this post was submitted on 31 May 2025
8 points (100.0% liked)

The Elder Scrolls (MOVED TO LEMMY.ZIP)

740 readers
1 users here now

We've moved to !elderscrolls@lemmy.zip due to the shutdown of lemm.ee - join us there!

The Elder Scrolls (commonly referred to as TES) is an award-winning series of roleplaying games created by Bethesda Softworks. Set in the vast world of Nirn, The Elder Scrolls series is renowned for the level of unprecedented control given the player over his or her character's destiny, establishing itself as the benchmark in immersive, independently-living worlds for the RPG genre.

RULES:

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
tymon@lemm.ee
8
Why is Almalexia called the Mad Wife by the Ashlanders? (cca. 2E) (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by latenightnoir@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/elderscrolls@lemm.ee
2 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I've finally started playing ESO and while questing around Vvardenfell, one of the Ashlanders, Yanabi-Asa, referred to Almalexia as the Mad Wife.

I tried looking it up online, but I've only found the same passing metion on the Wikis and nothing else, and I feel I'm lacking some major context having not played Morrowind as in-depth as I did Oblivion or Skyrim (played it last, my attention span had degraded to the point where I didn't have the patience to read all of the in-game lore books I managed to find...)

Is there any specific bit of lore which justifies the moniker? I know Vicec is a bit of a douche and Sotha Sil is fixated, but other than being a helicopter mom and a coward in terms of respecting her principles, I've never thought of Almalexia as mad or particularly off her rocker in any significant way.

Edit: or do they mean mad as in angry? This would also require some clarification, as I've not found her particularly wrathful, either.

Edit 2: did more reading around this and, yeah, still couldn't find anything from around 2E or earlier which would explain it. It seems to be related more to her actions in 3E, but that wouldn't explain the moniker being used in 2E.

Unless hand-wavey Daedra stuff having to do with Azura/Mephala/Boethiah chronicling future events?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] Stovetop@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

I have not played ESO so my knowledge of 2E stuff is very limited, but I did play a lot of Morrowind. Knowing what I know about Almalexia and the Ashlanders from that game:

  1. The Ashlanders do not accept the Tribunal as legitimate gods. The Ashlanders still worship the Daedric "anticipations" (to borrow the Temple's term) that came before, who are Azura, Boethia, and Mephala. So they do not view the Tribunal gods highly, and would view their claims of divinity to be fabrications.

  2. Before becoming a living god, Almalexia was Nerevar's wife (Nerevar being the historical 1E figure the player is a reincarnation of in Morrowind). Almalexia may not be a highly regarded figure among the Ashlanders, but her husband Nerevar certainly was. The Ashlanders believe that Almalexia, along with Sotha Sil and Vivec, murdered Nerevar with poison before declaring themselves gods immediately after. The Temple silences the betrayal narrative as heresy throughout most of Morrowind, but the Ashlanders exist outside of the Temple's sphere of influence.

So since the Ashlanders see Almalexia as guilty of murdering her husband out of a lust for power, I assume this is where the "Mad Wife" idea comes into play (mad in this case interpreted to be insanity). At the very least, they know Almalexia was Nerevar's wife, and they also know that she is claiming to be something they believe she is not, so that seems enough of a basis to call her "the Mad Wife" to me.

[โ€“] latenightnoir@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Ooooh, this makes so much sense!

I knew that the Ashlanders kept true to the good Daedra and saw the Tribunal as heresy, but for some reason I'd forgotten that Almalexia was Nerevar's wife! To be honest, the whole Nerevar/Nerevarine line is in need of some further study in my case...

Yeah, that would totally explain it, thank you so much!

Unrelated P.S.: I was not expecting this level of story quality and depth from ESO, happy to have mine exceeded!

Edit: a pity the monetisation's so friggin' dumb throughout...