Summary
ASkyrimplayer has clipped the bizarre moment in which a fresh playthrough is interrupted by Imperials immediately attacking Ulfric. Ulfric Stormcloak plays an important role in the Civil War storyline ofSkyrim, but this player may not have been able to join the Stormcloaks after an Ulfric assassination attempt.
Skyrimstarts with a faceless protagonist who has been captured as a prisoner and is set to be executed. Ahead of the execution, playersenterSkyrim’s Helgen Keepon a wagon that introduces a key storyline character named Ulfric Stormcloak. After the player character has been properly created, Helgen is attacked by a Dragon, and the central story of the game is kicked off. Because the player isn’t the only prisoner to leave Helgen unscathed, they are encouraged to join the Stormcloaks or Imperials depending on which NPC they join in the escape. During a fresh playthrough, one player found the Imperials attacking Ulfric before the wagon even came to a halt.

Reddit user Charger03 recently shared a clip in which they’ve started a freshSkyrimsave and are watching the intro cutscene. As the wagon enters Helgen Keep, the Imperial soldiers protecting its gates turn around and begin firing arrows at the unsuspecting Ulfric Stormcloak. With the player unable to defend him andtheSkyrimNPCunable to protect himself, two arrows get lodged in his head, and one connects with his torso. The prisoner who gets killed shortly after the wagon stops is also hit with an arrow, showing that none of the prisoners are safe. The characters in the wagon don’t act like anything is wrong with the Imperial onslaught, which provides more comedy to the bizarre video.
Why Were the Prisoners Attacked in This Skyrim Clip?
Despite most introductions playing out smoothly, this buggy cutscene highlights the hostility between thetwoSkyrimfactions. The Imperials and Stormcloaks are at war with each other before the game even begins, and players can pick a side to join in the conflict after escaping Helgen. The Civil War largely boils down to High King Torygg’s death, Ulfric’s value to the Thalmor, and the banning of Talos worship in the region via the White-Gold Concordat. Helgen Keep acts as the game’s tutorial section as players learn all the important aspects of the game as they escape the attacking dragon.
Given that theSkyrimintro is normally unimpeded by the region’s Civil War, it’s currently unclear what happened to make the Imperials attack Ulfric in this video. AsBethesda has started updatingSkyrimagain, this bug may be resolved in the future. Until then, if a player restarts the game enough, they may receive the same bizarre cutscene.
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WHERE TO PLAY
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