Every now and then I get condolences by one or more guards about Kodlak Whitemane. I am getting rather sick of it if you ask me. I'm certain that Kodlak was a great man, but my question is who was he? Hes the Harbinger, but what else? What was he like? Is their an actual biography about this man that I can learn from? I certainly can't find any useful information. The writers for this saga did poorly. No background history, nothing. How am I suppose to get emotionally attach to a character when theirs no information about them? Am I suppose to weep when this man gets killed by the silver hand? His funeral was awful because nobody had nothing to say about this man to get any indication who he was. I find it hard to believe that not 1 person had anything to say. Come on at least have Vingar give a speech.

Oh and my heart is so broken over the death of Skjor. Again I don't know anything about this man. The idiot did it to himself... by not requesting an additional backup when he went after Krev the Skinner.

I disliked it because most of these folks wanted a cure. After Skjor died, I was stuck with the whiney twins and the old man. Aela was the only one I liked.

Plus you join the companions and 1 quest later they want to tell you their secret and make you a werewolf.

Kodlak has a journal in the same chest as the Fragment of Wuuthrad he keeps, it gives a little background as to why he likes the player. There is also a book on all the Harbingers, ''Harbingers of the Companions'' I believe it's called, which gives background on the Harbingers, though I'm not sure Kodlak is included.

Aela is the only one everyone likes.

Once I got werewolf form, I didn't continue the quest further.

As soon as you join a new guild the guards will generally stop pestering you about the Companions.

It's too short and quite boring. I haven't done it since the first time with any new characters.

My problem with the quest line was how short it was. In past game, you would have to finish a few quests that seemed just like minor jobs before you actually got into what the questline was going to be about. In Skyrim its, "Go collect a piece of an ancient axe that you will be rebuilding throughout this questline and come back and we'll make you a werewolf." Of course, Skyrim also has minor jobs, but only about two or three in the entire questline.

And after that, they complain they don't like being a werewolf and send you out for a cure.

I'm not interested in reading some journal. I want to have some interaction with the character so I can start developing some emotional feelings torwards them. Their was little interaction with Kodlak so I didn't get any connection whatsoever with the guy. I don't know why I was force to attend his funeral when I barely knew him.

Before Skjor died he and Aela occasionally mention about tonight hunt, and they (I think it was Skjor) mention Kodlak not liking it. WTF I was force to turn into a werewolf, and nobody ever invited me to go to this hunt... WTF!


Wrong. I joined the thieves guild and they still pester me about the companions, acting as if I am a new member of the guild.... even know I became the Harbinger.


That's the hilarious part. After all of that they complain (except for Aela) of not wanting to be a werewolf anymore, and then expects you to cleanse out their soul so they can be human again, WTF!

So after "The Thieves Guild svcks" thread, we now have "The Companions svck".

Few more and we'll come full circle.

I don't have much to say other than that it's a bit short for my tastes. Bethesda really needs to work on questline length.

Meh, Aela seems kind of stuck-up at times, I don't know what it is. I like Farkas and VIlkas as characters though, the only Companions I don't really like are Skjor (he barely ever talks to you or anything) and Njada (first she calls you the newbie, then once you become Harbinger she starts licking your heels, terrible).

I liked it (FWIW). It could have a couple more quests to add depth to it but I've always thought of it as the questline you cut your teeth on. You gain levels, get some $, etc. before moving on to bigger and better things. My main complaint about it is the same for all the other guilds. There's no required maintenance of your position as leader. Once you're done killing whatshisname's wolf spirit you never have to set foot in Jorvaskker again even though you're the top dog. How about an a note requiring your urgent attention to some thing that's cropped up and put the guild in danger?

But I don't think it's fair to say the entire Companions questline svcks.

Sigh. Yeah. It's written like an "outline" of a story. Like something really bare bones, equivalent to a summary of what you'd read in the back of a book.

Then you will miss out on 80% of the game.

The journal is probably the best part of the questline, unfortunately.

It's safe to say that Bethesda doesn't have the best writers on staff. I guess making Skyrim beautiful with high tech graphics is more important then a decent storyline. I rather surrender the high quality graphics to get a decent storyline. I hope they hire better writers since they made a big profit off of Skyrim. They certainly can afford it now.



I only read a journal when it's necessary. When you make friends do you read their journal (I'm sure they wouldn't like that idea) or do you want to know them by their personality?

I guess you could play it that way. I'm pretty sure it was the intent of the designers for you to explore.. Else they wouldn't write this stuff. No need to get too crazy about it. Kodlak's not a real person. He's a plot device and the developers want you to hear about him. They put the journal right there where Eorland says to open up his drawer and get a piece of Wuuthrad.

I read journals and books because they add to the depth of the game. They give me a reason for caring about what my character is doing. Otherwise I could just play Tetris or something that requires no intellectual or emotional investment on my part. Yes, I would rather hear the NPC's stories from their own lips. In that regard I agree that the Companions questline is very shallow. This goes to the very heart of Skyrim's greatest flaw: The game tries to do too much and as a consequence, so many features feel incomplete.

If you dislike the companions, do their quests and slay them all with the ebony blade and whisper sweet nothings to it as Lydia watches you sleep.