In my playthrough, a legendary dragon spawned just as I reached the Last Vigil. The Ebony Warrior and I teamed up and we defeated the dragon together before we fought and I sent him to Sovngarde. It was quite poetic for me at least.
@@sofabutter2893 and me, now you're the butt end of the joke next time don't try to be funny lilboykid. (Who asked) 2 ppl that's who now who asked you to come comment? Anybody? Hellloooo? No one? Now shut up
Agreed. It is a reoccurring, and oft mentioned, part of the Elder Scrolls lore that sometimes, for all kinds of reason, there just seems to be some special people who come around at important times in history; people like the Last Dragonborn, the Hero of Kvatch, the Tharn's Prinsoner, and so on. They come, do their things, and then disappear mysteriously into history. On a meta-gaming level, we know these people were all just Player Characters, but their existence (and occurrence through history) is part of the lore. My take on the Ebony Warrior is that he was just another of these special people. It has been over two-hundred years between the Hero of Kvatch and the Last Dragonborn -- plenty of time for one of these special people to have come about, done their things, and their fight with the Last Dragonborn is just their last act.
@@seprithlicastia463 "A Hero or Heroine, sometimes described as being doom-driven or referred to as a Prisoner, is a mortal blessed (and cursed, from another point of view) with a special fate and the ability to rule their own destiny. Heroes are closely related to the prophecies revealed in the Elder Scrolls, but are not bound by them. They often grow to become far more powerful than most other mortals." -The UESP entry for Lore:Hero
What I found incredibly funny was when I met him in Whiterun, he issued his challenge, then a bunch of vampires attacked. He cowered in fear the entire fight.
I always thought the ebony warrior was just a farewell from the game itself, he is the player - he is encountered at pretty much the max level any sane individual would agree to climb up to, and his entire shtick is that he did everything, seen everything, and now he wants one FINAL challenge before he is off for good. For me, Skyrim ends after the Ebony Warrior is killed. I as a player had faced my final foe, the only other person in Tamriel who had done EVERYTHING he could do.
That's pretty much the entire reason he exists to me as well, but the lore behind him to explain his in universe reason for existing is pretty dope too
I think the point of the ebony warrior is that he’s supposed to be a mirror of the player. His story is pretty much the same as yours and, like you, he’s run out of quests to complete. The game is telling you that you’ve become the most powerful being in all of Skyrim and there’s nothing left to do but try to find an opponent worthy of taking you to Sovngarde.
Im not sure the ebony warrior has ever been so callous and hell bent at amassing power as to spend literal in game years doint jogging from castel volkhiar to fort dawnguard holding a piece of dragon bone with telekinesis (surpassing its mastery in Alteration on a level entire leagues above any mortal to boot) with the sole purpose to stop to only have a soul of a Dragon but gain its physical vitality too (4600 hp). It had a purpose as a new challenge for lvl80 players that had a level cap up until then, but after that it simply becomes fake difficulty due to the reflect damage gimmick that can one shot back a character vastly superior but with a still "human" hp pool. And of course im not even mentioning the fact that all it takes to totally cheese him is really just the good ol and legit 4 reducing destruction pieces at max enchanting and stunlocking him with a rain of infinite fireballs...or the new creation club "elemental" version if you feel particularly merciless.
@@Dour888 Lol. My level 118 character is a rich evil immortal vampire dragonlord. The only reason I haven't conquered Skyrim is because the game won't let me. The ebony warrior is nothing like us.
My character was a redguard when I first see and battled the Ebony Warrior. And when I fought him and killed him I thought he was me from the future of the Psijic Order and I had a mindblow. After discovering that the Ebony Warrior's race doesn't change because of the player, I simply ignored it and that moment is canonical in my head.
@@zachlewis9751 you know i would make fun of you for missing the joke but there’s always a chance on the internet that you’re actually doing a 4d chess ass double-joke and i’m the real joke-misser
I remember making like a "god build" maxing out all crafting skills and upping almost everything to 100. I went in feeling like hot shit but my own weapon took me out due to Ebony warriors damage reflect. My greatest creation turned against me!
@@BehuraStudio yep, he has the damage reflection perk from the heavy armor tree. It's not that great for the player but for enemies it's probably the most annoying skill to encounter. Thankfully it's rare. I think only the Ebony warrior has it
he was really easy to defeat if you freeze him solid with a dragon shout. lets you get in a couple extra hits. it also helped that i was wearing heavy dragon bone armor, that was enchanted to help with health recovery, and stamina recovery.
I originally thought while watching this video, that Nate would lead us to the Atronach Forge when it comes to the items within Ebony's inventory. Like maybe something might happen if you take his items to the Atronach Forge, and then activate it. Maybe you also need the sigil stone because there is a deadra heart involved and a black soul gem. But as we can already see, Nate didn't do this, I would do this myself but I don't have my PC with me right now, so if any one of you who are viewing this comment would like to do this, please do it and let me know of your results.
I personally look at the ebony warrior as the end of your run, it’s a signal that everything have been done, everyone has been spoken to, everything has been seen, and the idea of it just makes me love the story writing even more, because like his, your story is also finished and with it you both have peace, it’s like the old saying “all good things come to an end eventually”
I used to think it was Delphine, but having picked skyrim up again recently I'm fairly certain it's not, because the letters being sent just doesn't match up with anything relevant to Delphine. It makes more sense that it's someone with either powerful magical insight who can sense the precise location of word walls, or someone who has muscled their way through dungeons to find the walls. I think the first is most likely, because some of the word walls are guarded by unique bosses, but nonetheless the "friend" will still tell you about them, and the bosses will be very much alive when you arrive. Still, the Ebony Warrior could fit into both categories, the latter because just look at those stats and the former because they're a superior shouter to the Dragonborn, likely with the ability to sense the word walls just like the Greybeards. The fact that the Greybeards will sometimes tell you of a word wall in person makes it pretty unlikely they're the friend, nobody else in Skyrim (aside from Dragur) can shout, aside from Ulfric, but the letters keep coming even if you side with the empire and kill Ulfric. So it's either a Greybeard giving you additional info despite immense discipline, Ulfric who may still contact you from Sovengarde, a literate dragon who doesn't scare the couriers, or the Ebony Warrior. Or a character who we never meet and never gain any information about besides what can be inferred from the situation, and therefore will never know anything about.
@@willsterjohnson That last lines possibility is haunting to me, I want to know! This whole cliff hanger is what makes bethesda so good, over a decade later and a whole community of people are still drawn to this one mysterious guy we encountered as a short side quest.
@@rayju9998 their storytelling is truely amazing, I just wish they could've had more time to finalize Skyrim. So much cut content due to time constraints, so many stories we'll never hear the end of, or even begin. I realise there's something I glossed over in my comment, the letter states; "You should turn your attention to [Location]. I understand it holds a mysterious source of power that can only be unlocked by the Dragonborn." This doesn't necessarily mean they can hear word walls, nor that they've been there to see it. In fact, it actually implies they're uncertain of what the power is, someone who can shout would definitely know meaning it's unlikely to be a Greybeard, Dragon, Ulfric, or the Ebony Warrior, in fact aside from the Greybeards all of these can be killed, and the letters will keep coming. In my original analysis, that leaves only an unknown character. However, it could be a scholar or researcher who's studying the ancient Nords. "I for one desire to see you grow and develop your talents. Skyrim needs a true hero these days." It's unlikely to be a Stormcloak as they obviously view Ulfric as Skyrim's true hero. Esbern is definitely a very intelligent researcher with a fixation on the Dragons and the Dragonborn, but until meeting him he's unaware that there's a Dragonborn anywhere, let alone Skyrim. It's not the Arch Mage Savos Aren as you can still receive the letter after his death. Jarl Elisif is too incompetent, The Emperor can be killed as can Tulius, the other faction leaders wouldn't care, the other Jarls on the imperial side are busy with their holds, Calcelmo is interested in Dwemer, other wizards are busy with their magic & research, and most other named NPCs aren't protected. "Sincerely, A Friend" Delphine does sign her mysterious note as "--a friend", same name but different writing style entirely. Besides, she doesn't believe there's a Dragonborn until you absorb a Dragon's soul, she's extremely skeptical of the Greybeards. You can receive the letter from a friend before she knows you're Dragonborn. It's not Miraak because why on Earth would he encourage you to be more powerful? He's also not in the base game and, as with most characters, can be killed without the letters ceasing. That only really leaves us with people outside of Skyrim or Solstheim, which presumably is many thousands of humanoids. But why would they care about Skyrim having a hero? Aedra? No, they're dormant as their planets. Daedra? Maybe, but why send a letter? Why would they want Skyrim to have a hero rather than them to have a champion? "he didn't say who he was, just that he was a friend of yours" - Courier, delivering the letter from a friend It seems that the answer really is that the friend who shares the locations of word walls with us is a man we may never learn anything more about.
I always thought the ebony warrior was a metaphor for the player. He shows up at level 80 and says "I've done all the quests, ive killed everyone even remotely challenging, im in misery, please kill me". It's a way for the devs to say "you can stop playing now, there is nothing left". Him being able to use dragon shouts also makes me think this is true. The whole game, you're told that you're the only one who can do this. Now, here's someone else who can do it. It might be to make the player consider their similarities to the ebony warrior.
@@josebenardi1554 I know, but the game treats it as though it's special thing that's exclusive to you. Therefore, the first time you see another character use it, it's extremely jarring.
I mean, we see draugur, greybeards, ulfric, various dragon priests including mirrak (phones having a hell of a time with autocorrect, pardon the spelling errors) all using shouts. The only unique thing about the Dragonborn is the ability to learn words quickly via absorbing dragon souls. I know what you mean about finality though. By the time I got to him, I was steamrolling everything I came across, with or without looped weapons/armor. When he showed up, I had a goku moment, used dragon aspect, and gave him the best fight I could. He got steamrolled as well, but he can at least go to sovngarde and tell stories of how he was bested by the most powerful Dragonborn to ever walk while at his absolute peak. That’s a hell of a lot better than that riff raft orc looking for a good death got. For him, a good death meant quick and (relatively) pain free, getting slapped with a loop smithed chaos damage/paralysis sword named “Meth”, cause nobody can handle Meth, not even once.
This boss was made all the harder for me. I died like 5 times before I decided to sneak around and look at his equipment. HIS SWORD WAS ENCHANTED WITH VAMPIRISM.
I had a playthough where i had TONS of combat improvement mods, making combat more tacticle/harder/skill based. I remember fighting the ebony warrior for over 20 mins, and the fight took us all over the place it was legit epic
I always figured the Ebony Warrior was supposed to be an incarnation of Ebonarm, a wargod worshipped by the nords, Bretons and red guards in Daggerfall. Would explain his immense size as well as why he as a red guard thought he could go to Sovngarde.
Is that to say that Redguards, or any other race, *can't* go to Sovngarde? It's unorthodox if anything, but beyond that you really only have to have died as an honorable and glorious warrior in the midst of battle.
@@SpaceEmperorGenos Different cultures usually go to the place their culture/religion believes in when they die. Belief is a lot in the elder scrolls lore, for instance Tiber Septim ascending to godhood because he fully believed that he was to be a god.
I definitely think he's an incarnation/aspect of Ebonarm. Honestly, with his worship having dropped off for centuries now (he's not mentioned after the end of the 2nd era, if I remember rightly), it could even be Ebonarm himself, in a diminished state.
The Ebony Warrior’s monologue almost made me tear up. He’s a reflection of the player, who has done everything that can be done and has accepted that it’s time to leave.
I really wanted him to become a companion, like after our fight and he’s on his knees, we get to talk to him and try to convince him to join our journey.. would’ve been nice 👍
@@WompwompPI what? that would be like the player choosing to become a companion of an NPC in the game and following them around forever and only doing what they want to do. doesn't make any sense having such an independent figure become your bitch boy for fighting and carrying your stuff around. like having the main boss in the game become your companion.. like what!?
@@WompwompPI Yeah it would be cool if you also had the option to convince him there's still more to do and not have to fight him....taking him on a challenging quest to prove him otherwise and to learn more about his past.
I've always seen the Ebony Warrior as a parallel to the player character. Just an adventurer with a lot of talent and skill who did everything there was to do before challenging the most powerful known living being in the world. I imagine he probably had his own massive story before the events of Skyrim, even becoming the champion or avatar of a god. We know for a fact that the dragonborn isn't the only ridiculously powerful and remarkable person in elder scrolls lore because the previous games happened. It's easy to just forget these are real people that actually existed and were just as remarkable in the lore of the world as a player, but knowing that, it's only natural that others would exist on the same level that aren't/weren't player characters. I don't think the Ebony Warrior is anything more than one of these remarkable people, down to the parallel of having a legacy that supersedes any personal name, like the Dragonborn, the Neravarine, the Hero of Kvatch, and so on.
Almost like in the Shivering Isles where the Champion of Cyrodiil has to fight their shadow self, which could be incredibly challenging depending on the PC's level. There's some poetic moral there I'll bet, fight your own demons type of lesson.
I agree, especially because of the fact that he is only encountered after level 80 and his dialogue about having nothing left to do. In the base game, 80 was the highest level and we quite literally, had nothing left to do, all we could do was embrace sovengard.
Just so you know, TLD would stomp the Hero of Kvatch. You can say whatever you want, but unless you count the bullshit bug spells that you can make in Oblivion (Which you shouldn't because, like I said, bullshit) the Hero of Kvatch can't really stand up to TLD and his shouts. Not even just the shouts, he's innately stronger than everybody because he has the soul and blood of a dragon in a mortal shell.
pretty sure the ebony warrior is the last septim alive, they did have redguard blood or so the lore says, they may want to go back to sovengard like the old nords, and a septim can inherit the dragon soul and shout like the player
Plot twist, Ebs was supposed to be the dragonborn of this age but he got distracted with side quests and never progressed the plot to actually becoming the Dragonborn. Then you showed up and became dragonborn instead
I always liked the Ebony Warrior Battle as the last thing I did before I ended my switch run of the game. It really did feel like the culmination of my character’s life. Even though I summoned two dremora lords to fight him while I bashed him to death with a pair of dual conjured swords… And Ice Breath… and Dragon’s Aspect.
