Nocturnal: Your soul is mine! Dragonborn: get in line...

When my Dragonborn dies, I'm gonna declare a Battle Royale between the Daedra. Last one standing gets to see Akatosh claiming the soul.

Dragonborn: *is on 1 HP* Nocturnal: Oh boy, time to get a new guardian for the Twilight Sepulcher Dragonborn: *laughs in 512 000 raw potatoes*

I like to imagine the dragonborn flipping of each and every one of the daedric princes as they literally ascend to the role of tenth divine at death.

Dragonborn: *exists* All deadra lords and princes: It's free real estate.

When I die my soul doesn’t go anywhere except to my last save.

Real quick, when I was younger, I didn't kill any of the ghosts in the hall of twilight and I was never spotted. I was into roleplay even as a kid and I remember thinking to myself, "A real Nightingale doesn't get caught." It took a lot of reloads but it was an amazing feeling having that triumph of stealth over combat.

Fun fact! That whole "Once you die, you'll be sent to [Insert Daedric Plaine here]" thing only applies to anyone who ISN'T Dragonborn. But, because you are Dragonborn, you are Akatosh's Avatar. Meaning, no matter who you make deals with, Akatosh will override all of that, and you will go to Soverngard.

Nocturnal: Your soul belongs to me when you're a nightingale. Sithis: The listener belongs to me. Hercine: No, he's a werewolf, he belons to me. Molag Bal: Up until he became a vampire. Lorkan: Guys, guys, as the Dragonborn his soul is to go to Soverngard. Sheogorath: CHEESE!

Well when I die there's gonna be one hell of a rivalry for my soul lol technically sold my soul to almost all of them

Actually, being the Dragonborn, Akatosh is the one to get first dibs on your soul. So, technically, yes, you would go to Sovengard, with the ability to go to other places, such as the Void, the realms of Oblivion, and the Mortal realm as a spectral being. You know, because the Dragonborn is actually an Incarnation of Akatosh.

Dragonborn: dies Daedras in a line: So, who´s gona be the one to take him? Dragonborn: pulls a Talos move Daedras: Wait! You werent supposed to do that!

“Return the skeleton key” Ok...might be awhile tho

That moment when you just sold your soul to the daedric prince of theives, but you already sold it to the daedric prince of the hunt about a week prior, so your afterlife is kinda booked...

Dragonborn: finally, truly dies after years of epic adventures Daedra: finally, this amazing soul is MINE *all of them start fighting over it* Dragonborn to Akatosh: “Will you tell them or should I do it?”

Nocturnal: “When you finish your servitude to me, you will enter my realm.” Dragonborn: *_yawns_* “Let’s see, I’ve been to the Soul Cairn by temporarily separating my soul from my body, I’ve been put inside of an alternate dimension by a goddess to off someone, I’ve been to Apocrypha and played some weird fuckin’ mind game with Edgar Alan Poe’s version of Squidward, I’ve been to Sovngarde and defeated a time transcending legendary dragon, I’ve warped back in time using an Elder Scroll … I chilled with Sheogorath for a bit - uh, what else, I’ve been to Labyrinthian… I chilled up on a cloud with Meridia. You name it I’ve been there and made it back in one piece and stronger than I was before baby, what’s another plain of Oblivion or completely fucked up version of reality? Bring it on! By the end of it I’ll probably have YOUR job and be better at it.”

“akatosh said it’s my turn with the dragonborn’s soul”

Become the greatest thief in Tamriel and steal your soul back from Nocturnal.

Entering the nightingale hall to collect the nightingale armor with my carry weight nearly over the limit was one of the most extreme experiences I've ever had.

You can't complete the questline without becoming a Nightingale. Might have been cool to be able to say, "I'm not taking the oath, I'll fight Mercer as I am." Or a choice to join Mercer and keep the lie that Karliah is the enemy going. But unfortunately, if you want to complete the questline you need to become a nightingale.

