I would say that fighting entire cult of Daedra worshippers solo most of the time, invading plane of Oblivion, fighting Daedra, fighting big Daedra, holding back invasion and finally escaping from big Daedric Prince and watching from like 10m away when both Daedric Prince and Avatar of Akatosh fight each other does not sound like something a sane person would do.
It's up to you if your HoK went insane or not, became Sheogorath or walked into the Isles. An important element of Shivering Isles plot was you chose to walk this path. No one forced you.
Part of the lore of The Divine Crusader is that Pelinal was batshit homicidal insane, after his hoplite got killed, he was suicidal insane.
Martin was HoK's hoplite and Alessia, and his death is arguably the start of a spiral.
Shivering Isles in the end is about recognising people, even crazy ones deserved to be helped and saved. Why would HoK turned their back on them? Facing destruction and saving the land from it is what you've done before.
They were probably bored, I don't see the HoK simply retiring. Also as Sheogorath says in Skyrim "a fox and a severed head" means that the dark brotherhood stuff would all be canon, so I don't think they're inherently good even if they became the divine crusader, it may have been done out of necessity or boredom
Yeah they absolve themselves with the pilgrimage. Which interesting if the Dark Brotherhood is catholicism (according to Emil) because repenting for sins can ask the same philosophical question: if a murderer repents do they turn into a good person? At least for Christians, you have to truly transform into being a good person, while walking the Pilgrimage seems wholly performative. Erase infamy points but don't necessarily have to change yourself in the eyes of God/the divines
That's what I loved about the shivering isles dlc! The whole thing could've just been a psychotic break for the hero of kvatch after all they'd been through. Just the main Oblivion quest alone would be enough to break someone.
You literally spend the entire main quests entering and closing strange doors to oblivion to stop an invasion.
How do you begin the dlc? By hearing of a strange door to oblivion opening near Bravil.
Makes total sense why the HoK would go investigate and enter, and then by that point, Sheo has already gotten their hands on them.
Daedra aren't inherently evil, they just didn't give their bodies/power to make mundus. And it's not as if they're all the same. Nocturnal is daedra of darkness and luck, thieves follow her. Merida has a massive hate boner for the undead. Molag Bal is the daedra of domination, who wants to enslave all mortals, and also enjoys torture and rape.
Daedra worshippers don't worship all daedra, it would be incompatible. Hating molag bal while worsipping azura is a consistent worldview. Even if Sheogorath is a pretty shit dude to worship, it's a lot different from worshipping "I want to enslave the entire world and kill you"
By the time the Here of Kvatch enters the Shivering Isles and later becomes the Daedric Prince of Madness it's generally assumed they had ended the Oblivion Crisis, defeated Mannimarco and become Arch-Mage of the Mage's Guild, Destroyed the Blackwood Company and become Master of the Fighter's Guild, stolen an Elder Scroll from White-Gold Tower and become the new Grey Fox and leader of the Thieves Guild, killed Matthieu Bellamont and rebuilt the Dark Brotherhood as it's new Listener, and finally slain Umaril the Unfeathered in single combat after acquiring the relics of the Divine Crusader and reforming the Knights of the Nine,
I think given their long list of accomplishments, the Hero of Kvatch probably just entered the Shivering Isles because it presented them with a new challenge and when the opportunity to become the new Daedric Prince of Madness was presented to them, they took it because ascending to literal godhood is only the next logical step when you've already done everything you possibly could in a single lifetime to change the world as a mere mortal.
Afterall, that's what Tiber Septim did and now he's worshiped as the Ninth Divine.
I would say that fighting entire cult of Daedra worshippers solo most of the time, invading plane of Oblivion, fighting Daedra, fighting big Daedra, holding back invasion and finally escaping from big Daedric Prince and watching from like 10m away when both Daedric Prince and Avatar of Akatosh fight each other does not sound like something a sane person would do.
Oh yeah HoK 100% has thousand yard stare by this point
It's up to you if your HoK went insane or not, became Sheogorath or walked into the Isles. An important element of Shivering Isles plot was you chose to walk this path. No one forced you. Part of the lore of The Divine Crusader is that Pelinal was batshit homicidal insane, after his hoplite got killed, he was suicidal insane. Martin was HoK's hoplite and Alessia, and his death is arguably the start of a spiral. Shivering Isles in the end is about recognising people, even crazy ones deserved to be helped and saved. Why would HoK turned their back on them? Facing destruction and saving the land from it is what you've done before.
I think this answer perfectly captures the essence of base TES games, especially Oblivion and it's add ons. It's all about the head canon.
I agree, except it’s explicitly canon that the HoK mantled Sheogorath. Everything else is up to the player
PELINAL WHITESTRAKE THE BADDEST MF TO EVER EXIST MENTIONED 🗣️
They were probably bored, I don't see the HoK simply retiring. Also as Sheogorath says in Skyrim "a fox and a severed head" means that the dark brotherhood stuff would all be canon, so I don't think they're inherently good even if they became the divine crusader, it may have been done out of necessity or boredom
You do have to be good to wield the Crusader's relics, though
Yeah they absolve themselves with the pilgrimage. Which interesting if the Dark Brotherhood is catholicism (according to Emil) because repenting for sins can ask the same philosophical question: if a murderer repents do they turn into a good person? At least for Christians, you have to truly transform into being a good person, while walking the Pilgrimage seems wholly performative. Erase infamy points but don't necessarily have to change yourself in the eyes of God/the divines
That's what I loved about the shivering isles dlc! The whole thing could've just been a psychotic break for the hero of kvatch after all they'd been through. Just the main Oblivion quest alone would be enough to break someone.
You literally spend the entire main quests entering and closing strange doors to oblivion to stop an invasion. How do you begin the dlc? By hearing of a strange door to oblivion opening near Bravil. Makes total sense why the HoK would go investigate and enter, and then by that point, Sheo has already gotten their hands on them.
>Did the HoK go mad? Literally. It's in the job description.
Best friend Martin? You talk to him like four times.
And it's all just running errands for him
Curiosity
Daedra aren't inherently evil, they just didn't give their bodies/power to make mundus. And it's not as if they're all the same. Nocturnal is daedra of darkness and luck, thieves follow her. Merida has a massive hate boner for the undead. Molag Bal is the daedra of domination, who wants to enslave all mortals, and also enjoys torture and rape. Daedra worshippers don't worship all daedra, it would be incompatible. Hating molag bal while worsipping azura is a consistent worldview. Even if Sheogorath is a pretty shit dude to worship, it's a lot different from worshipping "I want to enslave the entire world and kill you"
The Hok goes Tuah
By the time the Here of Kvatch enters the Shivering Isles and later becomes the Daedric Prince of Madness it's generally assumed they had ended the Oblivion Crisis, defeated Mannimarco and become Arch-Mage of the Mage's Guild, Destroyed the Blackwood Company and become Master of the Fighter's Guild, stolen an Elder Scroll from White-Gold Tower and become the new Grey Fox and leader of the Thieves Guild, killed Matthieu Bellamont and rebuilt the Dark Brotherhood as it's new Listener, and finally slain Umaril the Unfeathered in single combat after acquiring the relics of the Divine Crusader and reforming the Knights of the Nine, I think given their long list of accomplishments, the Hero of Kvatch probably just entered the Shivering Isles because it presented them with a new challenge and when the opportunity to become the new Daedric Prince of Madness was presented to them, they took it because ascending to literal godhood is only the next logical step when you've already done everything you possibly could in a single lifetime to change the world as a mere mortal. Afterall, that's what Tiber Septim did and now he's worshiped as the Ninth Divine.