I also like the ebony warrior. I literally devoted an entire run for him where I would prepare the entire time I was reaching level 1 to level 80 so that I could kill him with ebony or myself and no extra help.I died :-:
I have a theory. The Ebony Warrior shows no pathological desire to destroy and conquer the Dragonborn, unlike the wielder of Umbra in Oblivion. What if the Ebony Warrior conquered the domineering nature of the curse by careful study of the Voice? Paarathanax controlled his violent urges through thousands of years of careful mediation, applying the Thuu'm to meditation rather than conquest. What if the Ebony Warrior studied with the Grey Beards and did the same kind of meditation, allowing him to remain calm despite the negative influence of Umbra's curse. The Ebony Warrior gaining an appreciation for the Nord culture and the Dragon Shouts might have made him consider them more of a home than his Redguard culture, since that careful study saved his soul from madness. His desire to go to Sovengarde could be his way of desiring peaceful co-existence with the culture he had adopted and come to see as a family.
I'm just glad that they were cool with accepting and welcoming the Redguard into Sovngarde. Unlike us typical Imperials appropriating every other culture into our own and then gatekeeping it, someone else finally gets to live "the last samurai" life and it's actually wholesome af.
I like all these theories and everything but I like to think it’s the Devs telling you that you’ve done everything you can and this is the final boss, like a mirror of the player almost to show that you’re the only thing that can stop you at this point.
Is it wrong thatI lobbed a elemental blast at him then ran down the hill to my two followers ....because I haven't took her to her to visit her home... Then proceeded to conjure two Demora and hid in the cut so I wouldn't get blown off the cliff and level up my one-handed with bound sword then took everything from from him at level 81?
I imagine the ebony warrior isn't a godly being or mysterious warrior, but instead it's something a lot easier to see: he's a representation of the player, he's reached level 80, he's slaughtered thousands of bandits, he's destroyed hundreds of villains, he's completed countless quests, and now... ...there's nothing left to do. He's done everything there is, the last thing he wants is to die, but he's become to strong, he destroys everyone he fights, the only one who can stand equal to him... ...is you.
This is what I've always assumed to be the case of the Ebony Warrior. He is the player character, after doing everything there is to do, he uses the Elder Scrolls to travel back in time to face his former self in his prime. The Ebony Warrior just happens to have a Redguard model.
There’s a third possible explanation everyone seems to have missed. There’s a book in ESO titled “Boethia and her Avatars” that seems to describe The Ebony Warrior (both the quest and the man) pretty well. It talks about Boethia sending avatars into the world who appear seemingly out of nowhere with mysterious or obfuscated motivations to issue challenges to powerful heroes and common folk alike. It describes the avatars as usually masked, implying concealed identities and says that once the challenge is complete the avatars are gone without a trace, leaving only more questions.
This and that he could be half Redguard and Half Nord whom was a Dragonborn and lived in the times when the foresworn or snow elves lived, in the time of Tibet septum? Like he was possibly the last Dragonborn during miraks time or before mirak but since Boethia could’ve sent him around the world and now that both players have done everything, boethia made her two greatest champions fight maybe?
I’d like to add on that the ebony warriors or “the avatars” sent by boethia like in morrowind since champions dungeon is right by last vigil, that all the warriors are previous main characters that we played as in previous games maybe idk about the orc umbreon tho but yeah a help possible theory
I started my ES journey with Oblivion in 2005 and I never finished the quest for Clavicus Vile because the sword would go from 0kg to 33kg. About a year later I found Umbra in Morrowind. When Skyrim came out I was confused that there's a similar warrior but no Umbra.
I originally thought while watching this video, that Nate would lead us to the Atronach Forge when it comes to the items within Ebony's inventory. Like maybe something might happen if you take his items to the Atronach Forge, and then activate it. But as we can already see, he didn't do this, I would do this myself but I don't have my PC with me right now, so if any one of you who are viewing this comment would like to do this, please do it and let me know of your results.
I think the Ebony Warrior was genuinely just interested in Nord culture. Maybe even raised by Nords. I think his interest led him to learning how to shout and to pursue eventually dying honorably and spending his afterlife in Sovngarde. I don't think he was a Dragonborn, because after defeating him, the player doesn't (nor is there an option to) absorb his soul.
I remember vividly that my father would legendary every single skill, and beat every single dlc. I loved watching them duel, and seeing him finally beat the warrior was incredible.
What if its in a way both. The EW is an aspect of ebonarm that discovered umbra and began to be corrupted by it and so was unable to fulfil their calling leaving the dragonborn to deal with it in their stead. Eventually through their divine power and will they were able to resist Umbra’s influence and hide the sword in its current resting place, but the influence has left a permanent mark on their personality encouraging them to seek out a warrior’s honorable death instead of a road of peace. This could also explain why he has filled soul gems without any equipment to reap souls and behaviors in line with umbra without currently wielding the sword.
I’ve ears the Hunding theory before, and my headcanon is this: he was an incarnation of Hunding, who came in a period of time when he was needed. But after that, he wandered the world. Helping people, killing evil where he found it. But after decades of easily defeating his foes, he seeks a warriors death. And he seeks soverngarde because only there, will he find himself among his true equals.
Frandar Hunding is an Avatar of HoonDing, the Redguard deity. Ebonarm is also an incantation of HoonDing. HoonDing is the God of Make Way, as he materializes whenever the Redguards need to "make way" for their people.
Out-Of-Lore wise: I always thought this was one of the developer's characters, that is why they have a very solid 'player like' perk tree. It also is a real terrifying message as well, for after every quest is complete how will the player's character achieve the same?
This could totally be in the video because I'm only 7 minutes in, but fun fact, if you do manage to push the knight all the way down to the edge of the cliff and launch him off with a shout, he will fall about 300 feet to the ground and simply wait for you down there. HE'S IMMUNE TO FALL DAMAGE
Bethesda watching this video: “Oh shit now we have to come up with an lore explanation for this random surprise boss we decided to create just for fun, WHO MADE HIM A REDGUARD!?!?”
Maybe to those who want to keep dribbling the false theory that he is Eboarm when the lore description of the guy clearly states reddish blonde hair and steel blue eyes. I'm staying with my friend theory which was said at GameFAQS years ago that the Ebony Warrior being a redguard was a hint from Skyrim to where the next Elder Scrolls game will take place which is Hammerfell.
@@erikochristy He is the bastard between the families. He was hidden and trained by kin after his parent's were slaughtered for their affair. He grew in the wildlands and was unbeaten. All the Dragborn did was make him stronger, he will back.
In the beginning when the Ebony Warrior said that "there's no quests to do, no villains to fight" essentially that he's done everything that could possibly be done, he kinda reminds me of the player. My theory is that, the Ebony Warrior is like the soul of the character the player controls, now that you've done everything you could possibly do, he wants you to free him. Although once I finished the video, it is still quite puzzling. Maybe all the theories are connected in some way.
Agreed its just a little fun thing to do after reaching level 80 but the other 2 theories dont make sense since the redguard is different and the umbra isnt present in the ebony warrior
This video is just tying a bunch of things together in a convincing enough way to make it believable while it is logically not probable. Fans write all of this stuff themselves. People try to make things deeper than they are.
Its part of the heros journey, you must defeat your shadow self. Like in on star wars, Luke must defeat his shadow self in that cave while training with yoda. It is the descent into hell. The subconscious. You must defeat and integrate your shadow self to become whole.
I was a teen playing Oblivion, decided to start checking out random ruins I have no reason to visit. The very first one had Umbra in it. I was still early game & could absolutely not win that fight. I cheesed it by blocking a doorway with paint brushes, & it only took 3 more tries after that to kill her (':
you can also take a bunch of sundering tomes to disintegrate her armor and sword and then use chilling touch it does the best dam, like you can do this almost as soon as you get out of the sewers
I think the Ebony Warrior was just put in as a tradition, since the previous two games had dangerous eony-wearing swordsman in them, both claiming to have killed many people, and both having reached the level of effectiveness where normal people can no longer pose any threat to them. The Clavicus Vile quest had no Umbra, so a similarly themed quest was made by someone who wanted the tradition to continue.
I killed "umbra" in oblivion at level 1 or 2. I'd buy a bunch of health potions, shoot her with an arrow and book it to the waterfront healing along the way, where the guards would finish her off. Umbra and ebony armor at level 1 or 2.
@@SaintPatrick33 you can also just jump up and down and she'll be stuck running up and down the steps like a moron. Takes quite a lot of arrows to bring her down and if you mess up your dead but it's not as hard as it sounds. I've basically always killed Umbra immediately. Unless I'm playing a mage I want either the sword or the armor and for someone who's "supposed" to be one of the hardest characters in the game she's actually insanely easy to kill. Even playing a mage or monk style unarmed character selling her stuff nets you almost enough gold to buy apotheosis. If you're a monk that's not helpful but gold is gold.
Hey Nate, just wanted to say it’s great hearing your voice again with some great new content. Thank you for all the great content you’ve given us over the years. Welcome back and I hope everything goes great for you in 2022!
Fun fact: When the Ebony Warrior was a young lad first starting off in his adventures he had a best friend who went with him everywhere- but unfortunately he took an arrow to the knee.
Awesome job man!! Elder Scrolls lore never ceases to amaze me. I recently got a switch so I’m playing Skyrim again, I forgot how much passion I had for this universe.
Probably my favorite battle in the game. I used to have a save file right before I fought him. It was so much fun going to war across the whole map against him, days upon days of never ending combat. He truly felt like the proper boss of Skyrim
Standing Here, i realise, you were just like me trying to make history. But who's to judge, the Right from Wrong. when our guard is down i think we'll both agree that Violince breeds Violince, but in the end it has to BE THIS WAY. - epic guitar solo - I've carved my own path.. you've followed your wrath.. but maybe we're both the Saaame. The world has turned. so many have burned. but nobody is to blame. Yet staring across this baren, wasted land i feel new life will be born beneath the BLOOD STAINED SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND. BENEATH THE BLOOD STAINED SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND. - ends song -
@@caiodesouza5673 "Every soul has it is dark" That's right. The contraction "it's" is short for the phrase "it is". The word you should be using is "its".
@@BennyGoId Using full stops instead of commas is also a form of poor grammar. "That's right, the contraction "it's" is short for "it is"." The punctuation mark you should be using is a comma. Grammar Nazi's are cringe, grow up, you aren't as smart as you think you are.
Considering the Ebony Warrior came to us for death I think the better question is “What great danger HAD the Redguard people faced?” I’d image that once this character has completed his grand purpose he’d be extremely frustrated and bored, unable to find a new purpose he chooses to seek his death instead
I know tamriel is different from our world but i cant see why anyone in that world would want to die because theyre bored of life. wouldn't you just retire or honestly if you wanted more glory you could just become leader of your country to do more. I think its weird that the ebony warrior would just want to die
@@soulplexisI heard patriciantv go over this topic briefly in his morrowind retrospective and I thought he had an interesting point. Look at it like this, when you get bored enough towards the end of a play through you may just start murdering npc’s for the hell of it. Well this can apply to the ebony warrior in the sense that he is so bored he may start to do not so good deeds or slip down a darker path, so he chooses to seek a warriors death before that point is reached.
Maybe the War of the Bend'r-Mahk? That could explain the connections to Skyrim and Nord culture with him still being an aspect of Hunding, since that war was between Hammerfell and Skyrim. Heck, maybe he is the protagonist from Shadowkey who's just been around for the last 200 years.
I thought the Ebony Warrior was the previous dragonborn when I came across him. Before you meet the Greybeards everybody talks about how the summons hasn't happened in hundreds of years, meaning it's known to have happened before. Dragonborns are divine beings themselves, meaning they can receive the blessing of any god (Redguards being blessed by Talos for example). If the Ebony Warrior was the previous dragonborn that was summoned hundreds of years ago he would have completed every quest, be really good at shouts, have insane stats and gear (that perhaps only he can use properly), be structurally different than everybody else, and really have nothing else to do since he isn't you and lives in the game (believing in Talos and Sovngarde). So since he's an unrealistically high level after hundreds of years he only appears when you are too, being the last enemy/quest to beat in the game as the, "Strongest." Which could only be the previous dragonborn. Anyways, that's just what I assumed.
That could also be hinting towards this being a repeated event- like a loop. A dragonborn is summoned from another part of the land and brought here, they do as needed, face off against the last dragonborn as a 'final test', then end up doing all that is needed until a new dragonborn comes along- someone worthy of combat, of sending them off. For one, it's a last mission. For the other, it could be a piece of life to show that there is nothing left of this world, and by that point, they would have beaten it all. There would be nothing left to complete until the next dragonborn emerges.
I always had a theory that he was a manifestation of the gods testing the dragon born to see if they're worthy. Afterall, vigil means watching/observing. So a final observation to see if they're worthy
When I found him, I considered 3 things. 1: Lore wise, he's a adventuring hero who conquered previous evils and threats long before the dragons began to rise and is looking for his warrior's death, seeking the current hero of the realm, you, the Dragonborn, to give it to him. 2: Game mechanic wise, he's a final test and a reflection of a player who has reached what then was the level cap, which would take doing everything since there was no way to "legendary" your skills to keep leveling past that point. One last challenge to overcome. 3: Him being a Redguard wanting to go to Sovengarde was a developer oopsie since Bethesda is very well known for bugs, exploits and oversights being in their games. Either by accidentally ticking the wrong race checkbox in creation or by just by habit of so many warriors being Nords and talking of awaiting Sovengarde and they just applied that out of this habit. Perhaps even the voice actor may have said it out of habit himself or thought he was recording yet another Nord voice and it went unchecked. We know Bethesda also has had pretty significant voice oopsies too in the past.
