THE COMPANIONS…REEXAMINED

“I have heard of the Companions [sic], so you what – fetch the mead?”
~Whiterun City Guard

A rather insulting comment from your average city guardsmen directed towards my Dragonborn Harbinger but one that holds a ring of truth in regards to the aimless, mead-swilling bunch of lay-abouts we call: the Companions. It does raise a troubling concern as to the purpose of this mix of so-called honorable mercenary fighters; for a group to claim that they carry on the militant and nationalist traditions of Ysgramor and his Five Hundred Companions (who avenged their fallen kinsmen against the elves after the Night of Tears and went on to conquer Skyrim), they do nothing against the injustices currently afflicting their land and their people.
Unlike the other faction quests, such as the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild who regain their fortunes and reputations. The Companions accomplish nothing and remain stagnant. The crux of the Companion quest line is the fulfillment of an old man’s wish not to die a heathen. The primary antagonists that concern the Companions are the Silver-Hands. They are an enemy that has neither depth nor character who exist only to kill the werewolf members of the Inner Circle of the Companions. The whole plot lacks direction and purpose.
They guzzle mead, fight each other, and maybe slay the occasional bandit or monster while untold injuries are inflicted on their fellow countryman by:

1. The Imperial legions of a corrupt foreign empire that dances on puppet strings to the Aldmeri Dominion, the true victors of the Great War.

2. The Stormcloak rebel army of a headstrong, king-slaying jarl who promises nothing but misery for any non-Nordic citizens of Skyrim and those Nords who are not “true Sons of Skyrim”.

3. An insidious organization of agent-provocateurs known as the Thalmor who operate on behalf of the Aldmeri Dominion to rob the native Nords of their religion and/or lives; with the ultimate goal of sowing hatred between Imperials and Nords to weaken both nations.

4. Not to forget…Alduin and his horde of dragons burning everything to the ground.

Even worse still is nothing changes…even if the Dragonborn becomes the Harbinger; the leader of the Companions. As has been the trend lately, much of the Elder Scrolls faction quests exist in separate vacuums; heedless of the current geo-political trends and life-threatening disasters affecting the country. Casting aside the Bethesda vacuum bubble that constrains this particular faction quest, we begin to look into this by assessing the Companions’ stance on the war in Skyrim.

THE NATURE OF THE WAR IN SKYRIM

“None of our business. There’s no honor to be had in the squabbling of jarls.”
~Skjor

“There are always good reasons to fight. I just wish this war had them. Who cares who worships what dead god? Give me something to make me draw my sword.”
~Vilkas

“Politics are something best avoided. I prefer more personal confrontations, myself.”
~Kodlak Whitemane

Many of the Companions somehow liken this war to that of a war among princes or a war or religion even though both associations are entirely false. IT IS NOT A CIVIL WAR. It is certainly not a religious war. It is a war of rebellion. On the surface, it is one man’s ill-conceived war for independence, Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak, against an empire in decline--hamstrung by a disastrous peace treaty and manipulated by Thalmor agents of the Aldmeri Dominion. On one side, you have the Stormcloak rebels whose end goal is complete independence from the Mede Empire. On the other side, you have the Imperial legions whose end goal is to maintain the remnants of their crumbling empire in the north. But if one were to look at it another way, keeping in mind the motivations of the Aldmeri Dominion: it is truly a cold war between empires: the Mede Empire of Cyrodiil against the Aldmeri Dominion with Skyrim as its battlefield and the Nords their cannon fodder while the Thalmor, whose skill in dissembling and subterfuge is unmatched, plays the loyalists and the rebels against each other to weaken both.
Though it is quite true that the “Sons of Skyrim” are killing each other, it is not for reasons relating to civil matters. The Nord rebels fight for Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak and the Nord loyalists fight for Emperor Titus Mede II. Jarl infighting and enflamed religious passions are consequences of the war not the cause of it. They were the matches that ignited the black powder of Nordic unrest and discontent towards their Imperial overlords stemming from the War of the Red Diamond of 3E 120 and culminating in the iniquitous White-Gold Concordat Peace Treaty of 4E 175.

WHY THEY DON’T FIGHT

“…the Companions…were soldiers for hire…but the commitment to individual honor meant that often Shield-Brothers would be forced to face each on the field of battle. The bonds of honor which bind the Companions threaten to break, until Mryfwiil, in his wisdom decreed that we would no longer be party to any war or political conflict of any kind. Because of his steady hand, the Companions today are known as impartial arbiters of honor, in addition to their glories on the field of battle.”
~Mryfwiil the Withdrawn (Great Harbingers)

It would be a wonderful thing if all matters could be settled with one-on-one duels and everyone would live honorable lives but the brutal world in which they live and the type of work they do leaves little room for such niceties. It is somewhat honorable to be paid to clear out bandit and critter hold-outs yet not quite so honorable to beat up citizens on behalf of an anonymous client. However, there is no honor to be had for allowing Imperial legion troopers, Stormcloak rebels, and Thalmor instigators to tear apart their homeland. Where is the honor in allowing the Thalmor to prey upon their countrymen? Why don’t the Companions truly live up to the name of Ysgramor and take the fight to the Thalmor and beyond? Why couldn’t the Companions have orchestrated the raid on the Northwind Fortress to rescue a Gray-Mane son from Thalmor custody?
Understanding that the Companions’ aforementioned reasons not to intervene in the war makes no sense as this is clearly not a case of brothers fighting against brothers. The Companions are heirs to Ysgramor’s Five Hundred Companions and as such are staunch defenders of Skyrim but one cannot see the Companions joining the side of the Imperials.

