I'm sure someone has covered this idea and a lot better than I'm about to, but Skyrim is really a perfect game for a time like this because it is set in a world that has run out of time and run out of hope. The settings of the previous two installments of the elder scrolls series have both been struck by tradgedy. Morrowind has been devastated by the eruption of the red mountain. The empire that the hero of kvatch helped save was shaken by a war that they ultimately lost. Now Skyrim faces war, and political unrest, and a world ending threat. But it is not only the province that is coming undone, every faction in Skyrim seem to be on the verge of collapse. The thieves guild is in dire straits. The dark brotherhood has lost sight of its principles and its faith. The oldest and greatest warriors of the land, the companions, are plagued by a curse and hunted like animals. The college of winterhold is empty, without prestige, and falling into the sea. Everywhere you look, you see that all things that used to be will soon be no longer. Nothing seems to thrive in this time and place, yet somehow, when the world is at its lowest, the Dragonborn comes and the world begins to heal. The war resolves and new leaders come to power, there is whispers of the thalmor one day facing retribution. The thieves guild regains the graces of nocturnal. The dark brotherhood hears the voice of the night mother once again. The companions break free of their curse. Alduin is gone, and the world is suddenly, no longer ending.










