I like this theory.

Oooh smart think! I like this idea a lot

You sir are a clever man

Interesting theory, would love to see this implemented into canon

I'm sure that the college survived because it had wards of protection. Winterhold fell because they didn't have protection from magic threats. The nords aren't about to put wards around their city. Nords are right to not trust magic though, because magic is very dangerous. Nords are more wise than they are given credit for. Mages always tend to be bad for Skyrim, unlike the rest of tamriel.

You, I like you

Really clever

I see you played ESO 😂

It's a Mage college story. Shalidor was the Archmage of the mages college, so powerful and so wise he could use magica to influence the natural world around him to create life… He had such a knowledge of nagic that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying. The deeply indulging in the magical scriptures is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be.... unnatural. Anyway, you have some Skooma?

the high elves certainly do

@@oghaze9318 the dank elves as well

I was looking for this lol shalidor is giving me gandalf vibes

Indeed. Ever since Skooma made its way North, the traditional high arts have been long forgotten

@@MandelbrotMetalhead I liked it better back then, when I used to make weed with juniper berries mixed in

With cheeese!

"Drew's narration". I know you meant that 😊 just clarifying.

I know, right? I loved Fudgemuppet before Drew joined Scott and Michael, but after? Just... *chef's kiss* 👌 Drew's ability to tell a story and paint complex pictures with his words is truly unmatched by most-and he's only gotten _better_ at it with each passing video, which is the best part. Most nights I'll just pull up a playlist of every Drew video on the channel before I go to sleep and let it play through the night (Drew's TES Bingefest for anyone interested-you can just type that into the YT search bar and you'll find it-its continually updated by its creator to add all of the new videos, usually very quickly, although just the latest few haven't made it in yet which is 100% understandable given the sheer _chaos_ that *Anu* has been letting *Padomay* spread throughout our world recently, not to mention the sordid "blessing" that the dastardly *Peryite* so _"graciously"_ bestowed upon humankind last year), because I think one of the *best* things about him is that not only can his voice _soothe you to sleep_ at night with some beautiful Elder Scrolls lore, but it can also _captivate you_ and keep you at the _edge of your seat_ during the day, with the *exact same videos.* I mean that's just such a special thing to be able to do, and _very very few_ others on KZfaq are able to pull that off, as it's usually just one or the other for most people. And don't worry Michael and Scott, I've got plenty of love to share with you guys on your next videos too hahaha 😉 I'll add a link to that Drew playlist down here too if you want to go straight to it ☺️ *Here ya go, friends:* kzfaq.info/sun/PLm3c-jHjMLNoTVRQGf2zv9VeuQATLaPE6

No lie.

I think we'll get to see a pre-destruction Winterhold in ESO. There's a curiously DLC sized gap in the middle of the Skyrim zones currently available.

Whith ESO we can hope to learn about the past of Skyrim since ESO is a thousand+ years before Skyrim events... Just take the time to read all the book available in the dungeons related to Skyrim they can give some hints about the lore

From what I've seen of already featured areas of tamreil in eso, it would not suprise me if eso made a post cataclysm winterhold. I'd really like to be proven wrong, but getting my hopes just gives them more of a chance to disappoint me.

With it being unable to serve as a port, nor having any natural resources, and existing in a DRASTICALLY harsh climate, there's really no reason to settle there aside from the college, so I don't see it growing much. It's also directly between Dawnstar and Windhelm, so anyone seeking a port from Morrowind would probably continue on to either of those even if a port could be formed. Sadly, it's a terrible location for a settlement. Contrast the other chilly cities- Windhelm has a naturally protected port, and is just southerly enough for farms to be viable. Dawnstar has a great location as the last port stop before Solitude, as well as significant mineral wealth. Solitude is the closest port to Markarth (making it the gateway for its vast mineral wealth to head outward), has a huge well protected natural harbor and extremely defensible position, and a fairly temperate climate for its location. There's unfortunately just nothing to commend Winterhold, as much as I like it.

@@thiscomment2010 Why would they do that? Aside from the timeline being very concrete already, there's really not much benefit. And ESO has actually done a great job fleshing out the lore in every expansion since Vanilla (Vanilla had some troubles with the lore probably due to its vastness and trying to convert it to an MMO, but each of the expansions has done an excellent job).

My mage character can solo anything in seconds

@@JustTryinaDuck you are you still have the same it was a temporary pregnancy is a good day please find 5

@@randomspoofmakers hm yes indeed

Gotta grind that xp somehow

@@randomspoofmakers my mind has been opened.

