@CaptainPositron "*burp* Mortiel... I need you to eat this moss"
"Oh geez Ric, I don't know about that..."
"Shut up and eat the moss Mortiel! *burp* I need you to go blind so we can build things out of tones! Tones, Mortiel!"
the atmorans, committing genocide against the falmer:
the dwemer, underground: yall hear smthn?
More like: "huh, that looks fun let's try it! But let's see if we can convince them it's somehow a mercy!"
@@13vatra then blind the poor cunts so they can't find the door
The Dwemer: Biggest assholes in Tamrielic history.
takes popcorn and watch the show*
Well they started it read the night of tears
I like to imagine that there was one snow elf or a small group of them being the voice of reason when the others were talking about attacking Saarthal:
"Shouldn't we at the very least talk to them and ask them what they know? Even if there was an artifact buried there, we don't even have evidence that the humans use magic the same way we do, let alone them knowing what it is."
The last time I was this early, the Falmer were Snow Elves.
Have you heard of the HIGH ELVES
@@GlennSkywalker2305 ever heard of force healing 🤫😉
Devin Garcia yea they are crap in oblivion
@@GlennSkywalker2305 did you get the star wars reference or no lol
Devin Garcia oh s**t I forgot
Two thoughts, firstly: what if the experiment didn't actually fail, what if the Dwemer succeeded and the falmer we see are just the descendants of the early attempts.
Secondly, it strikes me that "Solid Sound" fits with how the dwarves might refer to the elder scrolls.
That’s such a good connection, too... the dwemer having their own knowledge and interpretations of the scrolls and shouts
All I'm going to say is that I have reason to believe that just like the show "Lost," they have only a vague idea and make this shit up as they go along to keep the mystery going and string the audience along.
@@rylian21 I think The Elder Scrolls isn't entirely that but with things like the Dwemer they probably just haven't decided and never will.
I always felt that because of the thieves guild quest where you go into a dwarven ruin to find the eyes of the falmer that it was more they fully tricked them. I don’t think they said hey you have to eat this fungus and that’s the only stipulation. I felt that they asked for the eyes of your people, the snow elves believing they meant their treasure, they were then made to slave away building the snow elven statue to hold the eyes, however while they built the statue, the only food they would give those elves and their families was the fungus. The snow elves being none the wiser that they’re families and they were slowly being poisoned and experimented on to further the dwarven understanding of tonal manipulation to the point where they could control creatures and mer to a full extent. That’s why the writing of the dwemer say the snow elves new lives began at the fifteen and one tones. Their experiment with tonal manipulation is truly what changed them into what they are, where as the fungus only blinded them taking their eyes.
I know it's been a long time, but I like your theory a lot. Makes me sad it's definatky not the case. Mainly because of one main fact we know for sure, the statue with the Eyes was built in secret. The dwarves didn't know about it's construction. In the thrives guild quest while you're in the ruin you learn "the statue was built in secret by the slaves so their masters wouldn't know." Thats not a direct quote but as best I remember it.
I always feel sad that the game makes me kill them, the torture rooms literally made me emotional 😭
I like this theory. If its true the dwarves were trying to escape mortality by experimenting on snow elves, or just build new tech, they are sick. I do believe this was slavery.
I hope when the Altmer try to return to Athenian that they aren't so cruel. But they are averse to change so maybe they won't
The Dwemer weren't looking for slaves, they were using the Falmer as livestock of sorts. Dwemer Animunculi are powered by souls, and the Falmer were being bred and harvested as a resource.
Every machine you fight, is essentially a living person who has lost their original body and their memories. Their souls, ripped out and reprogrammed to serve the Dwemer.
That makes alot of sense
Im not quite sure but doesnt the research notes in Alftand say that the gems apparently has nothing to do with powering the automatons?
How do you think their machinery is still going? I believe it's because the native Falmer souls are being harvested slowly throughout their dwellings
@@ernstgottschalk8023 I'm thinking it's moreso the entire building and it's systems
@@sea_triscuit7980 nah its specifically references a dwemer spider worker. And then the researcher notes that the gem inside the spider apparently has nothing to do with powering it..
Reading through some other theories on here. Decided to combine them.
1. Dwemer tried to help Falmer ascend from their "earth bones" turning them into wisp mothers and lost souls
2. Dwemer powered their machines/centurions with souls (allegedly Falmer souls, but that would mean more black souls. Doesn't explain how Falmer got white souls)
3. Combining these theories, I think the Dwemer succeeded in helping some Falmer ascend, and failed with others. Either way, they were left with empty Falmer bodies. Seeing as how they already used white souls to power their automata, I think they tried putting souls inside the empty Falmer vessels.
That's why the souls are white. It should be impossible to "shrink" a soul, or turn a black soul into a white soul. Only men and mer have black souls, and there's no evidence their souls can be reduced. But there is precedent for other souls being used to create life, e.g., necromancers using black soul gems, Dwemer powering their automata.
The Falmer became the Dwemers' first flesh automata. The blindness helped them to keep their creations controllable, because flesh doesn't come with an off switch. But this way, they didn't have to necessarily build more machines -- the Falmer would just reproduce. Whether they decided it was a success and worth it is another matter, but it seems to me that they tested it as a possible replacement for metal automata, or even to be used in tandem with the metal automata.
beastmen also have black souls: argonians and khajit don't have white souls.
@@entropicflux8849 yeah they do lol, you need a black soul gem for argonians and khajiit
@@entropicflux8849 and orcs
Orc is elves/mer, orsimer
I've always had a soft spot for the Falmer. Such a tragic history.
Lol what? They're very evil. And they deserve it for trying to commit genocide against humans.
I do have to say the Falmer along with the Dwemer are among my favorite groups
Little Shmuplet garvey settlement gang
I thought he would say "everything changed when the dwemer nation attacked
everything changed when the dwemer nation made them an offer they can't refuse*
His entire video was Basically Saying the Dwemer Blinded the Falmer with Science
Toni Technaclaw 👏
Connor MacGregor fuckin’ oath
Everything changed when Connor McGregor attacked.
