Understanding Skyrim’s Cardinal Sins

Sure, here it goes:

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You ever just dive into Skyrim and notice there’s like a million things you can do? Some of them are noble, but man, a few are just plain wrong. Picture this: you’re not just joining the Dark Brotherhood to be some edgy character; no, we’re talking about stuff that’d make the whole Elder Scrolls community side-eye you. Folks on Reddit clutching pearls and all. Honestly, these are things most players avoid, almost like an unspoken rule. Not that anyone’s gonna stop you, but still… it feels a bit dicey to talk about ’em, like waiting for a mysterious note titled “We know.”

Oh, and this isn’t even the full list. There are a couple of those “honorable mentions.” Offing chickens probably isn’t the best call unless you want every NPC in Whiterun coming for you. And why would you chuck or sell Daedric/unique weapons? Super risky. Plus, gathering 30 Crimson Nirnroot? That’s a whole other weird flex.

Alright, onto the big ones.

### Killing Paarthurnax

Killing Paarthurnax? In Skyrim? Seriously, it’s wild. Delphine’s all about resetting the Blades, and you gotta take him out first, apparently. But Paarthurnax, come on. Sure, he did some dodgy stuff back in the day, but he’s turned a new leaf—teaching Nords and helping humankind. After all those years? And he’s been keeping the time wound safe for ages now. Props. If you’re new, maybe you get fooled. But those who’ve played long enough might just laugh it off. Killing him just to hang with the Blades feels… eh, pointless?

### Hunting Giants

Ah, Giants. Before we had rockets, the closest thing to space travel was getting lobbed into the sky by a Giant’s club. It’s… kinda hilarious? Not super effective, though. Giants are like a dying breed. Mostly chill, tending their Mammoths. Attacking them just to snag toes feels kinda wrong. They only mess with folks who mess with them first. Even the Nord farmers, in their weird way, keep things balanced by offering painted cows. So Giants stay peaceful.

### Killing Essential NPCs

And then there are the NPCs you just can’t kill. No matter how much Maven ticks you off, her essential status keeps her breathing. And messing with these types? It’s messy. Causes all sorts of game chaos. Sure, you could use console commands to remove their “essential” tag, but expect weird bugs.

### Helping the Thalmor

Thalmor… now that’s a party no one wants to join. They’re anti-Talos, abduct political prisoners, and pretty much want to erase men from Mundus. If you help them? The community might side-eye you harder than usual. Unless you’re role-playing a character who’s just into that kinda chaos.

and all. Helping them feels like a betrayal on another level. Although, creating a Thalmor-friendly character can be an entertaining role-play move. Still, even those characters might question their choices when they delve deeper.

### Not Buying Flowers from Sofie

Heartless if you pass by Sofie selling flowers. This poor kid roaming the freezing streets of Windhelm just trying to get by. It’s bleak. She’s trying to buy some bread with those flowers. She doesn’t even have a bed—just the cold stone streets. A real hero would never walk past without buying at least one, right?

### No Stone Unturned Quest

Then there’s that “No Stone Unturned” quest. Ugh. Without any markers, it’s just… nuts. They expect you to find 24 Stones of Barenziah? In Skyrim? Without markers? Thank goodness for mods, right? The reward isn’t even amazing, which feels like the ultimate tease.

Anyway, that’s just scratching the surface. Skyrim’s full of peculiar choices, and it’s all about how you tackle ’em. Isn’t that what makes it interesting, though? Life’s little moral dilemmas, even in a game.