Even though there are many Skyrim NPCs who aren’t involved in any quests or major plot developments, they may still find themselves in serious mortal danger. In Skyrim, dragons have returned to the land and are busy terrorizing the province. Skyrim dragons are some of the most intimidating and powerful enemies that players come across in the game, swooping down from the skies to breathe fire and smash any characters unlucky enough to get in their way. Many NPCs will rally to try protecting their homes from dragons, though not all of them make it out with their lives.

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This was the case with a Skyrim NPC that helped Reddit user Poziedon. According to Poziedon, he was nearly killed by one of Skyrim’s dragons, only for a Whiterun guard to draw the creature’s attention. This distraction was enough for Poziedon to survive the encounter and avoid having to reload his last save, which would have cost him about 30 minutes of progress.

It’s safe to say that the vast majority of Skyrim players would loot any dead NPCs or simply walk away from the carnage, but Poziedon felt as though this particular Whiterun guard deserved an honorable sendoff. To accomplish this, Poziedon dragged the Whiterun guard to a wood pile and placed his corpse on top of it along with a shield bearing Whiterun’s symbol. Poziedon then used the Dragonborn’s fire magic to light the pyre ablaze. The body, wood, and shield were all still there when the flames went out due to the nature of the game, but it’s the thought that counts.

Guards in Skyrim have become memes due to their tendency to stand up to the Dragonborn and for their memorable voice lines. And as demonstrated by this clip, they can also be helpful when fighting enemies in the game. It will be interesting to see how Bethesda expands on guards and other NPCs in The Elder Scrolls 6.

The Elder Scrolls 6 will be coming out well over a decade after Skyrim’s release, and video game technology has advanced considerably over the years. Perhaps fans will get their first glimpse at what the future holds for Elder Scrolls 6 when Bethesda launches its next game, open world sci-fi RPG Starfield, on November 11 of this year.

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - Anniversary Edition is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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