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bluecherrybombI'm dressing up my baby like crazy but while I do that, might as well save the /r/TESLore things I really want to keep.
Titus Mede II called the hit on himself.
I'm sure more than a few people were taken aback about how calm the emperor was with his imminent death. All he asks is that you do it quickly and kill the man who put the hit on him.
But Mede's assassination always seemed a little too convenient for me, for a variety of reasons.
First, it's no secret that Mede is pretty universally despised (at least in Skyrim) and became a scapegoat for a lot of the Empire's problems. Tamriel suffered its biggest defeat in history, Talos worship was outlawed, Hammerfell seceded, and Skyrim collapsed into civil war. Simply put, the emperor's name was a damaged brand, with all of his success ultimately overshadowed by his failures.
And it's very heavily implied that there will be another war on the horizon, and a figure like Titus Mede II is simply not a person people are willing to be commanded by after the last disaster of a war.
Think about where you kill him, the Katariah. Despite his body double being murdered in Solitude earlier, he still sails there in defiance of all common sense and pleadings of his bodyguards, pleads rightly founded. When you meet him in person, he simply states that he knows there's no stopping the Dark Brotherhood, despite people telling you in Oblivion that the DB would never dream of killing the emperor because the retribution would be catastrophic.
And then there's the matter of this guy, Amaund Motierre. Supposedly, he wants you to kill the emperor for his own political gain, but it always seemed extremely odd to me that he wants the emperor dead so soon. The lore and his looks generally point to the emperor being in his 60/70s, and the stress of his office is probably going to put him into an early grave anyway. So why kill him now?
And who the hell has 20000 gold outside of the Dragonborn? Surely Motierre couldn't have moved that kind of change without somebody noticing. Even when the emperor's dead, his Penitus Oculatus don't spend the rest of the game hounding you.
With the empire falling apart at the seams and the drums of war starting to beat again, he knows he can't be the person to fix it. To restore trust in the Empire and the office of emperor, he had only one option: martyrdom.
The timeline would be something like this:
Mede realizes he won't live long enough to see the next war. Even if he does, his reputation sinks any chance of people rallying behind him.
He sends his body double out as a "test". When the double dies, he knows for certain that the DB will be able to kill him without any trouble.
He immediately sets out for Solitude, docking in the harbor with such low security that he might as well have rolled out the red carpet.
Dragonborn breaks into his cabin, and he faces his end with dignity.
There is the question of Amaund Motierre, though, which I believe I have an explanation for. Motierre was probably one of the emperor's most trusted advisors, and someone he knew could keep the conspiracy under wraps. The breton's increasing anxiety is not nervousness out of fear of being caught, but arranging the death of his lord and close friend.
But Mede couldn't take any chances, and asks his assassin to kill Motierre anyway to tie up loose ends. Hence Motierre's shock when you attack him.
So, Mede II becomes a hero post mortem, the Penitus Oculatus likely undergoes some serious security reforms, and someone much younger and more suited for a war than Mede succeeds him. Just as planned.
Comments Here
Summary of the War in Skyrim
Ulfric wants to be important because he feels bad about spilling secrets during his GW interrogation/magic water boarding. He does this by swinging at the people he feels bad about betraying. He has a personality cult of 3rd string jarls who also want respect. Like Skald the Elder, Layla Law Giver, a Silverblood, and that expansionist who takes Morthal.
Comments Here
Paarthurnax's War Crimes
I absolutely love this. In my games, I've never even taken up a side really, more out of not caring than anything else. But your post made me stop and think about it.
In the end, it'd be like the guy who ran Auschwich getting away with a bunch of Nazi gold and becoming one of the most charitable people in the world. Once his identity was discovered, even years into the future, I'd want him dead. The post-WW2 tribunals proved that we can't consciously accept "I was just following orders" anymore.
Has Paarthurnax payed his debt to society by living the Way? I no longer believe so.
Comments Here
I subscribe to a lot of these.
Titus Mede II called the hit on himself.
I'm sure more than a few people were taken aback about how calm the emperor was with his imminent death. All he asks is that you do it quickly and kill the man who put the hit on him.
But Mede's assassination always seemed a little too convenient for me, for a variety of reasons.
First, it's no secret that Mede is pretty universally despised (at least in Skyrim) and became a scapegoat for a lot of the Empire's problems. Tamriel suffered its biggest defeat in history, Talos worship was outlawed, Hammerfell seceded, and Skyrim collapsed into civil war. Simply put, the emperor's name was a damaged brand, with all of his success ultimately overshadowed by his failures.
And it's very heavily implied that there will be another war on the horizon, and a figure like Titus Mede II is simply not a person people are willing to be commanded by after the last disaster of a war.
Think about where you kill him, the Katariah. Despite his body double being murdered in Solitude earlier, he still sails there in defiance of all common sense and pleadings of his bodyguards, pleads rightly founded. When you meet him in person, he simply states that he knows there's no stopping the Dark Brotherhood, despite people telling you in Oblivion that the DB would never dream of killing the emperor because the retribution would be catastrophic.
And then there's the matter of this guy, Amaund Motierre. Supposedly, he wants you to kill the emperor for his own political gain, but it always seemed extremely odd to me that he wants the emperor dead so soon. The lore and his looks generally point to the emperor being in his 60/70s, and the stress of his office is probably going to put him into an early grave anyway. So why kill him now?
And who the hell has 20000 gold outside of the Dragonborn? Surely Motierre couldn't have moved that kind of change without somebody noticing. Even when the emperor's dead, his Penitus Oculatus don't spend the rest of the game hounding you.
With the empire falling apart at the seams and the drums of war starting to beat again, he knows he can't be the person to fix it. To restore trust in the Empire and the office of emperor, he had only one option: martyrdom.
The timeline would be something like this:
Mede realizes he won't live long enough to see the next war. Even if he does, his reputation sinks any chance of people rallying behind him.
He sends his body double out as a "test". When the double dies, he knows for certain that the DB will be able to kill him without any trouble.
He immediately sets out for Solitude, docking in the harbor with such low security that he might as well have rolled out the red carpet.
Dragonborn breaks into his cabin, and he faces his end with dignity.
There is the question of Amaund Motierre, though, which I believe I have an explanation for. Motierre was probably one of the emperor's most trusted advisors, and someone he knew could keep the conspiracy under wraps. The breton's increasing anxiety is not nervousness out of fear of being caught, but arranging the death of his lord and close friend.
But Mede couldn't take any chances, and asks his assassin to kill Motierre anyway to tie up loose ends. Hence Motierre's shock when you attack him.
So, Mede II becomes a hero post mortem, the Penitus Oculatus likely undergoes some serious security reforms, and someone much younger and more suited for a war than Mede succeeds him. Just as planned.
Comments Here
Summary of the War in Skyrim
Ulfric wants to be important because he feels bad about spilling secrets during his GW interrogation/magic water boarding. He does this by swinging at the people he feels bad about betraying. He has a personality cult of 3rd string jarls who also want respect. Like Skald the Elder, Layla Law Giver, a Silverblood, and that expansionist who takes Morthal.
Comments Here
Paarthurnax's War Crimes
I absolutely love this. In my games, I've never even taken up a side really, more out of not caring than anything else. But your post made me stop and think about it.
In the end, it'd be like the guy who ran Auschwich getting away with a bunch of Nazi gold and becoming one of the most charitable people in the world. Once his identity was discovered, even years into the future, I'd want him dead. The post-WW2 tribunals proved that we can't consciously accept "I was just following orders" anymore.
Has Paarthurnax payed his debt to society by living the Way? I no longer believe so.
Comments Here
I subscribe to a lot of these.