Skyrim's Civil War (Music Video: Voluspa)

Original song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Temkv12TNtw

Version I used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6loWrABr8gA

I have wanted to do this video for some time, and it was not that hard (probably this description was one of the worst parts since I wanted to give as much credit as possible).

First I choose this song (that was featured in the Vikings TV show) because not only it sounds like a great battle song (ideal for the context of Skyrim's Civil War), but also because it is on old norse (and the nords of Skyrim are heavily based on the old norse) and the lyrics of the song fit Skyrim almost perfectly.

*Bræðr munu berjask ok at bönum verðask,
munu systrungar sifjum spilla* (Brothers wil fight and kill each other,
cousins (sisters' sons) will betray their kinship) This is exactly what happened in Skyrim's Civil War, and we can say that both sides betrayed their kinship to some point (since it is basically a nord vs nord war).

*Skelfr Yggdrasils askr standandi,
ymr it aldna tré, en jötunn losnar* (Standing, Yggdrasil's ash shakes,
the ancient tree groans, a giant becomes loose.) In this part Yggdrasil is kind like Skyrim during the war (Skyrim is sundered, kingless, bleeding. It stands but it is shaking), and in such scenario an ancient giant beast (Alduin) returns and becomes loose in Skyrim.

I also tried to put the images, originally made for The Elder Scrolls: Legends (the vast majority I used are from the Heroes of Skyrim expansion), on the best chronological order that I could think of: first Ulfric Stormcloak starts the war by sending his followers on skirmishes (this is revealed by the dialogue of Vulwulf), and only the rebels could have started the war because a government can not declare war against itself. Then the imperial loyalists in Skyrim retaliate, and the province is divided between the rebellious Stormcloaks and the imperial loyalists (I tried to show this on the part where I show the image of an imperial and a Stormcloak face to face. After that the song gets calmer for a few moments so I showed the artworks of a Stormcloak camp and an Imperial Camp). After years of war (yes: years. This is revealed by the dialogues of Vulwulf Snow-Shod, Vignar Gray-Mane and Hadvar if you follow him in Helgen) Ulfric kills Torygg on a nordic duel (the details of this event being revealed by Sybille Stentor). In theory this was supposed to prove Ulfric is right and that the Empire is making Skyrim weak, but in practice it only made the war worse, as according to Hadvar the Empire did not pay that much attention to the Stormcloaks until Ulfric killed Torygg a few months before Alduin attacked Helgen. Also according to Hadvar, General Tullius has only been in charge of the legions in Skyrim for a few months, what implies that Tullius was sent after the Emperor got the news of Torygg's death at Ulfric's hands, and this is why did not show Tullius at the beginning of the video.

In the last moments of the video I showed my two favourite artworks of Skyrim's Civil War (Ulfric's Uprising and Tullius' Conscription) to show how the war is closer to (and during) the events of the game: Ulfric leading his stormcloaks with more confidence than ever (after all he killed Torygg) while Tullius leads the imperial legions in Skyrim (what according to Hadvar has "turned things around for the Empire", and this can be seen in the organization of the imperial troops under his leadership).

Shortly after Tullius begins to lead the imperials, however, Alduin returns attacks Helgen as soon as Ulfric was about to be executed and then starts to ressurect his fallen followers across the province, bringing the dragons back in the process. While the dragons start attacking people and settlements all across Skyrim, the Last Dragonborn is revealed and begins his quest to defeat Alduin and put an end to this dragon crisis (I showed some two last images of the civil war among the dragon pictures to simbolize how the war was still going on while the Dragons were on a rampage. I showed an image of a Stormcloak charge to simbolize that the rebels haven't given up their hatred for the Empire even during such chaos, and and I showed an image of a sad looking nordic imperial soldier to simbolize how this war has brought division and weakness to Skyrim, and also that the imperial loyalists are not who the rebels claim they are, as both sides hate the Aldmeri Dominion in practice, and are forced to kill their kinsmen on a conflict that is only weakening the province).

The names of the cards I used (can easily be found on the Wiki or in the UESP), in order from first to last in the video, are:

Ulfric Stormcloak
Inspiring Stormcloak
Praetorian Commander
Phalanx Exemplar
A Land Divided
Stormcloak Camp
Imperial Camp
Ulfric's Housecarl
Legate Rikke
General Tullius
Mentor of the Watch
Ulfric's Uprising
Tullius' Conscription
Alduin
Wildfire Dragon
Rallying Stormcloak
Skyborn Dragon
Lay Down Arms
Dovah of the Voice
Young Dragonborn

Видео Skyrim's Civil War (Music Video: Voluspa) канала Templar Dragonknight, Son of Thunder