Skyrim's Coolest Horse Requires A Whole Lot Of Murder
There are many ways to get around Skyrim's expansive map, and no better way than using Skyim's coolest horse, the dark steed Shadowmere. Horses are not only easy to acquire, but they also increase traveling speed significantly, and players looking to get an immersive roleplaying experience by avoiding Skyrim's fast-travel system will find horses particularly beneficial. Not all horses are equally helpful to gameplay, though. Many Skyrim fans tend to favor Shadowmere over the other horses in the game, primarily due to its significant health and connection to past Elder Scrolls games. The path to obtaining Shadowmere, however, is long and tedious, and involves the Dark Brotherhood.
Horses in Skyrim can typically be found in stables, where they can either be stolen or purchased for 1000 Septims. Skyrim Anniversary Edition introduces wild horses and four unique new mounts like a Dwarven horse, Daedric horse, reindeer, and unicorn, all of which were implemented from mods included in Bethesda's Creation Club. Although this did help provide Skyrim players with more distinctive mounts, not all of them came with substantially different stats or a proper name, leaving Shadowmere as a standout to many fans of the game.
Shadowmere is gained as a quest reward once the Dragonborn has progressed far enough into Skyrim's Dark Brotherhood questline. It can be spawned in a pool outside the Falkreath Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary and will follow the player even when they fast travel. Although it can be killed in any of Skyrim's toughest combat and boss encounters, it will respawn a few in-game days later at the location of death or occasionally in the pool in which it originally spawned. What really sets Shadowmere apart from other mounts in Skyrim, though, is the story surrounding it and the long process through which it is acquired.
Skyrim isn't the first Elder Scrolls game Shadowmere appears in. It originated as a mount in Oblivion's Dark Brotherhood questline, making it one of many Morrowind and Oblivion characters returning in Skyrim. In Oblivion, Shadowmere was likewise provided to the player character after progressing through a certain point in the storyline, and much like Skyrim, Shadowmere stood out compared to other horses in the game both physically and narratively.
In Oblivion, Shadowmere was notable for being the fastest horse in the game and being able to scale inclines that players usually would not be able to climb. It was also marked as an essential NPC, meaning that if defeated in combat, Shadowmere would only temporarily fall unconscious before reviving. Of course, this didn't negate deaths from fall damage, but it made Shadowmere a valuable asset. Its role in the Dark Brotherhood quests also allowed players to form attachment more quickly than they might to an unnamed mount.
Shadowmere doesn't maintain its status as an essential NPC in Skyrim, but it still has advantages over more standard horses. It has nearly five times the health of any other mount in Skyrim and improved health regeneration, making it significantly more durable in combat. It's also a level 50 character, whereas generic horses in Skyrim are only level 4. Although it doesn't do much damage in encounters, its active participation whenever the Dragonborn runs into an enemy is a solid distraction. While working in tandem with the Dark Brotherhood's Spectral Assassin, Shadowmere is a valuable companion.
The Spectral Assassin is, in actuality, the ghost of Lucien Lachance, a staple NPC from Oblivion and a prominent figure in the history of The Elder Scrolls' Dark Brotherhood. In Oblivion, he is the one who gifts Shadowmere to the player character, and his return in Skyrim comes after the completion of the quest "Bound Until Death". He and Shadowmere together help cement the Dragonborn's place in the legacy of the faction. It's little wonder the requirements to obtain the horse are so substantial.
The Dark Brotherhood quest "The Cure for Madness" appears about midway through the Dark Brotherhood storyline, and by that point, the Dragonborn will have completed quite a few contracts for the organization already. There are twelve minor kills before "The Cure for Madness" alongside around six other main quests that likewise require players to kill someone before proceeding. All in all, the Dragonborn's kill count is at nearly 20 NPCs before Shadowmere can be obtained. What makes the number more notable, however, is the fact that players aren't simply killing nameless generic faces. Some of the characters taken out in the Dark Brotherhood questline have genuine backstories and attachments to the world of The Elder Scrolls.
Arguably the first noticeable death is that of Vittoria Vici, whose wedding is a well-known event throughout Skyrim. Multiple NPCs players might pass on the road will mention traveling to Solitude just to attend the ceremony. Vici's death is only a stepping stone to the Dark Brotherhood's ultimate goal of eliminating the Emperor of Tamriel, a move that could have significant political implications in The Elder Scrolls series as a whole. In fact, the ramifications of the questline could play a substantial role in The Elder Scrolls 6 depending on where the game is set and how much focus is placed on the Empire's ongoing struggle against the Aldmeri Dominion.
The follow-up quest to this sees another major player in the Empire being taken out by the Dark Brotherhood. The Penitus Oculatus appears throughout Skyrim as a non-joinable faction, primarily serving as a security force to the Empire and, more specifically, the Emperor's bodyguards. The group gradually gains significance as the Dark Brotherhood storyline progresses, eventually becoming its principal antagonists. They also present players with the option of eliminating Skyrim's Dark Brotherhood entirely. In the quest "Breaching Security," the son of Commander Maro, leader of the guards, is assassinated, leading to the questline's turning point.
The next major milestone, though, is "The Cure for Madness." In this, players are tasked with killing a fan-favorite Skyrim NPC, Cicero, though technically they're provided the option of leaving him alive. While it isn't the first time an important companion can die, it's generally viewed as one of the most compelling instances in the game. It seems fitting that the Dragonborn should have to trade one of the more iconic Dark Brotherhood characters in exchange for the return of Shadowmere.
There are plenty of reasons why Shadowmere is a favorite character among Skyrim players, even with the many additional mounts added to Skyrim Anniversary Edition. Whether it's because of its unique appearance, its legacy in the Elder Scrolls series as a whole, or its physical capabilities, Shadowmere is worth all the blood that the Dragonborn needs to shed in order to acquire it. With any luck, it will also make a return in The Elder Scrolls 6's Dark Brotherhood questline.