When The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim was released back in 2011, nobody knew just how much of a cultural phenomenon it would become. Not just content with being one of the highest grossing video games of the last decade, it became something of a meme in and of itself, with references that seem to span the boundaries of the epic title's lore and world. More than ten years later, and fans are still making references to the game that even non-players are privy to, such as this recent example.
Uploading a screenshot to the Skyrim Subreddit recently, user Coyotl_the_k describes the scene in the post's title, saying that they had just defended the city of Whiterun from a vampire attack, when they noticed there was an arrow sticking out of their character's knee. Cue a number of commenters, who clearly understood the reference, adding quotes of their own about how this player's "days of adventures" are now over, or that they now have to "become a guard."
While there are many who are in on the joke, there may be a few reading who are not quite up to speed on what's going on. Essentially, since the game was released, Skyrim became famous for the "arrow to the knee" line uttered by some of the guards. The full quote is, "I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow to the knee," and is said in a sort of melancholy by guards who are close to the player, along with other recorded lines of dialogue. For some reason, this simple phrase took off and became one of the most popular quotes of this, or any, game of the time, though some would argue that it became a little overused.
In fact, there are a number of memes associated with Skyrim, which pertain to certain aspects of the game that fans relate to or can easily understand. One references the fact that, no matter how much exploring gamers do, they can always be tracked and chased down by a courier who has a letter for them. Or there's the one about crafting weapons in the middle of the night while the blacksmith, Adrianne Avenicci, is trying to sleep, a meme which was encapsulated in a still from a Sponegbob Squarepants episode.
While the "arrow to the knee" meme has died down a little, it's still interesting to see it crop up every now and then. The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim has a huge world with so much for players to see and do, but it's nice to occasionally return to the simpler times involving a seemingly throwaway statement from an NPC.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Anniversary Edition is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.