Despite its absolutely massive size, there is still an abundance of content that was cut from Skyrim prior to its release! These lost assets have been discovered through data mining, inaccessible in-game areas, and even mods! Seeing as the release of Skyrim was over 10 years ago, these discoveries have many long-time fans of the game wishing they were never cut.
There are many reasons that could cause game developers to cut a piece of content from a game. Time restraints, future plans with DLC, or simply a change of plans can drastically affect what makes it into the final game! This list will go over some of Skyrim’s coolest pieces of cut content that we wish we could play.
5/5 Lots Of Civil War Content
The Skyrim civil war is a major plot point for the game, even making its way into the main quest at points! But as sprawling and impactful as the war is, it originally was going to play an even bigger role in the development of Skyrim!
The amount of content that has been cut from the Civil War line is staggering. Scenes, dialogue, quests, and much more were all removed, despite being virtually completed! Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the civil war that was cut, was the ability for wars to actually be won and lost. Losing wars would actually change the political climate of Skyrim.
4/5 The Windhelm Pit
Every major city in Skyrim has a prison in case the player decides to commit some crimes against the Jarl. Each prison is accompanied by a unique quest to escape, and none sounded quite as intriguing as the quest that was cut: The Pit of Windhelm.
Similar to the arenas in Oblivion, the Windhelm Pit would have seen the player fighting gladiator style for their freedom! The idea of fighting it out with a fellow criminal while excited citizens look down on the action is incredibly alluring. We can only hope that this combat style makes a return in The Elder Scrolls 6.
3/5 The Missing Apprentices Quest
As far as actual quests go, there isn’t actually much content to be had at the College of Winterhold. This leaves many fans wondering why Bethesda ever thought it wise to completely scrap this mage-focused quest from Skyrim! Surely it would have helped drastically.
The quest would see the Dragonborn go off on a mission in search of missing college students. Surely, this search would have culminated in the reveal of some climactic, sinister magic! Part of this quest has been recovered through mods, but it was clearly unfinished as the story is mostly incoherent.
2/5 Morthal’s Secrets
Originally, Morthal was supposed to serve as the major location in Skyrim, acting as a sort of world hub for the player. Because of this, there is a vast amount of content that has been entirely scrapped, presumably because developers decided to make Morthal less important.
Luckily for us, some of the cut content was actually re-skinned and moved elsewhere. The quest “For the good of Morthal,” is perhaps the most notable example. Though, it is clearly dialed down from what it was going to be. Sadly, there is a colossal amount of dialogue, buildings, quests, and much more that is lost entirely to anyone who doesn’t have access to mods.
1/5 RIP Balgruuf
Every Skyrim player knows who Balgruuf the Greater is! A major, recurring NPC who is introduced very early on in the game. Those who complete the second main quest will even be called to serve directly under him as Thane. Because of this, it may come as a big surprise to know that there is a scrapped quest where he is killed off completely!
The Jarl of Whiterun would have been murdered in cold blood as part of a quest after the completion of the main campaign. After Hrongar replaces him as Jarl, players would spend a significant amount of time searching for the murderer! The big reveal? The culprit was his own child! This surely would have been a memorable experience, and would have greatly added to the lackluster amount of content we have after leaving Sovngarde!
