#dragonbreak

[elderscrollsconceptart]

"Where were you when the Dragon Broke?"

This one was at home eating moon-sugar when courier come to door:

"Dragon is Broke"

"No"

[the-tharns-speak]

Good morning, my lord. I hope you are doing well. I have a question/confession. I don't know what a dragonbreak is and honestly at this point I am quite afraid to ask... So that's why I'm asking you to please explain it to me.

Hello Times. I am... doing well under the circumstances. I do not know how have you kept yourself updated on the current situations on Tamriel, but the recent events have been... somewhat stressful

A dragonbreak (or a Dragon Break if we are feeling fancy which I am not) is in a very simplified version the period of time during which the dragon is broken, and by “the dragon” here I mean Akatosh. Since this particular deity reigns over time, the unspoken implications alone tell clearly even to a layman that the dragonbreak is an event far worse than grizzly.

I cannot speak from experience, as I have never been a part of a dragonbreak (at least not one big enough for me to notice). The description that it is a period during which the linear time become non-linear is also not entirely useful, as most people cannot imagine a non-linear time.

It could be possibly described as the moment in which all outcomes are as true as the facet of a ruby - the one you see clearly depends solely on the position from which you are looking. All the “if only” and “maybe” and “perhaps” are true during the dragonbreak. If you had coffee for breakfast that morning, you are also the person who had only tea, who ate the breakfest in a different house, who forgot to salt the eggs, who did not eat any breakfast, and the person who was not born at all, all these at the same time. Your perspective, however, allows you to see only some of those, the mortal mind is stubborn that way. However, live in a dragonbreak long enough and not even this machination of mind which allows you to comprehend the dragonbreak at least somewhat by letting you see only that which is close to your current truth of time gives out and you happen to see all the options in their infinite multitude.

Additionally, time inside of the dragonbreak does not flow at the same pace as outside of it,* and even within it it does not have to be the same at all places, similar to sea with currents. Perhaps try to imagine time as a page in a book. Dragonbreak is when you take that page, crumple it in a ball, set it on fire, extinguish it with stale ale, and then you try to put it back together with soot-stained resin glue before the librarian catches you in the act. Eventually the dragonbreak ends by Akatosh taking this page, making out what is legible, comparing it with several other books, and then writing the page anew while trying to keep the closest to the original. Or if we use the analogy with the events in dragonbreak being precious stones, Akatosh is the jeweler who picks the sctatered stones off the floor and puts them in the crown, ultimately choosing which facet will be seen in the end. Perhaps it is a better analogy than the one with the paper, because in this the other facets still are there, they just are not visible.

*When I speak about “inside” and “outside” of a dragonbreak, it is important to know that initially the dragonbreak is everywhere. But as Akatosh is putting himself back together, he very quickly reclaims the power over time in the world where the dragonbreak was not initially triggered (also known as the epicenter). In these places when he puts the linear time back together he can choose the moment in which the dragonbreak never happened in the first place. It is only the epicenter which is too much of a mess for it to be possible.

I am more than aware that my answer to your question is not satisfactory. I am afraid that regarding the dragonbreaks, no answer can ever be satisfactory.

[orsinium-scholar]

Elder scrolls headcanon: the academic term for areas of land that were the site of dragonbreaks and that have been left Fucky ever since (IE my most recent apocrypha) is “dragonscar” a place where the Dragon broke and never properly healed.

[the-tharns-speak]

Better not to think about all who called themelves "vestige" - it makes me feel like some dragonbreak took place.

Well... I wouldn’t be actually all that surprised if there was a minor dragonbreak. In fact, it would... explain a lot.

Where is a Psijic when you need one?

[the-tharns-speak]

Dragon Breaks are fascinating and confusing at the same time, every possible outcome lead to the same end, but the person who achieves the victory are the same as they are refereed by the same title (vestige, Hero of Kvatch, Dragonborn) yet different. No one seems to remember the names of these people just a title they are given, even their appearance are never described the same could this be an effect of the Dragon Break? What are your opinions on this?

My opinion… well, let’s put it like this: Have you ever tried to fund a repaving of a city that has simultaneously been and been not liberated from a daedric occupation (by three different armies which have and have not agreed to peace) when the funds come from taxes which simultaneously have and have not been paid?

No? Good for you. I couldn’t actually care less who or what exactly the Vestige is, I just want this headache which I have and have not to go away (and preferably fill out the paving order for me while it is at it).

[haven333]

All skyrim players are in a dragon break!

First lets explain what a dragon break is. Akatosh is the time god and is also a dragon, so a dragon break is when time itself breaks and and is no longer one linear series of events. instead time splits up into different events that are sometimes complete opposites of each other. when the dragon break stops and time is no longer broken, all those different branches come into one and no historians can really make sense of it because things happened in one of the branches when in another branch the complete opposite happened, also there can potentially be an endless number of time branches.

skyrim takes place in the 201st year of the 4th era, during the time of the last Dragonborn therefore it is the same time period for every player. yet every player plays the game differently, so that means the people of skyrim are seeing different things happen all at the same time.

in one branch the dragonborn was the hero who single handedly defeated the dark brother. while in another they joined the brotherhood helping them grow and assassinating the emperor. in one branch the dagonborn joined the imperial legion and destroyed the stormcloak rebellion helping the empire get back to their former glory. while in another they joined the stormcloaks and ran the empire out of skyrim claiming the countries Independence. in one branch the dragonborn became a vampire hunter and saved the world and all mortals, while in another he become the most powerful vampire lord in existence and blotted out the sun. also sense you can play as any race, all the different races will claim that the dragonborn was their race and most likely use it as a source of cultural pride.

and nobody will be able to say who’s right or wrong because they’re all right. all that stuff is true and actually happened at the same time, just in different branches.