The Dark Brotherhood, a shadowy group of cold-blooded assassins, is an old and feared organization within The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. By getting involved in their deadly questline, the Dragonborn can choose to join the Dark Brotherhood, restoring the group to its former glory and eliminating targets across Skyrim. However, players can choose a different secret ending for the Dark Brotherhood questline - one that ends with their destruction.
To achieve this alternate secret ending, players must first initiate the questline. After hearing rumors of a boy attempting to contact the Dark Brotherhood, the player encounters Aventus Aretino who mistakes the Dragonborn for his summoned assassin. If the Dragonborn indulges Aventus' request to kill an abusive orphanage headmistress, they will receive an ominous note from a courier stating, "We know." Following this, the Dragonborn will be taken in their sleep to a locked shack by Astrid, the leader of Skyrim's Dark Brotherhood. As an initiation to prove loyalty to the Dark Brotherhood, Astrid instructs the Dragonborn to kill an innocent captive. However, players can refuse this choice, sending the questline down a much different path.
Instead of joining Skyrim's Dark Brotherhood, players can choose to destroy it. Rather than kill one of the captives, the Dragonborn can choose to eliminate Astrid and report her death to a guard. The guard will then direct the Dragonborn to Commander Maro, an NPC who normally plays the role of an antagonist should the player join the Dark Brotherhood. Maro will praise the Dragonborn for what they have done and give them the password for the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, leading to one of Skyrim's easily missable quests. This questline has a new ending: the elimination of the Dark Brotherhood members. From here, players can venture to the sanctuary and defeat the Dark Brotherhood assassins in whichever way they wish to put an end to this long-running Elder Scrolls organization in Skyrim.
Elder Scrolls: Skyrim's Dark Brotherhood Questlines Have Very Different Rewards
The reward for completing this alternate Dark Brotherhood questline is much different than what can be gained by joining the group. After successfully eliminating the Dark Brotherhood members, Maro congratulates the Dragonborn for their service, rewarding them with 3000 gold. Still, this option makes the possible rewards earned by joining the group unobtainable. By destroying the Dark Brotherhood, players cannot obtain the horse Shadowmere, nor will they have the option to marry the NPC Muiri. In addition, the Dark Brotherhood's Cicero, one of Skyrim's followers, cannot be recruited. Moreover, fully completing the Dark Brotherhood questline as a member nets the Dragonborn 20,000 gold, not counting the payment from numerous side quests and assassination contracts.
Overall, joining the Dark Brotherhood offers a more profitable questline than the one in which the group is destroyed. That said, wiping out the organization spares the lives of many of Skyrim's citizens, and it gives players the option to continue their journey with a clear conscience.