I am really wondering about this issue, we know that last members are in Dawnstar and that Emperor Titus Mede 2. was killed by DB.
But, will Db ever manage to reach that power they had in the old days, or will they fade into dust?
And will Black Hand be reformed again?

Well, the Black Hand was decimated back in Oblivion, and look at Skyrim. Sure, they were pretty weak, but they murdered an Emperor. That ought to make them quite feared and respected (and hated, but whatever). And, like I said, they still managed to survive for 200 years after Oblivion after most of the Black Hand had been decimated.

Murdering the Emperor would have gave the Dark Brotherhood incredible publicity from all over Tamriel (no such thing as bad publicity). I understand that the Thalmor and civil unrest has destroyed most of the sanctuaries, but I reckon that the Thalmor would see the death of the Emperor and so see them as an incredible tool to use against whatever schemes they have come up with and let the DB flourish. Not saying that as if the Thalmor would control them, but turn a blind eye and use their services every now and then.

Also, I see the Night Mother as something that is becoming old hat...I'm thinking that in the next game the DB are back to their normal Sithis-loving selves, but need a new Night Mother...

There is a quest to wipe out the DB as well. If you slay Astrid in the cabin, and go to the Penitus Oculatus, they tell you where the sanctuary is and ask you to slay the inhabitants. If the DB is in the next game, I will be very disappointed. They should write it out that the DB killed the Emperor and the Oculatus hunted down and destroyed the Brotherhood (why would they give up after that 1 attempt?), But replace the DB with something cooler.

It's kinda like Vivec. If Vivec was still around, it would nullify the playthroughs where he was slain.

Murdering the Emperor does not prove the strength of the DB. It proves the strength of a single, very competent assassin. Without that one person everything falls apart. The Dovahkiin assassin is the single thing keeping the DB together. It's amazing that the DB has survived as long as it has.

Without the five tenets and the Night mother at best what they were was a group of assassins using resources and the name of an old assassins guild, along of course with several of the asssassins. That entire time lasted them somewhere between 10 and 25 years... Which isn't all that long.


Also if Astrid had not betrayed the Dark Brotherhood then the Emperor would have died earlier proving that the intelligence gathering and resources the DB still had at her dispossal were quite good.

The only organization the DB ever had was under the original Night Mother, Helseth, and eventually the psycho council of the Black Hand. In Skyrim, they're just a murderers club, and the only semblance of the old DB they still retain is their penchant for tight leather. And still it was the Dovahkiin that carried out all of the Emperor assignments, not Astrid.

Even the intelligence gathering seems unrealistic. If it's only a handful of people, how could they possibly compose a serious intelligence network. Realistically it takes time for messages to be sent, and all of that would be done by horseback and foot. Something happening in Solitude wouldn't be known in Falkreath for a day or two. Multiple riders shortens the time between messages, but since the Skyrim DB doesn't have those kinds of resources, it doesn't make sense for them to have a speedy or efficient intelligence service. It also doesn't help that they always wear those ridiculous leather outfits. A good intelligence body has agents whose only job is to watch, record, and transmit while others do the killing. That means lots of cells living all over the place who never move and for all intents and purposes, are permanent members of society. These cells then transmit information to runners whose only job is to deliver messages. Six or seven people can't possibly fill all those roles.

OHDEARGODYES
Hear's hoping it's the Penitus Oculatus or something similar.

The Dark Brotherhood will continue on and, I would bet, that they would return to a powerful guild again. The return of the Night Mother and a Listener is the begining of a new Black Hand and return of the DB's power.

The option for them to be wiped out, will not be canon, for two reasons:

1. The Dark Brotherhood is one of the most popular guilds in the TES series, if not the most popular.

2. Even if you wipe out the sanctuary, three remain. Babette, Cicero and the Night Mother. As long as the Night Mother lives, the Dark Brotherhood lives.

The Brotherhood was falling apart well before their previous Listener was killed. Their sanctuaries were being found out and destroyed. The death of their Listener was just the near-final nail in the coffin.

But I don't think the DB will fall apart. I would guess that the new regime Motierre was talking about will protect the DB against the worst of Imperial aggressions, in the hopes that they can use the DB again for their own aims. The faction is far too popular for it just to fall apart.

