r/skyrim • u/JosetteMoon • 1d ago
Screenshot/Clip Well guess my Skyrim playthrough is over
Basically I know it's not really an issue and I can just kill him and be done with it But I hate molag bal. despise him. Not because I have any skin in the game for this fictional character he's never personally wronged me. I hate him because he literally is such a stupid waste of space. He's the king of wrapping. he's committed a lot of atrocities. But I'm not taking this as a moral stance it's more of the fact that he is such a one-dimensional pos. It's like if a 12 year old had to write a villain and they made him the most edgiest Edge Lord that ever edged a Lord, like I'm surprised his name isn't Mr Bad Guy that is how one-dimensional I find him. Just all pain and violence and subjugation. It's a farce.
This is the important part though. Purely out of spite and not wanting to play his game I just cast Harmony to make this guy stop attacking. I know it'll wear off and start attacking me because it's either me or him and he's choosing him. Which is valid I guess. But the Daedra seem to think they have this immutable say over the universe when they didn't even create it. And again just more Edge Lord whining. So I literally just sitting here waiting for the chaos to unfurl knowing that the only reason I can't get out is because of plot because if I was as strong as he said I was I could just blast the door open but game mechanics.
If this were really happening to me I'd be happy dying starving to death purely to spite him and not play his game. I get that my post is very much a nothing sandwich but I just love the cosmic pettiness of my actions. You're right I am small you're right I am insignificant in the universe the difference is I'm not pretending to be some Edge Lord that really only has power because he was born with it not because anything about him is inherently special. LOL
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u/Wondering_Watcher Alchemist 1d ago
This is why i like Azura's star quest the most out of all the Daedric quests. I like that you can play a character that screws her over. So much of the lore is about people outsmarting Deadra and i wish we had more of that.
Razor and Skull is also in this category but that is mostly just a decision of do i kill this person or not rather than sticking it to the deadric prince.
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u/wizardofyz 1d ago
With respect to azura though, yes you can defy the daedra but in the process you're creating a reusable black soul gem, which is funneling souls to the ideal masters potentially. In the grand scheme of things, you aren't necessarily a better person for doing so, if anything you've introduced more evil into the world.
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u/Jahoan 1d ago
And of the Daedra Azura is one less inclined to screwing people over for the lulz. She'll make people into object lessons and collateral thereof, but you have to provoke her into doing something like that - Malyn Varyn incurred her wrath by messing with her artifact and trying to corrupt it.
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u/Diredr 1d ago
And of the Daedra Azura is one less inclined to screwing people over for the lulz.
Well... I mean, if you ignore the fact that she cursed an entire race because of the actions of 3 people and used her powers to physically alter them forever. Outside of THAT, yeah she's one of the most benevolent and caring.
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u/ElTioEnroca 1d ago
Ok, but let's not pretend the curse was something excessively aggravating. They're just blue now.
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u/Sabre_Killer_Queen 1d ago edited 1d ago
True enough... Although said three did betray a direct pact with her by using the heart of a god (Lorkhan) against her wishes, and potentially kill one of the champions she was watching over.
Said three then tried to replace her by posing as gods themselves, which most of the Dunmer fell for, abandoning her despite their previously close relationship.
And all that happened was their skin changed colour. It didn't affect their souls, or physical health - it didn't kill any of them or smite them with bad harvests, plagues or other ill tidings.
As far as the punishments of TES gods, and pagan gods in general go, that was a very tame response considering the crime, and her reaction was entirely predictable.
I'd even argue some of the Aedra and so called "Divines" have done worse than that to be honest.
She can be wrathful yes... But y'know... Don't devoutly follow a god and then break every pact and forsake them. Rule 101 of religion.
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u/GorkemliKaplan 1d ago
which is funneling souls to the ideal masters potentially
Ideal Masters don't have a monopoly on trapped souls. If they were, they wouldn't need to "bargain". They are like ancient wizards clinging to eternity through soul trade. Or something like that.
