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The courier could just be using Clairvoyance to track you down. Novice level skill.

J'zargo is the one sending the letters to distract you from becoming a better mage than him.

There’s one other character that is sorely missing from this list: The nameless Whiterun Guard that first tells us we’re Dragonborn.

I really like the idea of Paarthunax daintily writing these letters with a quill in his giant clawed hands, and handing the letter off to a courier that has to climb the Throat of the World every time.

You picked a bad time to get lost, *friend* Oh yeah, it’s all comin’ together.

"You caused quite a stir in Abandoned Shack when you demonstrated the power of your Thu'um." - Probably my favourite letter I got.

The funniest one I got is “you caused a bit of a stir in Apocrypha” lmao

Regarding the courier thing, I'm gonna use his own famous words here: "I've been looking for you..." So he doesn't actually know where we are. He might from a game mechanic point of view, but lore-wise, he simply looks for us until he finds us.

Nazeem is sending the letters to distract you from getting to the cloud district.

Dragonborn: *walking through black reach* Courier: *pops up from no where* "I've been looking for you. Got something I'm supposed to deliver - your hands only."

I always assumed that the friend was not a singular person but simply a random citizen sending the famous Dragonborn fan mail along with a quest.

Random guy: "Deliver this letter to the Dragonborn, wherever he or she is" Courier: [TARGET ACQUIRED]

“You caused quite a stir in Honorhall Orphanage when you demonstrated the power of your Thu’um”

It was always suspicious, since I have no friends.

Hermaeus Mora: *stabs Miraak* Dragonborn: Damn, that would’ve been useful five minutes ago

I thought the friend was Parthonax, being a dragon himself can hear the shouts and being an elder dragon he knows where the walls are from the old tombs.

**Courier wakes up in the morning.** Huge black tentacly blob in the doorway of his bedroom: _"Yo dude, can u deliver dis?"_

So, I defeated Miraak and, after heading back to Skyrim, I got another letter that read "You caused a bit of a stir in Apocrypha when you demonstrated..." Got a hunch Herma Mora might be to blame.

The first time I received the Letter from a Friend, it directed me do Rannveig’s Fast, implying that the whole thing was just a trap set by Sild the Warlock. Never felt so betrayed.

Talos: "I'm not having any Level 5 scrub running around as my aspect. Go here and learn some Shouts Noob!"

"You caused a bit of stir in inside the mind of a madman" Probably the best letter I've ever gotten

I think it is the Chicken in Riverwood

Courier was shot in the head and still got his package back, I am sure finding the Dragonborn is an easy quest for him.

"Hermaeus Mora had an eye on you" Only one?

"You caused quite a stir when you demonstrated the power of your Thu'um in Sovngarde "

The Courier is more powerful than you may think. He can travel anywhere in these dangerous lands, sometimes equipped with nothing but a hat and underwear. No one else can do that.

For the record, the only reason Delphine knows about the dragon burial sites is because of the Dragonborn. She transcribes their locations from the dragonstone of bleak falls barrow after we give it to Farengar.

The real mystery you should focus on isn't who sent the letters (Delphine), but how Delphine stole the Horn of Windcaller without the Dragon Shouts apparently needed to complete the quest.

"You caused quite a stir when you demonstrated the power of your Thu'um in _The Mind Of A Madman._ "

The reason why the courier always finds you is cause he just follows the quest marker

I think Baalgruf is the friend. He actually is your friend from near beginning of the game, he grew up in Dragonsreach which is specifically designed to house dragons, and will likely know a fair amount of dragon related legends as a result. He is also known to do sneaky things like sneaking out to the bannered mare at night etc. He's also made the pilgrimage to see the greybeards and is the only Jarl who seems to have set their court wizard to finding out more about the dragons. He clearly has an interest even before the dragonborn pops up.

During the Dark Brotherhood quests, the quest "The Silence Has Been Broken", the Dragonborn meets with someone named Amaund Motierre, and he give you a letter of instructions and signs it "a friend"

"M'aiq knows much, and tells some. M'aiq knows many things others do not."

It was nazeem, his hints at the cloud district are hints at being closer to akatosh

The courier is only his first form and it is immortal as well as omniscient,his sixth is the courier of New Vegas and has the power of role playing on his side

I always assumed the letters were coming from Farengar every time he learned of a new word wall, since he knows you're the dragonborn and he's clearly knows a lot about dragons.

*I've been looking for you, got somethin' I'm supposed to deliver*

"[As Delphine has a map of burial mounds] she has some knowledge of dragon geography."You mean the map WE got to get and she made a rubbed copy?

