Although Skyrim’s Werewolves seem like savage beasts, there’s a much worse monster lurking in the shadows – one that’s even more vicious and cruel.
One of the many creatures that roam Skyrim are the werewolves, but despite appearances, they’re not the real monsters of the region. The Silver Hand, the werewolf-killing group that the Dragonborn hunts down in the Companions’ questline, is worse than any lycanthrope in the nine Holds. Their cruel and brutal practices belie their supposedly benevolent mission, so it’s not hard to feel no remorse when the Dragonborn is cutting them down in the form of a wild animal.
In Skyrim, the Companions take the place of the Fighter’s Guild from other Elder Scrolls games. They’re mercenaries who will solve any problem for enough gold, but who also have a strong sense of honor and a reverence for their origins, Ysgramor and his original 500 Companions, who slaughtered almost all of the elves in Skyrim and settled humankind in the region. When exactly Skyrim‘s 500 Companions accepted werewolf blood is unknown, but the practice continues well into the events of the game until the Dragonborn joins and brings Kodlak Whitemane the heads of the Grenmoril witches to rid him and other members of the Inner Circle of their lycanthropy.
The Silver Hand is dedicated to wiping out every member of the Companions whether they’re werewolves or not. They succeed in killing the Dragonborn’s Shield-Brother, Skjor, and though this could be considered self-defense, few of their other actions can be excused so easily. Instruments of torture, captive werewolves, and heads on spikes are common sights in their bases, painting a disturbing picture of their practices in ridding Skyrim of lycanthropes. They may be some of the most horrific and scary enemies in Skyrim, mostly because they’re not monsters, but humans who think they’re doing the right thing.
Why The Silver Hand In Skyrim Is So Bad
On the surface, a group dedicated to exterminating savage man-eating beasts seems like they would be one of the good guys. However, they prove themselves to be anything but over the duration of Skyrim‘s Companions quests after the Dragonborn becomes a werewolf themselves. The first indication of their wickedness is when they ambush Farkas and the player in Dustman’s Cairn. While the Dovahkiin is trapped in a cage, they surround Farkas with the intention of killing him. They specifically state that it doesn’t matter who he is, and that as long as he is a member of the Companions, he would die by their hands. Thankfully, Farkas is one of the followers in Skyrim who can’t actually die, and he dispatches them quickly. There’s no evidence that the Companions had antagonized or attacked the Silver Hand to initiate this feud, but it’s clear that one side is more brutal than the other.
In addition to the ambush and Skjor’s death, the Silver Hand also murders Kodlak Whitemane towards the end of the Companions’ questline. Kodlak is an extremely wise and patient man who is respected not only among the Companions and the people of Whiterun, but all across Skyrim. He’s also actively working to cure the Companions’ lycanthropy, but it would appear that the Silver Hand either doesn’t know or doesn’t care. Given their brutality, it’s even possible that they would have actively stopped the Companions from curing themselves had they known about Kodlak’s plan, so as to deny them entrance to Sovngarde, Skyrim‘s Hall of Valor for the honored Nord dead.
Why Does The Silver Hand Hate The Companions So Much In Skyrim?
Skyrim‘s Silver Hand are primarily werewolf hunters, but they have a particular hatred for the Companions despite there only being a small number of lycanthropes among them. The reason may lie in the items some of them carry in their inventories. Certain members of the Silver Hand will carry issues of the book series “Songs of the Return,” which details Ysgramor and the 500 Companions’ crusade to wipe out the elves of Skyrim. It seems strange that the Silver Hand would carry these books given that they tell the history of their mortal enemies, but there has to be some reason.
It’s possible that the reason the Silver Hand carries the Songs of the Return is so that they can better understand and therefore combat the Companions, like the proverb “know thy enemy.” However, they may also have more of a connection to Skyrim‘s first human in Tamriel than they appear. The Silver Hand may be carrying books about the history of the Companions because their original members once counted themselves among them, and split off from the rest when they accepted werewolf blood. Kodlak states that multiple Harbingers have come and gone since the Companions first started becoming werewolves, so it’s presumably a great while ago. Therefore, the Silver Hand may not have these members anymore, but their desire to wipe out the werewolves in the Companions – whether out of hatred or a desire to free them from the curse of lycanthropy – could have inspired the zealousness that the present-day members carry.
The Silver Hand Steals Ysgramor’s Axe, Wuuthrad, In Skyrim
In addition to killing Kodlak Whitemane, the Silver Hand also steals the Companions’ most prized possessions, the fragments of the axe Wuuthrad that Ysgramor himself wielded when leading the original 500 Companions. They’re some of the rarest items in Skyrim, and are practically sacred to the Companions. After Kodlak’s death, the Dragonborn will retrieve them all from the Silver Hand and wipe out the rest of the organization. Then, Eorland Gray-Mane goes on to reforge Wuuthrad and give it to the player so that they can enter Driftshade Refuge and posthumously cure Kodlak of his lycanthropy, as well as cure themselves if they so wish to.
Aside from humiliating and antagonizing Skyrim‘s Companions, there doesn’t seem to be much reason for the Silver Hand to take the fragments, but it may be another hint to the group having split off from the Companions when they first started becoming werewolves. Since the Silver Hand steals the fragments on multiple occasions, they may know about their significance, and could hold them in the same regard that Kodlak and the rest of the Inner Circle do. Their founding is an example of Elder Scrolls lore that’s never appeared in-game, so this is certainly possible. However, it’s also possible that they merely know the axe’s history and don’t have any kind of reverence for it, and that they only stole the fragments to use them as bait against the Companions. Regardless, the idea of the Silver Hand being founded by ex-members of the Companions in Skyrim is a fascinating possibility, one that adds some intrigue to the seemingly cut-and-dry animosity between the two groups.
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