The programmer who gave lower leveled falmer lesser souls for gameplay reasons: _nervous sweating_
even at max lvl they still only fill a lesser gem even the most op ones i know as all of my weapons have soul trap enchants on them at max chance and no falmer has ever given anything bigger
programmers dont make bethesda game environments, programmers make the bethesda game engine, then world designers layout the map
@@jek__ but who makes the enemies?
Two thoughts. First thought - the Falmer are pretty reminiscent of the Morlocks from H.G. Wells's _The Time Machine._ In that story, the humans of the distant future had split into two species, the beautiful but unintelligent Eloi, and the hideous but intelligent Morlocks who lived underground and ran the technology. Wells imagined this as the result of hundreds of millennia of selective breeding, with social barriers between upper and lower classes eventually leading to a divergence of two species of human.
Now, we know that Mer are not unfamiliar with the ideas of selective breeding. It's asserted that the reason the Altmer reproduce so slowly is because they're practicing eugenics, killing any babies that appear too 'different' to try to keep their race 'pure'. What if something similar happened with the Falmer? What if the way they reacted to the fungus guided how they were permitted to reproduce, so that the race effectively split - one side degenerating into the blind, savage goblin-like things we know today, the other side merging into Dwemer society?
Becuase that leads me to my Second thought - the Wispmothers are the remains of Dwemer/Falmer hybrids. Elves who had ancestry from both races. When the Dwemer disappeared, we know that it affected _all_ Dwemer, even those in Hammerfell who had no cultural contact with the ones who were mucking about with the Heart. It was something that happened to the _species_ as a whole, not to a society or a region. So what would happen to an individual who was half Dwemer/half Falmer? Perhaps their Dwemer half would disappear with the Dwemer, leaving behind their Falmer half - a soul that had lost half of itself.
This makes perfect sense to me
I don't think the Altmer actually killed their babies, Imperial Emissaries were very anti-elven back then,
but still, Eugenics are in the societies, choosing partners for this reason.
Still, if you're a hybrid, you're not either race of your parent, so as much as it's an interesting theory, I'd have to respectfully disagree
In the elder scrolls you are the race of your mother so if I have a nord mom and a bosmer dad then I come out as a nord but have traits of my dad but genetically I’m a nord not a mix.
@@Hoodiehov215 no genetically they are a mix but for bureaucratic purposes it is easier to write down the mother's race as a mother is surely the parent of a child and a father isn't. And honestly if a nord woman and a elven man had a daughter who also has a baby with an elven man of the same race as her father's would her baby who is 3/4 genetically elf still be a nord? And if so how many generations do you need before a elven baby is born?
@@Hoodiehov215 It doesn't work like that...Bretons, for example, are the result of Elves and Humans breeding.
Bethesda: *puts lesser soul to falmer to make them mob monsters*
Nate: AHA!
Bandits are much more convenient to hunt and they're black souls
Bandit Thug: "you picked a bad time to get lost friend!"
Me, shuffling Black Soul Gems in my hand, drawing my Soul Trap sword: "uh huh, yep. I sure did mister. How about you come over here and give me directions?"
Doylist Vs. Watsonian analysis exemplified.
They should have black soul gems, the same as bandits.
@@loganjblack NotthatOneGuy is stating that Bandits definately have black souls, and are pretty routine mobs. Therefore, the decision with the Falmer was intentional.
My favorite thing gelebor talks about is how he can tell the Falmer are slowly starting to regain some of their intelligence, and that they might one day become a normal race again, even if not as nice as they once were
I mean they use bows and wear armour. So they are not completly dumb. There musz ne a way to communicate with them
Judge: "Does the defendant 'Nate' confess to murdering his wife, and dumping her in a river?!"
TheEpicNate: "In the end, only my wife knows, and my wife isn't telling..! ;)"
Lawyer: "your honor, my client declares he did not murder his wife to death."
Xazyv LMFAOOOOOOO (to both of you wonderful people) 😂🤣😂🤣😂
hahahaha cool!!
Lmao-
Luke Wade very very cool, I agree...lol
I'm not entirely sure how souls work in the Elder Scrolls universe, but do you think that possibly the soul is intrinsically linked to the physical body and the "size" determined by the cognitive abilities of the body. Perhaps as the Falmer biologically devolved and reduced in cognitive abilities, the "size" of their souls "shrank" as an effect of that. To back this up, I think when you soul trap a draugr you'll get a lesser soul instead of a grand soul like you would from a "human-sized" soul.
That kinda supports an idea I was forming while watching the video. What if the dwarves were able to separate the Snow elf souls from their bodies into a higher plain of existence. Though the elves' bodies were very much still functioning but without a higher soul could only function at the level of an animal.
@@MandalorV7 Now there's a grand idea right there
@@MandalorV7 i think its a cool idea my only objection would be they display a higher than base animal level of intelligence by fashioning Armour and weapons. I'd say its more likely, that their souls were tarnished by the damadge they recieved to their bodies, minds, and emotional states and ultimately what would be their "humanity". This lose would contribute to them losing sight of morals, emotions, and reason ultimately their "soul" itself shriveled and became a lesser soul.
You are overlooking something. Its not that their souls are linked to their intelligence. Its simply that their souls are corruptible. Its simply the inferior nature of being an Elf. HUMANS FIRST!
Draugr are very old undead. I'm not sure if vampires need black soul gems though, but if they do it's because they aren't really the same type of undead as Draugr or skeletons.
I'd been pointing out the soul color issue for _years._ Been wondering when someone would catch on. I think the soul color shift is what the Dwemer meant by the "new eternity" stuff.
And I think the point was to keep Falmer as a sort of cattle, so that the Dwemer could harvest their souls for use.