Nocturnal: "Your soul will be mine!" Dovahkiin: *laughs in werewolf*

The Dragonborn can sell their soul to any deity but in the end they pick where their soul goes. Dragon born isn’t a normal mortal

The skeleton key not only opens physical doors but also metaphorical ones too, you can open the door of any plain of existence no place can hold you.

When Nightingales fufil their bargain with Nocturnal, they become one with the shadows, becoming sort of guardian spirits for fellow thieves. It might not be as glamorous as drinking in sovngarde, but it is a more fitting afterlife for a thief.

The next video: "Do not do any quests"

Me: Dies Daedric princes: mMmMm.. SoUl Me: Loads save Them: :o

I like this quest simply for Karliah. Whoever is voice acting her has a great voice. Karliah's voice is all hers and its a joy playing through the quest just to work with her. Oh yeah, the armor is bitchin' too.

Nocturnal: "The Dragonborn's soul is mine." Akatosh: (burns the contract) "Get back in line." Because since the Dragonborn soul comes from Akatosh himself, he has the final say. So, it makes no difference whom your "pact" is to. The highest Divine can overrule that.

My biggest annoyance is being told we need nocturnals power to have a chance against Mercer and then she refuses to actually give us any power until after we beat Mercer meaning we sold our soul for basically nothing.

Dragonborn: So... that’s it? I get your artifact and I’m free to go? Sheogorath: Yup, thanks for helping me finish my vacation. Dragonborn: You don’t want my soul or undying loyalty or anything? Nothing at all? Sheogorath: Hmmm, not really! Got any brain pie?

Protecting the skeleton key could also mean keeping it on you. I mean as the best thief keeps it on them it'd be pretty hard to steal it from them lol

The best thing about selling my soul to the Daedric Princes, is that they don't get my soul anyway. As a Dragonborn, my soul is part of Akatosh and thus goes to him when I die. Meaning, I've scammed over a dozen gods and by the time they find out, they can't do shit.

This is practically that one spongebob episode where the Dutchman discovers that Mr Krabs’ soul is owed by other spirits too

Every single daedric prince: the dragonborn is my tool and i have his soul Sheogorath: CHEEEEEESE!

Quick question, wasn't there a more powerful deity that will 100% claim the dragonborn's soul, regardless of any daedric influence?

counterpoint: you're dragon born. you make pledges to literally every deity in tamriel. the true end won't come from alduiin, but from your death as every god youve pledged to begin a war the likes of which nirn has never seen. though the skeleton key loses all its thunder because of the lockpicking skill tree makes your lockpicks unbreakable anyway.

**Watches this while literally joining the nightingales**

When the Dragonborn dies: Nocturnal: AAH he is finally dead. Now your soul is mine! Dragonborn: Uh yes but actually no. *respawns*

The Skeleton Key can also unlock things that are not physical, such as potential. It could also, theoretically, reopen an Oblivion Gates. It can unlock ANYTHING that is "locked". Not gonna lie, seems like the strongest Daedric Artifact. (It would have been funny if it allowed the user to unlock every perks of every tree ^^ As it should, from my understanding, have)

The thing that upsets me the most is being told that we need the power of a nightingale to fight a nightingale but during the process of being made into one Nocturnal says "I make your initiates nightingale and restore your status to the same" which means that Nocturnal had taken away Karliah's and Mercer's nightingale powers. If that's the case then the whole points of selling your eternal soul to gain power equal to Mercer's is entirely pointless. Its only made worse when we make the deal but Nocturnal says we gotta beat Mercer first before we get anything. Talk about backstabbing. Karliah is literally lying through her teeth and is just using you and Brynjolf as a sacrifice to regain her power from Nocturnal. Karliah literally even admits it during her dialogue with Nocturnal boldy right in front of you. Another thing that bugged me was Karliah telling us that we're the first uninitiated people to step foot in the sanctuary in over a century but the quest description says that you're fixing the trinity that was "disrupted over 25 years ago" so if nobody has gone in for over a 100 years how did Gallus, Karliah and Mercer become Nightingales? Are they over 100 years old and being a nightingale also means you don't die from old age or was that just an oversight? Its strange to have Karliah say something like that when the entire questline has been about rebuilding the guild after the last master died a little over 25 to 30 years ago. Taken alone it seems innocent enough but when you think about how Karliah is being weirdly mysterious about the whole thing, even after the secret of Gallus' murder and everything had come to light, it feels more like a manipulative comment on her part to try and bait the Dragonborn and Brynjolf into thinking they're special. My weird feelings of mistrust aren't made any easier by Brynjolf's constant "I think we should trust the lass" idle dialogue.