Hermaeus Mora definitely makes the most sense, but I'm honestly in love with the idea of the courier being a literal god lmao

i love how a game design concept of having an unknown guiding you towards things has become a lore integrated thing with this theory

_courier wants to know your location_

17:26 "Miraak has been hermaous moras porn for 1000's of years, and a valuable porn at that" accents are weird man

On a play through I was able to ask the courier who the letter was from and he said a creepy guy in a robe.

“You caused quite a stir when you demonstrated the power of your Thu’um in Azuras Star

"The future Dragonborn would know where they were at any given time." Meanwhile, I can't remember everywhere I went yesterday

"the graybeards would never tell you where a word wall is" you can literally go ask them for a random word wall location and they will point you to one lol.

I've always suspected that The Friend was one of the Greybeards, who secretly doesn't agree with the Way of the Voice. He might want to do these things himself, but instead lives vicariously through the Dragonborn.

I always assumed our mysterious friend was either Parthunax or the Greybeards....with Parthunax being a dragon of immense power I always just assumed he was attuned to others using the Thu'um anywhere in Skyrim and sent letters via the Greybeards signed as "a friend".

Since I first started, I always thought that it was delphine. When you ask her who she is, she says 'a friend', and I'm pretty sure the note in Ustengrav says a friend.

i think its M'aiq the Liar, THE tenth divine , one who lived atleast since planemeld, the end of second era, the only one (except tod howard) who knew about both previous and upcoming games features

Actually, about the Greybeards, I'm pretty sure they mention something about, potentially not denying the end of time, as the world is a cycle and even ponder if the Dragonborn fully killed Alduin, as he didn't absorb his soul and that he is still considered the end of time. I believe they mention the first part right after they help negotiate a cease fire in the civil war, or after you ask them about the Blades wanting you to kill Paarthurnax.

Ulfric Stormcloak acknowledges the player as Dragonborn throughout the Civil War if you are a Stormcloak. He is one of the first NPCs we meet,and is also well connected throughout Skyrim, so anything of interest happening around the holds would probably reach his ear, especially regarding a dragonborn, because a dragonborn is a matter of immense significance to someone as steeped in Nord culture and history as he is. He knows and reveres the Greybeards, knows we probably have a bone to pick with the Empire and Thalmor after almost being executed, and sees us as a potentially powerful ally. Not to mention the fact he can shout is actually a big deal. Whereas the dragonborn instantly learns and can use new shouts, according to the Greybeards, it takes YEARS for most to master a shout. Ulfric knows multiple, which means he has studied and meditated on the way of the voice for many years and is probably privy to the locations of word walls. Also he's got his stormcloaks and allies everywhere so it's probably not too hard to keep tabs on our general location and get a courier to us.

If you kill Paarthurnaxx you receive the letters still so it cant be him or the Greybeards because they refuse to help you. Same goes with the blades they refuse to aid you if you dont kill Paarthurnaxx. They cant be it either.

I think that the friend is Todd Howard

I always thought it was just a friend ( for example, faendal after you solve his love problem) and they just did their research on word walls and also know where the dragon born is going so he can tell you where you caused "a bit of a stir" in

"I was once a adventurer myself, but I got an arrow to the knee." guard, is my favourite and most hillarious candidate for the mysterious friend. ^^

It’s none other than J’zargo, future Emperor and secret Dragonborn

I just know it's the guard I mean it's the perfect cover Hates the dragonborn shouts openingly while simultaneously helping him develop them

"Who doesn't love a tentacle now and then" .....

I always have thought that “the friend” is really Hermaeous Mora. It is the Lord of Knowledge, so it always knows where the Dragonborn is, and it has a really huge interest to make him stronger to be able to defeat Miraak. The other other option for me is Akatosh, for the reasons that You have pointed. Great video as ever!

The letters are obviously fan mail from our adoring fan

I think the letter is from a friend

Esbern was who first came to my mind early during my first play-through. But then I met Hermaeus Mora. The common thread with Esbern is his interest in ancient artifacts such as Alduin’s Wall-the letter also revealing another, ancient wall. The letter also conveys an interest in the wellbeing of Skyrim, saying that Skyrim needs a hero. I can’t imagine Hermaeus Mora showing more regard for Skyrim’s wellbeing than he showed his previous servants. It is possible that Delphine had someone follow the Dragonborn. She tells us in the Inn, “Hey, aren’t you the new stranger in town?” She would’ve had a strong motive to behave in this way since she was investigating the whereabouts of Esbern who was hiding.

I am surprised Kyne/Kynareth wasn't mentioned since She order Parthuunax to teach humanity to Shout.