I'm on board until the end.
I've always thought the Dwemer were blind themselves, but used tonal manipulation to Daredevil their way through the world, but also see into other planes of Aedric existence ("From Beyond" style) simultaneously. I've mentioned a few reasons for this in older comments, like the blinding effect Elder Scrolls have on people and how I don't think it's unrelated to tonal magic, the gods, and the Dwemer, but I won't go into all that again, here. (I believe the Dwemer expected the blind Falmer to be able to read carved plaques the same way they did, to that point)
I've said before that there aren't really any objectively identifiable sources of light in Dwemer ruins, just extremely dim energy wells in sconces or ceiling mounted structures. Everything in the Dwemer ruins works perfectly as it did when the ruins were just dwellings, except, apparently, for these lights--if they're lights. I don't think they're lights, though. I think they're batteries or power sources, like wall outlets, through which the Dwemer accessed and used larger, more steady amounts of tonal manipulation energy in their daily lives (like we use electricity), but the ambient glow they give off arbitrarily was interpreted as lights by every other race. I don't think the Dwemer used or needed light sources.
All sources of profound tonal energy seem to give off an ambient blue to blue-green glow, like Aetherium. The "lights" in Dwemer ruins do this.
The fungus most commonly found within Dwemer ruins, and the fungus it's believed the Falmer were given to eat, also gives off a blue glow, and tends to grow in areas also associated with or near Aetherium veins.
I think the Dwemer did actually feed the Falmer the fungus. But it was to make them like themselves. It was to grant them the power of Tonal Perception. I believe the Dwmer themselves had been eating it for countless generations. I think it's how they discovered the Tonal Manipulation mysteries to begin with. I think it was only through the consumption of the Fungus, after a set number of generations, that the Falmer could be introduced to the deeper powers of Tonal Manipulation, possibly through exposure to a song or other type of sound pattern.
However, the Dwemer hadn't accounted for enough variables, being in a rush to assimilate the Snow Elves. Upon being introduced to the "From Beyond" type tonal visions the Dwemer were accustomed to, the ability to perceive reality beyond the "Earth Bones," the entire Falmer race went insane, some of them even leaving their bodies entirely out of confusion and tonal ignorance, others having their soul irreparably damaged.
I don't think they meant to experiment on the Falmer--not initially, anyway. I think they honestly meant to assimilate them in good faith, but fucked up the process due to having to do it more quickly than it should have been done. I believe the Dwemer spent an extremely long time trying to rectify the situation, which is when experimentation began.
I think physical blindness is the only way to be able to fully perceive the mysteries and energies of Tonal Manipulation. The Dwemer were so in tuned and developed to experience Tonal manipulation, that I think the tone generated by striking Lorkhan's heart was able to be heard by any blind, tonally sensitive Dwemer on the planet, which is why all Dwemer underwent whatever change took place on the day they all disappeared, even those on other continents (but not those outside the vibrational range of tonal reality, aka places not created by the Aedra, like the planes of Oblivion).
I've never played or even really seen much from the Elder Scrolls Online. But the books I'd read in Oblivion and Skyrim led me to believe the Dwemer might be Daredevil type folks, but that plaque kind of confirmed it for me.
That's how I interpret all that, anyway.
Pretty sure the Dwemer guy you meet in Morrowind isn't blind.
The fact that we meet a Dwemer in Morrowind can debunk the blind theory. He appears to suggest that he could/can see, because he mentions that his "eyes and hands fail me," among other lines he mentions about seeing things. He may be going blind himself, but that’s down to his disease and age.
I do really like this theory and I've never heard anyone speculate that the about blindness being caused like that, however my one main problem is that I don't remember the dwemer guy morrowind being blind although I could be mistaken
Blindness could be dubious, but the general concept works, I belive too the dwemer fed the fungus to the falmer to prepare them for their experiments with tonal manipulation and souls. What made them blind, that or the experiment itself?
Riften Guard If he was able to see with sound, how would you know?
I don’t take these things that seriously, but it was just what some of he books made me think when I played Oblivion a in 2007.
"Enough monologueing" he says right before he talks for half an hour straight lol
@Lee Anderson
you can skip
but also some folk like me don't particularly remember such deep lore so i always sit through the recap
@Lee Anderson lol ikr
Interesting. It may be coincidence, but if you remember Katria from the Aetherium Quest, there was mention that she detects as alive, can smell, doesn't like steam, so was she hit by the 'solid sound' and instead of being killed (as she thinks), did she have her soul popped out of her body as the Wispmother's might? The fact that her fulfilling her 'quest' allows her to pass on, may suggest that it isn't the case but it's something to consider.
something else to note with the falmer having non-black souls....all dwemer combat machines have soul gems with varies sizes as loot. its possible the falmer were bred and changed to make them easier to harvest and whatever soul experiments they were doing was to make them lose the Black category and be much easier to soul trap. blackreach is the only place you can find soul gem mines and the dwemer arent really known for having farms or land to raise animals on. a race of creatures with easily trapped souls that survives on mushrooms grown underground? perfect fodder.
Should we evacuate this part of the continent?
"Nah, let's just go underground and get experimented on
Nah they had nowhere to go
The experiment must have been something the Snow Elves thought was potentially worthwhile. Like being able to unbind themselves. The falmer and wisp mothers are those who couldn’t complete the process. Presumably for other Snow Elves they may have been successful, and the Dwemer learned from them and then were able to do the same thing, maybe without the fungus and/or without the blindness.
@@lop90ful1 did they ever explain why the Falmer couldn't flee south, east, or west?
@@drs4983 I'm not 100% sure on the timing, but I would think south was ruled out because the Ayleids were living in Cyrodiil, and they were not a pleasant bunch (especially if the Snow Elves had proven themselves inferior by losing to men). Considering how the Ayleids treated humans, I don't think they would have been exactly friendly to Snow Elf refugees.