I think he is an ethnic Redgaurd but born and raised in Skyrim. Maybe he has mixed blood and identifies as a Nord. It's honestly stranger if no non-Nords are born in Skyrim and follow the Nord customs.
I like the idea that he's the player character of the next game. Maybe Bethesda will be pulling a funny and making the next game set BEFORE Skyrim, possibly showing us just how Hammerfell was able to beat back the Dominion. Maybe the shouting was a little hint at the "sword singing" mentioned in this video that'll be our version of shouts in the next game. Even more, maybe the weirdness of a Redguard trying to get into Sovengarde could hint at the story of our next character, maybe something to do with being "abandoned by the Gods".
@@TheLinessCompany, I'm so sorry I had to leave you, Flauschige... Your grandpa got into trouble with Solomon Whitmore. He took a loan from him. 20kgs of coke. He was going to cut it and sell it on the street. Pay him back and make a nice profit. But while he was out pimping, one of his hoes ran off with 15kgs... We tried to find that bitch, but she ran to Tijuana. Sol came for his money, so grandpa blew him away with Ol' Saint Nicolas, his favourite shotgun. But then Sol's brother, Viktor, came after us. We had to disappear... for long 10 years... *sobs* Your grandfather passed last year; dementia, heart problems from all that coke and old wounds he got pimping. But I'm back now, Dear! Grandma's back!
I like to believe that the letter from a friend is from the Ebony Warrior, The Dragonborn being called must have alerted him that there was a powerful being around there and he would want them to be able to complete all the challenges they face, As well as making sure they have the drive to do so n the first place, So having someone mysterious in the background cheering on the Dragonborn would help from that, It would also explain how he knows where the Dragonborn is, Because he obviously needed to keep track of them to send the letter in the first place and the Ebony Warrior cheering on the Dragonborn would also help with him thinking that the Dragonborn is the last challenge that can send him to Sovngarde, I mean the Dragonborn does have some strange powers, It's not a stretch for a person like him to believe that the Dragonborn has some sort of power to send him to Sovngarde regardless of race.
I was expecting a mention of a certain wood elf NPC you meet in Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, in the tribunal expansion. His name was Gaenor, and when you first meet him, he doesn't look any special. He asks you for a small amount of gold at first. Ending with him asking you for a whopping million in the end. No matter what, he will get angry with you in the and, and he will later appear in full set of ebony armor. One of the toughest enemiest in the entire game, because his luck is at 770, which makes it virtually impossible for anyone to land a hit on him, along with some other powerful magical effects. Maybe Ebony warrior in Skyrim is also a wink for the Morrowind players who remember that.
Yeah... I hate to say it, but this video is making me doubt Nate's research capabilities. On top of leaving things out, there's seem to be some innacuracies. But what do I know.
I think I recall seeing a video by Nate that talked about this possible connection, but I could be misremembering. I've listened to hundreds of such videos while working, so the provenance of any particular thing I picked up is a bit jumbled in my thinkmeat
I feel you are right in some aspects of the ebony warrior. But I feel him being a redguard is a bigger clue than most people think. I think he got banished from his homeland for forsaking the native beliefs and adopting the nord beliefs and moved to Skyrim, stumbling upon the Umbra legend as an ultimate nord belief. And being proficient in the way of the sword adapts that to his style. Seeing as he could never find the real Umbra sword (in vanilla game) he crafts his own with the ability to steal life (like the Umbra sword but instead of your soul [ life essence] it’s your health [ your life essence in game]) pretending to be the real Ebony Warrior AKA Umbra. That’s just my hot take on the lore. If anybody’s got anything more to add or give me more insight on this if I’m missing something, let me know. ( I am talking about vanilla game lore BTW, creation club IMO does not count)
I LOVE these more long format deep dives into Skyrim and Elder Scrolls content. I basically use your Skyrim playlists everyday at work, just listening to you talk about Skyrim, and I can honestly say, it makes my day so much better. Just wanted to say thank you for all the content you've put out over the years, it's been awesome!
@@sts1393 My text to speech screwed that up. I'm not boomer, I'm millennial. Besides you also wrote it wrong, I assume you're also using text to speech like me. The sad thing is in order to spell it right you can't use text to speech, because it makes up the word for you.
My problem with the Umbra theory is that... well, he literally does not possess Umbra, even if you add the creation to the game, it isn't retroactively added in his inventory or something. The Yokudan Dovahkiin adjacent seems far more likely to me, because perhaps he tires of being alive, immortality driven madness, and wants you to finally put him down as nobody else can.
@@thaddeushill7080 I don’t think him giving away a legendary Daedric sword is really in the cards, and even if somehow he just handed it off to some random guy, I don’t see how that makes one want to go to someone else’s heaven
@@Kronos0999 Well yeah, but speculation is way more fun. Most of the mysterious things in these games could be just explained away as a failure on the writers’ part or just a bit of fun, but it’s more entertaining to believe they had a reason for all of it.
"Why has the ebony warrior appeared now?" Probably saved Hammerfell from some threat in the recent past, and with his quest complete, seeks death at the hands of the player.
Before the events of Skyrim, Redguards drove out Aldmeri Dominion from Hammerfell, without the help from the Empire. The Ebony Warrior could have helped there.
It's because of the theory that he's a redguard demigod/hero who wont go to soverngard normally.He fears he wont get there because of the race he was "summoned" as,so he fights the strongest current mortal in the part of the world that should all but satisfy the conditions to get to his wanted afterlife. Basically imagine you were stuck with 1 job,but wanted another and the only way to get it was to fight that ceo.
One important piece of information is if you kill the ebony warrior before going to Sovngarde in the main quest, unlike alot of other figures that can be killed during your quests (all nords btw) he doesnt show up in Sovngarde meaning his final wish wasnt fulfilled.
@@ilasoiafI'd be tempted to agree but with the amount of attention to detail Bethesda put into Skyrim, it seems somewhat unlikely for them to forget, but maybe they did, who knows
I have a confession. I've played the game 3 times with +100 hour characters that reached level 80, and I've yet to advance the story line beyond informing the Jarl of Whiterun that I saw a dragon.
@@glrglr9946 I actually started doing this, because I was under the impression that once I zoned into a dungeon, the dungeon baddies and loot would be permanently locked to the the tier level I first zoned in with. I found out later that wasn't really the case, but since some quest reward stats are based on the level the player was when they received the item, I just kept the habit going. I did the same thing with Oblivion, Fallout 3 and 4 lol.
Nate I really enjoyed your content during the pandemic (that's when i discovered your channel). I'm appreciative of another deep dive. Great fortune to you!
The fact you hear a pigeon and see it walking by as the Ebony warrior speaks in front of a huge horse statue like it was all part of the game its truly amazing how far the modding community has come
This game has survived the test of time for over 10 years because of the modding community. I absolutely love Skyrims modding community. I would have loved it if MERP (Middle Earth mod based in LOTR) was allowed to go ahead
My game broke and when I got there he was fighting a troll, then imediately after that a dragon arrived and we slayed that together before he just stood at his vigil not attacking me. It broke my heart to one shot him by sneaking attacking
Hey! I am not able to watch the video at this moment but, I just want to say its really nice to see your video in my feed. When I was new to the channel I would binge watch your playlists, fall alseep, and try to find where I left off the next night. I love the Long-Form Videos! Cant wait to watch this later.
The ebony warrior is my all time favorite companion, I just used the better vampires mod, used vampire seduction on him and he was my friend, with unique dialogue also, I always laughed when he said "oh a cave, let's see what's inside." He has funny dialogue when fighting, and always seems so happy to go on adventures with me. And this was vanilla ebony warrior, I didn't add any ebony warrior mods. With the ebony warrior being a vampire, it was hilarious watching him try and sneak his hulking self to suck some npcs blood, even when I'm talking to them, not to mention he's so overpowered he can solo all the enemies and I could just watch his talk and battle with them, he's so entertaining.
@@varthalgamekiin4931 modding makes the game infinitely better and replayable. Games with strong modding support maintain a healthy playerbase for many years
@@eliassantos6993 Well, depends on the mods. Honestly, I reckon at least 30-40 of my mods are compatibility or performance upgrades and over 100 are just model and texture upgrades. At this point, it wouldn't surprise me to find out dozens have been overwritten by other mods to the point where I may as well just get rid of them. But that would require more work than I am willing to put into it. In any event, we're all having fun here. Good game, good people, good times. Love this community.
I think it would be so cool if the Ebony Warrior was unmasked and you realize he/she is you. Like your character you created. I feel like that's the point of the warrior. He's supposed to be the last worthy adversary. He's supposed to essentially be you.
Yeah, but let's also make him a PTSD hallucination stemming from the fact that you are the greatest killer of your age. By the time you are max level or close to it, you have most likely killed more people(even in a goodie two shoes run) than what any person would be able to handle without losing their sanity. How many times has the dragonborn canonically walked up to random settlements of bandits who weren't particularly bothering anyone besides squatting in some ruins and just slaughtered them? More than the visible population of all the cities put together. ...let that sink in for a minute. Do a "go everywhere run" and from the POV of some random nobody who doesn't particularly like being bothered, a superpowered psycho screams you against the wall with the force of a truck hitting you at 20mph, cuts you to pieces and as you lay dying in your own filth, you realize that the only thing he's concerned with is the content of your chest, namely an iron mace, fifty gold, two apples, a cabbage and some basic medicinal herbs. He takes the gold and herbs and leaves as soon as he entered.
@@lonerider5315 There's a corner I hid inside of and just pelted her with arrows until she died lol. She was a dumb AI and would run into you without pathing or jumping, so she'd really let you line up the shots xD
Similarly with Morrowind. It used to be a frequent early game tactic of mine to go there real early in the game, and load up on various strength enhancing drinks and take him by surprise. Cheesy as hecky, but it got me an absolute nuke of a sword before ever meeting Caius. :P
37:08 Actually, the name Hammerfell came from the Dwemer who first settled there. An ancient Dwemer tale states that one of their artificer-kings cast his hammer high into the air, and wherever it would fall, that's where they would settle down. Redguard simply took that name in stride, but it was there before they ever settled.
Back in like 2013 was my first time seeing him, I remember speed running the elderscroll so I could do the following questline and get the Oghma Infinuim. Using the breezehome for the leveling glitch, I walked outside in Iron armor, level 81 and a half (cap), the Ebony warrior approached and telling me I was the only one who could kill him.
I like my head canon that wanting to go to Nord afterlife he was so filled with anxiety and worry that he would be sent to the far shores instead of Sovngard he set out to defeat all challenges in Skyrim so the Nord pantheon cannot deny his worthiness to enter. Why Nord afterlife? Who knows, maybe his Nord love died in battle so the only way he can be with her/him again is gain entry.
This was my favorite theory so far! He is a champion unknown, every bit as epic as the player. He met his true love in Skyrim who was killed. He couldn't bear the thought of going to the Far Shores instead of Sovngard with her, so it became his only purpose to prove himself worthy as any Nord by conquering all Skyrim had to offer.
i actually like the idea hes seeking to go to sovengarde for a specific person, though considering the kind of person who goes to sovengarde i imagine its likely more his rival then a lover(or maybe both) that he wants to continue to fight and test himself against for eternity
Can we just take a second to respect the fact that this man made an almost 50 minute video on one of the most mysterious NPCs in the entirety of the series?
So, given that Redgaurds are from the previous Calper Cycle, I believe that the Ebony Warrior was that cycle's "Last Dragonborn" who failed to end his version of Alduin. He's been simply in exile, somehow cursed with immortality/agelessness, and waiting for the end of this world as well. When you arrive, and stop Alduin, he sees that you succeeded in doing what he couldn't, and now views you as his last chance to die in peace.
In addition to Ebonypants and Tsun, another character in TES lore shares the great size: Lyris Titanborn, half-Giant Nord woman seen in ESO as a major character. She has a companion/love interest in Sai Sahan... a Redguard. So we have a game set in one time period, where a giant Nord woman is in love with a Redguard, and a game set a thousand years later, in which we have a giant Redguard obsessed with going to the Nord afterlife. Also, Umbra is pronounced um-bra. It refers to the penumbra, the shadow case by the Earth or moon during an eclipse.
Sounds plausible, depends on how long half/quarter giants live it might work out without multiple generations being in play. Also umbra means shadow in latin.
I always thought he was a Dragonborn from the past who may have got stuck in ‘modern’ day Skyrim due to some randomness caused by the elder scrolls. Like the issue with time travel in other media is that messes up another time line so by sending Alduin forward in time, it caused issues with another time line and he also got sent to where Alduin did.
This relates to my little tin hat theory that the EW and Umbra are part of a collective group of peoples that have immense power, specifically of daedric or ancient magical origin, which the DB is part of as well. What if it’s this group that our player characters are part of throughout the games? There’s always been a “chosen” aspect to the characters we play, and while our characters are neither the first nor last, it could be a generational series of these powerful warriors that in many cases signal significant changes in Tameriel. Obviously this will be completely untrue but I like that it could put an explanation to why our PC’s are so powerful and seem to be “chosen”
I love how much effort you actually put into these videos. Anyone can fill 15 minutes of these type of videos with fluff that really doesn't tell you anything. It's like you actually had this topic as an assignment for college.
I admire the effort, though I believe he's overthinking it. We have good reasons to believe the Ebony Warrior is just a reference to the endgame player after 100% completion of the game.
In Oblivion I came across Umbra while randomly exploring at low level. I tried to snipe Umbra thinking that she was just another bandit and got killed. I eventually lured her into a trap and let that do most of the damage.
I did something similar. I was a kid and had the game on easy mode. Merked her without even thinking about it and had this awesome chrome lookin weapon for the rest of my playthrough that took the form of a two handed axe for some reason lol
I remember getting Umbra to chase me up the stairs and into a smaller room where I somehow got her in a corner and started wailing on her to no end. I was beat but she was dead. Toughest fight i had in Oblivion, far more than in the Fighter's Guild Arena.