“You caused quite a stir in Soul Cairn when you demonstrated the power of your thu’um.”

Delphine literally admits to sending at least some of them

Todd Howard is our friend. He's been guiding our path the entire time. After all, how would you explain all the "bugs" and "glitches" that work in our favor? How would you explain the restoration / alchemy glitch? He is truly the one looking out for our best interests.

8:28 if you side with the storm cloaks and have done the first main quests, when ulfric gives a speech in solitude he acknowledges that you are the Dragonborn

I remember once, I was in the soul carin, and this damned courier comes up to me and is like "got something for you, your hands only". Like damn, hes dedicated

"sincerely a friend" I've been here two weeks. I have friends?

You know if the dragonborn "time traveler" holds onto the letters from a friend he received he can just send it to himself again which brings to question in this theory how old are those letters.

I always thought it was jarl balgruuf (whiterun). His court wizard was looking into dragon related things when we first meet them. Also i assumed he has a vast web of spies and informants throught skyrim. So that’s how he knows where you are and where the words of power are. Balgruuf always seemed to be encouraging towards the dragon born throughout the main quest and I like to think he considers us a friend or at the very least an ally. Also as the letter says not everyone is happy the dragon born is back so that’s why hed want to keep his help anonymous

What if “a friend” is actually an abbreviation and it’s something like Antonio Friend

The dragonborn actually just has the king of the hill mark so everyone can find him

Doubt it is Delphine. At first that was my thought for a long time but after a while if you don't kill Pathanax, the Blades will be forced to deny you aid. You can get these letters even when they deny you aid.

Farengar Secret-Fire is a huge candidate you missed. You meet him before you learn how to shout, he studies everything about dragons, and he considers you as a friend once you bring him the Dragonstone. I personally still think it’s Delphine. I actually never thought of this dilemma much because I assumed it was just Delphine. However, it could be Farengar too. By that logic though, it could also be Ireleth, Whiterun Guards, Proventus, Nord warriors from Whiterun (including those from Dragonsreach), or even Jarl Balgruuf himself. Heck, maybe it’s a combination of the last group; everyone seems to talk a lot about you when you’re not around. Remember that a random Whiterun Guard is the first to tell you that you’re Dragonborn. I definitely don’t think it’s a divine, though. Divines always do things as theatrically as possible in TES, so I don’t see any of them writing a small letter as their first impression.

It was Lydia. I got a letter about my thuum in Breezehome. She was the only one in there. It was Lydia. Freaking Lydia.

I think its todd howard giving us the letters.

My headcannon is that things like this are how Ebonarm still projects his will unto the Mundus, helping warriors, guiding them to great things. So as a result it would be the Ebony Warrior, who I believe is an avatar of Ebonarm

You've left Tamriel and Mundus behind to traverse the myriad planes of Oblivion on an epic quest to unravel the mysteries of magic, time and space since Dawn began- "I've been looking for you! Got something I'm supposed to deliver. Your hands only." 😳

The Stormcloaks and Imperials both acknowledge that you're Dragonborn, especially Ulfric.

My theory is that 'A Friend' is a standard anonymous greeting from the faithful to Talos in Skyrim. The letter from a friend reads that your Thu'um raised a stir in some location, which is only important to a local, and would not be important to Hermaeus Mora or to Delphine. Delphine has no need to be anonymous (aside from the threat of interception of the Courier by the Thalmor or by Imperial loyalist agents) once you know who she is. I think the letters come from townsfolk of Skyrim who worship Talos and have random knowledge of where some word walls are - Nords know how to shout and some are traditionally trained - and are signed anonymously for protection from interceptions or missed deliveries. My final piece of evidence is that the letter states "SKYRIM needs a true hero these days..." - HM and Delphine would not care that Skyrim needs a hero, only that the Dragonborn needs power. Friendly townsfolk on both sides and on neither side of the Civil war would say that, however. Two strong bits of evidence pointing to 'The good people of Skyrim who have befriended the Dragonborn and the causes of the Dragonborn', the need to be anonymous (common fear) and the desire for the good of Skyrim, and random knowledge of 'a few word walls and rumors' - local gossip. It's the locals! Added - It also "does not matter" if the sender of the note can or cannot find the Dragonborn. That is exactly the job of the courier and no one else. ADDED IN EDIT ON DECEMBER 18, 2020: I play Skyrim every day. One day, after slaying Mirmulnir at the Whiterun Watch Tower I returned to Dragonsreach and as I ran by Hrongar, Jarl Balgruuf's brother, he said THIS: "If you really are Dragonborn, then Skyrim needs you. Go to High Hrothgar and talk to the Greybeards." -- This ONE LINE of dialogue that you can ONLY HEAR DURING the quest "The Way of the Voice" convinces me that Hrongar might be sending the letters. He passes all of the tests. He is concerned about Skyrim, he is AGAINST the Stormcloaks BUT he is more concerned with the safety of Skyrim. He has to be anonymous so that he is not openly defying the Jarl or the Thalmor. He has easy access to couriers. And, he KNOWS you are the Dragonborn. Also, it is reasonable to think that he would know where some of the word walls are.