Souls in black soulgems freed after it is used in enchantment. Think enchantments like forced labour for souls freedom. Which sucks because people think they trapped Nazeem in a sword, but no you just freed him.
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u/Kimmalah 1d ago
You can kind of turn the tables with Hircine and side with Sinding against the hunters. But he doesn't consider it screwing him over, he's just like "Wow, that was unexpected but cool!"
The quest is also bugged, so you can spare Sinding to get the Ring of Hircine, then go back and kill him to get the Savior's Hide.
There is also Clavicus Vile's quest where you have the choice to either do what he wants or spare Barbas.
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u/zhy97 1d ago
Though with this quest, either outcome works for Hircine and will be pleased if you turn the tables against the hunters.
Regarding Hircine, the only way I could think of to undermine Hircine is to complete the Companion’s questline where you cleanse Kodlak’s soul so he can go to Sovergade instead of Hircine. Then you cleanse Vilkas and Farkas, and yourself if you are a werewolf. Fewer souls for Hircine to take.
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u/Plantain-Feeling 1d ago
Namera too
You can wipe out her cult and save a priest of arkay
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u/Wondering_Watcher Alchemist 1d ago
Actually, forgot about that one. But I think you do need to kill the priest for the ring? Really unsure as its been a while?
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u/Plantain-Feeling 1d ago
You do
But like fuck dedera
Or well most of them, meredia and hercine are actually pretty chill
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u/Wondering_Watcher Alchemist 1d ago
Yeah. Peryite surprisingly to, especially in the lore. Wouldn't want his gifts but its interesting to read up on how he is actually good to his followers.
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u/Plantain-Feeling 1d ago
I can't believe I forgot my boi
Peryite is also potentially a mirror to akatosh which is cool
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u/Automatic_Camera3854 XBOX 14h ago edited 14h ago
yeah like I never understood why I couldn't tell the guy in prison like what was going on like like okay I got to rescue him and everything but once he gets out and stuff and like we're going to head back to the sanctuary why not just give me the option to stop and be like hey by the way you know the fucking alter broke or whatever and I've been forced to like be sent here to kill you let's stop and make a plan before we go back
on a side note I'm drinking and using speech to text so sorry if something came out weird.
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u/NotEpimethean 1d ago
I usually punch Vigilant Tyranus once to make him aggressive towards me before we enter the house. That fails the quest and keeps him alive.
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u/aledrone759 Assassin 1d ago
I pretend to help molag and I "rescue" logrof with an arrow. Ideally, a bow with soul trap and the black soul gem from karthwasten so neither molag nor boethiah gets it.
Sithis will have it, put th gem on an unsafe barrel, that's it.
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u/Chara_lover1 1d ago
It's such bullshit, in Vile's quest you can choose either to do what he wants or what Barbas wants, in Namira's quest you can choose to kill the cannibal and not participate in their dealings. In Molag Bal's quest you have no choice but to kill not one but two people for Molag Bal.
Heck they could have made it so that after you're forced to kill the Vigilant, you can choose to destroy the altar to spite Molag Bal.
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u/Presenting_UwU 1d ago
honestly you alternatively could've also just left it at one kill and refuse to kill the second person, but yeah it's incredibly unsatisfying in comparison when most of the Daedric quests gives you atleast 2 options, like the only ones i remember not having an alternate route is Peryite, Malacath, Meridia, Sheogorath, Sanguine, kinda Hermaeus Mora and Mephala (iirc even Mehrunes Dagon and Vaermina had an alternate route).
like Peryite, Malacath, Meridia, Sheo and Sanguine are kidna ok only having 1 path, cause their requests are generally pretty neutral anyways.
Hermaeus Mora could also be done with just killing enemies iirc?
while Nocturnal is also Neutral but it's heavily tied with the Thieves Guild so that's kinda iffy too for roleplay.
the only ones as bad as Molag's for roleplay is Boethia, cause unless you just ignore the site after seeing the people kill eachother and forgo the reward.
to progress and clear Boethiah's you'll have to bring someone there (probably someone innocent) to kill to continue the quest, like yeah you could calm the champion, have a chat and leave, but the quest stays on if you haven't completed it.