It got less brutal and they stopped caring

@@gamercore5216 A shame Nords owe their success to magic and enchantments. Without them, they'd be killed by Falmer during the Meretic era

I might be reading too much into this but I feel like cultural decay is a theme of the elder scrolls. Obviously they were inspired by middle earth and even the real world dark ages after the collapse of the Roman Empire. Anyways my point is in the elder scrolls there is always this underlying theme that “things used to be better” in earlier ages. You constantly find the ruins of great civilizations, whether it’s elven ruins, dwemer cities or ruins of imperial fortresses, it’s clear things have been falling apart for generations, which at some point lead to the Nords being these backwards Norse hicks

@@brmblazer To support your claim, if you'll play Arena and Daggerfall and then Skyrim you'll notice that the cities are way less Advanced than they were hundreds of years ago and guards are wearing less impressive armors. Even people are wearing less Rich and stylish clothing. A lot of ancient weapons and armors are far surpassing current equipment and even the people of the past are stated to be far greater than "modern" heroes. Unlike mortal races tho, technology and Magic of Daedra remains the same and that's something.

@@brmblazer I have to disagree with the “better” part. Magic was much more evident, but it was much more volatile and chaotic as well. The abundance of magic also meant an abundance of mythical threats Dragon overlords and what not. Certainly however, Nirn is becoming more and more mundane with each passing era as Magnus’ grip seemingly wanes.

Yeah, the Empire has even limited certain magical practices, whereas I'm sure the Dominion doesn't have as many restrictions. The fact that the Nords back in the day had rather decent/well established Clevermen and are now reduced to a less glorious, dumbed down race of people really goes to show a lot. Tamriel was far more magical back in the day. It also doesn't help that various races of Mer had been wiped out, and the Elves have proven to be masters at magic and building sophisticated Empires and nations. It's also worth noting that Dominion provinces also suffered from the Oblivion Crisis, but the High Elves managed to survive the blunt of Dagon's blow, given their higher understanding of Magic and the natures of Oblivion were greater than that of the other Imperial Provinces.

@Wirr Ling True. I think every nation and/or province in Tamriel were in the midst of a Dark Age to one degree or another by the time the events of ES5/Skyrim took place. It would be fun if ES6 set the stage for another Akaviri invasion under the impression that Tamriel in general has been weakened and divided.

@Wirr Ling I agree completely. Even in Skyrim, there are a number of households with human and elven spouses occupying them. Which would seem to indicate that the Thalmor wouldn't have popular opinion on their side, even within their domain.

You know, I have noticed that it's not just magic. Maybe it's just their legends being puffed up over time, but even the martial masters of ages past are shown to consistently outperform the best blade masters and fighters of the day. The declining ability of mages is even more obvious, but it seems like every specialization has been suffering. And I was thinking... what if Alduin was supposed to eat the world way back when (when he fought the Nord Heroes in the Dragon Wars), and everything since then has been the world slowly burning out? It's existed longer than it was supposed to; a new kalpa should've been created from its ashes. But like in Dark Souls, the world was artificially kept alive (in this case using the scrolls to banish its end). What if Akatosh initially intended to let Alduin go through with the eating of the world in the Dragon Wars, but the use of an Elder Scroll flung him forward, and Akatosh (rather than intervening) decided to let it happen? To give these mortals a chance to prove that the cycle wasn't necessary? But without the ability to destroy and recreate existence, the world is getting a bit... long in the tooth. Exhausted. Weak.

The Elder Scrolls generally follows the Tolkien model of a world of dying magic, so it makes a certain amount of sense. Or rather, it would probably be more accurate to say they're both examples of creating mythology in the modern era, which necessitates that the scale of magic slowly dwindles into the world we know today.

I find the Mundic Herb helps with my magic - Shalidor.

I mean, you know it would have had to have been a wizard. I personally always wanted to grind some Nirnroot in with the sticky icky, see if I can’t make my head start singing

@@guiltygearalonecompl TBH, I think that would hurt you.

@@alw2839 Bruh, setting anything on fire and breathing in the vaporized remains harms you lol no one who smokes anything lives forever

@@guiltygearalonecompl Yes. I'm specifically refering to the effects of nirnroot when eaten raw.

What mods do that?

@@MCLefka The mod I use is called “Winterhold Restored”. It’s on Xbox One.

But the entire Rourken clan was stopped by a single dude for a while. And, arguably, they aren’t more advanced. Magic can make up a lot of differences, and the Dwemer only defeated the Nords due to a civil war in Skyrim and joining with the Chimer. Chimer, Altmer and the Khajiit of Rimmen have an equivalent way of living. And militarily, they have long been surpassed. Hell, even in their time they weren’t too special military. Who needs automotons if you have magic and the Thu’um?

@@Theology.101 tiber septim needed dwemer tech to conquer Tamriel tho

Dwemer focused main resources on more of non-war technology.