Ideas: Idea 1: 1. New Game 2. Level to 80 3. Fight Ebony Warrior 4. Address Main Quest > 5. Upon visiting sovengarde, check if ebony warrior is present in the halls, or if hes lost in the mist > 5a. If can't find, try to [player.moveto] him, while in sovengarde Idea 2: 1. New game 2. [Player.moveto] E.W. (see where he's stored. Ma'iq the liar is stored in a box before randomly being released into the world, which in the files is named 'Elseweyr') Idea 3: 1. Complete main quest 2. Level to 80 3. Kill E.W. 4. Teleport to sovengarde >repeat steps 5 and 5a from Idea 1 Idea 4: 1. Before entering sovengarde to search for E.W. in ideas 1 and 3, try [player.moveto]. Make hard save before going to sovengarde, or trying [player.moveto]
Same. Realistically though, that seems like a horrible life. Imagine wanting someone to kill you because your life is so fulfilled & there's nothing new to do.
An interesting theory is that the reason the Ebony Warrior has a vampiric enchanted sword is because there could be a possibility the umbra sword in Skyrim was the ebony blade, a sword that whispers to the player to kill to increase its power, that also has a vampiric enchantment. That’s my theory at least
FOR THOSE WANTING TO DEFEAT THE EBONY WARRIOR: Go through the dark brotherhood quest line until you get the jarrin root, save it and don’t use it on the emperor. Make a poison with it ( using something like nightshade or deathbell) and hit him with it using your best weapon. You might be able to soup up the poison with fortify alchemy/ enchant combo at say dragonsreach. You can then essentially one shot him with a poison that can deal up to 3,000+ damage
The size of the Ebony Warrior could be due to him being half-giant or half atmoran like Lyris Titanborn. Dying in battle is pretty nordlike and the 2 shouts must be ancient since the Draugur favour them. He might be a champion from the last dragon era and just wanting to die in battle due to you most likely being the bane of Alduin and other dragons, meaning the dragons will never take over Skyrim again, therefore he has nothing to live for. We know the dragonpriests are pretty much immortal, why wouldn't a dragon champion be immortal?
Yeah the idea of titanborn wasn't invented until ESO I'm not sure if Bethesda would have thought that far ahead and the dragon priest had to become liches to be immortal exuding miraak who ditched his original body and trapped himself in apochripha
I remember walking into a random dungeon in Oblivion and getting into a battle with a warrior in ebony armor, she had a sword called umbra and I remember her being insanely hard to kill. I didn't find out until I tried to drop the item that it was a bound quest item.
@@gordonramsdale Hell yeah! Id usually make a Nord for the free 50 frost damage and get Umbra as soon as I left the prison and that ebony armor at least until I got my Conjuration high enough to do the free weightless Daedric armor exploit
I don't know why but during my first playthrough of oblivion I nearly maxed out hand to hand on the kvatch guards, I found umbra jumped onto one of the broken pillars and beat her to death bare handed and in arena armor
I love the umbra theory, definitely makes the most sense to me, I like to see it as the ebony warrior was the previous owner of Umbra before the Imperial Umbra. The ebony warrior probably was a typical warrior that found the weapon and was probably as blood thirsty as the orc and lady umbra but thanks to a Divine interference due to the gods seeing him as a world-saving hero like the Dragonborn, he was able to break the spell and discard the Umbra sword forever (this helps explain why he wishes to go to sovngarde thanks to a divine nord god that helped him). But because his mind was so brainwashed to the sword he can’t help but still wear ebony armor and even have a ebony sword that is similar to the umbra sword. Also explains why he doesn’t say his name due to forgetting it himself because of the sword.
It's also plausible, that similar to how parthurnax overcame his instict of domination and destruction through the way of the voice, that this is how the Ebony warrior overcame Umbra as well.
Does not expalain why he grew so big, unlike other wielders. Ebony Warrior is not a mere mortal. Just like Dragonborn isn't a mortal man but an aspect of Shor.
I feel like there was a a lot of Umbra lore just skipped. You can't just ignore the novels 'Infernal City' and 'Lord of Souls'. Each describes the ultimate fate of Umbriel (the fusion of Umbra and Vuhon) and the sword when Vile wielded it
Same with Ebonarm hes described with red-blond hair and blue eyes and hes not even Yokudan, people started saying he was do to the Ebony warrior=Ebonarm theory. Hes worshipped in High Rock as well
I always thought the ebony warrior was always speaking to the player and not the dragonborn about beating all the bosses, all the quests, and so on. Kinda like Minecraft's sequence after you beat the ender dragon.
I've fought the Ebony Warrior one time on my OG console save. I thought it was pretty obvious that it was just a mirror of the player, beyond the lore I guess. Someone who completed every quest and beat every villain. Stupid strong ass, dragon shouting, armor wearing beast that was fully levelled.
He’s just a meta character. His speech about having no more quests and no more villains to face except for one is obviously supposed to be what the player is thinking / experiencing. He wears ebony armor because that had the reputation of being the best armor set in Oblivion. He’s a Redguard as a cute tease for the next game since looting his corpse is one of the last things you’ll likely do in Skyrim.
In my playthrough, a legendary dragon spawned just as I reached the Last Vigil. The Ebony Warrior and I teamed up and we defeated the dragon together before we fought and I sent him to Sovngarde. It was quite poetic for me at least.
This comment deserves more than a spam reply. That is seriously so epic!
sounds epic you had a run of luck
I want to like this comment but you understand why I mustn't
@@adamhussein3449 someone done it so we can now 😂
gods be praised
“Today we’re just gonna cut to the chase”
The fact that Nate said that on a 46 minute video is exactly why I love this channel.
@nisya uh who asked
@@sofabutter2893 me
I whas looking for Ebony Black girls and i found this video
@nisya uh 1
@@sofabutter2893 and me, now you're the butt end of the joke next time don't try to be funny lilboykid. (Who asked) 2 ppl that's who now who asked you to come comment? Anybody? Hellloooo? No one? Now shut up
I just like the idea of the Ebony Warrior being just some other traveler who's done it all just like the player, a perfect final boss if you ask me.
Agreed. It is a reoccurring, and oft mentioned, part of the Elder Scrolls lore that sometimes, for all kinds of reason, there just seems to be some special people who come around at important times in history; people like the Last Dragonborn, the Hero of Kvatch, the Tharn's Prinsoner, and so on. They come, do their things, and then disappear mysteriously into history. On a meta-gaming level, we know these people were all just Player Characters, but their existence (and occurrence through history) is part of the lore.
My take on the Ebony Warrior is that he was just another of these special people. It has been over two-hundred years between the Hero of Kvatch and the Last Dragonborn -- plenty of time for one of these special people to have come about, done their things, and their fight with the Last Dragonborn is just their last act.
@@seprithlicastia463 "A Hero or Heroine, sometimes described as being doom-driven or referred to as a Prisoner, is a mortal blessed (and cursed, from another point of view) with a special fate and the ability to rule their own destiny. Heroes are closely related to the prophecies revealed in the Elder Scrolls, but are not bound by them. They often grow to become far more powerful than most other mortals."
-The UESP entry for Lore:Hero
Reminds me of the Gael boss fight in ds3
Makes me wonder actually, since ES6 is rumoured to take place in Redguard, if the main character will be the Ebony Warrior
defeats ebony warrior in every game
"How many times do I have to teach you this lesson, old man?"
What I found incredibly funny was when I met him in Whiterun, he issued his challenge, then a bunch of vampires attacked. He cowered in fear the entire fight.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
What? Vampires are scary. Scary hot in serana's case, but still.
@Micheal_Anthony_1996 lmao true as 🤣
He want to see how strong you are
Well, he is not a true nord.
I always thought the ebony warrior was just a farewell from the game itself, he is the player - he is encountered at pretty much the max level any sane individual would agree to climb up to, and his entire shtick is that he did everything, seen everything, and now he wants one FINAL challenge before he is off for good. For me, Skyrim ends after the Ebony Warrior is killed. I as a player had faced my final foe, the only other person in Tamriel who had done EVERYTHING he could do.
^This is probably the reason behind the character, and its the best I've ever seen them explained.
I thought the same thing when I was 35 and didn't have kids yet. But then again I'm also still playing Morrowind
That's pretty much the entire reason he exists to me as well, but the lore behind him to explain his in universe reason for existing is pretty dope too
Brilliantly explained
Same
I didn't think when I was a 10 year old boy I would still be indulging myself in Skyrim content 11 years later, yet here I am.
I like your funny words magic man
Exactly the same
Way to make me feel old 😆. I was already 26 when skyrim came out
we are one and the same my friend
Holy crap I was nine when skyrim first came out
Yet I remember playing it so fondly
I think the point of the ebony warrior is that he’s supposed to be a mirror of the player. His story is pretty much the same as yours and, like you, he’s run out of quests to complete. The game is telling you that you’ve become the most powerful being in all of Skyrim and there’s nothing left to do but try to find an opponent worthy of taking you to Sovngarde.
That’s a good way to think of it
Im not sure the ebony warrior has ever been so callous and hell bent at amassing power as to spend literal in game years doint jogging from castel volkhiar to fort dawnguard holding a piece of dragon bone with telekinesis (surpassing its mastery in Alteration on a level entire leagues above any mortal to boot) with the sole purpose to stop to only have a soul of a Dragon but gain its physical vitality too (4600 hp).
It had a purpose as a new challenge for lvl80 players that had a level cap up until then, but after that it simply becomes fake difficulty due to the reflect damage gimmick that can one shot back a character vastly superior but with a still "human" hp pool.
And of course im not even mentioning the fact that all it takes to totally cheese him is really just the good ol and legit 4 reducing destruction pieces at max enchanting and stunlocking him with a rain of infinite fireballs...or the new creation club "elemental" version if you feel particularly merciless.
Try having some imagination
What if the Ebony Warrior is you in TESVI?
@@Dour888 Lol. My level 118 character is a rich evil immortal vampire dragonlord. The only reason I haven't conquered Skyrim is because the game won't let me.
The ebony warrior is nothing like us.
My character was a redguard when I first see and battled the Ebony Warrior. And when I fought him and killed him I thought he was me from the future of the Psijic Order and I had a mindblow. After discovering that the Ebony Warrior's race doesn't change because of the player, I simply ignored it and that moment is canonical in my head.
Your interpretation would be better,keep on believing he is u from the future, king .
Well of course I know the ebony warrior. He's me!
That’s so cool!
@@xn2x318 you*
Genuinely, if the ebony warrior reflected the players race and gender and was them fron the future it would be so sick
When the world needed him most, he reminded everyone that Skyrim is truly a massive game.
The only reason we're still finding things in Skyrim is because it's been the current game in the franchise for more than ten years.
If you needed a reminder then you haven’t been paying attention
Yeah, with everybody including me being obsessed with Elden Ring
@@zachlewis9751 you know i would make fun of you for missing the joke but there’s always a chance on the internet that you’re actually doing a 4d chess ass double-joke and i’m the real joke-misser
@@kevinfromwork3785 not really a double-joke as much as it is an excuse for a dumb reference. It's a reference, not a joke.
I remember making like a "god build" maxing out all crafting skills and upping almost everything to 100. I went in feeling like hot shit but my own weapon took me out due to Ebony warriors damage reflect. My greatest creation turned against me!
Suffering from success
Jeez, as if the Ebony Warrior wasn't already terrifying enough 💀
@@BehuraStudio he has Damage reflect, i didnt know that
@@BehuraStudio yep, he has the damage reflection perk from the heavy armor tree. It's not that great for the player but for enemies it's probably the most annoying skill to encounter.
Thankfully it's rare. I think only the Ebony warrior has it
he was really easy to defeat if you freeze him solid with a dragon shout. lets you get in a couple extra hits. it also helped that i was wearing heavy dragon bone armor, that was enchanted to help with health recovery, and stamina recovery.
When Ebony Warrior wants to get Sovnegarde but you have a soul gem.
No plz that made me laugh so hard i wasn't expecting that-
How about the Soul cairn, its a wonderful place from what i hear and all races can join
@@goldgaming4946 you mean saint juib’s realm
Yeah next playthrough i will soul trap him.
I originally thought while watching this video, that Nate would lead us to the Atronach Forge when it comes to the items within Ebony's inventory.
Like maybe something might happen if you take his items to the Atronach Forge, and then activate it.
Maybe you also need the sigil stone because there is a deadra heart involved and a black soul gem.
But as we can already see, Nate didn't do this, I would do this myself but I don't have my PC with me right now, so if any one of you who are viewing this comment would like to do this, please do it and let me know of your results.
I personally look at the ebony warrior as the end of your run, it’s a signal that everything have been done, everyone has been spoken to, everything has been seen, and the idea of it just makes me love the story writing even more, because like his, your story is also finished and with it you both have peace, it’s like the old saying “all good things come to an end eventually”
Unless you've been just runnign around beating bandints to death which eventually gave you lvl 80 while most of your quests aren't even started
@@NiCoNiCoNiColadoubt you did that.
@@Pam234 I pretty much am doing this lmao
What you just described isn't really poetic, it's just.. a matter of fact lmao.
"He's the secret end game boss cuz the game is done"
@@SlimeBlueMS then I guess it’s opinion based?
I always liked to think the the "letter from a friend"s was the ebony warrior training you and getting you ready to be able to beat him.
What an underrated, wholesome comment. 🥲
This is true
I used to think it was Delphine, but having picked skyrim up again recently I'm fairly certain it's not, because the letters being sent just doesn't match up with anything relevant to Delphine.
It makes more sense that it's someone with either powerful magical insight who can sense the precise location of word walls, or someone who has muscled their way through dungeons to find the walls.