Personally, I hope they either fall apart or never return to their full glory, so that we get some new assassin organizations. Bring back some of that assassin rivalry that was in Morrowind. (just not with the morag tong, they should stay in their graves)

Joining the Penitus Oculatus would be pretty sick. If the next game centers on the Great War, I wonder if you could work for the Thalmor. They have people killed all the time.

I see that Astrid was actually the "strong figure" who put DB back on track. Maybe they didn't their thing "right" when she was in charge, but she might have been their first credible leader in who knows how long. However, even more powerful figure emerged, and, if the Dovahkiin listener is actually canon (and not killing all the killable characters in DB), the guild will have a new renaissance with many shadowy people pouring in. I hope many of those are other than random unnamed students. ;P

You could think that, if murdering the DB was canon, Babette and possibly Cicero would still be left. (Even though Babette surviving was just a gameplay mechanic, it could easily be turned into canon. She's also virtually immortal, so there's a possible character for the next game as well.) The return of the Night Mother could still have happened, just with a different Listener. Might've been Babette, for example.

Then there's the possibility that DB was still alive elsewhere, too. Just barely, like in Skyrim before they brought the Night Mother there. They might just be keeping so low profile that even the Skyrim branch doesn't know about their existence. Or, at least, the ideology about DB should be alive in the minds of many potential assassins throughout Tamriel, even if the cult itself wasn't. Maybe someday the Night Mother would approach one of those, or something. The point is, I still see there's future for them, were they all in Skyrim killed by Dovahkiin or strengthened by him.

Besides, they're so popular amongst players that the writers wouldn't just write them out, you know.

And, who's to say the next TES game will be chronologically later than Skyrim was? They could jump back to Third Era or in the beginning of the Fourth Era as far as we know. Unlikely, I admit, but should be considered a possibility (as far as I know...).

The mages guild and fighters guild were replaced, and it's about time the DB retires.

Hahaha. You disappoint our Mother.

The Mages guild and fighters guild were not exactly replaced. They may have a different name but they are the same thing in essence. The companions are Skyrims fighters guild and the College of Winterhold is just a less strict Tamrielic Mages guild. And if they killed off the dark brotherhood in the next entry it would nullify the playthroughs of the people who saved the DB. And thats alot of people.

If they didn't kill it off, it would nullify the playthroughs of people who did. They need to write it in that the DB was annihilated after they killed the Emperor. That way, it doesn't nullify anything.

The only things that have to be canon as I see it is

1 the Falkreath sactuary was destroyed.by who(m) doesnt have to be mentioned

2the Emporer was killed by the DB.Once again by who(m) doesn't have to be mentioned.

The first has no real reason to be mentioned and details on the second would be hard to come by no matter who performed the assasination(PC or random DB hitman)
As long as the Night Mother is around so shall the DB and TES is better off for it.They may not be perfect but they are entertaining

I know Astrid didn't kill the Emperor, but let's be honest here if not for the betrayel what was so special about killing him? Assuming he would have been at that dinner party then near every assassin could have done it. You would just have needed more people to take on individual parts of the assassination plot, instead of letting it all be done by just one person. I agree with the intelligence gathering part, it does seem entirely unrealistic, but the DB isn't the only guild suffering from that. So I have no idea how they do it, but they obviously manage.

The Black Hand will unfortunately never go away. And yet the Tong, clearly the cooler assassins' club, are probably gone. >=-(

You know personally I would like to see the Morag Tong raise up again and eliminate the Dark Brotherhood and destroy the Night Mother. I really dislike the Dark Brotherhood and wish they would just go away, nothing but a bunch of insane untrustworthy backstabbers.

You missed Cicero, the Night Mother, and Babette. You only think you killed it off.

I'm thinking that since the most time and effort out of any of the quests in the game was put into the DB quests, we have a writer somewhere who really digs the DB. Which makes it unlikely they will be written out.

The Dark Brotherhood is a fan favorite (though I don't care for them). No way would they get rid of them.

Agreed, the DB probably isn't going anywhere. There's even game logic to support it. If the Night Mother were to go to a sanctified spot (we can guess she will), she could persist for ages. If she's protected, even if the DB falls, eventually, the right person will walk by it, the Night Mother will speak, and the Dark Brotherhood will be reborn.

THAT would be an interesting storyline- the Player wanders to the right spot, the Night Mother speaks, and the questline is rebuilding the Brotherhood.

+1