More than ten years after release, it has come to light that one of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’s most memorable scenes did not happen the way players believed. According to the developers, the Dark Brotherhood moment was carefully staged.
Although The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released over a decade ago, the game has never truly faded away. Players continue to revisit its world, while developers have gradually shared behind-the-scenes stories about the challenges faced during development. These include issues with horse mechanics and a technical problem that nearly ruined one of the game’s most famous scenes.
As reported by Gamestar, one of Skyrim’s most iconic moments was built on a deliberate illusion. During the Dark Brotherhood questline, players enter the chamber of the Night Mother and witness a sequence long believed to unfold automatically. However, lead writer Emil Pagliarulo later explained that the scene worked very differently behind the scenes.
“At one point, you’re supposed to hide inside the Night Mother’s coffin. You step in, the doors slam shut, everything goes dark, and then you see her illuminated body. But none of that was real. We forced first-person view, locked player controls, cut the lights, and played the sound effects. In reality, you were standing in the room the entire time, right in front of her.”
The reason was simple. According to Pagliarulo, the scene was added late in development, when the team had little time left to create a proper animation. Locking the player inside the coffin also caused major hitbox issues, so the developers opted for a safer technical workaround.
Who Is the Night Mother?
Within Skyrim’s lore, the Dark Brotherhood is an ancient order of assassins that has existed for countless generations. Those seeking another’s death perform a ritual prayer to the Night Mother, who appears during the scene described above.
It remains unclear whether the Night Mother was once a real person, a title passed down through generations, or a spiritual entity. According to legend, she is the wife of Sithis, the patron deity of the Dark Brotherhood. In Bethesda’s game, players can formally join the order and complete its full questline.
Source: 3djuegos
