During Skyrim's MQ you see a dragon being reborn by Alduin as he hovers of the Dragons corpse, says a few words and the dragon becomes "alive" again. Seeing as Alduin needs to visit the actual burial sites it makes me wonder, why is the Dragonborn so important for permantly killing dragons? Couldn't people just have hacked up the dragon bodies moved bones to different locations or smashed the bones into dust and then throw the dust into the ocean (something like a cremation).

I also see no evidence in game that these bones are somehow incredibly powerful, so why in heavens name did people constantly seek a Dragonborn to permantly kill a dragon?

Or is it simply that they didn't know dragons could be revived, and just searched for a dragonborn for more effective dragon killing?

Not sure if this is a lore question. It's just game mechanics designed at creating suspense.

I suppose Alduin could just breathe dovah souls into ash, like Shor revived Wulfharth's body from the ashes multiple times.

"I also see no evidence in game that these bones are somehow incredibly powerful,"

Dragonbone armour?

I guess one does not simply walk into Mordor dismantle dragons. You would also think that the dragonbones would have decayed all those milennia underneath the ground.


But it's not like you can't simply pluck the needed bones off the dead dragons.

Even so, the ashes were needed.


Okay they are powerful, but still in Dragonsreach there is a dragonshead so they might be powerful but breaking them apart is possible and has been done before.

After hearing that Dragonsreach was built on top of a dead dragon, I totally expected Alduin to show up, revive the dragon, and see the place destroyed as it pulled itself out of the ground and back together.

I was sad when that didn't happen.

(even though I like the place)


Needing the Dragonborn to permanently kill dragons does seem like a plothole, to me. If Alduin is the only one that can revive dragons, then the Dragonguard would never have needed a Dragonborn because Alduin was already long gone before they showed up, and they could bring down dragons on their own. Kill a dragon, and without Alduin it's not going to get back up. No Dragonborn needed. And if the dragons are supposed to be the closest thing to immortals next to the gods, then it wouldn't make sense that only Alduin could bring them back to life after they're slain (especially if Alduin was overstepping his bounds, as is suggested in-game).

If Alduin isn't the only one that could kill dragons, then how did they get almost all wiped out in the first place? All it would take is one dragon that can revive another, then those two can revive two more, then those four can revive four more, etc. Aside from Paarthurnax, there were three others known to be alive near the end of the second Era (Ahbiilok, Mirmulnir, and Nahfahlaar)... who knows how many more there could've been hiding.

Dragonborns are needed because if a normal person kills a Dragon then their bodies don't do that whole disintegrate thing and their souls return and they just come back to life.

They are not immortal in that their physical bodies can not be killed they are immortal in that if you do kill their bodies they just come back.

Only Alduin can bring back the souls of dead dragons form wherever they go after a Dragonborn dies, and only Dragonborn can take their souls preventing them from coming back.

But they could come back later. The Dragonguard knew that Alduin would eventually return.

Which itself doesn't make too much sense. Alduin had been gone for over 2000 years before the Dragonguard showed up (the absolute latest the Dragon War ended was 1E139, though likely a lot earlier; the defeat at Pale Pass, which is about when the Dragonguard showed up, happened in 1E2703). How would they know what happened to Alduin, that he would come back and need to be defeated again? They didn't know about Dragonrend or the Elder Scroll. Not even the people that banished Alduin knew what happened (though Paarthurnax, a dragon they sought to kill, had a good guess).

If Alduin was defeated once by three non-Dragonborn mortals, why would the Dragonguard be so persistent to find a Dragonborn to kill all dragons in case Alduin came back? When you consider that they also let the Dragonborn harbor dragons in the following years, it makes even less sense.

Plus, it's not much in the way of immortality if only Alduin can bring dragons back. It doesn't matter who kills them if Alduin's not around, as the death would be otherwise permanent. Especially when you're spread out all over the world, it'd be like saying humans are immortal because a lone Necromancer can revive any human on Tamriel (and keep their minds intact).


I know I'm probably overthinking it, but really, I can't fit the pieces together here.

The dragonguard were not trying to kill all the Dragons, they were seeking the Dragonborn to serve him, there were just a lot of dragons in the way. IIRC it is mentioned in a book somewhere.

Also Reman could have asked the ES about the dragons and it told him the prophecy, and what happened in the past, and then he told the Dragonguard.

Thirdly for all we know Akavair could have its own ES like device that told them. There are any number of possible explanations.

Because Alduin coming back is part of Nordic legend. Bards sing about Alduin being defeated by the tongues all the time. Every Nord you talk to about it knows the World Eaters purpose in ending the world and that he comes back in the end times.

And they were hunting dragons without a Dragonborn. It's why so many of them can come back. Furthermore, the Septim-era Blades weren't dragon hunters anymore. The Blades of Skyrim had no more purpose for a long time, and thus made the dragon hunting aspect for important.

