A Skyrim fan has posted an image online after they discovered the dead body of Sigurd, with the cause of death being unclear. This unsolved mystery has garnered much interest in Skyrim's online community.
One of the selling points for Bethesda games has always been the amazing attention to detail featured in the company's worlds. There are so many small details that players are still uncovering, with plenty of unresolved mysteries left in Skyrim. It's a credit to Skyrim's incredible sandbox that every player can encounter their own mysteries within the game, similar to this Sigurd situation.
Reddit user JDGumby posted the image online, which shows Sigurd dead laying next to his chopping block and can be viewed here. The player confirms that it isn't due to vampire attacks, and that they haven't killed him, taking to Reddit to seek out theories for the mystery. It's very possible that this is a combat bug, of which Skyrim has plenty. One bug recently posted online shows Rolff being unable to get up after a brawl in Skyrim, with the combat system now showing its age. While it's unlikely this exact glitch has happened to Sigurd here, he could definitely have been a victim of Skyrim's glitchy game engine.
With Skyrim being designed to seem like a living, breathing world, it's no surprise that players can find characters dead seemingly at random. However, this isn't the first time a mysterious death has occurred in the game, with another player finding Faendal dead immediately after starting a new Skyrim playthrough. For many players, being able to find NPCs dead at random will only add to the immersion in the game, as Skyrim is portrayed as a harsh and dangerous land. In Sigurd's case, JDGumby got off lightly, with the character only being involved in unimportant radiant quests in the game. If this had happened to an important character, it could have soft-locked the game.
These kinds of strange mysteries have kept Skyrim's players talking over the years. Fans have remained engaged as they've solved mysteries across every inch of Skyrim, but soon enough players will need new content to explore. Skyrim's time for DLC has long passed, and with The Elder Scrolls 6 announced in 2018, Bethesda should begin to give players more information on the sequel in 2023. A twelve-year wait is unusual even by Bethesda's standards, and fans are clamoring for more after so many years of Skyrim.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - Anniversary Edition is available now for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.