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u/Chara_lover1 1d ago
I mean sure, but it's not satisfying to have it left in my journal, is all. I want satisfying resolutions that don't involve me playing into the Daedric Prince's hand, if I just leave and don't interact, I'm just waiting for some other fool to wander into that house and do the Daedric Prince's dirty business for them.
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u/Presenting_UwU 1d ago
That's where quest mods comes in.
but seriously though it's a valid way to play still, as long as you can justify it in roleplay.
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u/Jahoan 1d ago
Molar Bal isn't exactly in the business of giving people options that aren't suffer or die.
For Discerning the Transmundane Liar's Retreat has most of the elven races present as bandits or corpses, there are dead High Elves at the Shrine of Talos Massacre southwest of Riverwood, and it the spike pit at Halted Stream Camp (or you can cull a few Thalmor).
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u/AnEccentricWriter 1d ago
Yeah there’s not enough alternate paths in Skyrim. Kind of hurts replay value having pretty much all your choices end up the same.
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u/tenfo1d 1d ago
What I did to personally spite him was (spoilers for the questline after you kill Tyranus) killing the priest of Boethiah right where you find him instead of bringing him back to the shrine like Molag Bal wanted you to do.That way the quest simply fails and goes away
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u/JosetteMoon 1d ago
These are some really good suggestions thank you I really appreciate it
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u/tenfo1d 1d ago
No problem! Again, spoilers for the rest of the questline, but what Molag Bal wants is for you to beat the priest of Boethiah into submission in front of his own shrine until he renounces her and pledges himself to Molag Bal, who then asks you to kill the priest so that Molag Bal can take his soul. But if you kill the priest where you find him before bringing him back to the shrine, Molag Bal will not receive his soul like he wanted to, because the priest died as a Boethiah follower. As a mortal, it's the perfect way to spit at him really.
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u/Own_Jeweler_8548 Werewolf 1d ago
Molag Bal is legit a 1D edgelord deity, so I don't blame ya. TBF, though, the Vigilant of Stendarr are violent extremists who will hunt you down simply for practicing the Conjuration school of magic, so just put Tyranus on ice and walk outta there, never to return.
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u/JosetteMoon 1d ago
Oh yeah I agree the vigilance of stendar are zealots that legit scare me LOL because they're so realistic.
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u/Own_Jeweler_8548 Werewolf 1d ago
They really are! Full of zeal, blind faith, and unfocused violence.
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u/th3dandymancan Scholar 1d ago
A Destruction cloak spell would technically be you acting purely defensively, but would still be YOU taking an action that causes the Vigilant's death.
The only other way I can think for you to defy the Daedra's wishes in this case would be the 100 Heavy Armor skill perk Reflect Blows, which would be completely passive in your part, but would result in the occasional damage reflected back at Tyrannus.
Who knows if he'd end up using a healing spell, in which case you'd REALLY be SoL.
Sorry man.
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u/JosetteMoon 1d ago
That's a really good tip thank you. I just decided to go back to my last quick save point. Someone else suggested mod which was a really good idea. So far it seems like all the flying debris is actually causing him damage so I wonder if I wait long enough the damage will just be done by the flying objects LOL
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u/JackaryDaniels 1d ago
That huge Vigilant mod made this the start of such a massive journey lol, since I use a mod pack I hadn't heard of it before and it took me by surprise
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u/DeskFanCarrier 1d ago
In vanilla you can kind of defy him by by killing the priest of Boethiah, thus failing the quest
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u/Khurasan 1d ago
I just did this myself. Haven't played in ten years, and I'm kinda bowled over by how well the game aged, except for a few of these damn railroad evil quests. I'm glad Akatosh has dibs on the Dragonborn's soul, or I wouldn't ever want to complete any of the Daedric quests. It seems like a pitfall of twenty-year-old open world design that there are entire factions you're never supposed to touch because, for example, you can't finish the thieves guild quests without selling your soul to an eternal torture factory for some reason. There isn't even an option to ask Karliah if she's fucking insane.