I think the first is most likely, because some of the word walls are guarded by unique bosses, but nonetheless the "friend" will still tell you about them, and the bosses will be very much alive when you arrive.
Still, the Ebony Warrior could fit into both categories, the latter because just look at those stats and the former because they're a superior shouter to the Dragonborn, likely with the ability to sense the word walls just like the Greybeards.
The fact that the Greybeards will sometimes tell you of a word wall in person makes it pretty unlikely they're the friend, nobody else in Skyrim (aside from Dragur) can shout, aside from Ulfric, but the letters keep coming even if you side with the empire and kill Ulfric.
So it's either a Greybeard giving you additional info despite immense discipline, Ulfric who may still contact you from Sovengarde, a literate dragon who doesn't scare the couriers, or the Ebony Warrior.
Or a character who we never meet and never gain any information about besides what can be inferred from the situation, and therefore will never know anything about.
@@willsterjohnson That last lines possibility is haunting to me, I want to know! This whole cliff hanger is what makes bethesda so good, over a decade later and a whole community of people are still drawn to this one mysterious guy we encountered as a short side quest.
@@rayju9998 their storytelling is truely amazing, I just wish they could've had more time to finalize Skyrim. So much cut content due to time constraints, so many stories we'll never hear the end of, or even begin.
I realise there's something I glossed over in my comment, the letter states;
"You should turn your attention to [Location]. I understand it holds a mysterious source of power that can only be unlocked by the Dragonborn."
This doesn't necessarily mean they can hear word walls, nor that they've been there to see it.
In fact, it actually implies they're uncertain of what the power is, someone who can shout would definitely know meaning it's unlikely to be a Greybeard, Dragon, Ulfric, or the Ebony Warrior, in fact aside from the Greybeards all of these can be killed, and the letters will keep coming.
In my original analysis, that leaves only an unknown character.
However, it could be a scholar or researcher who's studying the ancient Nords.
"I for one desire to see you grow and develop your talents. Skyrim needs a true hero these days."
It's unlikely to be a Stormcloak as they obviously view Ulfric as Skyrim's true hero.
Esbern is definitely a very intelligent researcher with a fixation on the Dragons and the Dragonborn, but until meeting him he's unaware that there's a Dragonborn anywhere, let alone Skyrim.
It's not the Arch Mage Savos Aren as you can still receive the letter after his death.
Jarl Elisif is too incompetent, The Emperor can be killed as can Tulius, the other faction leaders wouldn't care, the other Jarls on the imperial side are busy with their holds, Calcelmo is interested in Dwemer, other wizards are busy with their magic & research, and most other named NPCs aren't protected.
"Sincerely, A Friend"
Delphine does sign her mysterious note as "--a friend", same name but different writing style entirely.
Besides, she doesn't believe there's a Dragonborn until you absorb a Dragon's soul, she's extremely skeptical of the Greybeards. You can receive the letter from a friend before she knows you're Dragonborn.
It's not Miraak because why on Earth would he encourage you to be more powerful? He's also not in the base game and, as with most characters, can be killed without the letters ceasing.
That only really leaves us with people outside of Skyrim or Solstheim, which presumably is many thousands of humanoids. But why would they care about Skyrim having a hero?
Aedra? No, they're dormant as their planets.
Daedra? Maybe, but why send a letter? Why would they want Skyrim to have a hero rather than them to have a champion?
"he didn't say who he was, just that he was a friend of yours" - Courier, delivering the letter from a friend
It seems that the answer really is that the friend who shares the locations of word walls with us is a man we may never learn anything more about.
I always thought the ebony warrior was a metaphor for the player. He shows up at level 80 and says "I've done all the quests, ive killed everyone even remotely challenging, im in misery, please kill me". It's a way for the devs to say "you can stop playing now, there is nothing left". Him being able to use dragon shouts also makes me think this is true. The whole game, you're told that you're the only one who can do this. Now, here's someone else who can do it. It might be to make the player consider their similarities to the ebony warrior.
Any Nord can use shouts with enough training.
@@josebenardi1554 I know, but the game treats it as though it's special thing that's exclusive to you. Therefore, the first time you see another character use it, it's extremely jarring.
@@EmilyCorradino Personally I didn't feel that way. I had already seen Ulfric, and a bunch of Draugrs using it.
@@josebenardi1554 @José Benardi It's not an enough training, but a focused one. Ulfric was studying for quite some time.
I mean, we see draugur, greybeards, ulfric, various dragon priests including mirrak (phones having a hell of a time with autocorrect, pardon the spelling errors) all using shouts. The only unique thing about the Dragonborn is the ability to learn words quickly via absorbing dragon souls.
I know what you mean about finality though. By the time I got to him, I was steamrolling everything I came across, with or without looped weapons/armor. When he showed up, I had a goku moment, used dragon aspect, and gave him the best fight I could. He got steamrolled as well, but he can at least go to sovngarde and tell stories of how he was bested by the most powerful Dragonborn to ever walk while at his absolute peak. That’s a hell of a lot better than that riff raft orc looking for a good death got. For him, a good death meant quick and (relatively) pain free, getting slapped with a loop smithed chaos damage/paralysis sword named “Meth”, cause nobody can handle Meth, not even once.
Can’t believe I’m still watching Skyrim content years later.
Hell yeah.
Same, I used to play it when I was in middle school with my brothers, and I still get sucked into the universe through these videos haha
the same we do with Minecraft
This boss was made all the harder for me. I died like 5 times before I decided to sneak around and look at his equipment. HIS SWORD WAS ENCHANTED WITH VAMPIRISM.
Just watch the video before thinking ur special
@@mrearaper2514I don't think he thinks that
His sword is always enchanted with vampirism. It's not random
begs the question, can you just... pickpocket his sword off of him?
I'd answer this for myself but I ain't grinding to 80 just because
The most surprising thing about the Ebony warrior is his reflect ability. When you sometimes attack him and die instantly.
works best on x30 sneak attacks with daggers! and that was my first attempt at taking down the ebony warrior.
Fucking hate that ability
I had a playthough where i had TONS of combat improvement mods, making combat more tacticle/harder/skill based. I remember fighting the ebony warrior for over 20 mins, and the fight took us all over the place it was legit epic
As tai lung once said “ ‘OUR battle will be ‘legendary’ “
Edit: i forgot to add OUR
Yeah the normal fight is super quick you just use the marked for death then smoke him
Combat mods reveal?
@@turtleneck6630 how about you reveal yourself to some bitches first bud
Leak the modss 🫵
I always figured the Ebony Warrior was supposed to be an incarnation of Ebonarm, a wargod worshipped by the nords, Bretons and red guards in Daggerfall. Would explain his immense size as well as why he as a red guard thought he could go to Sovngarde.
Is that to say that Redguards, or any other race, *can't* go to Sovngarde? It's unorthodox if anything, but beyond that you really only have to have died as an honorable and glorious warrior in the midst of battle.
@@SpaceEmperorGenos Different cultures usually go to the place their culture/religion believes in when they die. Belief is a lot in the elder scrolls lore, for instance Tiber Septim ascending to godhood because he fully believed that he was to be a god.
@@crimson6864 CHIM
I definitely think he's an incarnation/aspect of Ebonarm. Honestly, with his worship having dropped off for centuries now (he's not mentioned after the end of the 2nd era, if I remember rightly), it could even be Ebonarm himself, in a diminished state.
@@crimson6864 I’m pretty sure he ascended to one bc there was a certain amount of people who revered him and believed in him as such
“At last… sovngarde…”
Dragonborn holding black soul stone: “Guess again!”
Tis' be a dishonorable end for a noble warrior. Shame on the Dovah'kin who inflicts such dishonor
The Ebony Warrior’s monologue almost made me tear up. He’s a reflection of the player, who has done everything that can be done and has accepted that it’s time to leave.
I really wanted him to become a companion, like after our fight and he’s on his knees, we get to talk to him and try to convince him to join our journey.. would’ve been nice 👍
@@WompwompPI what? that would be like the player choosing to become a companion of an NPC in the game and following them around forever and only doing what they want to do. doesn't make any sense having such an independent figure become your bitch boy for fighting and carrying your stuff around. like having the main boss in the game become your companion.. like what!?
@@WompwompPI I agree, would’ve been cool to have that option.
@@redditbombs3158 I see both sides to this tbh…
@@WompwompPI Yeah it would be cool if you also had the option to convince him there's still more to do and not have to fight him....taking him on a challenging quest to prove him otherwise and to learn more about his past.
Implying Bethesda actually thought this through and didn't just want a stupid powerful secret boss
WHAT?
DID YOU SAY [Secret Boss]???
@@No.1RatedSalesman tf is that supposed to mean
@@francoinyourmind it's a joke because my yt account is named after and has the pfp of a secret boss from a game called deltarune
@@No.1RatedSalesman ???
@@xnotasweatx already explained in another comment, it was a joke
I've always seen the Ebony Warrior as a parallel to the player character. Just an adventurer with a lot of talent and skill who did everything there was to do before challenging the most powerful known living being in the world. I imagine he probably had his own massive story before the events of Skyrim, even becoming the champion or avatar of a god. We know for a fact that the dragonborn isn't the only ridiculously powerful and remarkable person in elder scrolls lore because the previous games happened. It's easy to just forget these are real people that actually existed and were just as remarkable in the lore of the world as a player, but knowing that, it's only natural that others would exist on the same level that aren't/weren't player characters. I don't think the Ebony Warrior is anything more than one of these remarkable people, down to the parallel of having a legacy that supersedes any personal name, like the Dragonborn, the Neravarine, the Hero of Kvatch, and so on.
Almost like in the Shivering Isles where the Champion of Cyrodiil has to fight their shadow self, which could be incredibly challenging depending on the PC's level. There's some poetic moral there I'll bet, fight your own demons type of lesson.
I agree, especially because of the fact that he is only encountered after level 80 and his dialogue about having nothing left to do. In the base game, 80 was the highest level and we quite literally, had nothing left to do, all we could do was embrace sovengard.
The Ebony Warrior is a play of the Black Knight from Monty Python.
Just so you know, TLD would stomp the Hero of Kvatch. You can say whatever you want, but unless you count the bullshit bug spells that you can make in Oblivion (Which you shouldn't because, like I said, bullshit) the Hero of Kvatch can't really stand up to TLD and his shouts. Not even just the shouts, he's innately stronger than everybody because he has the soul and blood of a dragon in a mortal shell.
pretty sure the ebony warrior is the last septim alive, they did have redguard blood or so the lore says, they may want to go back to sovengard like the old nords, and a septim can inherit the dragon soul and shout like the player
Plot twist, Ebs was supposed to be the dragonborn of this age but he got distracted with side quests and never progressed the plot to actually becoming the Dragonborn. Then you showed up and became dragonborn instead
This, i am the ebony warrior. I have never beat the main quest, after a decade of playing the games.
@@TheNetworkUnderground I don't want to progress the civil war plot. Every body just sit in your town and do nothing
I always liked the Ebony Warrior Battle as the last thing I did before I ended my switch run of the game. It really did feel like the culmination of my character’s life. Even though I summoned two dremora lords to fight him while I bashed him to death with a pair of dual conjured swords… And Ice Breath… and Dragon’s Aspect.
Completely fair and balanced, as Skyrim should be
I got him with Marked For death.
More honorable than what I did, just spamming fireball.
I died doing that the first time, but I'd restarted since, and this time I'm sure I'll be ready
I also like the ebony warrior. I literally devoted an entire run for him where I would prepare the entire time I was reaching level 1 to level 80 so that I could kill him with ebony or myself and no extra help.I died :-:
I have a theory. The Ebony Warrior shows no pathological desire to destroy and conquer the Dragonborn, unlike the wielder of Umbra in Oblivion. What if the Ebony Warrior conquered the domineering nature of the curse by careful study of the Voice? Paarathanax controlled his violent urges through thousands of years of careful mediation, applying the Thuu'm to meditation rather than conquest. What if the Ebony Warrior studied with the Grey Beards and did the same kind of meditation, allowing him to remain calm despite the negative influence of Umbra's curse. The Ebony Warrior gaining an appreciation for the Nord culture and the Dragon Shouts might have made him consider them more of a home than his Redguard culture, since that careful study saved his soul from madness. His desire to go to Sovengarde could be his way of desiring peaceful co-existence with the culture he had adopted and come to see as a family.
This is the theory I'm adopting now. This makes so much sense
@@maddie-kg2fw ditto folk, you've educated me in more possibilities
I'm just glad that they were cool with accepting and welcoming the Redguard into Sovngarde. Unlike us typical Imperials appropriating every other culture into our own and then gatekeeping it, someone else finally gets to live "the last samurai" life and it's actually wholesome af.
This makes sense to me. Especially since the Orc from Morrowind behaved similarly. It could very well be host dependant too.
Nice, this makes lots of sense
I like all these theories and everything but I like to think it’s the Devs telling you that you’ve done everything you can and this is the final boss, like a mirror of the player almost to show that you’re the only thing that can stop you at this point.
Is it wrong thatI lobbed a elemental blast at him then ran down the hill to my two followers ....because I haven't took her to her to visit her home... Then proceeded to conjure two Demora and hid in the cut so I wouldn't get blown off the cliff and level up my one-handed with bound sword then took everything from from him at level 81?
@@NickRobbins82 this was hard to read brotha
@@tim6454 stupid voice text ,and yeah I know it's a run on sentence.
true, he literally says "no quests to complete, no villains to be slain"
It's less poetic when you pick pocket all his gear before he leaves solitude and you face a naked version
"lv80 is such a high lv"
Restoration loop glitch user : first time ?
Conjuration bug enjoyer: nah
Resto loop on a new play through: ah yes fortify alchemy enchantment. And so my ascension begins
Good to see you Nate!
