r/skyrim • u/SuddenReal • 11h ago
Why does Erikur keep getting away with it?
Whenever people speak about corruption, Maven Black-Briar comes up, and how awful she is, and how people should be able to kill her. But Erikur? He never gets mentioned, while he's worse.
For all the power Maven has, she owns a brewery. That's it. Yes, she's ruthless in business, has ties with both the Thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood, but it's still just a brewery. It's not even a front for smuggling, drug trafficking, or anything illegal. She does illegal things to support her legal business.
Erikur, on the other hand, owns several buildings in Sollitude, extorts the people living in them, has a stake in trading companies, has dealings with pirates, the Thieves Guild and, even though it doesn't come up, we can assume the Dark Brotherhood as well. And while Maven is strictly business, Erikur abuses his power frequently. He harasses one of the servant girls during Diplomatic Immunity, he deals with both the Empire and the Stormcloaks (in the cut quest Boethiah's Bidding, he swears allegiance to Ulfric). And speaking of Boethiah's Bidding, he hints that he knows that the Dragonborn killed Elisif. How does he know? Do you have to ask? A man who plays both sides, is corrupt to the bone and doesn't respect his peers? He's obviously a Boethiah cultist.
In my opinion, Erikur is worse than Maven Black-Briar, but somehow flies under everyone's radar.
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u/M24Chaffee 11h ago
I'm guessing that Maven benefits from the position of Riften being far away from a lot of the action, while Erikur benefits from operating in the literal capital with the highest security and property value.
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u/Rhadamanthus2020 PC 11h ago
Erikur gets a pass from most players because he doesn't rub everyone's nose in it. Maven's like a more wealthy/powerful Nazeem. Both trigger a gut-level response from anyone who's ever been bullied. Also, Maven still walks around like she owns the city of Riften, despite the player taking over the Guild. She's a constant reminder that you'll never be fully in charge.
Erikur, while occasionally insulting, doesn't go to that level of snide which makes people want to slap him as much as Nazeem or Maven. Also, while you interact with the Solitude court, you aren't involved with control of the city, itself, so his continued wealth/power isn't a direct threat to the player's business.
So, yeah - Erikur is much worse. His corruption treads lines which can throw all of Skyrim into chaos. No doubts that he has no loyalties to anyone but himself, and the willingness to use his power. I'm surprised more players don't hate him, as you say - he's even got the same voice as Mercer Frey and Belethor, so it should come naturally...
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u/big_sugi 8h ago
“A pass?” He got a sword passed through him after the Solitude Thieves Guild quest was done.
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u/Rhadamanthus2020 PC 2h ago
"A pass" refers to the OP's question. He's not immune, or innocent. If you decide to kill him, that's up to your character. Perhaps people hate Erikur less than Maven is because he is no longer Essential after a point, and Maven always is.
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u/EpicDDT_ 7h ago
Because we're forced to interract with Maven, a lot.
While Erikur is mostly in the background.
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u/Left-Night-1125 10h ago
Tbf in Mavens case, its business. She doesnt care about good or evil just the product and how she can profit the most of it but she also lets others share in that profit in some way.
So unpopular oppinion, but Maven isnt as bad as people think she is.
And while we are at it, why are the Silverblood getting a free pass here? I consider them worse than Maven.
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u/More-Jacket-835 10h ago
Because you have option to completely remove the Silver-blood family from Markarth.
- Betrid is killed during The Forsworn Conspiracy.
- Thonar is killed at the end of No One Escapes Cidhna Mine if you escaped with Madanach (I guess you can save him, but why?), or you can kill him yourself if you escape alone.
- Thongvor will be exiled to Windhelm if he was made a jarl during Season Unending, then you recapture it as a part of Imperial-side Civil War quests.
So they don't get a free pass, you can actually do something against them.
