The Irony of the Ebony Blade... : V

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 9:56 am

I was just randomly Looking threw skyrim wiki When i found this AMAZING Little speech!

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Ebony_Blade_(Skyrim)

"The following is an extrapolation on the weapon's flavor text, the nature of Mephala, and the irony of the apparent bugged nature of the item:
For those that are not familiar with http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Mephala and her ways, this blade can appear to be "bugged" or "glitched" when they wield it. http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Mephala is the god of deceit and lies amongst other things and as you progress into http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/The_Whispering_Door quest you'll understand the nature of http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Mephala much better. The Ebony Blade itself embodies this very nature. Mephala tells you the blade hungers for deceptive killing and will only become more powerful with each deceitful death.
As you kill more of your friends and followers the blade grows stronger until Mephala announces that it has reached its former glory. Upon opening your inventory to view the blade, you'll notice no visible stat changes in damage. Upon using the blade you'll notice that the life drain has increased.
For most of you the immediate feeling is mixed. Happiness that the blade steals more life, but disappointment that the blade doesn't do more raw physical damage. Essentially the blade is a one handed weapon that requires both of your hands, which means 100% commitment to using the blade and nothing else. So what should the wielder (AKA you) do to make the blade more powerful? Maxing your one-handed perks still gives this blade so-so damage, It can't be honed or sharpened at the blacksmith and two-handed perks don't help it. You can see how this is slightly frustrating? Maybe even maddening? Almost makes you want to go kill more of your friends to try and make the blade more powerful doesn't it? After all, Mephala herself said the blade reached it's former glory, but not that it has reached it's full potential.
Welcome to the will of Mephala. Insanity derived from a lust for power so strong it drives you to kill those that you've befriended and care about. The person who has been deceiving (AKA you) has ultimately been deceived yourself. http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Mephala has forced you commit all your attention to the blade by using both hands to wield it, but after killing your friends and followers the blade still possesses the power of a one-handed weapon. This is the irony of the Ebony Blade and the reason it drives all who use it into madness. For http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Mephala never truly had any intentions of letting you only kill a few innocent friends to gain ultimate power. The blade is only designed as an instrument to wreck havoc on Tamriel and carry her will out, much the way http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Mehrunes%27_Razor ultimately carries http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Mehrunes_Dagon' will out.
This is the way of the Daedra. There is always a hidden stipulation or motive behind their artifacts and usually something or someone is sacrificed in order to acquire and use them. The lesson here is that nothing is truly free and if something sounds too good to be true it probably is."

Your View on this Overall I loved the new Ebony Blade more then the one in Oblivions.

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 2:32 pm

sup with the tl;dr tho

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 5:54 pm

I like both Oblivions and Skyrim I just don't like that I have to kill NPC that I may like to make it better thats.

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 8:29 am

I take the blade only to save the jarl's son from Mephala schemes, afterwards I 'forget' it into some random respawning chest in a tomb. Good riddance. I need weapons I can count on and there are many more daedra eager to help me in exchance of 'small favors'.

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 10:00 am

I never used it, there are too many better weapons. The quest itself was underwhelming as well.

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 3:57 pm

I think it'

I like both Oblivions and Skyrim I just don't like that I have to kill NPC that I may like to make it better thats.

It's a perfect weapon for a bastard who joins the Blades (and wants a blade that sets them apart). It fits the look.. and, has the quirk of benefiting one-handed perks better.

That said, it's pretty repugnant. I tend to only help and build good disposition with people I kind of like in the first place (as much as possible). If I wanted to harm them, I already would have.

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 11:29 am

I like it. It's good for power leveling two handed skills. Thanks, Mephala. You can whisper deception in my ear anytime.

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 6:30 pm

Wikia is a steaming pile of malicious script and obtrusive ad-laden crap. Not to mention their completely worthless articles.

If you haven't heard of http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page, then it's about time you did...

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 4:28 pm

Wikia is a steaming pile of malicious script and obtrusive ad-laden crap. Not to mention their completely worthless articles.

If you haven't heard of http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page, then it's about time you did...

The article mentioned has a point though. Bethesda hasn't acknowledged the bug (which isn't surprising since patching Skirim turned out to be a slow and monumental task) but the sheer amount of weird things regarding this blade makes me thing they were intentional. To sum them up:
-using it will increase the 2H skill but perks and damage bonuses are taken from the 1H skill tree
-speed, reach and sounds are also the same used for 1H swords
-some people report that when wielding it, heavy armor is counted as light armor. (? not verified by me could be an internet myth)

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 10:11 am

The article mentioned has a point though. Bethesda hasn't acknowledged the bug (which isn't surprising since patching Skirim turned out to be a slow and monumental task) but the sheer amount of weird things regarding this blade makes me thing they were intentional. To sum them up:
-using it will increase the 2H skill but perks and damage bonuses are taken from the 1H skill tree
-speed, reach and sounds are also the same used for 1H swords
-some people report that when wielding it, heavy armor is counted as light armor. (? not verified by me could be an internet myth)

UESP doesn't refute the bugginess of the EB. It notes it quite well. UESP has a much higher level of editorial quality (IMO) and, for example, doesn't advertise certain things as being quirks and/or qualities of the item simply because "some people" say so without hard verification.

I cross-reference Wikia from time to time, but barely ever find it to have been worth my while to have done so. It's just a vastly inferior site by any measure.

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 4:19 pm

UESP doesn't refute the bugginess of the EB. It notes it quite well. UESP has a much higher level of editorial quality (IMO) and, for example, doesn't advertise certain things as being quirks and/or qualities of the item simply because "some people" say so without hard verification.

I cross-reference Wikia from time to time, but barely ever find it to have been worth my while to have done so. It's just a vastly inferior site by any measure.

I also use UESP because I prefer the 'oldskool' layout and I can't stand the intrusive advertising, not to mention the less stringent policies regarding verification of the information provided. But I tend to agree with what's written even if it should be moved to a 'commentary' section of the article as this is just pure, though well founded, speculation.

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 2:34 pm

I also use UESP because I prefer the 'oldskool' layout and I can't stand the intrusive advertising, not to mention the less stringent policies regarding verification of the information provided. But I tend to agree with what's written even if it should be moved to a 'commentary' section of the article as this is just pure, though well founded, speculation.

Until it's been confirmed as a bug and is fixed through a patch, I say the Wikia article has some substance. It certainly believeable when seeing how the blade works in game.

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 10:22 am

I was just randomly Looking threw skyrim wiki When i found this AMAZING Little speech!

You wrote it didn't you

That's probably the least encyclopedic data I've ever seen on a wiki. It reads like someone's forum post

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 7:58 am

The only thing driving me insane about the Ebony Blade is that it won't stay in the bloody Weapon Rack. Every time I come home, it's on the floor. :stare:

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 6:01 pm

Yup I love the ebony blade for training 2 handed since I only have one handed perks. Does anyone know if you can upgrade the sword itself without just backstabbing friendlies? Like use ingots or something? I got 100 smithing yesterday and just remembered I had my ebony blade laying around on a weapon plaque.

» Sun Jun 03, 2012 5:49 pm

Its a good rationalisation fior the bug but its still a bug IMO.
The quest itself is pretty easy and unexciting, its the having to kill friends thats a good touch. Even my DB nasty piece of work had qualms about killing those who actually liked her to improve the blade. She even made new "friends " so as to avoid killing those of her old friends she actually cared about.