@@TranscendentLion that still leaves Hammerfell, Morrowind, and High Rock
Here is my biggest rebuttal to the Dwemer enslaving theory: you touched on it, but I’ll take it a step farther; why would the Dwemer seek to enslave any race? As you stated, labor isn’t an issue, but if we consider it also, knowledge wasn’t either. As advanced beyond anything else in Tamriel the Dwemer were, they would have been welcomed to share knowledge with any race. And, I would argue, as advanced as they were, there wasn’t a race of men or elf on the planet that could have stood against them them, should they have desired to take the land by force. Imagine, robots created to build robots of war, would build soldiers around the clock, making it impossible to defeat them by attrition; while the Dwemer themselves would remain locked and hidden in their underground fortresses, letting mecha fight the war for them. Because they never took that step, why then would they suddenly want slaves?
Don't bother trying to talk sence to people who are unaware that we know exactly what caused the Dwemer's disappearance, and also exactly when it happened. Or that there is a Dwemer you can talk to in a main series game who'se pretty sure that the rest of his people ascended to immortality at the consequence of no longer being able to live in the mortal world (ya know, like Daedra...). Seriously, Zoomers, this was all explained in the MAIN QUEST OF MORROWIND! *Fucking watch a letsplay!*
@@MeepChangeling Except a huge part of the Elder Scrolls is based off replicating a sense of how we identify our own history. There’s unreliable narrators telling things that could very well be outright lies, and that Dwemer was not there for the event, so while he might have his theory, it isn’t anything conclusive. There’s so much that seems set in stone but realistically, could be overturned with some changes on Bethesda’s part. Speculating and theorizing is only natural when we do it in our own world as well. And while I do agree Nate seemed to ignore some important details, for the most part he was pretty good.
If i remember correctly, dwemer did try to make a mecha god that used lorkhan's heart. They did power it and it was so powerful that it created lots of branching realities.
Nords: *practically destroy the falmer civilization*
Falmer: It's just a prank bro
Imagine how scary it was for the snow elves all thoses 500 nords knew how to shout imagine 500 fus ro dah’s coming at you
Humans couldn’t shout until Akatosh and Kynereth allowed the nords to do that when the dragons took over, which was wayyyyy after the snow elves v atmorans. I do agree though, that would be terrifying.
khajiit atmora was controlled by the dragon cult before yssgramor lead the companions to conquer Skyrim.
Mikcha212 yes, but they only got given the gift from the gods after they revolted, in the turning of dragon war.
@@Mikcha212 notice that none of the Dragon Priests can do shout, no matter how strong they are.
because they lived before Kynareth and Paarthurnax teach the shouts to the Nords/Atmorans.
@@AizenV7 Althought quite a few Draugr can.
My impression is the same as yours; that the Falmer were only partially transposed into an alternate reality and thus left diminished (or in the case of Wisp Mothers, lost) in this one. The Dwemer were fully transposed, leaving nothing of themselves behind, but to where or to when we do not know.
Wow, transposed had never sounded so threatening
29:00 I'm pretty sure that "The Hanging of the Gardens" is just a mistranslated copy of the same text contained on Calcelmo's tablet. There are certain similarities in the flow of the text and the wording contained in each. For example, "guide Altmer-Estrial led with foot-flames for the town-center where lay dead the quadrangular gardens" lines up relatively well with "your people were given passage to our steam gardens" as well as details from the line beginning with "many of your people had perished", while "asked the foundations and chains and vessels their naming places" lines up with "we only request you partake of the symbol of our bond, the fruit of the stones around us" if you look at "and" as a mistranslation of "of". "Why they did not use solid sound to teach escape from the Earth Bones nor nourished them with frozen flames" corresponds with "know only our mercy and the radiance of our affection, which unbinds your bones to the earth before, and sets your final path to the music of your new eternity", and the final line of "the word I shall have once written of, this 'art' our lesser cousins speak of when their admirable ignorance" strikes me as being a misplaced mistranslation of "and as your vision clouds, as the darkness sets in, fear not".
"Usually found in wolves or... really stupid cows"
hey i have a name thank you very much
Usually found in wolves, really stupid cows AND Niquel Bones and myself
Tbh I think the Dwemer were curious about the Osimer transformation. So much so that they traded with Mora for information. With that information they traded Volendrung to Malacath to learn how a Mer can be transformed. From there they sought Peryite and traded Spellbreaker for the secrets needed to turn the Snowelves of Skyrim into the Falmer they are today. Thoughts?
Woah that’s a crazy theory, super interesting
Alternative explanation: the Falmer have shrunken souls, and the robots often have soul gems inside them.
The Dwemer tore their souls apart to power their robots.
about the automatons i think you may be right, as i have a theory for the functioning of them
Basically, i think they are like a really huge and optimized spell(tho i dont know how to explain why the gem doesnt get empty), one that complex that it hasnt been used again, only found by the dwemer (or probably their race power/ability)
what about the automatons on Hammerfell, as TESO shows? unless those cities were conected to skyrim by blackreach, wich I think its not the case
How Eggman of the Dwemer.
They had robots before they took in the Falmer, and they had convectors to fill the soul gems, though.
@@dylanschmidt9056 id imagine you would make sure to have those before enslaving people to harvest
26:28 This passage contradicts your idea that the blinding via toxic mushrooms was entirely fabricated, although I do agree with the overall conclusion of this all being a failed experiment. My thinking is that the Dwemer did intentionally blind the Falmer, but this was done in order to force them to compensate by strengthening their hearing with the goal of seeing if this would enhance the effect of Tonal Manipulation on them. Or perhaps they intended to teach the art of Tonal Manipulation to the Falmer and wanted to see if this would improve their ability to use it.
