Skyrim's Ebony Warrior is more than just a challenge players face at the end of the game. In a lot of ways, the Ebony Warrior is also a reflection of the player, as both are individuals that have neared the end of their respective adventures. However, no aspect underlines the Ebony Warrior's adventure more than his tragic ending.
When the Ebony Warrior finds the player, he tells them that he wishes to fight the Last Dragonborn, believing that this final victory will send him to Sovngarde. Players may not think about this too much, given how prominent Sovngarde is throughout the narrative anyway. Upon closer inspection, however, it is made apparent that The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim's Ebony Warrior would never have the chance to go to his preferred afterlife.
Skyrim's Ebony Warrior is Denied His Dream of Sovngarde
Typically, when someone dies in The Elder Scrolls universe, they go to their race's respective afterlife in Aetherius. For example, upon death, the Nords go to Sovngarde and the Redguards go to The Far Shores. The Elder Scrolls' realms of Aetherius are largely mysterious in terms of how they work, but this is one of the few rules that is widely understood. It is also a seemingly strict rule, as when the Last Dragonborn visits Sovngarde during the events of Skyrim's main story, they only find Nords. And it is for that reason that the Ebony Warrior will never get to see the halls of Sovngarde like he wished to.
At the end of a tough fight, the Ebony Warrior will go down with his last words being, "At last, Sovngarde..." After this, most players may feel inclined to take his weapons and armor, but in doing so, players will quickly realize he is not a Nord as one would expect, but a Redguard. As previously mentioned, Redguards go to The Far Shores, meaning that the Ebony Warrior will never get to see Sovngarde. Considering the number of things the Ebony Warrior had claimed to achieve, learning that he will be denied the one thing he strived for is arguably one of the saddest stories players will find out about in the game.
The game further doubles down on this idea once the player goes to Sovngarde as well. If the player has done the quest lines that result in the death of some NPCs, they can find some of them in Sovngarde. For example, the players can find Ulfric Stormcloak and Kodlak Whiteman roaming Sovngarde if they have completed their quest lines. But however much the player looks for Skyrim's famous Ebony Warrior after killing him, he cannot be found anywhere in the halls of Sovngarde.
However, there is one community theory that might grant the Ebony Warrior a happier ending. Though the Ebony Warrior claims to be an adventurer, he may have actually been an aspect of the Redguard god of war, Reymon Ebonarm. This god was often characterized by his use of ebony armor, as well as an ebony sword that was fused with his arm. This would explain why the Ebony Warrior was actually a Redguard and why he donned ebony weapons and armor, rather than a stronger variant like The Elder Scrolls' iconic Daedric armor.
Because of this, maybe there is some amount of hope for this character. He is either a tragic character denied his life's work or an Aspect with a mysterious agenda, but at least for now, all signs point to the former. Regardless, the Ebony Warrior also represents one of The Elder Scrolls franchise's greatest features, that being its ability to do so little, yet say so much about its world and the people that inhabit it.
Skyrim is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.