It was the guards. They would have information on walls back before they took an arrow to the knee. They saw your heroics and wrote you their letters in thanks of saving them. Each one signing as a friend because it would interfere with their position as guards.

Personally I believe it might be the, he knows about us being Dragonborn, is interested in beating Alduin. He is an expert on dragon law and might know about the locations of the dragon walls. And he is a magician who could Devine our location. And as a court mage of the trade capital he might hear a thing or two about us using our thu’um. Also he might want to keep his involvement a secret, so no one disturbs him and it doesn’t look like the jarls court is helping one specific citizen, even though he is a Thane. Edit: It might also be the Jarl of Whiterun with accessories Farengar. He also has the same reasonings and he also calls us “a friend”.

I once got the letter saying "I caused quite a stir in the soul cairn with the thu'um".. Only 4 people knew I was there, the 2 vamps, the dragon and me.

The courier is like nurse joy and officer Jenny from Pokemon. They are cousins that live around Skyrim.

Oof, when you realize your actually helping the villain instead of defeating them lol

"Fus Ro Dah" - Dragons -The Greybeards -The Dragonborn

“You caused quite a bit of a stir in Soul Cairn when you demonstrated the power of your Thu’um.” Probably a letter from the Ideal Masters.

Think about it. As the dragonborn gets more powerful, more and more people would want to hire them and would most likely be willing to pay more for the dragonborn's services. Not only that but they'd likely pay more th o even get in touch with the dragonborn. The couriers are clearly building the dragonborn's strength in order to make more money sending letters. They're basically war profiteers

I concur with Camel. Old Herma Mora has the motive, means and opportunity. You’ll note from his phasing in an out that he is higher dimensional and as such can reach into any location to see and/or interfere.

It's that one Blade at nightgate inn... But he once asked Delphine out and was harshly rejected so he never comes to skyhaven...

Fultheim at Nightgate Inn. He varies a Blade Sword in combat, will attack you if you have Thalmor robes, and it is explained that “he is drinking away a lifetime of bad memories” of you ask him. As a former blade, he understands the importance of The Dragonborn, so he wants to help, but all his mental baggage like seeing his friends die, and his desire to stay hidden keep him from getting involved directly. As a former spy, he would know how to keep his ear to the ground, so he would hear about you using your shouts, and he could have done research to find out about the word walls.