"The fruit of our stones" could mean that they were fed mushrooms to blind them, as the next lines talk about the falmer accepting the darkness and giving in to the dwemer's experiment
@@norfar377 "the fruit of our stones" could also refer to the tones emitted from said stones... it's not entirely clear-cut as to what that particular phrase means :/
It doesn't literally mean fruit. "Fruits of your labor"? Fruit of the stones is referring to the tonal manipulation itself. The fruits of their efforts. Literacy and vocabulary are greatly lacking these days.
@@driftingdruid Not really when they talk about tonal manipulation earlier without using those terms.
That theory sounds solid, and maybe the Falmer were the last step in the experimental trials to transcend to Aethirium. What if the sudden disappearance of the Dwemer was by their own design? And after using the Falmer as lab rats they finally deciphered how to use tonal manipulation to leave Mundus and go live with the gods in aethirium, hence, completely disappearing without much explanation.
At this point, I know more about the history of elves and dwemer more than I know about my own race
Lol same
Ethnic Group, not race. Thats something else like neanderthals.
@@SolutiionxD nope, just nope. Nowhere does your comment mean anything useful.
SolutiionxD, no it’s race. Neanderthals were an entirely different species.
@@daltondurham5942 you cant say an african man is another species than an european ? That would be ethnicity and not race
I like to think that somewhere in Bethesda game studious there is a book maybe Todd Howard’s journal locked away full of all the answers to every mystery in Skyrim
They do have lore masters but I think they sometimes leave stuff unanswered for fans and for future lore.
But Todd Howard probably has a secret book. ;)
@@pingASS_ Its the complete, full length novel version of The Lusty Argonian Maid
One book? Haha it would be many...With all the quests with each country race and the games before....so yesss...many books
i honestly think that todd burned all the Weirdest lore when they were making Oblivion. the series has been afraid of its own worldbuilding and unique weirdness since Morrowind
@@pingASS_ Todd is Herma Mora, holding the Books of Knowledge. The dwemer were trying to unbind from time to attack and secure these books
Ok seriously tho, this guy deserves his own show where he just talks about the crazy mysteries and details in Skyrim. I would definitely binge watch that show every single day
1:42 Everything changed though...
Me: “When the fire nation attacked?”
Nah when the Dwarven Nation attacked
Homosapians, reptiles, feline, elves long ago these races use to all live together in harmony then everything change when the nords attacked
Hahahahahaha!!!
@Elisabeth MacCurdy but everything changed when The COPPA nation attacked
I said it when he started the phrase 😅
This reminds me, in Solstheim the Earth Stone gives you an Effect called "Bones of the Earth" which protects you from 80% of physical damage for a limited period of time. Are these things related to the Earth bones, and if yes then how?
Edit: I am also wondering, in Skyrim we can become ethirical for some time which prevents us from taking any damage, while in that state is the dragonborn unbound from the earth bones?To add to that I wanted to say I find it very interesting that the sound alters reality as what do dragons use to alter reality?That's right, shouts! The thing about shouts is that they are similar to aedric powers as when humans use magica they simply turn one energy into another or use that energy to alter what already exists whereas a shout creates something out of nothing, so it ony makes sense a shout enables us to become ethirical, perhaps the Dwemer found a way to tap into the same power by imitating shouts of dragons or even surpassing the power of the thu'um.
in the case of the earth stone in solstheim, i think the bend will shout specifically says something about bending the earthbones to your will or something.
i mean your already altering reality through primal tonal manipulation, theoretically with a strong enough will and understanding a tongue user (or the LDB) could fuck shit up pretty bad. Hell give them a prince's neonymic and i wouldn't be surprised if they could bend will a daedric prince. Though that would require a LOT of will
The Dwemer didn't want the Snow Elves to see their experiments and be able to copy them. They didn't want to risk them hearing things and learning things either so they devolved them so they couldn't follow them where ever they went. (Or maybe the Falmer got used to their new ways to the point that they went savage on the Dwemer and eat them all)
No bones?
Nate: "Calcelmo's stone rubbing."
Me, internally 12: *giggles*
One other thing! While, as you mentioned, Falmer have “Lesser” souls, wispmothers have “Greater” souls. While it isn’t a 50/50 split, perhaps the Falmer and wispmothers are two halves of the same creature, instead of “some Falmer had their soul shrunk, and some turned into wispmothers.” Perhaps for each Falmer there was a wispmothers created, for instance- the dwarves took the *majority* of the falmers’ souls (but not all, as they still have “lesser” souls) and the taken bits were turned into the wispmothers! Eh, just a thought.
EDIT: my point in mentioning the soul sizes is that neither creature has a “complete” (grand) soul.
Falmer
Fal-Mer
Fallen Mer
Fallen Elves
Can’t believe it took me this long to realize that
fal = snow genius
@@user-wr6dj4ib9o lol
Perspective:
Your a snow elf just seeing the underground dwemer complex you live in now, they gather you all up and are just like “so uh welcome... we are happy to have you here. EAT THIS WIERD MUSHROOM WE FOUND YO!”
"Think of it as a welcome dessert... What? Your vision goes all blurry? Must be an allergic reaction..."