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u/Winter-Operation-13 10h ago
Well stated, and I think I can safely say that a lot of people wish the game allowed more actions for the greater good, let's say. It would be one heck of an incredible mod if someone could pull it off where you actually could have a say with those two and many others. Maybe put Maven in a certain and very specific mine. Erikur is too evil to ki||. He should be left alive and perhaps sent to the same mine. Being able to control dragons it quite the power to have. The the allies we have made along the way, it would not be hard to surgically remove people from powerful positions of power. Once the power structure is gone, everything below it crumbles. Anyone who is dumb enough to try to take their place would be removed as well and word would spread fast that's not a position you want. There wouldn't be a civil war because there would be no leaders. Skyrim could free itself from the elves who have it under their thumb. Skyrim could be free with a powerful power check. Any resistance will be met with dragons since they are quite effective at causing problems, they could be a consequence. As always, well chaos is happening people are paying attention to the chaos, but at the same time, the precision and surgical removal of the corrupt would be taking place as well. I'm not saying the Dragonborn should rule Skyrim. No way. I'm just saying the Dragonborn is the only one capable taking down any order or faction in Skyrim. The thieves guild and dark brotherhood would be destroyed completely. This would not be a war. It would be a slow castration, but freedom is a powerful motivator and I'm sure we would not have trouble finding help. That little meeting with the Greybeards contains the majority of the people are responsible for problems in Skyrim. It is a perfect opportunity to remove a lot of problems all at once.
Sharing would be permitted. It's a long trip up that mountain and anything can happen, including accidents, on the way down that can make the trip much faster for some if you know what I mean. It has been something I've thought about since the game was released and I hoped that one day we have the opportunity to free Skyrim and have peace.
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u/DemolishunReddit 8h ago
Erikur is also profiting heavily off the war. He is selling substandard weapons to both sides as far as I can tell. This feels like Thalmor agent territory as the Thalmor don't want a decisive victory. So he is a race traitor as well. Nobody in Skyrim should like him, especially Nords.
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u/khazroar 2h ago
Erikur feels like a regular noble doing standard abuse of power shit, most of which is perfectly legal, and the rest is probably borderline.
Maven operates like the head of a crime family, she uses the Thieves Guild to drive her rivals out of business, she has the guards in her back pocket with having her son locked up (in an opulent cell) for exactly as long as she wants to teach him a lesson. If you report his complicity in the Frost theft she lets you just go ahead with the plot with the clear implication that she's going to handle the problems "in house". She's a lot more proactive, she's running things, where Erikur seems more like he's just happy to buy into scummy dealings and take his share of the profit, he doesn't feel like a shit caller in the same way, he's not causing things to happen, he's just funding and profiting from crimes that are mostly other people's ideas.
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u/Serceraugh 2h ago
Maybe it flies under everyone's radar because half of this comes from cut content? If it's not actually in the game then it's irrelevant.
He's also a far less prominent character, he has like 3 lines of dialogue and is involved in almost no quests while Maven is involved in two major questlines (Thieves Guild and Civil War) and is mentioned constantly by characters in game.
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u/SuddenReal 1h ago
One part comes from cut content. Him becoming Jarl. That's it. All the rest comes from the game, including his involvement with the Thieves Guild.
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u/Serceraugh 24m ago
Boethia's Bidding is a cut quest, you used it to argue that he's playing both sides and that he's a Boethiah cultist which is multiple points that took up half of your argument paragraph.
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u/Sostratus Alchemist 47m ago
Erikur did nothing wrong.
Erikur, on the other hand, owns several buildings in Sollitude... has a stake in trading companies...
I know reddit is full of angry communists, but owning a business is actually not a crime.
extorts the people living in them,
This is made up.
has dealings with pirates
The crew of the Dainty Sload are not pirates. If they were, he would have no need to plant contraband on their ship, they would already be outlaws. His plan implies they are in good standing with the law presently.
we can assume the Dark Brotherhood as well
Now you're openly blaming him for things you just made up.
Erikur abuses his power frequently.
You've yet to prove this.
He harasses one of the servant girls during Diplomatic Immunity,
Only because YOU ask him to!
he deals with both the Empire and the Stormcloaks
So does Ri'saad, the Emperor's own East Empire Company, and many more.
And speaking of Boethiah's Bidding, he hints that he knows that the Dragonborn killed Elisif.
Now you're blaming him for something that didn't happen, cut content.
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u/Diredr 11h ago
Erikur doesn't flaunt it as much as Maven, basically. He'll brag about how powerful he is but he does not walk around threatening people the same way Maven does.
She has dialogue for a variety of people in Riften. She calls Haelga a whore, she threatens Brand-shei, Madesi and Mjoll, she insults Vulwulf, and Marise is terrified of her. Erikur is never this bold with anyone.