Dragons are immortal like the Daedra, if the Daedra got stuck in the sea of Oblivion. Dragons probably exist in some limbo state.

But that's the Nords, who believed he'd come back when the world ends (a belief that sprung up via ignorance, as again, no one knew for sure what happened to him, save that he was defeated by the three Tongues). The Dragonguard came to Tamriel to look for a Dragonborn over 2000 years later, before ever running into the Nords.

Don't the Daedra come back on their own after a random amount of time (that feels like forever to them), or when a Prince wants them? Contrast with dragons, who can only come back when Alduin visits their corpse and uses a shout.

I have a hard time seeing the world-wide threat dragons can be given that we know normal humans can take them down (without shouts, let alone with), if they can only get back up when Alduin physically intervenes. And on that note, why would dragons begin to doubt Alduin's power if he's the only one that can (and does) resurrect them?

Only dragons killed by a Dragonborn require a shout to bring them back. Dragons killed by normal humans don't do the "body disintegration/soul taking" thing and will just come back to life.

Also Dragons exist outside of time and thus probably know that once Alduin gets up to full power he can and will EAT THE ENTIRE WORLD, that is something to be feared.

That actually makes some sense, and is something I'd go for, though I'm not sure it's true. Sahloknir was killed and buried in the First Era by Jorg Helmbolg, and required a shout to be resurrected. Numinex was also killed in the First Era, and Dragonsreach was built on top of him with his skull adorning the throne room (though http://imperial-library.info/content/olaf-and-dragon doesn't mention who killed Numinex, just that he died while imprisoned by Olaf). It's a point I'm willing to concede, but there's no other evidence of Jorg Helmbolg being Dragonborn, or a Dragonborn being responsible for killing Numinex.

It is true, and a very good point, that we don't have any evidence to support that those Dragons were killed by Dragonborn, but until MK decides to make some crazy explanation saying otherwise the only thing I can see based on in-game evidence is that they must have been.

I think it's those killed by the Dragonborn, and those whose bodies have been disassembled, that Alduin cannot bring back to live. Those he raises are initially skeletal because they've been dead since the First Era.

This issue requires further inquiry.

As far as I know, Crimson Paladin is right. Dragons can be killed by anyone, but only the Dragonborn absorbs their souls and makes them stay dead.

As for why their corpses were not dismantled - I don't think anyone was expecting them to come back. It didn't seem to be the most well advertised fact. There might also be a level of reverence for dragons and for the dead in general. No matter how evil they might have been (and they weren't always seen as evil) they were still powerful, divine beings that people would honor. They could also be a sort of monument to the person who killed them, a "I killed this dragon and here are the bones to prove it."

See, that's exactly why I would take its head.

...And turn it into furniture.

Though, with the rate at which the Dovahkiin eats up Aldy's faithful, (s)he'd have enough heads for a dinette set.

If that's true, then why was the dragonborn so important? People keep talking about the fact that he's the only one that can truly kill a dragon. Not how he or she is more effective at killing dragons. If they didn't know the dragons could come back then the dragonborn is nothing more then an efficient fighter which makes the reverence they have for dragonborns somewhat absurd. If they did know dragons could come back then I don't get the letting bodies remain. Sure it can be because it's impolite to destroy corpses, on the other hand why would the blades or the dragonguard care about that? You don't travel god knows how long and fight dozens of battles just to polite at the end.

the dragonborn is important because only he can stop Alduin Bane of Kings.

Also many Nordic heros have been dragonborn and done grat thing, Tiber was dragonborn and founded the freaking Empire.

Dragonborn very often = being a total badass in some way and The Nords know it.

But the dragonguard started searching for the dragonborn after the dragonwars, if they believed Alduin was the only one that could revive them and if they believed Alduin gone for good that would make no sense... Why search for him at all? Just kill the dragons yourself and call it a day.

Also on another note, and this has been mentioned before, but if Alduin is the only one that can revive dragons then why in heavensname did any dragon have the guts to stand up to him or doubt him during your time in Skyrim... He gave them life and is the reason for their immortality that doesn't sound like something I would start doubting all of a sudden.

I'm not sure dismantling the corpse would really prevent them from coming back. I'd like to imagine the bones would just fling all back together and reconnect before the scales reform and stuff.

But I do agree that reverence for the dragonborn seems rather odd if dragons can't be revived without Alduin's personal intervention. I mean, he's one dragon and dragons ruled the whole world. Alduin can't be everywhere at once, so if dragons were killed in Akavir and Tamriel, he can only take care of one while the other continues unabashed (and when he goes to fix the other, the first can just start up again). Then add in all the other continents, and it would become a nightmare.

Because only a Dragonborn can kill dragons forever, the Dragonguard searched for a Dragonborn so they could go kill the dragons forever.

The Dragonguard didn't have to power to keep the dragons down.