"vison getting a bit blurry, its alright fam, thats normal"
Rogeh Ha
skully everret all part of the plan
Maybe they thought they were the fun kind of shrooms
I thought it was so cool to see an actual snow eld in the dawnguard dlc!, and obviously to have the armor and see the architecture and stuff, even if the snow elf was a bad guy
I always thought it was weird that the snow elves snuck into the nord city and started the slaughter, especially if their entire race could be wiped out by a single army of 500. If they were as smart as they seemed to be then they probably wouldn’t have started a war they had no hope of winning. It just seems out of place you know? My theory is that the Dwemer actually committed the act leaving only Ysgramor alive and somehow (probably using tonal manipulation) made him believe the attack was by the snow elves, orchestrating the Nordic-Falmer war from the background, knowing their Elven brethren would eventually have no choice but to turn to them for the preservation of their society. Ultimately the Dwemer found a way to enslave the snow elves without really any effort on their part, allowing them to be used as guinea pigs for their sound experiments and stuff that brought the devolution of the falmer, most likely giving the Dwemer the knowledge to transcend the mortal plane. It makes more sense to me, because the Dwemer seem much more capable of an unprovoked slaughter than the Snow Elves do, and it’s totally the type of societal manipulation you’d expect from a race that ignores emotions in favor of scientific discovery. I mean really if any race in Skyrim was gonna play God like that, it would be the Dwemer right?? There’s not much evidence to support it, it’s almost completely speculation but it makes a lot of sense to me
Yeah that makes alot of sense. Because it still seems like the dwemer enslaved the falmer just not for manual labor. At best you could say they took advantage of a people who apparently had no other option but flee to the dwemer or die. The tablet reads as much as a reminder that the falmer owed the dwemer as anything else.
You know what’s bigger? This settlement that needs your help; here, i’ll mark it on your map...
You are in the wrong franchise
Ah shit here we go again
He needs your help. He switched games just to find you General!
Hey! No. I'm a raider now. I got my raider buddies. I don't need you anymo......shit, I killed one.
Where was that settlement?
I hope you don't mind if I just send a couple of my bandit pals to that settlement real quick.
Spoilers for the video, I watched all of it so you can too ;3
Nate: The Dwemer had ultimately good intentions with turning the Falmer into goblins!
The Dwemer: Okidoki artichoke-y lads, mushrooms sometimes make you high, perhaps this is how we'll ascend back to Aetherius? Be a pal, Snow Elves, and try these.
Snow Elves: Sure!
Snow Elves:
Snow Elves: We're collectively Gollum now.
The Dwemer: -furiously taking notes- Yes, yes, good, very good, fascinating! This experiment ended horribly! Next we'll just tap the heart of Lorkhan and see what that does.
Dwemer 1: "Okay, the first experiment went... nightmarishly wrong. We might have horrifically mutated an entire species into nightmare creatures, but hey, science demands sacrifice. What's our next test?"
Dwemer 2: "Uh... I got a hammer. Could just dink the thing."
Dwemer 1: "GENIUS!"
26:55 its important to notice, that the message on this wall was meant for the snow elves to read when they could still see - save to assume they didnt instantly go blind as they consumed "the fruit of their stones" which i assume was the fungus fed to them. it reads to me like the dwemer knew that these fungi set off a painful transformation that steals the consumers eyesight but they are trying to calm the snow elves (who probably were confused as to why they were subjected to such pain) and assure them, that this transformation will "unbind their bones to the earth before and set their final path to the music of their new eternity" (some sort of salvation or sth idk)
The whole soul transcendence thing would explain why the dwemer had an elder scroll. 🤔
10:13 you know if I had been a Nord at that meeting the snowelfs may still be alive “”these weak little elfs butchered everyone you say? But yet somehow you and only you (and your sons) survived? So what your actually telling us is at the first sign of a fight you turned tail and ran like a little bunny rabbit, you didn’t even attempt to help your brother and sister Nords you just fled?””
Mocking him would have been so easy.
Nord: Ysgramor! You return to Atmora!
Ysgramor: The Snow Elves have destroyed Saarthal!
Nord: What?! Why?!
Ysgramor: I dunno -its definitely not because we found a doomsday weapon in the basement-
Nord: Elf bastards!
Ysgramor: Get me 500 of our best men and we'll destroy the Snow Elves
Nord: 500, sir?
Ysgramor: yes why do you ask?
Nord: even with 500 of our best we couldn't beat the snow elves.
Ysgramor: Fine, get me 10000 men, but write it as 500 in the history books to make me sound badass
tl;dr: Ysgramor is a prick
@@metetural9140 If a single user of the voice like Ulfric or the Dragonborn already do the damage that they do imagine 500 men of the best of the best, plus they are all nords... that Ice resistance and power of making the enemy flee with a simple battlecry are nothing to sneeze at even if they didn't use the thu'um...
@@thetemplar8167 yeah but that battle cry only really works on level 5 bandits
@@metetural9140 the same as all history i think most absurd things elves write or believe are completely garbage, they just want sound like the supreme and perfect being thinking only them can be gods, denying that if talos wasn't a true god his god damn shrine wouldn't even work in first place.
@@metetural9140 and one more thing, were real 500, do not mock the nord prowess because while elves think they are so powerful and full of glory nords were dealing with imortal godlike dragons, even the akavir fought dragons and they did not knew how to thu'um, the old nords saved the world so dragonborn could finish the work properly later, alduin was a king, a ruler with an army of imortal dragons, what would the dominion do against him? cast fireball? oh and also the nords were guarding the eye of Magnus, that's why they protect it till skyrim day, they are not an stupid elf like ancano that cannot resist greed, draugrs are things that come to life with the sole purpose to protect their tombs and guard whatever is inside, its their purpose of existence, so this proves ysgramor and his folk never wanted to use the eye, but i think the elves reeeeeaaally wanted to use it, for them to come attack that place out of nowhere for no reason, greed ones they are.
Bro, what... this is so entertaining yet absolutely crazy. You're like that guy with the whiteboard and all the red lines that point to countless pictures, articles, books and idk... more whiteboards across the whole room! That was flashy, quality content! I'm shook.
One thing i think you got wrong is the "the fungus is a myth" theory, because it is specifically stated on the dwemer tablet that they give them the fungus. Also, what happens when you take away one sense from someone? The other senses get better, in the case of the falmer the dwemer took away their sight so the hearing would get way better and thus the falmer would be able to hear and understand the fine tones of tonal-architecture or at least that is what the dwemer hoped would happen.
Could it be that the Falmer was used by die Dwemer as an army to combat a Medusa 😁 ...
