No we can’t! That’s why I didn’t want to put him too low 😂 I will say though, the other day I found an in game testimony against him saying he was having several affairs (from Ulrich Leland’s notes) I didn’t know about it until a few days ago, so I might’ve put him a little lower knowing that!
Yes! I couldn’t help but wonder where it came from! I was thinking maybe it came from Count Valga (her dad) because I didn’t see anything outward from the countess but who knows!
A good person can raise such a fucked up child just like a bad person can raise a good child in the end some people will turn out like their parents others not
I mostly agree with your placements on the list, with a few exceptions: I think Janus and Millona should be bumped up a bit. Janus is a pretty decent Count, which is particularly impressive due to his condition; he also goes out of his way to try to find a cure for vampirism. Granted, that's mainly because he's worried about his wife's health, but it does show a lot about him. Millona has a pretty clear love for her people and her city, as when you ask her about Anvil, she says you can best learn about it by talking to its people, and she even tells you her favorite spot for sightseeing. Now, Marius and Alessia Caro, on the other hand... ---- Marius is a bit of a gray area for me. I think I've mentioned this before, but I'm not 100% convinced on his involvement in the torture chamber. There seem to be three possibilities. One: He partakes in the torture, making him guilty. Two: He _knows_ about the torture, but is not a participant, thus making him complicit. Three: He's none the wiser, making him innocent. No matter which one you go with, the results don't bode well. If he's either guilty or complicit, then that means he's warm, friendly, and welcoming to an Argonian character, and even willing to sell them a "quaint" house within his city, but he would see _absolutely nothing wrong_ with him and/or his wife effectively abducting that same Argonian and _brutalizing_ them in his basement. If he _doesn't_ know about the torture (and is therefore innocent), then that means all of this brutality is being done _right under his nose,_ by the very people he should be able to trust the most. Like I said, whether he knows or not, it doesn't paint a pretty picture. ---- Alessia's a fucking scumbag, pure and simple. What I find funny about her is: If you're playing as an Argonian, _and_ have become Knight-Errant of the White Stallion, then she gives you her usual "dirty Argonian" greeting; but if you then ask her about Leyawiin, she says the city must rely on "persons such as yourself" to stay safe in times of strife. So she's the definition of two-faced, flip-flopping between "racist asshole" and "comforting matriarch" as needed. Thing is, if you ask On-Staya Sundew (the Count's Argonian advisor), she says she's only an advisor "in theory", insinuating that his wife is the one who wears the pants around there. And if you talk to Witseidutsei (the Argonian proprietor of the Five Claws Lodge), she says, "Lady Alessia tells Count Marius exactly what to do, and he does as she says." Again, heavily implying that Marius is too love-stricken to see how much of a monster his wife truly is. One thing I find interesting about Alessia though, is: She frequently speaks with Mahei and Numeen Deric, two well-to-do _Argonians._ Which seems downright baffling, given what we know about her. My theory is as follows: Mahei and Numeen both have surnames, which is already strange by Argonian standards. But their surname is (as mentioned above) _Deric,_ which sounds more like a Breton than an Argonian. We _know_ this is indeed their surname too, as many of Leyawiin's NPCs refer to Mahei and Numeen as "The Derics" when gossiping about how much they argue with one another; furthermore, if you pickpocket them (or kill them and loot the bodies) the key to their house is referred to as the _"Derics' Key._ They also wear matching Imperial-style black-and-burgundy outfits, and live in an Imperial-style house. So, we have a pair of Argonians, who have adopted a Breton surname, wear Imperial-style clothes, and live in an Imperial-style house. This is significant, because if you ask Alessia's advisor, Hlidara Mothril, about Leyawiin, she says that the city "must move towards the mainstream of Imperial culture, both in political and economical affairs." To me, this seems to imply that Alessia doesn't necessarily hate Argonians, but rather, Argonian _culture._ Which might seem strange at first, but that sort of thing happens in the real world more often than you'd think. P.S. Hlidara doesn't like the torture chamber either. Because if you ask her about it during the Thieves' Guild quest "Ahdarji's Heirloom", she quickly switches gears, saying "It's too dangerous" to speak of it, and will further describe the secret passage leading from the Countess's private quarters to the torture chamber, and will even add "Sometimes I can hear the screams of the prisoners in my chambers..." And when she's talking about the torture, her voice is _dripping_ with horror, pretty clearly implying that even though she agrees Leyawiin should be Imperialized, even she knows this is *NOT* the way to go about it. Edit: Fixed some typos.
You forgot about the most dishonorable count in the game. The count of Sutch! He did not even have the courtesy to show up nor have a city that the player could visit!
TBF, Korvus kept trying to rid himself of the Gray Fox persona once he realized what the price actually was, it just wasn't exactly easy to accomplish, and he explicitly stated he unconditionally quits crime immediately, so he's a lot better a person than any other criminal, discounting the Player.
