Max von Sydow, the voice of Skyrim's teaser trailer and the NPC Blade known as Esbern, is 82 years old today. Happy Birthday Max!

But because that's not strictly relevant in the Skyrim forum (and because the moderators are tough... but fair!), I wanted to start some discussion and speculation about the character Esbern as well. All we really know is that he's a Blade, and will play some sort of mentor role in the game.

I've pictured him as a tough, resourceful, hoary Nord or Imperial who'll help the player character out of a difficult situation early on, and perhaps turn up unexpectedly as the main quest progresses. So who do you think Esbern might be; how significant will his role be in Skyrim's main quest, where does he come from, and how much does he know about the political situation, the dragons, and us?

I have a feeling that his character will be like the emperor in oblivion, simply an introduction character that is gone after 20 min of game play.
I would love for there to be more, Max Von Sydow is awesome.
A fellow Swedish country man :biggrin:

The negative side to me says i'm going to get sick of him as he'l just keep sending you out on errands that i will find boring and pointless.

If that actually does happen my sword will meet Esberns flesh.

That's how I felt in OB: ''We would send aid to Burma,But we have a gate outside our walls''

Oh you too,huh?

Closing five gates in a row was not fun...

He will not be like the Emperor, He is The Dragonborns Mentor, sounds like a big role?

I think he will be a mentor/father figure type character and will help you along at the start of the game. I also have a feeling he will get killed off near the end of the game when your in a massive battle of sorts.
ps HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAX VON SYDOW!!!!!

I think he'll be around a little longer than that.

I feel that Esbern is a man deeply rooted in tradition. He's worked for years to rally the remaining Blades, plus anyone who would listen, after what he read in the Elder Scrolls affected him greatly. It's hard to say what his life has been like, of course, but I'll speculate that his family has a history in the Blades otherwise he would not be still trying to fight for their cause two hundred years later. And to keep this in a bit of a loop of discussion, I think Esbern will be in his early fifties.

Well we already know Esbern will save the Dovahkiin early on (probably during his execution and when the first dragon arrives). As far as roles are concerned, I think he will give Dragonborn basic guidance until he must travel to the Throat of the World. Unless BGS does something really drastic from Oblivion, I expect he will be the guy to go to for main missions and what not (you need to learn this, go there; you need to learn this, go here; etc). Perhaps Dragonborn will even help rebuild the Blades, but who knows at this point.

My bet Esbern is a funny Khajiit like the one in Db-Cheydinhal. He's rich but keeps the stash hidden from his wife, he knows the world but pretends to know nothing so he could laugh at your stories, he's what women call a charmer or more often the con artist at its finest.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ESBERN! LOVE YOUR VOICE!

Now, about the sub-subject:
I hope he's a character we can get attached to, I'd love to have someone close to me for a change in a TES game.

Well I think he's an Argonian who keeps looking for his hat, even though it's on his head the whole time.

That Esbern would be M'Aiq undercover by any chance? I wouldn't trust him not even for a fedex quest.