“To become a nightingale, you must promise to enter nocturnal” This is where the fun begins

The amount of daedric schmucks who think they own my soul, it’s hilarious.

Nocturnal: Your soul is mine. Dragonborn: You're not worthy of its power.

A nord werewolf dragonborn who has pledged themself to basically every Daedra is honestly the funniest thing. While the Daedra are squabbling over who gets your soul, youre calling daddy Akatosh to pick you up and drop you off at Sovngarde on the weekends

Your soul will always go to Akatosh, if you defeat Miraak, a Dragonborn, his soul will float up indicating that all Dragonborns go to Akatosh. Considering how powerful Akatosh is, we can assume there is a hierarchy with Akatosh, The Chief Deity of the Divines, at the top. If this weren't true then it would be chaos among the Daedric Princes as to which plane of oblivion you go to. Having Akatosh, creator of Dovah, always take a Dragonborn's soul clears up the confusion. Not even mentioning the fact that the Dragonborn is literally a piece of Akatosh and that they are foolish in thinking that they can take a piece of Akatosh, again Chief Deity of the Divines and keep it in a plane of Oblivion my point is still valid.

One of my biggest issues with the thieves guild quest is the fact that you can't refuse to join the nightingales. Karliahs whole reasoning for that is that we need the edge to fight Mercer, even though I'm the Dragonborn, who single handedly killed Alduin and countless dragons, the arch mage of winterhold, the one who ended the Civil War and killed Ulfric/Tullius, and a vampire lord who defeated Lord Harkon. But no, *only* by becoming a nightingale can I possible hope to defeat one man in a three on one fight.

The skeleton key is after some time again quite useless- when you reached the unbreakable lockpick skill.

You forgot to mention that if something goes wrong with the place a Nightingale has to guard that screws over Nocturnal's flow of power between her realm and that of the living world, you would slowly lose yourself and go insane until that link is repaired.

Nocturnal: sees Mercer steal her key. "Those thieves guild are going to pay, except Mercer."

Maybe from a lore point of view, but there’s no reason not to do this in game.. that armour and sword too good not to pass up

I love when you were trying to describe the Evergloom as a place not to go but all you did was make me wanna go ever more

Apparently the dragon souls that the dragonborn absorbs are counted as him/her having multiple souls and each daedric prince they serve gets one and then the main soul goes to Sovengard

Karliah: “We can only defeat Mercer by becoming Nightingales.” Actually Karliah: “I’m making you guys sell your souls because I want to earn Nocturnals favor for failing her. Brynjolfs fucked but hey, you get to at least go to Akatosh?”

Of course you shouldn't join the nightingales, you'd be selling your soul like a total chump

Nocturnal: your soul is mine forever Dragonborn: jokes on you I'm into that

Next video: why you should go first to the block at Helgen.

As i keep saying while playing this game: the dragonborn is a very religious man because he has many religions.

Remember that scene in RE7 where they’re fighting over who gets your character? Yeah, that’s the Daedric prince’s and your soul.

Me, an Argonian who sold their soul to countless Daedra, became a werewolf, a Nightingale, and Listener of the Dark Brotherhood: Oh boy, I can't wait to see the custody battle when I die!