The king is back
But then he will dissapear after another 5 months. Dont get me wrong i love the guy, but his schedule is no longer to be trusted
@@DarkRavenWolf50 what are you expecting if he made every video about every detail and story
@@hugocorreia8039 hasn't stopped him before. He still continues to find tiny details and things that we dont know about
@@DarkRavenWolf50 yeah but count the years he is making those videos
I imagine the ebony warrior isn't a godly being or mysterious warrior, but instead it's something a lot easier to see: he's a representation of the player, he's reached level 80, he's slaughtered thousands of bandits, he's destroyed hundreds of villains, he's completed countless quests, and now...
...there's nothing left to do. He's done everything there is, the last thing he wants is to die, but he's become to strong, he destroys everyone he fights, the only one who can stand equal to him...
...is you.
This is why they missed out on just having it be an upscaled version of your PC's model revealed once you take off the armor.
This is what I've always assumed to be the case of the Ebony Warrior. He is the player character, after doing everything there is to do, he uses the Elder Scrolls to travel back in time to face his former self in his prime. The Ebony Warrior just happens to have a Redguard model.
@@jonathannilsson8482 not even travel back in time, just another warrior who's in a similar circumstance.
I was thinking the same thing
Bingo. But it was fun watching Nate forge through several games in an attempt to create a lore for it :D
There’s a third possible explanation everyone seems to have missed. There’s a book in ESO titled “Boethia and her Avatars” that seems to describe The Ebony Warrior (both the quest and the man) pretty well. It talks about Boethia sending avatars into the world who appear seemingly out of nowhere with mysterious or obfuscated motivations to issue challenges to powerful heroes and common folk alike. It describes the avatars as usually masked, implying concealed identities and says that once the challenge is complete the avatars are gone without a trace, leaving only more questions.
ESO isn't canon.
we saw his face tho
This and that he could be half Redguard and Half Nord whom was a Dragonborn and lived in the times when the foresworn or snow elves lived, in the time of Tibet septum? Like he was possibly the last Dragonborn during miraks time or before mirak but since Boethia could’ve sent him around the world and now that both players have done everything, boethia made her two greatest champions fight maybe?
I’d like to add on that the ebony warriors or “the avatars” sent by boethia like in morrowind since champions dungeon is right by last vigil, that all the warriors are previous main characters that we played as in previous games maybe idk about the orc umbreon tho but yeah a help possible theory
@@timthetoolpool Bethesda said that it is
I started my ES journey with Oblivion in 2005 and I never finished the quest for Clavicus Vile because the sword would go from 0kg to 33kg. About a year later I found Umbra in Morrowind. When Skyrim came out I was confused that there's a similar warrior but no Umbra.
Make sure to say hi from me to the Ebony warrior from when you arrive in Sovnegarde, Nate! Because with these kind of videos, you definitely will!
Lmao ik this comment is wholesome but it sounds like an ominous threat if you take it out of context
@@yourmom4398 oh who said it was wholesome? 😈😈😈
I originally thought while watching this video, that Nate would lead us to the Atronach Forge when it comes to the items within Ebony's inventory.
Like maybe something might happen if you take his items to the Atronach Forge, and then activate it.
But as we can already see, he didn't do this, I would do this myself but I don't have my PC with me right now, so if any one of you who are viewing this comment would like to do this, please do it and let me know of your results.
@@yourmom4398 LMAOOOO good point
@@Letsberealish what a ridiculous reply to such a ridiculous comment
I think the Ebony Warrior was genuinely just interested in Nord culture. Maybe even raised by Nords. I think his interest led him to learning how to shout and to pursue eventually dying honorably and spending his afterlife in Sovngarde.
I don't think he was a Dragonborn, because after defeating him, the player doesn't (nor is there an option to) absorb his soul.
He's like a weaboo, just for Nordic culture.
you can't absorb miraaks soul either (maybe herma did tho)
@@kiwirain1235 you do
@@maxwhite8616 Hermaues Mora allows you to, though. And considering he is an actual god, it isnt really impossible.
@@materialgirl5713 I thought so since I have killed him and took his soul.
I remember vividly that my father would legendary every single skill, and beat every single dlc. I loved watching them duel, and seeing him finally beat the warrior was incredible.
i wish my dad would've played video games .. or at least had had the slightest interest in what we're doing. So sad
You have a dad?
jeez what? How old am I now that people are saying they have fond memories of their dads playing Skyrim.... how long ago did Skyrim come out?
@@daneharrison6413 2011
@@daneharrison6413 I’m 57 years old now 💀
What if its in a way both. The EW is an aspect of ebonarm that discovered umbra and began to be corrupted by it and so was unable to fulfil their calling leaving the dragonborn to deal with it in their stead. Eventually through their divine power and will they were able to resist Umbra’s influence and hide the sword in its current resting place, but the influence has left a permanent mark on their personality encouraging them to seek out a warrior’s honorable death instead of a road of peace. This could also explain why he has filled soul gems without any equipment to reap souls and behaviors in line with umbra without currently wielding the sword.
I’ve ears the Hunding theory before, and my headcanon is this:
he was an incarnation of Hunding, who came in a period of time when he was needed. But after that, he wandered the world. Helping people, killing evil where he found it. But after decades of easily defeating his foes, he seeks a warriors death. And he seeks soverngarde because only there, will he find himself among his true equals.
*HoonDing
Frandar Hunding is an Avatar of HoonDing, the Redguard deity. Ebonarm is also an incantation of HoonDing. HoonDing is the God of Make Way, as he materializes whenever the Redguards need to "make way" for their people.
@@personpeople6390 thank you. I’ve heard the names, but have never actually seen how they’re spelled
@@paulsimpson2129 Sovngarde*
@@koraysblog ok
Out-Of-Lore wise:
I always thought this was one of the developer's characters, that is why they have a very solid 'player like' perk tree.
It also is a real terrifying message as well, for after every quest is complete how will the player's character achieve the same?
Repeatable radiant quests are there for a reason. 😆
I agree ! i think he is a dev's self insert character , that's why he is a outlander but can dragon shout and want to go sovngarde.
@@BraddahSpliff Not trying to challenge you on this, but can you give some examples of these repeatable quests? Thanks dude!
@@DefineIndecline bandit quests for example
@@DefineIndecline or the dark mother quests
I'll always remember how the Ebony Warrior and my character both died from my sneak attack, the damage reflection on this NPC was insane.
well atleast he has a buddy in sovnrgarde
This could totally be in the video because I'm only 7 minutes in, but fun fact, if you do manage to push the knight all the way down to the edge of the cliff and launch him off with a shout, he will fall about 300 feet to the ground and simply wait for you down there. HE'S IMMUNE TO FALL DAMAGE
Bethesda watching this video:
“Oh shit now we have to come up with an lore explanation for this random surprise boss we decided to create just for fun, WHO MADE HIM A REDGUARD!?!?”
Maybe to those who want to keep dribbling the false theory that he is Eboarm when the lore description of the guy clearly states reddish blonde hair and steel blue eyes. I'm staying with my friend theory which was said at GameFAQS years ago that the Ebony Warrior being a redguard was a hint from Skyrim to where the next Elder Scrolls game will take place which is Hammerfell.
@@erikochristy i remember reading that as well! and then they released that teaser for elder scrolls 6
@@erikochristy He is the bastard between the families. He was hidden and trained by kin after his parent's were slaughtered for their affair. He grew in the wildlands and was unbeaten. All the Dragborn did was make him stronger, he will back.
guy who wanted to make pun about Ebony colored man in Ebony armor : (O__O)
In the beginning when the Ebony Warrior said that "there's no quests to do, no villains to fight" essentially that he's done everything that could possibly be done, he kinda reminds me of the player. My theory is that, the Ebony Warrior is like the soul of the character the player controls, now that you've done everything you could possibly do, he wants you to free him. Although once I finished the video, it is still quite puzzling. Maybe all the theories are connected in some way.
Ya my friend and I just figured it was a clone of our lvl 80 characters stats. Final boss fighting our selves.
Agreed its just a little fun thing to do after reaching level 80 but the other 2 theories dont make sense since the redguard is different and the umbra isnt present in the ebony warrior
This video is just tying a bunch of things together in a convincing enough way to make it believable while it is logically not probable.
Fans write all of this stuff themselves. People try to make things deeper than they are.
hes similar to the soul of cinder in dark souls 3
Its part of the heros journey, you must defeat your shadow self. Like in on star wars, Luke must defeat his shadow self in that cave while training with yoda.
It is the descent into hell. The subconscious. You must defeat and integrate your shadow self to become whole.
I was a teen playing Oblivion, decided to start checking out random ruins I have no reason to visit. The very first one had Umbra in it. I was still early game & could absolutely not win that fight. I cheesed it by blocking a doorway with paint brushes, & it only took 3 more tries after that to kill her (':
Ah, Oblivion without GOTYE patches that fix the floating paintbrush bug
What a game
You can see in the video a balcony with a cracked area. I jumped up there, crouched down and cheesed her very early game. Took a long time.
There was Shadow?
you can also take a bunch of sundering tomes to disintegrate her armor and sword and then use chilling touch it does the best dam, like you can do this almost as soon as you get out of the sewers
I conjured low level summons constantly and ran around the poison jets healing til she died I had the sword at like level 9 or 10 lol
Walking my brother through how to find him on his first playthrough was a great moment.
I think the Ebony Warrior was just put in as a tradition, since the previous two games had dangerous eony-wearing swordsman in them, both claiming to have killed many people, and both having reached the level of effectiveness where normal people can no longer pose any threat to them. The Clavicus Vile quest had no Umbra, so a similarly themed quest was made by someone who wanted the tradition to continue.
That can be a possibility, though I think there's always something behind ebony warrior. He's unusual with his size, power, and of course his name.
I killed "umbra" in oblivion at level 1 or 2. I'd buy a bunch of health potions, shoot her with an arrow and book it to the waterfront healing along the way, where the guards would finish her off. Umbra and ebony armor at level 1 or 2.
@@SaintPatrick33 Absolute pro gamer move
Yes but we're looking for in game lore reasons not the real world reason. I think ....
@@SaintPatrick33 you can also just jump up and down and she'll be stuck running up and down the steps like a moron. Takes quite a lot of arrows to bring her down and if you mess up your dead but it's not as hard as it sounds.
I've basically always killed Umbra immediately. Unless I'm playing a mage I want either the sword or the armor and for someone who's "supposed" to be one of the hardest characters in the game she's actually insanely easy to kill.
Even playing a mage or monk style unarmed character selling her stuff nets you almost enough gold to buy apotheosis. If you're a monk that's not helpful but gold is gold.
Hey Nate, just wanted to say it’s great hearing your voice again with some great new content. Thank you for all the great content you’ve given us over the years. Welcome back and I hope everything goes great for you in 2022!
ikr feelsgood to see Nate get back into it once more
Fun fact: When the Ebony Warrior was a young lad first starting off in his adventures he had a best friend who went with him everywhere- but unfortunately he took an arrow to the knee.
he took an arrow to the knee
my dog stepped on a bee
@@robinsimon4176 this meme makes me want to ree
Ebony warrior had a cousin, too bad he's on guard duty.
good reference
@@Gerraint and his wife was caught stealing sweet rolls
Awesome job man!! Elder Scrolls lore never ceases to amaze me. I recently got a switch so I’m playing Skyrim again, I forgot how much passion I had for this universe.
Probably my favorite battle in the game. I used to have a save file right before I fought him. It was so much fun going to war across the whole map against him, days upon days of never ending combat. He truly felt like the proper boss of Skyrim
Standing Here, i realise, you were just like me trying to make history. But who's to judge, the Right from Wrong. when our guard is down i think we'll both agree that Violince breeds Violince, but in the end it has to BE THIS WAY. - epic guitar solo - I've carved my own path.. you've followed your wrath.. but maybe we're both the Saaame. The world has turned. so many have burned. but nobody is to blame. Yet staring across this baren, wasted land i feel new life will be born beneath the BLOOD STAINED SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND. BENEATH THE BLOOD STAINED SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND. - ends song -
The dark souls of Skyrim
@@bayabooz4855 Every soul has it's dark
@@caiodesouza5673 "Every soul has it is dark"
That's right. The contraction "it's" is short for the phrase "it is". The word you should be using is "its".
@@BennyGoId Using full stops instead of commas is also a form of poor grammar.
"That's right, the contraction "it's" is short for "it is"."
The punctuation mark you should be using is a comma.
Grammar Nazi's are cringe, grow up, you aren't as smart as you think you are.
Considering the Ebony Warrior came to us for death I think the better question is “What great danger HAD the Redguard people faced?” I’d image that once this character has completed his grand purpose he’d be extremely frustrated and bored, unable to find a new purpose he chooses to seek his death instead
Maybe the Aldmeri?
Can also be daedra
I know tamriel is different from our world but i cant see why anyone in that world would want to die because theyre bored of life. wouldn't you just retire or honestly if you wanted more glory you could just become leader of your country to do more. I think its weird that the ebony warrior would just want to die
@@soulplexisI heard patriciantv go over this topic briefly in his morrowind retrospective and I thought he had an interesting point. Look at it like this, when you get bored enough towards the end of a play through you may just start murdering npc’s for the hell of it. Well this can apply to the ebony warrior in the sense that he is so bored he may start to do not so good deeds or slip down a darker path, so he chooses to seek a warriors death before that point is reached.
Maybe the War of the Bend'r-Mahk? That could explain the connections to Skyrim and Nord culture with him still being an aspect of Hunding, since that war was between Hammerfell and Skyrim. Heck, maybe he is the protagonist from Shadowkey who's just been around for the last 200 years.
I thought the Ebony Warrior was the previous dragonborn when I came across him.
Before you meet the Greybeards everybody talks about how the summons hasn't happened in hundreds of years, meaning it's known to have happened before. Dragonborns are divine beings themselves, meaning they can receive the blessing of any god (Redguards being blessed by Talos for example). If the Ebony Warrior was the previous dragonborn that was summoned hundreds of years ago he would have completed every quest, be really good at shouts, have insane stats and gear (that perhaps only he can use properly), be structurally different than everybody else, and really have nothing else to do since he isn't you and lives in the game (believing in Talos and Sovngarde). So since he's an unrealistically high level after hundreds of years he only appears when you are too, being the last enemy/quest to beat in the game as the, "Strongest." Which could only be the previous dragonborn.