Wait no... they have mechanical armies
now that you've mentioned wismother's having a tone my mind is stuck on nirnroot and crimson nirnroot which is specifically found in blackreach. Could that possibly tie into this somehow?
this has a lot to do with lorkhan and the heart of lorkhan (see morrowind, viz., sunder and keening, tuning forks) and eventually the very disappearance of the dwarves from mundus/nirn (i don't remember which specifically, but every bit of obscure lore i know about this makes me certain that it would be nirn only). there are tonal/musical themes throughout (sword singing in akavir, green singing of the bosmir [only in an ESO book iirc?], and the thu'um immediately come to mind). likely related is the concept of the jha-kah'jay and the dances/climbing of the khajiit. (they keep the best secrets, after all). related to the khajiit's climbing/dancing (but not to music and tones) is the mythology of sidestepping (redguard). back to khajiit, it's worth looking into the proper nature of azura and why it's not a "plot hole" that she could manifest even with the dragonfire barrier (contrast, compare to the lunar lattice). rabbit trails, but good stuff.
back to "earth bones" which makes me think very much of lorkhan but also literally the ehlnofey. there's not much to say about them, but it's definitely worth looking into the REAL differences between the aedra and daedra and what happened when the aedra chose to incarnate. blah blah, i could go on. the reason i say "look into" instead of saying exactly what i think is because so much of it is open to interpretation and viewpoints. literally, it's all about viewpoints.
also, fun fact, "utmora" and "altmora" sound pretty similar. weird! i'm sure that has nothing to do with anything, like the battle between auri'el and lorkhan, or why elves and humans don't like each other, or [...]
also, perhaps most obviously (i can't believe i forgot), moth priests. 'nuff said.
@@imseti7991 I thought Sword Singing was Yokudan?
you're right, RIP me
One thing I'd like to add/think about with that whole "fungus thing": If you think about Blackreach, you can find those gigantic glowing mushrooms you can not collect for alchemy, they're just... there. But, what else is in Blackreach, in particular in the soil of Blackreach? Aetherium, which, as somewhere else is mentioned in one of your videos, has connections to Aetherius. What if those giant mushrooms you can see, are actually full of Aetherium or aetherial energy? And feeding it to the Falmer was part of the preparation for unbinding them from the earth bones.
Just a small thing one might be able to add to the whole Falmer-Dwemer-conspiracy.
18:20
"1 of 6 soul sizes"
*Sad dragonsoul noises*
Dragon Souls are in a class of their own (they can't be soul trapped I think)
@@vexile12 But theyre still a type of soul
@Cody Allen thats a funny one actually, what would happen if you kill the dragonborn and get his soul in a gem? would it have all the souls of dragons and his?
@@razatlab2804 You are the dragon soul gem.
th-cam.com/video/t-25_5hBrLQ/w-d-xo.html
oh yeah using your Distraught elven brothers and Sisters for experiments Really is pure hearted. Kagrahnac should obviously get the nobel peace prize.
Well Kagrenac was in Vvardenfell and was a tonal engineer so he would have nothing to do with experimenting of the Falmer
Why are you getting so worked up about? It's just a theory.... A ga-
@@youwillpayforyoursins9372 Go back to your Metapod.
I know this was three years ago but I love your channel so much thank you so much for all the amazing memories
“JuSt KeEp ThEm AwAy FrOm WeApOnS” - that’s worked so well to deter revolts throughout history
Usually, those revolts happened on account of people in power feeling guilt about those they subjugated, mixed with how you can't really keep your slaves locked up if you want to use them. Allowing an opening for weapons and other tools to slip through. These guys seem extremely logic obsessed, and their civilization is based underground with very easy to watch exits, it would take decades of careful work to sneak a tunnel that could potentially reach the surface, so I doubt that would have been a problem.
Zolen fed
What he was essentially saying was that it would be way less ineffective if they were to revolt.
Chauruses: what're you looking at me for? ...oh no.
@@FastForwardPlans No it didn't what the fuck are you talking about, like that has literally never happened in any historical slave revolt.
I want a game where you play back in the ancient days of Tamriel, where you can play as a Falmer (before the change) or a Dwemer or other races around at that time. There could be a lot of stories that the player could help influence, and it could probably be done in a way where it will not affect the timeline too horribly. But I'd love to see the Dwemer and see more Snow Elves.
All these years I had the plan to one day sit down and actually read my way through the mountain of books I feel compelled to collect, and now I found your channel I find it a lot more comfy to listen to your amazing videos.
It's crazy that Skyrim is almost 10 years old and we are still finding amazing pieces of the game that we have only now discovered and it shows how amazing this game really is
The mods are amazing
No
@Steve N Okay I'm confused so Mods are not good are you saying that???
It's crazy how we don't end sentences with periods any more.
@@oshikiri999 Because we're not at school
The tones tore the souls of the Falmer asunder, leaving most of the soul disembodied but bound within solid sound, the rest to inhabit a body warped by the process, and neither with enough of its aetherial nature to ascend beyond mortal existence.
