The vast world of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is filled with bizarre and dangerous creatures, but the most iconic monsters players can face are probably the setting’s many dragons. Many of these enormous and powerful creatures have names and histories, while others act as terrifying random encounters. However, very few dragons are particularly stealthy. Despite this fact, one Skyrim player managed to get ambushed by a dragon.
Redditor Ayenenemalo was fighting the dangerous Ash Spawn monsters found on Solstheim, the world of Skyrim‘s Dragonborn DLC, when the incident occurred. Fortunately, the player was able to capture the whole series of ridiculous events on video.
The video begins by showing Ayenenemalo already battling an Ash Spawn, their health having dropped to a noticeably low level just as their Two-Handed skill hit 37. They spend several seconds finishing off the monster and gathering nearby resources before turning back to confront two more Ash Spawn. After taking a serious hit from one of these foes, a huge, scaley form suddenly arrives in the corner of the screen. An enormous black dragon lands on top of the ongoing fight, pauses for a moment, and then unceremonially snaps the Dragonborn up in its mouth.
The dragon shakes the player around in its mouth for a second before flinging them to the ground, where they are killed instantly. Ayenenemalo stated in the post description that they interpreted this unexpected ambush as the game hinting at them very strongly that it was time to turn Skyrim off and go to bed. However, the player notes that there was a Nirnroot plant in the area which they came back to collect after dying, suggesting that they did not take this hint. According to Ayenenemalo, they insisted on finishing the quest first, which led to them dying at the teeth of the exact same dragon two more times before they finally shut the game off for the night.
As of writing, it appears that other Skyrim fans have a number of ideas for how Ayenenemalo could have survived being ambushed by the dragon. One user stated that Ayenenemalo should have eaten a bunch of cheese wheels before facing the dragon. However, Ayenenemalo countered by stating that they didn’t actually notice the dragon until it was already on top of them. Apparently, the player had just changed their gear to low-level equipment so they could train up unused skills. They knew they were in no condition to fight the dragon and had previously used the Bend Will shout to make it friendly, so the beast’s sudden attack took them doubly by surprise.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