Anyways, that's just what I assumed.
That could also be hinting towards this being a repeated event- like a loop. A dragonborn is summoned from another part of the land and brought here, they do as needed, face off against the last dragonborn as a 'final test', then end up doing all that is needed until a new dragonborn comes along- someone worthy of combat, of sending them off. For one, it's a last mission. For the other, it could be a piece of life to show that there is nothing left of this world, and by that point, they would have beaten it all. There would be nothing left to complete until the next dragonborn emerges.
Thats what I always thought too
The dragonborn is still vulnerable to age, they aren’t immortal so if that was the case how would a red guard dragonborn survive more than 100 years?
@@krustythecumstain2968 blessing from a god perhaps
@@krustythecumstain2968 people have been known to survive more than 100 years in real life
I always had a theory that he was a manifestation of the gods testing the dragon born to see if they're worthy. Afterall, vigil means watching/observing. So a final observation to see if they're worthy
When I found him, I considered 3 things.
1: Lore wise, he's a adventuring hero who conquered previous evils and threats long before the dragons began to rise and is looking for his warrior's death, seeking the current hero of the realm, you, the Dragonborn, to give it to him.
2: Game mechanic wise, he's a final test and a reflection of a player who has reached what then was the level cap, which would take doing everything since there was no way to "legendary" your skills to keep leveling past that point. One last challenge to overcome.
3: Him being a Redguard wanting to go to Sovengarde was a developer oopsie since Bethesda is very well known for bugs, exploits and oversights being in their games. Either by accidentally ticking the wrong race checkbox in creation or by just by habit of so many warriors being Nords and talking of awaiting Sovengarde and they just applied that out of this habit. Perhaps even the voice actor may have said it out of habit himself or thought he was recording yet another Nord voice and it went unchecked. We know Bethesda also has had pretty significant voice oopsies too in the past.
I think he is an ethnic Redgaurd but born and raised in Skyrim. Maybe he has mixed blood and identifies as a Nord. It's honestly stranger if no non-Nords are born in Skyrim and follow the Nord customs.
@@Twiska exactly my thoughts. Mixed heritage with dominant red guard traits. Makes for a more interesting head canon backstory.
I like the idea that he's the player character of the next game. Maybe Bethesda will be pulling a funny and making the next game set BEFORE Skyrim, possibly showing us just how Hammerfell was able to beat back the Dominion. Maybe the shouting was a little hint at the "sword singing" mentioned in this video that'll be our version of shouts in the next game.
Even more, maybe the weirdness of a Redguard trying to get into Sovengarde could hint at the story of our next character, maybe something to do with being "abandoned by the Gods".
Are you my grandma?
@@TheLinessCompany, I'm so sorry I had to leave you, Flauschige... Your grandpa got into trouble with Solomon Whitmore. He took a loan from him. 20kgs of coke. He was going to cut it and sell it on the street. Pay him back and make a nice profit. But while he was out pimping, one of his hoes ran off with 15kgs... We tried to find that bitch, but she ran to Tijuana. Sol came for his money, so grandpa blew him away with Ol' Saint Nicolas, his favourite shotgun. But then Sol's brother, Viktor, came after us. We had to disappear... for long 10 years... *sobs* Your grandfather passed last year; dementia, heart problems from all that coke and old wounds he got pimping. But I'm back now, Dear! Grandma's back!
I like to believe that the letter from a friend is from the Ebony Warrior, The Dragonborn being called must have alerted him that there was a powerful being around there and he would want them to be able to complete all the challenges they face, As well as making sure they have the drive to do so n the first place, So having someone mysterious in the background cheering on the Dragonborn would help from that, It would also explain how he knows where the Dragonborn is, Because he obviously needed to keep track of them to send the letter in the first place and the Ebony Warrior cheering on the Dragonborn would also help with him thinking that the Dragonborn is the last challenge that can send him to Sovngarde, I mean the Dragonborn does have some strange powers, It's not a stretch for a person like him to believe that the Dragonborn has some sort of power to send him to Sovngarde regardless of race.
I killed him before I even got to where dragons start spawning and I can even use dragon shouts so that theory wouldn’t work in my playthrough lol
Same. I’ve killed him, but I still get the annoying letter from a friend. I just always assumed they’re from Arngeir.
No, the letters are from the Greybeards. Note they only come after you Shouted somewhere, and the Greybeards would know.
😅😅 37:12
I always thought the letter was from Delphine, asking you learn all you can of your role as dragonborn to lead the blades by going to the greybeards
I was expecting a mention of a certain wood elf NPC you meet in Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, in the tribunal expansion. His name was Gaenor, and when you first meet him, he doesn't look any special. He asks you for a small amount of gold at first. Ending with him asking you for a whopping million in the end. No matter what, he will get angry with you in the and, and he will later appear in full set of ebony armor. One of the toughest enemiest in the entire game, because his luck is at 770, which makes it virtually impossible for anyone to land a hit on him, along with some other powerful magical effects. Maybe Ebony warrior in Skyrim is also a wink for the Morrowind players who remember that.
Yeah... I hate to say it, but this video is making me doubt Nate's research capabilities. On top of leaving things out, there's seem to be some innacuracies. But what do I know.
I think I recall seeing a video by Nate that talked about this possible connection, but I could be misremembering. I've listened to hundreds of such videos while working, so the provenance of any particular thing I picked up is a bit jumbled in my thinkmeat
I feel you are right in some aspects of the ebony warrior. But I feel him being a redguard is a bigger clue than most people think. I think he got banished from his homeland for forsaking the native beliefs and adopting the nord beliefs and moved to Skyrim, stumbling upon the Umbra legend as an ultimate nord belief. And being proficient in the way of the sword adapts that to his style. Seeing as he could never find the real Umbra sword (in vanilla game) he crafts his own with the ability to steal life (like the Umbra sword but instead of your soul [ life essence] it’s your health [ your life essence in game]) pretending to be the real Ebony Warrior AKA Umbra. That’s just my hot take on the lore. If anybody’s got anything more to add or give me more insight on this if I’m missing something, let me know. ( I am talking about vanilla game lore BTW, creation club IMO does not count)
I LOVE these more long format deep dives into Skyrim and Elder Scrolls content. I basically use your Skyrim playlists everyday at work, just listening to you talk about Skyrim, and I can honestly say, it makes my day so much better. Just wanted to say thank you for all the content you've put out over the years, it's been awesome!
Yeah, none of that tucktock shit.
@@5226-p1e lol ok Boomer. You mean TakTik
@@sts1393
My text to speech screwed that up. I'm not boomer, I'm millennial.
Besides you also wrote it wrong, I assume you're also using text to speech like me.
The sad thing is in order to spell it right you can't use text to speech, because it makes up the word for you.
@@5226-p1e he was joking lol
I listen to Joe rogan at work
My problem with the Umbra theory is that... well, he literally does not possess Umbra, even if you add the creation to the game, it isn't retroactively added in his inventory or something. The Yokudan Dovahkiin adjacent seems far more likely to me, because perhaps he tires of being alive, immortality driven madness, and wants you to finally put him down as nobody else can.
He's just a meant to be an easter egg boss for players who've gone over the limit and to tell them of their own fate.
What ifhe just handed that blade to the imperial or it was stolen from him so that is why he want s to go to soverngard
@@thaddeushill7080
I don’t think him giving away a legendary Daedric sword is really in the cards, and even if somehow he just handed it off to some random guy, I don’t see how that makes one want to go to someone else’s heaven
@@Kronos0999
Well yeah, but speculation is way more fun. Most of the mysterious things in these games could be just explained away as a failure on the writers’ part or just a bit of fun, but it’s more entertaining to believe they had a reason for all of it.
@@thrifty0413 Called Moron Syndrome.
"Why has the ebony warrior appeared now?"
Probably saved Hammerfell from some threat in the recent past, and with his quest complete, seeks death at the hands of the player.
It's possible the Ebony Warrior is the future MC sword-singer of the Elder Scrolls VI. Who says their stories can't happen around the same time?
@@Amo-v27 i doubt that, they like to spread out the games pretty far
@@cheeseyasscheek9186 True, but it's still a possibility. We won't know until the next game comes out.
@@Amo-v27 yeah true i was just saying
Before the events of Skyrim, Redguards drove out Aldmeri Dominion from Hammerfell, without the help from the Empire. The Ebony Warrior could have helped there.
You sound like Sheldon. It makes your videos even better than they already are.
"Safely sending him to Sovngard," sounds like a contradiction in terms - lol.
Love it ❤️
Like being murdered to death 😅
It's because of the theory that he's a redguard demigod/hero who wont go to soverngard normally.He fears he wont get there because of the race he was "summoned" as,so he fights the strongest current mortal in the part of the world that should all but satisfy the conditions to get to his wanted afterlife.
Basically imagine you were stuck with 1 job,but wanted another and the only way to get it was to fight that ceo.
@@bearandthebull2372 Indeed.
One important piece of information is if you kill the ebony warrior before going to Sovngarde in the main quest, unlike alot of other figures that can be killed during your quests (all nords btw) he doesnt show up in Sovngarde meaning his final wish wasnt fulfilled.
That's the information I came here for. Thank you kind soul for answering my query
It's also possible that he had gotten to Sovngarde but Alduin consumed his soul.
If I had to guess I'd say Bethesda just didn't think about it and it's not really official lore
@@ilasoiafI'd be tempted to agree but with the amount of attention to detail Bethesda put into Skyrim, it seems somewhat unlikely for them to forget, but maybe they did, who knows
@@pianoman5259lol
I have a confession. I've played the game 3 times with +100 hour characters that reached level 80, and I've yet to advance the story line beyond informing the Jarl of Whiterun that I saw a dragon.
Jarl of Whiterun
@@SunsakiMemoir good catch ;)
how? you are the legend I can never be.
@@glrglr9946 I actually started doing this, because I was under the impression that once I zoned into a dungeon, the dungeon baddies and loot would be permanently locked to the the tier level I first zoned in with. I found out later that wasn't really the case, but since some quest reward stats are based on the level the player was when they received the item, I just kept the habit going.
I did the same thing with Oblivion, Fallout 3 and 4 lol.
Lies.
Nate I really enjoyed your content during the pandemic (that's when i discovered your channel). I'm appreciative of another deep dive. Great fortune to you!
damn congrats that he hearted your comment I been watching him since 2017 and he didn't heart mine lol
You spelled government lockdown wrong.
@@fortheloveofking you spelled zombie apocalypse wrong
@@waterzila1074 You spelled intense orgy wrong
@@waterzila1074 Touche
The fact you hear a pigeon and see it walking by as the Ebony warrior speaks in front of a huge horse statue like it was all part of the game its truly amazing how far the modding community has come
This game has survived the test of time for over 10 years because of the modding community. I absolutely love Skyrims modding community. I would have loved it if MERP (Middle Earth mod based in LOTR) was allowed to go ahead
My game broke and when I got there he was fighting a troll, then imediately after that a dragon arrived and we slayed that together before he just stood at his vigil not attacking me. It broke my heart to one shot him by sneaking attacking
This is one of my favorite videos. Thank you!
Hey! I am not able to watch the video at this moment but, I just want to say its really nice to see your video in my feed. When I was new to the channel I would binge watch your playlists, fall alseep, and try to find where I left off the next night. I love the Long-Form Videos! Cant wait to watch this later.
The ebony warrior is my all time favorite companion, I just used the better vampires mod, used vampire seduction on him and he was my friend, with unique dialogue also, I always laughed when he said "oh a cave, let's see what's inside." He has funny dialogue when fighting, and always seems so happy to go on adventures with me. And this was vanilla ebony warrior, I didn't add any ebony warrior mods. With the ebony warrior being a vampire, it was hilarious watching him try and sneak his hulking self to suck some npcs blood, even when I'm talking to them, not to mention he's so overpowered he can solo all the enemies and I could just watch his talk and battle with them, he's so entertaining.
To mod is to defile
@@jesse89jensen lol
@@jesse89jensen
*looks at my list of 400+ mods*
Uuuuhhhhhh.....
@@varthalgamekiin4931 modding makes the game infinitely better and replayable. Games with strong modding support maintain a healthy playerbase for many years
@@eliassantos6993 Well, depends on the mods. Honestly, I reckon at least 30-40 of my mods are compatibility or performance upgrades and over 100 are just model and texture upgrades. At this point, it wouldn't surprise me to find out dozens have been overwritten by other mods to the point where I may as well just get rid of them. But that would require more work than I am willing to put into it. In any event, we're all having fun here. Good game, good people, good times. Love this community.
I think it would be so cool if the Ebony Warrior was unmasked and you realize he/she is you. Like your character you created. I feel like that's the point of the warrior. He's supposed to be the last worthy adversary. He's supposed to essentially be you.
Would've been trippy but I like it.
Would've been nice to have him as a friend
Would’ve been so cool, only problem is that Skyrim lore is already fucked up as it is, don’t need to be throwing in a wrench like that in the mix lol
Yeah, but let's also make him a PTSD hallucination stemming from the fact that you are the greatest killer of your age.
By the time you are max level or close to it, you have most likely killed more people(even in a goodie two shoes run) than what any person would be able to handle without losing their sanity.
How many times has the dragonborn canonically walked up to random settlements of bandits who weren't particularly bothering anyone besides squatting in some ruins and just slaughtered them?
More than the visible population of all the cities put together.
...let that sink in for a minute.
Do a "go everywhere run" and from the POV of some random nobody who doesn't particularly like being bothered, a superpowered psycho screams you against the wall with the force of a truck hitting you at 20mph, cuts you to pieces and as you lay dying in your own filth, you realize that the only thing he's concerned with is the content of your chest, namely an iron mace, fifty gold, two apples, a cabbage and some basic medicinal herbs.