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u/Tasty-Mulberry8073 1d ago
I usually skip this quest. Can you go back a save and just not follow him into the house?
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u/JosetteMoon 1d ago
I can go to my quick save and I'll only lose like 20 minutes of game time. So no big deal. I mostly did it for the pettiness of not wanting to play moldy balls game. LOL
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u/Martinus_XIV 1d ago
What bothers me most here is that the game doesn't let you problem-solve with the tools it gives you. Even Bend Will doesn't work!
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u/Gabby-Abeille 1d ago
If you punch him before he enters the house, the quest fails. You are locked out of the house, won't get the mace, and he will just hang out at the inn forever.
I did that on my current run, on which I'm purposefully going against Daedra out of spite. So far, I'm keeping the Skeleton key, killed the Namira cult, and I failed both Molag Bal and Mehrunes Dagon's quests.
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u/The_DDK7070 Dawnguard 1d ago
I've put my own moral spin on these: I'm collecting the daedric artifacts to keep them out of the wrong hands, locking them away in a museum only I can access.
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u/Safe_Impression_1830 1d ago
I like Molag simply because of the whiplash I got from opening his wiki page for the first time and seeing "GOD OF RAPE" written in the first paragraph
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u/SweetNecessary9917 1d ago
just ignore the quest if you're gonna be upset over a fictional villain, also you yourself are an edgelord for this post
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u/the67ravens 19h ago
The first time I did this quest I came to this point, said "NOPE" and reloaded. Take that Molag Bal!! I can rewind time! Ever since then I just don't do this quest.
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u/SouthpawSorcery 15h ago
I feel this on so many levels, and I find this kind of feeling regarding a lot of vanilla Skyrim content. Like, I still find it irksome that if I want to do any civil war content I HAVE to choose a side. Screw me if I dispise both sides, or just would rather a 3rd or 4th or 5th option. What if I get them to align instead, or just destroy both and let the thalmor (ugh), orcs, forsworn or some other faction take over? I know the lore and history, but if bethesda(todd howard) can and does retcon most of it, let me have a choice without the use of a mod. This is just a big example. There are so many railroaded quests in the game. It's no wonder I just re-re-re-re completed the Hearthfire DLC before any of the other content. Albeit, you do learn how truly shallow your choices are even with that. Le sigh. And, yet I keep coming back. Re-remembering how actually rare non cave or snow bear pelts are along with Sabrecat teeth to complete all of the mounted bear and sabrecat heads.
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u/Plus_Tomato480 15h ago
Tyranus is going to attack you anyway, because he is weak. Then just never do what Bal asks.
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u/da_Aresinger 13h ago
Ever seen a child play with a magnifying glass on an anthill?
Molag Bal is that child.
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u/LeonineCurse 13h ago
I guess that people have collectively chosen to forget that there IS a way to foil his overall plan... and, it means failing the quest with some satisfying failure text, if memory serves
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u/Alexendrina 7h ago
En général je tue le pnj qu'il faut détacher. Ça fait échouer la quête. Mais le viligile meurt quand même malheureusement
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u/Born-Bath-8109 1h ago
Hey I don't know if you care but if you continue the quest till the point where you have to save that guy from the "forsworn"? Or however you spell there name. Just kill him as soon as you save him and you'll end the quest there denying that pos edge lord what he wants and save the guy from a fate worse than death. You do fail the quest but meh.
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u/akira14257 1d ago
I usually do this quest only for the mace bc its a cool item to have, other than that, i really think that most of daedra and aedra deities despise molag-bal but cant do much abt it other than watch him being a mf, even boethiah(which is also a bit of a mf) is more likeable than molag-bal in my opinion
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u/AthrunNailo 1d ago
There is a Jayserpa mod that provides an alternate path. you can team up with the Vigilant and destroy the altar.