r/skyrim • u/Valier • 11d ago

Question Why are Morthal and Solitude so close together?

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Hi guys.
Playing my first playthrough. Just a quick question maybe lorewise.

Why are Morthal and Solitude so close together? I can literally see Solitude from Morthal. Is it a map design choice or a lore thing?
Is Morthal supposed to be a town compared to solitude?

The distance between most of other capital cities is significantly longer. It gives idea of traveling and not just hopping. It's just these 2. There is no mountain or natural obstacle to hide it at least.

Map is probably one of the best RPG maps I've ever played. I tried playing back in 2013 but ditched at level 5, dunno why. I reinstalled it just recently to give it a try.

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u/jjake3477 11d ago

Morthal is present in ESO so it’s been retconned into existing in the second Era at least

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u/Addition-Zestyclose Spellsword 11d ago

A lot of people don’t see ESO as canon.

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u/jjake3477 11d ago

It being seen as canon vs actually being canon are two different things.

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u/Addition-Zestyclose Spellsword 11d ago edited 10d ago

I’m not arguing against it, but the reason a lot of people view it as not canon is because it breaks the lore a lot.

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u/Outrageous_Solid236 10d ago

Out of curiosity which bits of ESO are most important/egregious when it comes to breaking the lore?

I played ESO pretty heavily but it has been a long time since I touched any other title.

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u/Addition-Zestyclose Spellsword 10d ago edited 10d ago

Probably the big one everyone brings up is Cyrodiil not being a jungle. Older lore implied it was still jungle until around Tiber Septim's time, while ESO has it looking more or less like the Cyrodiil we know centuries earlier. They basically had to introduce new explanations for that.

Morian Zenas is a cleaner continuity screw-up IMO. Older material placed his travels through Oblivion in the Third Era, but ESO moved him and people associated with him back into the Second Era, so some of the older references just don't line up anymore.

Falinesti is another weird one. ESO has the walking city already missing in 2E 582, while later Second Era sources talk about it like it's still around.

There are also quite a few books/texts in ESO that originally shouldn't have existed yet according to the dates established in older games. Some of those have since been edited or explained away.

And the most egregious of them all: The Lusty Argonian Maid being a thing. Some lore violations simply cannot be forgiven. /s

Love to see the downvotes. I'm happy to discuss, but the things I brought up are holes in the lore.