Nocturnal : your soul is mine! Molag Bal : get to the back of the line! Merunes : we all have claims on Mr. kiins soul Nocturnal sees cicero Nocturnal : you too huh? Cicero : he was 5 gold short on pay day

Me: - Joins the Companions & sells soul to hircine - Joins the vampires (Dawnguard questline) & sells soul to Molag Bal - Joins the Dark Bortherhood & sells soul to Sithis - Joins the Nightingales & sells soul to Nocturnal - Gets the dawnbreaker - completes azura Star - did the dawnstar memory quest - and more I just sold my soul to everybody 🙂

It’s comforting that after selling my soul to so many Daedra, Akatosh will protect me and make sure I am at peace. It would be interesting though to see if they battle each other over my soul. Edit: This all reminds me a line from Kratos “Death can have me, when it earns me.”

I think one of the most evil being in Tamriel, Molag Baal gives you a pretty awesome mace for nothing. Molag: Kill this guy in self defence Also, go look for this annoying guy and kill him there you go have this Nasty-Looking mace just go kill many with it, bro.

In my head cannon the Dragonborn ascends to godhood and the draedra’s go “wait that’s not allowed”

How bout whether balgruuf is a genius or an idiot? By not pledging allegiance to one side of the war he ensures he doesn’t anger either side or demonise any of his citizens

I really liked that one mod which was basically just- Dovakiin: You get three dragon souls, and I keep the skeleton key and my soul… Deal? Nocturnal: Deal, You’re free to go. (I imagine as many Daedric the Dovakiin has dealt with, When they finally die they’ll just go to some neutral plane of oblivion where all the Daedric princes are gathered and they just argue over who gets the soul… lol)

I have a sort of headcanon for all this, the LDB is not actually the one who has done all the things we can do in game. Sure the DLC it can be said that yes the LDB 100% was the one to defeat Miraak, or defeat Lord Harkon. But to be the Harbinger of the companions, a Nightingale and leader of the thieves guild, the Arch Mage of the college of winterhold, a high ranking officer in either the imperial or Stormcloak armies, the listener, and whatever other guild quest lines I’ve forgotten here, those were all done by other people. And their feats are attributed to the Last Dragonborn.

Karliah: You must offer your soul to Nocturnal to become a Nightengale. Me: Woah there, I didn't agree to sell my soul to the daedra- Karliah: Here's some badass armor. Me: ALL HAIL OUR LADY NOCTURNAL!

I remember reading/seeing somewhere that pledging your soul to any daedra didn't matter in the end cause Akatosh will just go "lol zoinks" and take it to his realm upon your death

Considering you can absorb a shit ton of dragon souls, I always assumed the souls you were "selling" to the Daedric princes were those souls you'd collected. In a way, all the princes you pledge your soul to are still getting their promised soul, just not the Dragonborn's exactly. I saw it the same as Alucard recovers from damage in Hellsing. His physical form takes the shape he desires, but the damage is happening to the souls he's consumed.

Even if akatosh didnt claim your soul when you dies , the dragonborn knows the fucking location to sovngard portal in real life. He would just be like: "The time has come my friend , take us to sovngard my dear Paarthurnax" Or he would be just an volkihar castle vampire and live forever chilling with an umbrella

Dragonborn: dies Daedra: **Black Friday riots** Aedra: **Panicked screaming**

Pretty sure with my affiliation with a multitude of Aedra and Daedra, my death will cause a Dragon Break, cloning my soul many times so I go to each afterlife. Even Sovngarde despite maining an Argonian.

I always end a save as a vampire so I don't have to worry about Nocturnal's contract.

It makes perfect sense that your character (should you go the Nightengale route) would have to reap the consequences of lifelong thievery in the afterlife. There’s always a catch with the Daedric princes. No regrets, just reap what you sew. Gives your character a better character arc than the main quest could ever provide.

But Nocturnal also says “the contract is fulfilled” So unlike most Nightingales you dont owe anything after you return the key. I would argue it infront of Julianos!

why you should -cool armor -achievement Edit: I know this sounds cringe but this is genuinely the most likes i have ever gotten and I am so so happy that people thought it was funny

Not just lockpicking,from a lore point of view you can open ANY door with it. Like Mercer opened a door that needed 2 separate keys at the same time in 2 keyholes and he opened it anyway.

