The Mysterious Letters from 'A Friend' - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, should we demonstrate the mighty power of our Thu'um in public, we'll promptly receive a letter from an anonymous friend guiding us to words of power. Who is this shrouded ally? Is there even a mystery here? Let's dive into it.

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#Skyrim #TheElderScrolls #Bethesda

[Fizhy]

Thanks for waiting for me with this one, I know I haven't posted in a couple weeks because I've been away but I'm back now so... enjoy!

[ninjasheep]

It isn’t actually a mystery, just a goofy name. The guy who sends you that letter is none other than Archibald Friend.

[dinisnascimento]

Bro it's the courier, dude will travel to Soulstheim only to hand you a letter, your hands only, saying "you caused quite the commotion in Abandoned Shack when you used Whirlwind sprint and hit a wooden wall, signed a friend"

[PhoenicopterusR]

It's Meridia trying to get you to find her beacon by opening more chests that inevitably end up in the general proximity to word walls.

[SleeplessSiren]

I'm pretty damn sure that the letters from a friend are from Hermaeus Mora. Not only does it track that he would want the Dragonborn as strong as possible since (assuming that the ending of Dragonborn is canon and they replace Mirrak) but this "unknown" person can even hear you shouting inside Azura's Star and I don't know of anyone who would be able to hear whats going on inside a deadric realm aside from the deadric lord of knowledge himself

[trentonghormley]

I need a 3 hour video on the Courier that ends with NO resolution.

[Longshanks]

Maybe the real mysterious friend was the friends we made along the way.

[YourWaywardDestiny]

The curriers can cast the clairvoyance spell and have made delivering your letter their active quest, it's the only explanation.

[baritone_vocalist]

I may never know who this "friend" is but I am 100% sure that Nazeem sent those thugs after me for stealing his stuff.

[cadence]

There is a theory among the fans that the friend is Herma Mora.
My own personal theory is that it is actually Shor. The comment that "skyrim needs a true hero" really stands out to me. Delphine wouldn't care about Skyrim needing a true hero, nor would Herma Mora. Shor would have a vested interest in seeing the Dragonborn succeed as Sovngarde, Shor's domain in Aetherius, is constantly under attack by Alduin. It is considered lore that Shor will occasionally walk about on Tamriel, usually in the form of a fox. I would also like to point out that when you get to Sovngarde and enter the Hall of Heroes, you can find Shor's Throne at the table, but he himself is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND (he didn't even have the decency to meet with the Dragonborn). Prior to initiating the battle with Alduin, Tsun mentions that Shor is watching us.

Shor really does make the most sense of all the characters. He wouldn't say who he is to the courier, he would know where all of the Words of Power are, he would say that 'Skyrim needs a true hero right now' as Skyrim is plunged into a civil war, he would want us to succeed as a dragonborn because he needs us to come to Sovngarde to defeat Alduin, because Alduin is devouring all of the souls that he himself is meant to protect.

Now I admit, this is one that is grasping at straws and could just be chocked up to the AI being momentarily asleep, but occasionally I'll come across a fox that will just stand there and stare at me for a good long while before running off, while there are other foxes that will run off immediately. These foxes that are delayed in running away, I mean I can walk right up to them and have a staring contest with them for several seconds before they take off and as part of my roleplaying I will greet them as Shor.

[luckisluck]

My head canon is that the courier is the mysterious friend, who knows where you are, every time? courier. Who can get to literally anywhere on the map without fail. The Courier. Who probably would find you on sometimes on your way to high Hrothgar, which is the equivalent of Mt Everest.

[mylongschlong]

"The dragonborn has schizophrenia" - Fizhy, 2024

[TheAntiburglar]

Wait wait wait, what's all this about "Graybeards" and "Blades" and "Horns of Jurgen Windcaller"? Is this some obscure sidequest I've missed?

[LaurenE]

My headcanon in one save file was that my Khajiit bareknuckle boxer in heavy armor was raised in a Nord orphanage (hence the lack of traditional Khajiit speak in her dialogue) and one of her childhood friends who was a nord himself made plans that once they aged out of the orphanage they'd sneak back into Skyrim and become great legendary companions! Of course then a war broke out so they changed up to joining the stormcloaks to fight for the nations independence.

Before the game, they got split up when they stumbled into an imperial trap for Ulfric himself. He got away, but Khajiit was caught.

That's why when word spreads of a Khajiit she-warrior who fights bare handed and in heavy armor, joined the companions and became the dragon born he obviously knew who it was. And while he was hiding and living rough trying to avoid imperials and all other craziness in Skyrim he makes note of any word walls or dragons and sends them her way.

[MangoMan]

I always theorized it says “a friend” cause bethesda likely cut out a character that helped the dragonborn find new words when they cut like 60% of the content from the game

[RealBradMiller]

It is actually chickens. The chicken you see in every village isn’t just for decoration. It's secretly an ancient, telepathic being with knowledge of the Thu’um. Unable to speak, it guides the Dragonborn through letters. It knows all because chickens have been silently observing humanity for centuries.

[TheMoonShepard]

I tend to believe the Mysterious Friend may be someone similar to Ulfric, someone the Greybeards once taught about the Thu'um, but felt their way was too passive.

[nicks]

I like the idea of it being the future last dragonborn sending letter to his past self to strengthen himself to try and break from herma Moras Grasp

[YeTism]

Bro your videos just remind me that we’re not gonna get ES6 until I’m on my deathbed

[RelativelyBest]

I say it's Calcemo. Think about it: You buy a single dwarven arrow in like Windhelm or something and this half-senile old wizard holed up in a ruin on the other side of Skyrim _immediately_ knows about it. He's clearly keeping a very close eye on you somehow. So he has a courier track you down - just like the mysterious friend - to let you know he wants you to go all the way to Markarth so he can buy this completely ordinary dwemer item from you at a huge markup. It's not like it's a rare artifact or anything, he even specifies that you can just get another one if you don't have the original anymore. So, he clearly doesn't actually care about the item itself but does really want to buy it from you specifically.

So, yeah, I think the whole quest was just an excuse to meet you in person, maybe just to see what sort of person the Dragonborn is. The guy is probably an undercover Psijic or something and the "eccentric old codger" thing is just an act. If so, he fits the profile: He's a scholar, he's male, he apparently has the means to know what the Dragonborn is doing at all times, and he has some reason to want to keep his identity secret.