Jarl Barlgruf, hear me out. For someone to fit the bill as the potential “friend,” there are several key boxes they need to check. Barlgruf checks every box. 1) Knowledge of the dragonborn’s actions. Who would have their finger on the pulse of Skyrim more than a Jarl? He has to have informants and hear rumors of nearly everything of note in every hold of the realm. If someone was running around using the Voice in, say, Markarth, it’s completely plausible he would hear of it within a short timeline. If you want to argue that the sender seems aware of different realms and dimensions, I think we can easily chalk that up to convenient game programming. The letters follow an obvious pattern and it would have required much more work and time to essentially have dozens of unique letters instead of a template with changing values. Speaking as someone that has designed a game, what the devs did makes a lot of sense and likely doesn't reflect any lore hints, just smart timesaving. 2) Usage of a letter. It would be incredibly easy for Barlgruf to dispatch a messenger to the Dragonborn, and much more plausible for him to use a courier than, say, a Daedra or Paarthunax. We can see throughout the game that Daedra can speak directly into the mind of the Dragonborn, so a letter seems unnecessary, and Paarthurnax is too isolated to send a letter. He would have to use the Greybeards as a medium, but they seem to be against the dragonborn learning shouts too quickly. I doubt they would go along quietly. 2) Knowledge of the Voice. The letter references the Dragonborn using his “Thu’um.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s not a term the average person knows. Only people who have visited the Greybeards or studied The Voice would reference a shout as thu’um. For example, the guards at the Watchtower after your first dragon fight reference it as a shout. Jarl Barlgruf makes a point of informing us that he made the pilgrimage to High Hrothgar when he was younger. Mind you, this is a pilgrimage that requires you to literally climb a mountain and fight dangerous wild beasts. It’s not something you do without being interested in or passionate about the Way of the Voice. He doesn’t expand too much on his experience there, but given the difficulty of the journey, it seems unlikely he would have gotten there and left without getting something out of it. This is an assumption, of course, but I think it’s plausible that he attempted to learn The Way of the Voice while up there, but simply lacked the time, capability, or patience. His knowledge of the Greybeards seems more comprehensive than most. When he initially says he visited the Greybeards, it's a seemingly random bit of world building. If we assume he's the sender of these letters, it becomes a vital hint. 3) Knowledge of the word walls. Again, as a Jarl, he has access to a lot of knowledge. With dragons running around again, a Jarl would be remiss to not seek out information about them. We even see how he encourages Farengar to research more into dragons. Farengar is a smart guy with a connection to Delphine; him learning of and passing along the information to Barlgruf is completely possible. 4) Calling you “friend.” By the time you start getting these letters, you’re already a Thane of Whiterun. Barlgruf would certainly address you as a friend in correspondence. A few other small notes on why I think it’s Barlgruf. First, look at the specific language used. When referencing the word walls near the end of the letter, the phrase used is “I understand that...” Now, the phrase “I understand that...” when used to introduce knowledge or information is almost always used when the knowledge presented is indirect knowledge. If the sender of these letters had visited the word walls themselves, a much more likely phrasing would have excluded the “I understand” phrase and simply stated the fact. The sender may even have referenced their own visit there, assuming the letter was confidential. Long story short, the person sending these letters likely was informed of them by someone else and is passing along the knowledge. If we go with the earlier assumption, that Farengar is doing the research and informing Barlgruf of what he learns, it makes even more sense. He fits this requirement perfectly. Secondly, look at how this person speaks about Skyrim. He/she talks about it as a collective, from a macro level. They see Skyrim as a unified place facing dangers and threats, and have conflicting feelings about it. The type of sentiment expressed in the letter is one of melancholy; the sender wants Skyrim to succeed, but is all too aware of the problems it faces. This could be the Civil War, the Dragons, the Thalmor and Aldmeri Dominion...but crucially, there are very few NPCs we see express this kind of sentiment in game. Most NPCs fall clearly on either side. Barlgruf is one of the few NPCs and really the only Jarl we see in game who seems genuinely conflicted. He clearly treasures Nordic customs and values, as seen in how he sends his axe to Ulfric instead of a letter and how he shouts down Proventus about him signing the White-Gold Concordant. Hell, there’s a Shrine to Talos directly under his own castle. However, we can also see how conflicted he is by Ulfric’s actions. He understands the importance of a unified Empire and how Ulfric could cause greater harm than good, even if he agrees with his complaints. Such a conflicted person with a macro view of Skyrim is exactly who the letter is sent by. The sender wants a hero for Skyrim because they know painfully well how divided it is and the need for a hero everyone can respect. Barlgruf, to me, is the only NPC we see who would have knowledge of the Dragonborn’s actions, would actually use a letter to communicate, possesses deeper knowledge of The Voice, possesses a view of Skyrim that only high-level politicians and strategists would have, and has a conflicted sentiment about Skyrim. Last note: Ulfric checks most of those boxes using the logic I’ve presented, but the key here is that Ulfric sees himself as the hero Skyrim needs. He wouldn’t send a letter to help someone else become powerful enough to be a hero for the country. He IS the hero of the country in his eyes.

I believe that “A friend” is the Ebony Warrior. He wants us to be strong enough to slay him and send him to sovngarde

Actually.. I solved this mystery as there is really no mystery to this matter. Wuulfgar or whatever that greybeard is called. Is the ONLY NPC IN THE WHOLE GAME to carry a quill and paper in his inventory when you pickpocket him. Suggesting he's the one writing the letters as he feels the locations of the word walls ánd he hears the shouts the dragonborn does, which explains how the courier always seems to find us. And he actually is a person who knows the Dragonborn personally. Hence he can't talk due to the 'power' of his voice.

i thought he said it was hermaeus mora's porn EDIT: i would love to see hermaeus mora sitting at a desk writing letters like Dear Dragonborn, I have been watching you for a long time OwO I hope you like tentacles lmao

You forgot the Bards College. They want you to learn the words so that can be the greatest singer in all of Tamriel with your thu'um.

Another reason for why I believe it is Talos writing us these letters is because way back in Morrowind, you actually get to meet an aspect of tiber septim named Wulf before you face off dagoth ur. He gives you emperor's lucky coin to help you in your quest. Would make sense that he would also intervene to help the dragon born who is an aspect of tiber septim