He takes the gold and herbs and leaves as soon as he entered.
They probably thought of doing that and realized the surprise wouldn't have worked for the khajiit and argonian players after looking at his tail lmao
I remember how overpowered umbra was in Oblivion as you could just go their instantly and once you have it early game you couldn’t be killed
I used umbra to kill the gatekeeper without poison lol.
Classic! I remember struggling to get it early
@@lonerider5315 There's a corner I hid inside of and just pelted her with arrows until she died lol. She was a dumb AI and would run into you without pathing or jumping, so she'd really let you line up the shots xD
Similarly with Morrowind. It used to be a frequent early game tactic of mine to go there real early in the game, and load up on various strength enhancing drinks and take him by surprise. Cheesy as hecky, but it got me an absolute nuke of a sword before ever meeting Caius. :P
@@codyh98 one word: levitation
Has anyone ever waited until after slaying the Ebony Warrior to complete the main questline to see if he appears in Sovngarde like Kodlak?
Ill do it
@@Tamam3131 please get back to us! I was wondering this same thing while watching
Alduin seeing the player at level 89 walking up to him in Sovngarde "WAIT WAIT WA-"
@@amoschew3609 th-cam.com/video/c4t7JnCW-48/w-d-xo.html
@@Tamam3131
Let us know how it goes
37:08 Actually, the name Hammerfell came from the Dwemer who first settled there. An ancient Dwemer tale states that one of their artificer-kings cast his hammer high into the air, and wherever it would fall, that's where they would settle down. Redguard simply took that name in stride, but it was there before they ever settled.
Good catch. Was about to comment the same 😁
Never played any of these games but i found this video fascinating, great stuff man!
Back in like 2013 was my first time seeing him, I remember speed running the elderscroll so I could do the following questline and get the Oghma Infinuim. Using the breezehome for the leveling glitch, I walked outside in Iron armor, level 81 and a half (cap), the Ebony warrior approached and telling me I was the only one who could kill him.
Dude - literally the same way and timing here.
When the world needed him the most, he returned
th-cam.com/video/FCHSNxvnURg/w-d-xo.html It's here finally..
this exact comment is under all of his videos bruh
@@camruh yup, i know😂
I like my head canon that wanting to go to Nord afterlife he was so filled with anxiety and worry that he would be sent to the far shores instead of Sovngard he set out to defeat all challenges in Skyrim so the Nord pantheon cannot deny his worthiness to enter. Why Nord afterlife? Who knows, maybe his Nord love died in battle so the only way he can be with her/him again is gain entry.
This was my favorite theory so far! He is a champion unknown, every bit as epic as the player. He met his true love in Skyrim who was killed. He couldn't bear the thought of going to the Far Shores instead of Sovngard with her, so it became his only purpose to prove himself worthy as any Nord by conquering all Skyrim had to offer.
Because black people don't like being around other black people, and know that places full of White people are more pleasant places to be.
@@inawrocki207 kkkkk
i actually like the idea hes seeking to go to sovengarde for a specific person, though considering the kind of person who goes to sovengarde i imagine its likely more his rival then a lover(or maybe both) that he wants to continue to fight and test himself against for eternity
@@seelcudoom1 "I died for you bro"
"Bro..."
Threw his ass into a black soul gem and enchanted a toy sword that can paralyze a target for nearly 8 million seconds, about three months.
Can we just take a second to respect the fact that this man made an almost 50 minute video on one of the most mysterious NPCs in the entirety of the series?
So, given that Redgaurds are from the previous Calper Cycle, I believe that the Ebony Warrior was that cycle's "Last Dragonborn" who failed to end his version of Alduin. He's been simply in exile, somehow cursed with immortality/agelessness, and waiting for the end of this world as well. When you arrive, and stop Alduin, he sees that you succeeded in doing what he couldn't, and now views you as his last chance to die in peace.
I haven't defeated alduin in my playthrough and he came up to me
@@TownBiness97 I believe he first spawns when you reach level 30 whether or not you’ve done any of the main quest
Becomes a vampire 😅
@@Master.skellylvl 80 sir
@@Master.skellyhe only spawns at or after level 80
In addition to Ebonypants and Tsun, another character in TES lore shares the great size: Lyris Titanborn, half-Giant Nord woman seen in ESO as a major character. She has a companion/love interest in Sai Sahan... a Redguard.
So we have a game set in one time period, where a giant Nord woman is in love with a Redguard, and a game set a thousand years later, in which we have a giant Redguard obsessed with going to the Nord afterlife.
Also, Umbra is pronounced um-bra. It refers to the penumbra, the shadow case by the Earth or moon during an eclipse.
Sounds plausible, depends on how long half/quarter giants live it might work out without multiple generations being in play.
Also umbra means shadow in latin.
I own several ladders of varying sizes.. where can I meet this Lyris Titanborn? 😁
th-cam.com/channels/qoFJNCHXJjIxrHuuZbxonA.html
I defeated the ebony warrior with one unrelenting shout once he was close to the edge of the cliff. It KOd him, so maybe it wasn't hard for me.
I always thought he was a Dragonborn from the past who may have got stuck in ‘modern’ day Skyrim due to some randomness caused by the elder scrolls. Like the issue with time travel in other media is that messes up another time line so by sending Alduin forward in time, it caused issues with another time line and he also got sent to where Alduin did.
This relates to my little tin hat theory that the EW and Umbra are part of a collective group of peoples that have immense power, specifically of daedric or ancient magical origin, which the DB is part of as well. What if it’s this group that our player characters are part of throughout the games? There’s always been a “chosen” aspect to the characters we play, and while our characters are neither the first nor last, it could be a generational series of these powerful warriors that in many cases signal significant changes in Tameriel. Obviously this will be completely untrue but I like that it could put an explanation to why our PC’s are so powerful and seem to be “chosen”
I love how much effort you actually put into these videos. Anyone can fill 15 minutes of these type of videos with fluff that really doesn't tell you anything. It's like you actually had this topic as an assignment for college.
I admire the effort, though I believe he's overthinking it. We have good reasons to believe the Ebony Warrior is just a reference to the endgame player after 100% completion of the game.
In Oblivion I came across Umbra while randomly exploring at low level. I tried to snipe Umbra thinking that she was just another bandit and got killed. I eventually lured her into a trap and let that do most of the damage.
I did something similar. I was a kid and had the game on easy mode. Merked her without even thinking about it and had this awesome chrome lookin weapon for the rest of my playthrough that took the form of a two handed axe for some reason lol
I remember getting Umbra to chase me up the stairs and into a smaller room where I somehow got her in a corner and started wailing on her to no end. I was beat but she was dead. Toughest fight i had in Oblivion, far more than in the Fighter's Guild Arena.
Ideas:
Idea 1:
1. New Game
2. Level to 80
3. Fight Ebony Warrior
4. Address Main Quest
> 5. Upon visiting sovengarde, check if ebony warrior is present in the halls, or if hes lost in the mist
> 5a. If can't find, try to [player.moveto] him, while in sovengarde
Idea 2:
1. New game
2. [Player.moveto] E.W. (see where he's stored. Ma'iq the liar is stored in a box before randomly being released into the world, which in the files is named 'Elseweyr')
Idea 3:
1. Complete main quest
2. Level to 80
3. Kill E.W.
4. Teleport to sovengarde
>repeat steps 5 and 5a from Idea 1
Idea 4:
1. Before entering sovengarde to search for E.W. in ideas 1 and 3, try [player.moveto]. Make hard save before going to sovengarde, or trying [player.moveto]
maybe the real ebony warrior was the friends we made along the way
I just like the idea that he's seen and done everything there is to do, and wants someone to take him to a better place.
Same. Realistically though, that seems like a horrible life. Imagine wanting someone to kill you because your life is so fulfilled & there's nothing new to do.
I love that you are one of the few creators who saw the value of longer form content.
Good game sir. 👏
An interesting theory is that the reason the Ebony Warrior has a vampiric enchanted sword is because there could be a possibility the umbra sword in Skyrim was the ebony blade, a sword that whispers to the player to kill to increase its power, that also has a vampiric enchantment. That’s my theory at least
Dude it's been ages. I missed you.
Same
Again
FOR THOSE WANTING TO DEFEAT THE EBONY WARRIOR:
Go through the dark brotherhood quest line until you get the jarrin root, save it and don’t use it on the emperor. Make a poison with it ( using something like nightshade or deathbell) and hit him with it using your best weapon. You might be able to soup up the poison with fortify alchemy/ enchant combo at say dragonsreach. You can then essentially one shot him with a poison that can deal up to 3,000+ damage
Alternatively
fortify alteration loop
Zero showmanship. Die countless times and rage quit like a real man!
Or shout him off of the cliff. That's what I did the first time I faced him.
@@josephlavallee6196 both, both is good
Imagine going through all the stuff he has gone through just to end up beeing poisoned. Does not sound like a honorable death to me :D
The size of the Ebony Warrior could be due to him being half-giant or half atmoran like Lyris Titanborn.
Dying in battle is pretty nordlike and the 2 shouts must be ancient since the Draugur favour them.
He might be a champion from the last dragon era and just wanting to die in battle due to you most likely being the bane of Alduin and other dragons, meaning the dragons will never take over Skyrim again, therefore he has nothing to live for.
We know the dragonpriests are pretty much immortal, why wouldn't a dragon champion be immortal?
*gasp* Lyris and Sai had a baby!
..I mean he ended up cursed and enslaved to a sword.. But... It tracks.. Kinda..
Yeah the idea of titanborn wasn't invented until ESO I'm not sure if Bethesda would have thought that far ahead and the dragon priest had to become liches to be immortal exuding miraak who ditched his original body and trapped himself in apochripha
I could have sworn the Ebkny Warrior was the hero from Daggerfell having lived so long and leveled up so high.
I remember walking into a random dungeon in Oblivion and getting into a battle with a warrior in ebony armor, she had a sword called umbra and I remember her being insanely hard to kill. I didn't find out until I tried to drop the item that it was a bound quest item.
When I was a kid I'd go to that dungeon when starting a new game, turn down difficulty to novice and loot her corpse for end game loot lol
@@gordonramsdale Hell yeah! Id usually make a Nord for the free 50 frost damage and get Umbra as soon as I left the prison and that ebony armor at least until I got my Conjuration high enough to do the free weightless Daedric armor exploit
In ES4 everyone is hard to kill, it's even harder in ES3
@@arwahsapi enemies were very spongey for most of the game
I don't know why but during my first playthrough of oblivion I nearly maxed out hand to hand on the kvatch guards, I found umbra jumped onto one of the broken pillars and beat her to death bare handed and in arena armor
I love the umbra theory, definitely makes the most sense to me, I like to see it as the ebony warrior was the previous owner of Umbra before the Imperial Umbra. The ebony warrior probably was a typical warrior that found the weapon and was probably as blood thirsty as the orc and lady umbra but thanks to a Divine interference due to the gods seeing him as a world-saving hero like the Dragonborn, he was able to break the spell and discard the Umbra sword forever (this helps explain why he wishes to go to sovngarde thanks to a divine nord god that helped him). But because his mind was so brainwashed to the sword he can’t help but still wear ebony armor and even have a ebony sword that is similar to the umbra sword. Also explains why he doesn’t say his name due to forgetting it himself because of the sword.
It's also plausible, that similar to how parthurnax overcame his instict of domination and destruction through the way of the voice, that this is how the Ebony warrior overcame Umbra as well.
@@Vaultyboi22 I always thought the ebony warrior was what Afro Samurai headband was.
Does not expalain why he grew so big, unlike other wielders.
Ebony Warrior is not a mere mortal.
Just like Dragonborn isn't a mortal man but an aspect of Shor.
I feel like there was a a lot of Umbra lore just skipped. You can't just ignore the novels 'Infernal City' and 'Lord of Souls'. Each describes the ultimate fate of Umbriel (the fusion of Umbra and Vuhon) and the sword when Vile wielded it
Same with Ebonarm hes described with red-blond hair and blue eyes and hes not even Yokudan, people started saying he was do to the Ebony warrior=Ebonarm theory. Hes worshipped in High Rock as well
I mean. Neither of those books are canon. So yes, you can ignore them.
@@Malkontent1003 the books are canon, Bethesda has said so and events in the book are referenced in Skyrim.
@@timyuusis3372 M8. It's been discussed on this channel before. Go watch the video about the sleeping tree, or the one about the Eye of Magnus.
@@Malkontent1003 pete hines in 2010 "@ Silvade14 Yes, we consider the Elder Scrolls novels canon to TES lore
I always thought the ebony warrior was always speaking to the player and not the dragonborn about beating all the bosses, all the quests, and so on. Kinda like Minecraft's sequence after you beat the ender dragon.
I've fought the Ebony Warrior one time on my OG console save. I thought it was pretty obvious that it was just a mirror of the player, beyond the lore I guess. Someone who completed every quest and beat every villain. Stupid strong ass, dragon shouting, armor wearing beast that was fully levelled.
Exactly how strong was his ass? Could he flatten a roll of quarters?
Exactly my thoughts as well. Redguard for the poison buff and because a wood elf or lizard would been more work.
Same only fought him once on the 360 but I was for powerful for some reason I pretty much killed him in like 5 seconds .... :/
@@DovahTheHeroDamn, I beat him quick but not that quick.
He’s just a meta character.
His speech about having no more quests and no more villains to face except for one is obviously supposed to be what the player is thinking / experiencing. He wears ebony armor because that had the reputation of being the best armor set in Oblivion. He’s a Redguard as a cute tease for the next game since looting his corpse is one of the last things you’ll likely do in Skyrim.
Makes a lot of sense, especially the last bit since it seems pretty likely the next elder scrolls will be in Hammerfell.
I feel like this is the most accurate answer