@@liamplunkett9551 he didnt need Dwemer Robots, he needed the Numidian. It was the peak of Dwemer tech, and Talos needed it because he wanted to ascend to godhood. Reman conquered Summerset without the need of the Numidian. If you read the Arcturian Heresy, you see that it was less for his conquest and more for his political ambitions. He used it to remove rival families without consequence, and eventually he used it to ascend to Godhood. Tiber is Lorkhan’s heir. The Numidian was powered using Lorkhan’s Heart. Using his own essence, that of another Lorkhan avatar, Wulharth, and Zurin Arctus

@@Theology.101 everything u said made sense but what about Tiber septim being lorkhans heir? That threw me off. Unless u didn't mean it as his literal heir and more in a figurative sense.

Bro same

Don't do it. The Ignite spell is too powerful. You'll cash it in one go. 15 seconds of burn time, whether you like it or not.

I always do the Dwemer researchers quests because he gives a spell that's juuust right to heat up the convectors... gotta be perfect for heating up a stew or lighting a smoke

@@shadehunter Yeah.... better learn "VAPORIZE!!!!" 😭🤣😂😆

@@shadehunter the smoker must be an expert of controlling magicka output to make the fire as small as a tinderbox

Many epic mages in Elder Scrolls are straight up level 20, DnD mages. Divayth Fyr, Mannimarco, Vanus Galerion, Sotha Sil (even before being empowered by the Heart of Lorkhan) all say hi.

Thanks to YOU for being one of cinema's living legend.

@@zynosgd9982 no, thank YOU

The nords do have a history of powerful mages, the nordic clevermen of ancient times were powerful mages. Back then the thu'um was widespread and magic was respected. Shame that by the 4th era human civilizations seem to be hading towards a dark age.

Especially given that Shalidor had an understanding of magic that very few can match. Even most Elves couldn't match his magical proficiency, let alone Humans and Beastfolk.

**Nirnroot Elves ears will just give you a headache.

You guys are both smoking some hanging Moss, boys.

(Ayo, but for real guys, the poor Falmer never stood a chance against the Thu'um wielding Nords or Dragons, RIP to my Snowy bois)

It's like using the command console but ~immersive~

@@AsIfItNeverWas Facts, the Console Commands of the Elder Scrolls universe, seeing as to how its all a "song"

@@thalmoragent9344 they really need to give us what happened to the Night of Tears. It was hinted that the Nords almost dug up the Eye of Magnus due to approximation but it is still too far-fetched to be the reason why they slaughtered the Nords. My guess was the vampire faction but they are closer to the border than to be in the Sea of Ghosts. It's like Bethesda (or whoever is responsible now) just said "fuck it, we didn't really think things through so we're just trying to put things in"

@@wanderingbufoon True, doesn't seem Bethesda knew what to do or what the Eye of Magnus really was either, and so that and the Snow Elf story in the Dawnguard DLC was also a bit half-assed. And I agree, not having the whole story about the Night of Tears is also very telling. We hear everything from the Nordic perspective, and not a single Snow Elf is around to tell their side of the story and the events that unfolded. We're told that they had peace, then one night the Falmer went across and just butchered a city? Yeah, sounds a bit sketchy, like we're not being told the full truth. No sort of diplomacy, certain events or anything took place beforehand? How'd the Falmer know it was there? What or who tipped them off, and what were the Nords doing with it? Lol, low key, imagine if the Clevermen tried to enchant a weapon or had messed with it, and it sent out a pulse or something and messed up part of the city, and the Falmer saw/found out and the local lord sent a small Army to investigate any dangerous Daedra or rogue mage activity, and when they realized the Nords were tampering with something as destructive as the Eye and hadn't even consulted them, they demanded the Eye be handed over, but since it happened at night, and the Snow Elf maybe didn't ask too nicely (cause I mean, he'd be pissed) the Nords take it as an insult or trespassing on their settlement, and a fight broke out... which of course the Snow Elves won. There's a whole slew of things that could've happened, but Ysgramor wouldn't have to say anything except "they slaughtered us in the night" and the Atmorans back home wouldn't have any reason to doubt him, especially if the 500 came back and saw Saarthal in ruins. It wouldn't be a lie per say, but not a full truth. Unfortunately, we'll never know. Maybe that happened, maybe it didn't, maybe a Cleverman sneezed on the Eye of Magnus and the Falmer were triggered, who knows.... but history is written by the Victors, so unfortunately, as far as the Nords and most fans are concerned, the Nords are the ones telling the "truth", and the Falmer "deserved everything that happened to them". Plus, Nords and their stories and history books are full of poetry and the various Embellishments, so the story may have been skewed over time as well.