IMPERIAL CORRUPTION

An Oblivion Crisis and a couple of wars later, the new Cyrodiilic Empire is on its way towards becoming the sick man of Tamriel. The Mede Dynasty and the empire itself has become more of an Imperial institution. Any direct kinship or understanding between the Emperor and the Nords was questionable yet the Nords who loyally served in His Majesty’s legions sold their lives dearly during the Great War and especially at the Battle of the Red Ring to reclaim the Imperial City from the Aldmeri army. But at the end of the war, the Imperials lost their nerve against a foe that was just as devastated and depleted as they were. In suing for peace, they merely deferred the advantage to the Dominion when they agreed to the following terms included within the White-Gold Concordat:

-Allow Thalmor agents free reign to stamp out Talos worship in Tamriel.
-Disband their most effective intelligence agency known as the Blades.
-Cede a large part of southern Hammerfell to the Aldmeri Dominion.

Most damaging to the Imperial reputation was that the terms of the treaty were the same as the original ultimatum presented by the Dominion before the war--so much fought for so little gain. The Imperials foolishly allowed a foreign power to gain authority over them. Thalmor Justiciars persecute Talos cultists throughout the Mede Empire and stir up hatred against not only themselves but the Imperials as well for allowing it to happen. The empire disbanded their most effective intelligence agency that served as the Septim’s eyes and ears throughout Tamriel--ensuring that the Thalmor had no competition in the espionage business. Emperor Titus Mede II renounced Hammerfell as an Imperial province when they refused to adhere to the peace terms. Without Imperial aid, Hammerfell kicked out the Aldmeri invaders. One could only imagine what could’ve been accomplished if the empire held fast with Hammerfell.
The Great War may have ended but the Aldmeri Dominion wage war in the shadows. Their Thalmor inquisitors subject the people of Skyrim to confinement, torture, and death for worshipping Talos whilst the Mede Empire’s legions allow enemy foreign agents to dishonor their glorious god-hero ancestor and persecute their own citizens. The Thalmor purposely stirred up Nord hatred against the empire and they have proven successful. It was only a matter of time before angry Nords rose up against the Imperials under the banner of a rabble rouser named Ulfric Stormcloak. They can hardly be blamed: how can people be expected to remain loyal when you can’t even protect them and worse; allow them to be preyed upon? Let’s look to the Stormcloaks.

STORMCLOAK EXTREMISM

“Anyone who lived in the city, Forsworn and Nord alike, were executed if they had not fought with Ulfric and his men when they breached the gates.”
~The Bear of Markarth

Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak and his ilk are clearly defined by a ‘with us or against us’ mentality. It was said that he was a captive of the Thalmor at the height of the Great War; subjected to months of interrogation. One has to question whether Ulfric’s motivations for the war are truly his own. Was Ulfric subject to some measure of Thalmor indoctrination? It can only be speculated as there is no evidence that supports it. The events of his early life did no doubt harden him. The Forsworn Rebellion and the Markarth Incident proved he took no prisoners, whether they were Nord or Forsworn, combatant or non-combatant. Ulfric is quite capable of killing fellow Nords if they don’t fit his definition of a true Son of Skyrim. Rather than entreat the High King to lead the rebellion against the moribund Imperials, a High King who had great respect for Ulfric, he challenged him to a duel knowing quite well that young King Torryg stood no chance against the Bear of Markarth. If it were truly an honorable duel, why did Ulfric run off like a villain? It became clear that Ulfric coveted the throne of the High King for himself. If he were to prevail in his war of rebellion, Skyrim may very well plunge into civil wars and brutal repression under an intolerant and prejudiced Stormcloak regime. Such a regime may cause the Companions to splinter and fracture with the Stormcloak notion of racial purity.

A CALL TO ARMS

“…I worry that a bunch of snowberries are out there earning glory while we stay out of it…”
~Aela the Huntress

So we have two sides to the war; the Imperials who for the most part have good people leading its armies but whose entire organization as a whole is corrupted from within and without. You have the Stormcloaks whose organization makes sense; they want to be free from foreign occupation but whose leadership is misguided, reckless, and possibly tainted by Thalmor indoctrination. Then there are the Thalmor themselves who undermine the whole lot of them. Neither of them are worthy to join.
It falls to the Companions to take up their old station as defenders of Skyrim. Let the Companions who once ruled Whiterun during the days of blessed Ysgramor reclaim their ancient patrimony from either the unworthy, vacillating Jarl Balgruuf or the age-enfeebled Vignar Gray-Mane. Yet who should lead the Companions in cutting a bloody swath through Skyrim’s foes: why the Dragonborn of course! The true Dragonborn, Ysmir (the dragon of the North), and Talos incarnate; blessed with the power of the Voice to bend the wills of mortal man and dragons. The architect of the High Hrothgar Peace Treaty that called a temporary cessation of rebel and loyalist hostilities in order to destroy Alduin.

As the leader of the Companions and of the newly-reformed Blades, The Dragonborn is the only one fit to wear the Jagged Crown of Skyrim...