"Your soul will be mine." Dragonborn: Lady I'm dragonborn, a werewolf, and the listener, you literally have to get in line.

Everyone talking about which daedric Lord their soul goes to when they die. Me: Dying?! *laughs in restoration potion loop*

Dragonborn serving after he dies: “Hello Nocturnal ma’am sorry I’m late, just had to serve the other Daedra

Bro you literally get some of the best light armour in the game, an infinite lockpick, an amazing bow, an amazing sword, and on top of that, the gear looks really really cool!

Don't worry, no matter what Daedra or Divine you pledge your allegiance to, the Dragonborn's soul will always go to Sovngarde since Akatosh ultimately owns it due to you being Dragonborn. And besides, that armor is too cool to pass up

I'm pretty sure that would be a mistake on any Daedra princes part. Trapping the Dragonborn in their realm is the equivalent of having Doomguy, with the ability to bend time and space by merely speaking, along with the eternal soul of a dragon with a penchant for dominance. It sounds like a bad time for anyone. Better to just let him go.

but the Dragonborn’s soul belongs to Akatosh before the Dragonborn is even born so technically Akatosh has first dibs on the Dragonborn’s soul

I've probably played through skyrim around 12-15 times, my go to start is getting the thieves guild almost complete. Keep the skeleton key until I'm done with all the other main quests and guilds. Finishing off with the crown and returning the key later on.

This dude: "dont join the them" Me: "im not gonna skill lockpick 100"

Me: owes my soul to every daedric prince and a couple Devine's Also me: becomes a vampire to avoid dieing

Maybe “Why you shouldn’t join the Dawnguard” -Pretty much all the Vampires of Castle Volkihar don’t actually agree with Harkon, yet at the end of the Dawnguard quest you massacre them. -The Dawnguard doesn’t actually help thwart the vampire attacks that happen in the cities. -Many of them refuse to even talk to you if you have become a Vampire at any point during the Dawnguard questline. -They don’t try to cure or help non-evil Vampires who happen to contract the disease.

Avarti: "What you got there?" Me: *clearly holding Nightingale armor* "A Smoothie 🥤"

I like to think that because our character is dragonborn and has "the blood of akatosh" that regardless of who our character swears allegiance to, it only sort of acts as a formality since theyre soul is already twchnically part of akatosh

I am a toaster.

The best part of having a dragons soul, you arent bound by any daedric contracts relating to your soul. Even as a vampire I'd be able to avoid molag bals realm and head to whatever sweet afterlife I'd like.

When your doing the story line with karliah and brynjolf, after you get the armor you can just leave the hideout and keep your soul, I would have felt bad if it didn’t have a cape

Joining the nightingales always seemed kind of pointless to me anyway. I’ve got expert level illusion spells that work just like two of their powers, and I can use them both at once (and more than once per day). I never really liked the drain health ability, so no big loss there. I always do the thieves guild quest line until I get that kickass nightingale armor. I just stick around till I take what I was after, then I take off (y’know, like a thief). Plus, it’s useful that they give me places to fence my stolen stuff.

Brynjolf seeing this and realizing where he goes when he dies: *sad Brynjolf noises*

And I thought Voldemort had it bad with his soul being split into 8 pieces.....

"Don't be a Nightingale because afterlife cold and dark" As if I'm not sitting in my room in the dark with the AC on as I'm playing Skyrim.

everything you said just makes me wanna promise my soul to as many daedric prince in each playthrough because chaos

The Dragonborn has done so much, and pledged their soul to nearly every Daedric Prince. But honestly, the Dragonborn would most likely spend their eternal afterlife with Sheogorath. Only guy that didn't ask for a soul or eternal servitude. Besides, who else can to do the fishstick? It's a very delicate state of mind!