Is there anywhere it says whether he knows or not, cause when he speaks to you the first time he is aware of it... he says so, but in Helgen, wouldn't Alduin be able to sense you or something?
Is there anywhere it says whether he knows or not, cause when he speaks to you the first time he is aware of it... he says so, but in Helgen, wouldn't Alduin be able to sense you or something?
Hmm... wasn't there something about dragons being able to notice other dovah(kiin)? I always had the impression that the Empire unknowingly busted their execution of Ulfric & Co. by having the player around, who attracted Alduin in some way. Or was Alduin going to "save" Ulfric for the reason of keeping the war going so he could nom the fallen at Sovngarde?
I don't know where Alduin started out, but there's the Time Wound on the big mountain, though I guess popping up there could have caused him to go for Parthie's neck immediately. He also liked that Sovngarde portal at Skuldafn and started resurrecting his underlings in the south-eastern Rift (according to Delphine), so the Rift settlements could also be next best interesting towns to burn down. Those log cabins are pretty flammable.
/end spitballin'
Alduin had no intentions of saving Ulfric for a Civil war, Alduin doesn't meddle with ordeals like that, he must have simply attacked Helgen because he sensed the Dovahkiin was there and about to die so he stopped it so later we could face him and challenge him in Sovengarde
There used to be a quote in the trivia section on Alduin's (the Alduin (Skyrim) page I believe) page on the wiki that was something like this: "Alduin refers to the Dovahkiin by name only during Unbound and Alduin's Bane" this quote was incorrect (Alduin has some generic quotes referring to the LDB as Dovahkiin), so it got removed from his page. So I think he did know we were there.
Btw, if any of you knows what is the quote that Alduin says during Unbound in which he refers to us as Dovahkiin/mentions the word Dovahkiin, let me know what this quote is.
I am pretty sure Alduin knew that the LDB was there, but he didn't knew who exactly was, so he attacked Helgen in an attempt to kill him so he doesn't interfere with his plans.
I think he might sense the presence of a Dragonborn, but he does not know who the Dragonborn is. I'm going to make the assumption that the dragons are only awakening because they all feel the presence of another Dovahkiin.
It would make sense that he knows you are the Dragonborn, and he tries to off you before anyone else knows about it. I always wondered why Alduin only ever attacked Helgen and then kinda just fucks off back to whatever his little bachelor pad was called.
There are 3 theories as to why he attacked Helgen. All have for and against.
1) That's where he reappeared after being sent forward in time.
For: He was sent forward in time at the top of the throat of the world and Helgen is at it's base so it's right next to it, and he would have been pissed off which would explain why he just attacks a random town and never does so again.
Against: If he reappeared in the same place he would have run into Parthanaax and there's no indication he did. Also the timing doesn't match because by the time you reach Whiterun he had supposedly already resurrected several dragons and Delphine had already visited the empty graves.
2) He sensed the dragonborn and came to kill you.
For: We know he recognises you as dragonborn because he calls you that when you meet him at Kynesgrove and being the only person that could kill him he'd definitely want you dead.
Against: If he could sense your presence why did he leave without killing you? Several times during Unbound he's right next to you and doesn't appear to notice you at all, and since he can sense you in some way he'd know you were still alive when he left. There's also the question of why he never tries again, he seems to spend most of the game avoiding you.
3) To prolong the civil war.
For: Alduin gets strength from eating souls in Sovngarde and what better way to fill it than a Skyrim civil war, Nords are dying in battle on both sides so it creates and endless supply. Ulfric was about to die and the war was about to end but he then ecapes during the attack.
Against: How does Alduin know there's a civil war going on? Would he really pay enough attention to humans to recognise there's a civil war happening, how would he know that he leader of one side has been caught or where he was being taken? It would require Alduin to have access to knowledge he shouldn't have.
You can take your pick from which theory seems best to you.
@Fundom User There is no point during Unbound where Alduin calls you Dovahkiin. He doesn't say a thing during the entire quest except the initial shout he uses when he first lands on the tower. The first time Alduin calls you Dovahkiin is during A Blade in the Dark which is the first time you see him after Unbound and he talks to you briefly.
I saw this Dovahkiing quote myself while playing the quest, but I couldn't read any other word except for 'Dovahkiin'.
He can also say a lot of his generic quotes during Unbound.
I just played Unbound again and I hung around for about 20 minutes to listen to him and you're right he does say a lot of his generic quotes so I was wrong about that, sorry. But I didn't hear him say Dovahkiin at any point or even Dovah I was specifically listening out for them.
Since he does say a lot of generic quotes it's possible that one where he calls you Dovahkiin could have been in there by mistake along with the rest of his generic quotes.
There was 1 thing he said only once it was short and I didn't catch all of it, the last word was Alduin, if he was saying "My name is Alduin" that may have included him saying Dovahziin which means "dragon name" so you may have heard that. Hhe only said it once but I don't think I heard him say Dovah.
If you're curious I found 6 generic quotes that he repeated several times. Translating them directly without tidying up the grammar he says:
This World is Mine
Scroll Did No Defeat
Arrogance Mortals Your Pride Will be Humble
Mine Child Will Arise (What the F is that all about)
Your Soul Will Feed Hunger
Will Devour Your Soul in Sovngarde
Yah, it is entirely possible that the Dovahkiin quote was a mistake, for it didn't appear whenever I played the quest, only a few times.
I think that by saying "Mine child will arise" he is referring to the dragons ("My children will arise" probably if we correct the grammar).
What do you think?