The companions of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim are generally seen as one of the weaker factions in the game, at least conceptually. This is because the group’s accompanying quest isn’t as captivating as that of the Thieves Guild or the Dark Brotherhood. It’s also not that long of a campaign. Perhaps one of the faction’s few perks is that it has some of the more memorable NPCs in the game, such as Farkas Vilkas and Aela the Huntress.
But even with these characters, the Companions investigate Skyrim still fall short, largely because of the questline’s underdeveloped antagonist. The Silver Hand just isn’t an interesting enemy faction, which is a shame, as the group could have improved the Companion’s story.
The Knowledge Behind Skyrim’s Silver Hand Faction
The Silver Hand is a group of werewolf hunters who want to kill the members of the Circle. The player encounters them early on in the Companions quest sequence, when they set out with Farkas to retrieve a fragment of the Wuuthrad battle ax in Skyrim. During the quest, members of the Silver Hand appear and attack Farkas, forcing him to turn into a werewolf and get rid of them. This is when the player first learns about the lycanthropy rituals that take place among the higher members of the Companions.
How the Silver Hand came to know the Inner Circle of the Companions is not known. However, it is immediately clear that they want to abolish the group. At some point in the quest, it is revealed that the Silver Hand is hunting for the fragments of Wuuthrad and trying to reach them before the Companions can. Their rationale for doing so – other than mocking the Companions – is unclear, but it suggests that the faction is targeting the Circle specifically.
The Silver Hand is led by a randomly generated NPC called Krev the Skinner, so they don’t have a unique dialogue in them. Skyrim. However, the generic Silver Hand NPCs tend to yell things like, “Ysgramor would be ashamed of you!” and, “I’ll tear you apart, companion!” when you fight the player. This points to a turbulent history between the two factions.
Some community members even theorize that the Silver Hand is a splinter group of the Companions and there is reason to believe this. Books from the “Songs of Return” series can be looted from some Silver Hand enemy corpses, and these Skyrim books tell stories of Ysgramor and the Five Hundred Companions. It’s an oddly specific detail unique to the enemies among the Silver Hand faction, and while this theory cannot be confirmed, it would certainly explain how the faction knew the Circle and why they want to reclaim the Wuuthrad.
Another thing worth noting is that some Silver Hand members have supposedly fought alongside Vigilants or Stendarr. This is revealed in a note from the Unholy Vigil quest (although it is part of a Skyrim Creation Club add-on, so whether it’s really canon is debatable). This may seem strange, as the Silver Hand and the Vigilants of Stendarr are factions with very different methods. The Silver Hand comes across as nothing more than a band of bandits, while the Vigilants are holy but militant vigilantes. However, they both try to eradicate the dangerous creatures – mainly werewolves Skyrimso their motivations are somewhat similar.
Missed Opportunities in Skyrim’s Companions Questline
One of the most glaring issues with the Companions quest is the lack of focus on the Silver Hand and its motivations. Throughout the campaign, the player can only communicate with members of the Companions in Skyrim, while all Silver Hand NPCs are generic enemies. So everything the player learns about the Silver Hand, they learn from the Companions – meaning their perspective of the werewolf-hunting group is biased from the start.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it’s a great setup for a twist that reveals the true nature of a supposedly antagonistic group. However, the trend continues until the end of the questline, so the Silver Hand never really gets enough backstory to explain why the members hate the Skyrim Companions and Lycanthropy. This makes the faction seem like nothing more than a humble bandit group that randomly decided to target the Circle’s werewolves.
How the Silver Hand Faction could have been improved
Improving the Companions search would take a lot of work. First and foremost, the campaign needs to delve more deeply into the Silver Hand faction. This would mean that more elaborate Skyrim NPCs for the group – those who have a unique dialogue regarding the history and motivations of the Silver Hand. All signs point to the Silver Hand being a splinter group, so the player should be able to learn that directly from its members. Perhaps Krev or some other unique NPC complained about how the companions in Whiterun have sullied their honor with the beast’s blood.
Explaining the Silver Hand’s backstory then leads to the next way to explore the Companions quest of . to improve Skyrim – let the player choose which faction to join. Now that the player can learn both sides, they can choose which faction to support. This allows for branching opportunities and multiple conclusions to the campaign. One ending could be similar to the game’s canon ending, leaving the companions and circle intact. Another ending could be the Silver Hand taking over the Companions Guild for good. Meanwhile, a third ending could cause both factions to reach a compromise.
This third ending would put Kodlak Whitemane in the spotlight, as he is one of the members of the Circle who wants to get rid of the beast’s blood. With his help, the player was able to facilitate the dialogue between the two groups, which ultimately led the companions to find a cure for lycanthropy, reuniting the two groups. It can even lead to a confrontation with Skyrim’s Aela de Jager, who is determined to remain a lycanthrope.
In general, a little knowledge behind each faction goes a long way, and emphasizing player choice goes much further. The Silver Hand faction could have been an engaging group challenging the supposedly honorable companions. Unfortunately, the game didn’t do it justice, resulting in a generic and superficial quest. Hopefully The Elder Scrolls 6 does better with its faction questlines.
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim is now available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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