A loyal member of the Companions and a potential follower, as well as a marriage candidate later on in the game, Aela the Huntress is one of the most popular characters in Skyrim. Her archery skills are a great addition to the kit of any close combat fighters who need a reliable follower.
Moreover, she's one of the more fleshed-out NPCs in the game, along with being an essential character that is unkillable. While there are many reasons to love her, there are also tons of details about Aela that seem to make no sense. Here are 10 things about our favorite Companions member that make absolutely no sense to us.
10 She Never Asked For Our Help
We've all been there. At the beginning of the game, we wander from Riverwood to Whiterun in order to speak with Jarl Balgruuf and warn him about the dragons, when Aela stops us out of nowhere.
Her accusing tone tells it all: She expected us to help with a giant at a nearby farm, an event which is pretty easy to overlook if you're just focused on getting into the city. Her annoyance doesn't really make any sense. After all, she never asked us to help, and she shouldn't expect just any stranger on the road to jump to one's aid.
9 She Still Invites Us Into The Companions
Assuming the player does not gain the Huntress' approval by striking the giant, she will not hide her irritation with the Dragonborn for not helping her and her friends fight a giant outside of Whiterun. Despite all that, Aela still feels compelled to extend the player an invitation to come and see her and the rest of the Companions at Whiterun's Jorrvaskr.
If we were such a deep disappointment to her, why would she invite us to come to Jorrvaskr? Not to mention, it seems a bit sketchy to just recruit whoever you meet on the road outside of city gates. For a bunch of werewolves in hiding, the Companions sure seem trusting.
8 No Free Archery Training, Even After Marriage
Aela is one of the many trainers in Skyrim who can provide you with some knowledge of Archery. However, this only becomes available after you join the Companions and even then you need to actually pay for her training.
What's even worse is after you complete the Companion questline and marry her, Aela will still charge to teach you how to shoot a bow. Either Aela is incredibly greedy or she's just doing it out of spite. If you ask us, training for loved ones should come free of charge.
7 She Joins The Blades
When we first meet Aela, it's evident she loves the Companions. Women in her family have been members of the faction for generations and she considers it her responsibility to follow in their footsteps. Not to mention, she's one of the few members who actually doesn't reject her beast blood, which goes to show how much she cares for the Companions.
And yet, if she's made to join the Blades, she just up and leaves the Companions, abandoning her previous armor and ways before moving to Sky Haven Temple. For someone so loyal, Aela sure changed her mind quickly.
6 She Doesn't Mind Killing Innocents
It's very difficult to figure out Aela's exact moral compass. As a follower, she's incredibly tolerant of whatever the Dragonborn does. Whether you're killing innocents or trespassing, she won't usually bat an eye at our deeds.
This seems a bit strange coming from a member of the Companions. She's preoccupied with honor, yet never rejects the Dragonborn when she sees them kill innocent people, steal things, or walk into houses uninvited.
5 She Has A Key To Whiterun's Gate
Have you ever wondered what Aaela might be holding in her inventory, aside from absolute necessities? Well, if you do end up pickpocketing her, you'll discover a somewhat strange and unexpected item in her pockets: The key to Whiterun's gate.
While it makes sense for such an important NPC to have the key in terms of game mechanics, if you really think about it story-wise, it's very strange and alarming. Wouldn't only guards have the key? How did she get the key in the first place? There's just not enough answers.
4 She Wears The Wrong Armor
Fun fact: Aela actually wears an Ancient Nord Armor, which is classified as heavy armor. However, if we look at her skills, it's evident that she's not specialized to wear such armor, which begs the question: Why does she have heavy armor in the first place?
Whatever the case might be, we definitely recommend finding your friend Aela some proper light armor, in which she's actually proficient and which will benefit her archery build in the long run.
3 She Doesn't Care For Sovngarde
The Inner Circle of the Companions has a deep secret: They're all werewolves and servants of Hircine, a Daedric lord. Eventually, however, most members will seek out a cure during the main quest in order to have peace in Sovngarde after death, and even the Dragonborn can choose to be cured of their beast blood.
Aela, on the other hand, refuses the cure. This is quite strange since she's a Nord and most Nords consider Sovngarde the ideal resting place to go to in order to be at peace with their ancestors. Considering she admires her ancestors so much, it's odd that Aela prefers to go to Hircine's hunting grounds after death rather than Sovngarde.
2 She Hunts At A Time Of Danger
Like most factions the Dragonborn joins, the Companions are facing times of struggle. Due to being werewolves, they need to be careful when hunting in order to avoid getting caught by their enemies, the Silver Hands. During "The Silver Hand" questline, it's evident the Silver Hand is putting increasingly more pressure on the Companions, eventually even slaying Kodlak and Skjor.
However, despite this danger, Aela is still hunting actively at night in her beast form. This is evident in her dialogue with Kodlak, where she states it's no one's business but hers that she goes out at night in her werewolf form. However, it may have been this exact type of behavior that attracted the Silver Hands in the first place.
1 She Has An Affair But Still Marries Us
If we listen carefully to the dialogues Aela has with Njada Stonearm, it's revealed that there are rumors floating around about her and Skjor. The two are actively hunting together at night, even though hunting in packs seems generally to be frowned upon by the Companions.
It's safe to conclude Aela and Skjor have something going on, a bond of sorts. After Skjor's death, she's broken but eventually marries us anyway if we propose to her. She seems to get over Skjor's death a bit too fast.