Forget the Heart of Lorkan.... Shalidor is the reason the dwemer disappeared. (Totally kidding... lol)

@@shadehunter lol good one

YES

The Khajiit got some competition from the North it seems

@@Serana_is_so_CUTE The Cat-Men of the southern Sands, or the Barbaric Vikings of the northern Tundra? Time will tell 😳

The northern tundra men seem to have an affinity for frost magic, and may serve you chilled ale and mead. How about the desert men of the west who are fond of curved swords? Curved. Swords. They have pipes ready at any time, too.

420

No, Serana was locked away in the second era, after the Reman empire's collapse. After all, she recognizes the name Cyrodiil as a province, it was only named so after Reman Cyrodiil conquered much of Tamriel and founded the Reman Empire, renaming Nibenay and Colovia as "Cyrodiil" as a single province after himself. However that Empire collapsed during the second era and all of Tamriel's provinces became independent once again. So Serana would have been locked away somewhere in that period, where Cyrodiil was powerless and struggling due to being bordered on all sides by hostile nations, including the Nords.

@@redshirt49 No, the Reman Empire was the Second Cyrodilic Empire The First Cyrodilic Empire of Man was founded by Alessia in the wake of the Slave Rebellion Hence, Serana must have been locked away before 1E 242

:O In all the times I have played, usually as a mage, I have never been through Shalidor's Maze, or even found it in Labyrinthian. I think I hear Skyrim calling. BRB.

@@UteChewb Do it. You can't pick up the staves tho!

Shalidor had an understanding of magic few in Tamrial had, or currently has to this day, so his maze isn't out of place for someone of his skill.

@@samuelhaverghast2442 That's ridiculous. There's no feasible way for him to know what the schools would be called, or what their symbols would be, or much less that the common language would be Cyrodiilic for the notes.

@@ChocolateFishBrains An alternate theory - he came up with the names and symbols, and the mage's guild copied them.

@@jextra1313 actually the Psijics came up with the schools of magic

@PazuzuAzelf Agreed, the Labyrinth should have been an entire high level questline. The point about the schools is also a good one.

Sorlock multiclass makes sense but wizard? Just won't work

They dont build em like they used to

Nah bro the greatest Archmage is me, the Lv. 53 Champion of Cyrodill that has an infinite supply of magicka and spells that do 1,300 points of damage and can absorb all magic

Wow how can you abandon oblivion without completing it first. Shame on you. I always complete oblivion first. Lol

@@Bakedea87 Lol, in truth I never got into playing it. I mostly started to by this channel, Camel and Wilburgur. Love Wilburgur

@@madisonsosa21 oh well, least I oblivion still has me. But yeah this and those channels are great. But personally I like camel because he's deep, I like that.

@@Bakedea87 He is

That would be a 2v1

@@tcm_smitty take your semantics elsewhere

Vahlok the Jailor?

@@matthewbreytenbach4483 while theres not much lore about vahlok, i doubt divayth could pull off vahlok's feats.

@@EA_SP0RTCENTER I had no idea who Vahlok was XD Just looked him up and was terribly impressed.

Well, the High Elves are also very good with Magic, and their Navy is the most OP in Tamriel. They could give the High Elves quite the fight, but I don't see the Empire even with Nords who had good Magic being able to take on the Dominion. It took a God weapon to defeat the Mer of the 2nd Dominion, and the 3rd one is small compared to the Empire, yet still caused the Empire to fall back onto its last leg. The modern Nords would need to be as big and tough as the Ancient ones, and have Thu'um wielding Clevermen amongst them, and even then, the Dominion's Elven Magic is nothing to scoff at.

@@thalmoragent9344 You are right and of course it won’t be easy but if the Redguards and maybe Bretons joined then they would have chance, that being said if the nords could use the thu’um like the old days then they would be seriously op.

@@thalmoragent9344 and mer usef vaermina orb both of them use daedra artifact.

@@soul_prodigy1016 Yeah, the Thu'um would be OP, true, but we already know the Bretons and Redguards already fought in the Empire during the Great War, and as Fudgemuppet once said, that initial resistance had bearly been adequate to begin with, so with the Thu'um, they certainly could've held the line a lot better, but as we saw in the Great War, the Nordic Legions would take time to make it to the front lines. But yeah, the Thu'um would be a game changer, and I imagine the White-Gold Concordat wouldn't have been as much of an ultimatum as it was after the Great War

@@fauzanabdulkahfi957 Vaermina's Orb is hardly a weapon by any means, although good for surveillance. And even then, that was mostly Lord Narafin who was already in control of much of Southern Cyrodiil, Lady Aranelia was totally fine on her front. The Dominion was doing just well on its other fronts without copious amounts of Daedra influence, so even without it, they'd still be OP. We know the Altmer are great magic users, it's no surprise, and the Bosmer and Khajit are excellent to have as fighters as well.