Morrowind recently celebrated its 20th year anniversary, and fans of the Elder Scrolls from around the world revisited the series for another round of fantastic quests, endless adventures, and hard decisions that truly change each player's storyline.
When it comes to taking stands and making choices, Skyrim presents players with several meaningful choices to shape their game narrative. The Dragonborn's path can be full of regret, doubt, or assertiveness depending on his or her acts. Decisions have to be made all the time, and some end up far more important and memorable than others.
Aid Or Betray the Redguard Woman
The Dragonborn eventually bumps into two Alik’r warriors looking for a female fugitive of Hammerfell. The woman turns out to be a noble named Saadia who’s hiding in The Bannered Mare in Whiterun. The player has the option to kill the leader of the Alik’r or betray Saadia’s trust and hand her over to the warriors.
Even though the quest's outcome does not affect any other plot line of the game, it sure is stressful for the most moral guided players to make a decision with so little information. Who's saying the truth and what is going to happen to Saadia if handed to the warriors is difficult to determine, and therefore a torment for any player who wishes to do the right thing.
Get the Sap From The Eldergleam Or Get It From Jondrelle
In Whiterun, Danica Pure-Spring wishes to revive the Gildergreen and asks the player to enter the Eldergleam Sanctuary to gather sap from the sacred tree. Inside the Sanctuary, a pilgrim named Maurice Jondrelle approaches and offers a sapling instead.
To help men or protect nature is such an important dilemma in the real world that the matter feels just as major in Skyrim. Guilt can surely haunt the players' quest if decided to cut the sacred tree, as it's inevitable to kill Spriggans who are guarding the Eldergleam, but if the sapling is taken, those who appreciate the approval of an NPC may be disappointed.
Help, Kill, Or Keep Barbas
The quest “A Daedra’s Best Friend” introduces Barbas to the Dragonborn. At first he will appear to be a normal dog that’s roaming around Falkreath, but eventually will turn out to be the talkative pet of Clavicus Vile, one of the seventeen Daedric Princes.
Annoyed by its dog, Clavicus requests to use his unique weapon, Rueful Axe, to kill Barbas, and as a reward, the player may keep it. It's one thing to be asked to kill vampires or other enemies, but to murder a harmless, faithful and cute puppy is a true test for the most kind-hearted. On the other hand, a special ax can be pretty useful in a world of dragons, giants, and trolls.
Sacrifice a Follower For Boethiah
The quest “Boethiah's Calling” becomes available after reaching level 30 and finding Boethiah’s shrine or reading a book about him and his cult. Eventually, the Dragonborn will have to perform a sacrifice to be able to communicate with the Daedra.
The player must betray a follower's trust, take them to the shrine, and commit murder. All terrible things to do for someone who has an ethical consciousness, but even for the most apathetic players is difficult to calculate which companion is less useful for future journeys. The biggest temptation lies in the reward, an armor stronger, deadlier, and more unique than a lot of fellow adventurers.
Kill Or Forgive Cicero
In “The Cure For Madness” quest, Cicero attacks Astrid and other members of the Dark Brotherhood for not following the Night Mother’s orders. After the fight, he runs off to the Dawnstar Sanctuary where he appears to be injured, and he begs the Dragonborn to spare his life and lie to Astrid about his death.
To not kill someone who just betrayed and severely injured the members of the Brotherhood requires a lot of patience and understanding. Killing Cicero may seem justified given his condition and treason, but it also raises the question of what those concepts even mean in a group of cold-blooded torturers and murderers. Cicero acts in strange ways, but he is the only one that can listen to the Night Mother and wants what is best for her.
Vampire Or Werewolf
In the main game, vampirism may be contracted when attacked by other vampires or ingesting Vampire salts, and lycanthropy can be obtained after joining the companions. In the Dawnguard expansion pack, however, the player may become a Vampire Lord if it joins Harkon and the Volkihar Clan.
To be an indomitable beast that throws enemies into the air with its claws runs rapidly through the forest, and howls to call its pack, or to be a floating, frost resisting, and blood magic master in combat, that is the question. As the Dragonborn, is hard to determine which skills and powers are going to be more useful for any kind of fight. The player must revise which powers may tune better with his or her gameplay, as this decision may change a lot of it.
Eliminate Cannibals Or Become One Of Them
After the sighting of eaten corpses, the Dragonborn requests to enter the Hall of the Dead in Markarth where he or she finds a cannibal and worshiper of the Daedric Prince Namira called Eola. If aided, she organizes a sacrifice and the player is rewarded with a ring that grants the ability to eat off of corpses.
Once again, Skyrim makes the Dragonborn stand between practicality and morality. Of course, cannibalism is reprehensible, but when it comes to being inside an endless Dwemer ruin with no food or potions to survive, the option of healing from the corpse of an unlucky bandit or adventurer can prove itself to be quite useful.
Imperials Or Stormcloaks
Deciding whether to follow Ulfric Stormcloak or General Tullius can be quite hard, considering the first forced segregation in his city, and the second one forbids the Nord’s worship of Talos and tried to execute the player. Both sides have their negative and positive aspects, and eventually offer the same tasks to complete.
The only difference resides in each faction’s ideology, quest locations and involved characters. So it all comes down to which politics the player would rather support. A lot of pressure and doubt can be experienced when deciding which faction to follow, as there are not many signs of either being the correct one and the decision changes some aspects of the main quest, and the Elder Scrolls' history.
Join Or Destroy The Dark Brotherhood
After completing Aventus Aretino’s quest and killing Grelod the Kind, getting a mysterious note that has a black hand print, and going to sleep, the player will wake up in an abandoned shack and be commanded by Astrid to kill one of three hooded individuals.
If the Dragonborn decides to assassinate, Astrid offers to be a member of the Dark Brotherhood. But if Astrid is killed instead, the Brotherhood can be destroyed with the aid of the Penitus Oculatus. To be a good person and destroy the organization may please the Dragonborn's consciousness and gain him or her the reputation of a saint, but by doing so one of the largest and most interesting quest lines will not be playable, which may not be worth it.
Continue With The Blades Or Let Paarthunax Live
In the First Era, The Blades became a well-known order of dragon hunters who used to serve the Dragonborn. Later on, they went into hiding, but with Alduin’s return and a new Dovahkiin, the only two remaining Blades, Delphine and Esbern, try to restore it.
The Blades request the player to kill Paarthurnax, the old dragon who once committed atrocities against mankind following the orders of his villain brother, Alduin. This decision will make the player think about forgiveness, second chances, tradition, and all those things that revolve around killing the dragon who also taught mankind the Thu'um and saved the world. But if killed, an alternative ending in the main quest awaits the player.