I cant belive nobody knows this: Auriel killed Lorkham, cut the heart of Lorkham and sent it to Tamriel in an arrow, shooting with the bow. It landed in Red Mountain. The Heart of Lorkham was discovered by Dwemer in secret by accident in the Red Mountain during the first Era. The Red Mountain VVaderfel was the first Dwemer Imperium built in all Tamriel, it has 4citadels. They had a pact with High Elves (the elves of this region will become dark elves by the ashes of the mountain with the time) and they ruled together, against the expeditions of nords and orcs trying to settle on this region. Dumac king of Dwemers and Nerevar king of Elves were friends during thousands of years, until Nerevar discovered what Dumac and his Dwemer were doing all the time: reconstructing Lorkham, because Lorkham promised to Dumac to be a God crossing the immortal plane. Nerevar told the First Council to stop them. And the war began. Dwemer asked for help to Nords and Orcs and the battle of the Red Mountain ended with a strange victory for elves, Nerevar king of Elves died during the battle, the dwemers activated the sound mechanism to open ALL portals they built on some of their subterranean cities, kept the Heart of Lorkham inside a magikal key and a magikal lock. The sound mechanism opens a portal out of Nirm, it consist on a ball bell like the bell in Black Reach were you can fusrothar it and a secret dragon appears. Dumac asked to Nords to take the Lorkham heart inside the key to their safest city (Saarthal) and wait until the time of gods comes, protect it and dont use it, because the effect is different for every race when use it. Humans cant use it because they dont have blood mer. When all the Vvanderfel Dwemers were safe crossing the portals to the realm plane like Dumac did, the other Dwemers signed a peace pact with Elves and they abandoned Morrowind and settled definitely in Skyrim to live "in peace" with snow elves (not implicated in the conflict of the red mountain, neutral behavior until the night of Saarthal)while thinking in the revenge against Elves, developing a fungus. They let Nords to keep the heart of Lorkhan (eye of magnus wrong called) because they cant use it. But after long time snow elves knew the existance and location of the heart of Lorkham, the enemy of Auriel, in Saarthal. Then they attacked to Nords killing most of them until the last subterranean floor but in the last chamber the female snow elf commander Aumriel tried to destroy the Heart she was transformed in a mother wisp and soldiers around her in that moment were turned in soul wisps. Snow Elves abandoned Saarthal without touching the heart because it was dangerous. Ysgramor landed some years later and began to kill elves, snow elves and high elves. When snow elves asked for help to the dwemers, they knew it was the right moment to exterminate them before opening the sound portals and leave Nirm, and back with Dumac and their people in the immortal plane. The video explains very well what happened after snow elves drink the fungus, went blind and became falmers.
using someone as a guinea pig, even if it's supposed to be for a "good ending", isn't what I'd call good intentions.
I would love to see a game being made with both the dwemer and snow elves race before the war with the Nords.
Same.
No.
No, Dwemer and snow elf won’t team up to fight
I like this theory for the most part, but I feel like you missed a clue in the form of the soul sizes. First, number the soul sizes like this:
6. Black
5. Grand
4. Greater
3. Common
2. Lesser
1. Petty
Now, if you add the falmer soul (2. Lesser) to the whispmother soul (4. Greater) it would equal the highest soul (6. Black). So rather than the falmer and whispmothers being 2 DIFFERENT effects of the Dwemer experiments, I theorize that the whispmothers are snow elf “spirits” that have been separated from their falmer bodies. I think this was the goal of these experiments, except the entire soul was intended to stay with the spirit. Since their souls were ripped in two, both the bodies and the spirits of those snow elves were corrupted. That would explain why they are both hostile entities. Eventually, the Dwemer were able to stop the soul from being torn apart in this way, and once they were able to successfully transcend their bodies, they gathered together and ascended together. But this is of course just a theory.
I cannot express enough my love and excitement for these types of videos that you put out. I literally been binge watching them, Skyrim and Fallout. I love everything about these videos and it's good to sit back and listen to while doing something else. Thank you for these videos, Nate!
Last time I was this early. The dwemer were still around
Lol
No shoot Sherlock
Last time I saw a comment like this, I was a hour younger
@@GlennSkywalker2305 Well actually in TES 3 Morrowind you can meet the last surviving Dwemer, but I don't think Nate was uploading back in 2002 so I guess your comment still holds up.
Drake&Josh Official TH-cam Channel lol
Using an entire sentient species as labrats isn't quite in the ballpark of "good intentions" in my book.
I this point I would like to believe that TheEpicNate315 is just a Skyrim game that achieve sentience and is using the Mandela Effect and time travel to be keep coming up with skyrim content this long.
10:59 at least one person was thoughtful enough to wear a mask while fighting
He ain’t built up them antibodies yet. Also, great catch!
Ok I have another theory that might be worth looking into, but bear with me because it's a long one..
What if the reason the falmer went blind is because the dwarves were forcing them to read the elder scrolls?
They didn't just randomly stumble upon all this amazingly advanced knowledge randomly, or pluck it out of thin air, they'd been reading the elder scrolls for generations and obtained all this forbidden knowledge.
But then maybe they had too many of their best and brightest going blind or suffering the other effects, so when they found the abundance of falmer desperate to escape the nords they brought them underground with them, and made them read the elder scrolls which is what made them go blind. They didn't make them eat a strange fungus, they made them look for a way to escape the plain of mundus, as in a way to pass into the realm of the gods.
And THAT'S why you can sometimes find elder scrolls in dwarves ruins.
Fungus and mundus could've easily just been a translation error.
So the tonal frequencies, vibrations are a common theme in spiritual areas, especially looking at astral protection (the process of separating the spirit from the body), the dwarves were looking at moving to another plane of existence and needed knowledge from the elder scrolls to do it.
a good guess to where a city was would be where Whiterun is currently, the skyforge is definitely elven with the eagle motifs on it
The video kept showing Winterhold which had me wondering if that's Falmer architecture too.
@@Jaytheradical Winterhold is all Ancient Nord. But aside from the Forgotten Vale, Skyforge seems to be the only other piece of Snow Elf architecture.
@@jaydentaylor36
I always thought the elves shunned the place, and that the nords carved the hawk there to honor Kyne, whose totemic representation was a hawk, amd whose dominion was nature and sky.
"Ysgramor"
Caption: *ye scrub more*
That’s good advice for all of us!
Lol
I always say "yes grandma"
This game is full of fun. Been playing it since it launched. I loved the backwards flying dragon glitch that broke the game from the start
What if the Dwarves really did shower them with affection and treated them almost like pets and the Falmer began to souly rely on them and when they vanished the falmer forgot how to live and reverted, with a lack of hunting skills or real food sources they devolved
Makes sense 😆