Daedra artifacts are the prized items of the Daedric Lords that they occasionally allow to leave their plane of Oblivion for the mortals of Tamriel to use, usually at the cost of completing a favor. One of the best parts of playing The Elder Scrolls is completing these favors for the Daedric Princes and collecting the items, even if the items are useless in a particular playthrough or eventually become outclassed by levels or other gear. These artifacts have been a presence across The Elder Scrolls, and none are as iconic as Azura's Star.
Azura's Star belongs to Azura, the Daedric Prince of Dusk and Dawn. Her plane of Oblivion is known as Moonshadow, and is in a permanent state of twilight. Azura is revered in Morrowind as one of the most sacred of the Daedric Princes even in a land where Daedra worship is common. Dunmer survivors from the explosion of Red Mountain traveled to Skyrim and built the incredible shrine there to her to thank her for her protection through the disaster and journey. Though she's seen as one of the more benevolent of the Daedric Princes, she's not known for her mercy when angered, as is the case in Skyrim when her sacred artifact is desecrated by necromancers.
The Black Star Doesn't Give Incentive to be Good
Azura's Star works like a permanent Soul Gem; where normal soul gems are destroyed once they're used to enchant items, Azura's Star remains intact, making enchanting and recharging weapons far easier. In this state, however, it only accepts the white souls of animals. The Dragonborn learns soon after finding Azura's shrine that her Star has been stolen and experimented on by a cult of necromancers, fundamentally altering how it works. Further investigation leads the Dragonborn to Winterhold and Nelecar, a former member of the cult, who explains the artifact has been transformed into the Black Star, and now accepts the black souls of sentient beings such as humans and mer.
The Dragonborn can choose to cleanse the Star of all the necromancers' influence and return it to Azura, or they can choose to keep its new upgrades. Many players choose the latter option because, while returning the Star to Azura may be the morally correct option, Black Soul Gems are exceptionally rare in Skyrim and having an unbreakable one is a game changing boon with little to no consequences. While keeping the Black Star is great for gameplay reasons, this quest gives the player very little reason to actually restore Azura's Star and return it to her beyond roleplaying reasons; normal soul gems are very common, and Aranea isn't an exceptional follower.
Azura's Star Could Appear Again in The Elder Scrolls 6
Azura's Star is one of the most i conic items in The Elder Scrolls, and ranks near the top with Nocturnal's Cowl, the Skeleton Key, and the Wabbajack as the most recognizable Daedric artifacts in the entire series. It's the only Daedric artifact that needs to be restored, and to be in the good graces of a Daedric Prince is no small achievement. Cleansing the Star should have earned the Dragonborn a better reward than the base level Star and a follower.
This quest should carry through to The Elder Scrolls 6 and provide context and motivation for players to actually choose to restore the Star, even if it's not in their best interests in terms of gameplay. Providing story and gameplay consequences after Skyrim, such as upgrading the Star beyond a permanent Soul Gem thanks to the efforts of a Dragonborn who restored it, would enrich both Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls 6.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - Anniversary Edition is available now for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.