One major note against Hassildor that wasn't mentioned; the Pale Lady. She's a hostile vampire npc living in Castle Skingrad that you encounter during the thieves guild quest "Lost Histories". She preys on the city's prison population, not always killing them but certainly killing them *sometimes*, regardless of the crimes they have committed. In fact the only direct example we get of her killing someone is a thief, which in my book certainly isn't an executable offense. She has the key to Skingrad Castle, and given the count's similarly vampiric nature, it's strongly implied that she is an underling of his. She also mentions harvesting the player character's blood for a "mistress" which the only viable candidate that we know of for that title would be the Count's wife, perhaps implying that the Count is still keeping her sparsely fed despite her protests against feeding (otherwise this "mistress" might be cut content?). Frankly I think having a blood harvesting chamber attached to your prison that targets prisoners regardless of the crimes they have committed is more damning than everything else here, aside from the racist torture. Still love my boy Hassildor though, long may he reign.
Yeah I was surprised the Pale Lady wasn't mentioned. I had a pretty good opinion about the count until I did this quest, you can't tell me he doesn't know...
Honestly think it's a bit of a gray area to denounce the countess for taking back her husband despite him having been the gray fox - because she only does so after he gives up the title. The fact that she forgives him, and never took another husband, makes it clear how much she loves him. And yet, she declares she will denounce him as her husband if he tries to step up as count, when he admits he's the gray fox. So while it's true it's questionable that she takes 'a criminal who abandoned her' back, it's also shown how she places her town above her personal feelings by rejecting him at first. So I would personally bump her up to at LEAST be above the rumored wife killer.
I found your channel this last month and it has influenced me to buy the game for PC. Ive played Oblivion multiple times on the 360 and i enjoy it more than Skyrim. It has a great atmosphere. I love your videos. Keep up the good work. All the best to you!
I really appreciate it and I’m glad you like the game! It’s full of surprises and fun things that I haven’t even seen in 17 years of it being out! Happy holidays and merry Christmas! :)
I mostly agree with this list. On the note of Andel Indarys,I think he does know about the dark brotherhood sanctuary,and being a Dunmeri Count and that close to the boarder of Morrowind,I think he was going to bring The Tong to Cheydinhal,to wipe out the brotherhood. So the brotherhood killed his wife to send a message.
Great video as always! I dont think I've seen many videos talking about the counts in oblivion, so this was a good watch. Hope you had a good Christmas!
I mostly agree but I would make a few tweaks tbh, I gotta say that the countess of anvil deserves a higher place on the list, dialogue with the citizens and even the poor ones say she goes out of her way to greet them and is very fond of her people and the city. I get the reasoning but idk, maybe I just have a soft spot for her.
Yeah after I made the list and the video I was just brainstorming some people I’d move a little higher and a littler lower, I think I would put her a spot higher tbh
@@ABardsBallad either way I think most of the list is pretty damn accurate, maybe Indaril, but I think you make a good point about it all being conjecture
I can’t tell if Dagoth Ur would love or hate Alessia Caro. On the one hand she hates Khajit and Argonians, but on the other hand she’s a mongrel imperial dog. She’s also not properly using the Khajit and Argonians as farm tools so that’d probably be another knock against her.
The mongrel dogs of the Empire have once again proven their genetic inferiority with their wasteful use of farm tools, not that such proof is ever required. Farm tools are a property investment that should be used to their full potential and specifically for all hours of the day. Yet the mongrel dogs have them sleeping on the streets of their cities, the very notion of "homeless" farm tools is an oxymoron of moronic proportions that befits their equally moronic kind. Destroying their property investments is merely further proof of why only the Dunmer deserve to announce their rightfully earned bigotry as the other races cannot even use something as basic as farm tools properly without breaking them.
Before watching this video, I tried to make a list myself, but I couldn't really from top of my head, though I had a feeling countess of Bruma would be one of the most honorable ones and Bravil & Leyawiin Counts and Countess would be the most problematic ones. I was quite correct, I completely forgot about Corvus though and it makes sense why he was placed where he was placed. From what little we know about Kvatch's count, it does make sense why he is number 1 spot. Well explained background of all the Counts & Countesses!
countess leyawiin's advisor, Hlidara, was kind of foreshadowing skyrim's thalmor emissary Elenwen with their shared desire to advance social tensions on the grounds of race + religion. I do wish they'd kept the elves character design from Oblivion, though. I could never play a high elf in skyrim bc they were simply hideous lol also, leyawiin's architecture was so underrated. I was so mad that I could only buy that moldy shack. I think I used to roleplay as owning the dark brotherhood member's home after killing him beause he was always roaming. ah, the memories!
Random question for anyone who knows but does Lucien Lechance exist in-game before triggering the Dark Brotherhood quest line? Or once it’s been triggered, can he be found without him approaching the Hero First?
Most likely he's only enabled when needed, and/or stored in an inaccessible holding cell. That's how Bethesda usually handles that sort of thing. But he does run off after saying his piece, and you can follow him for some distance. I'm just not sure whether he actually waits somewhere or just disappears once out of range. Interestingly when he confronts you after the dead drop quests, that's actually a different NPC to the one you met before.
Countess Carvain is my favorite, however Countess Valgas' daughter, Alessia Caro is my most disliked, for being racist and for torturing Argonians. She doesn't deserve to be a countess nor does she deserve her essential status.
Just Iran I always wondered why curing vampirism isnt streamlined cuase its completely possible . A little tedious sure and I don't think you need ashes from a vampire in Skyrim.
One thing Skyrim did better than Oblivion was have the Jarls feel more like actual characters involved with their cities and the events of the game. The counts are just kind of there.
If I remember correctly, bravils count is the only one not essential and you can actually kill him. Did it on accident once and laughed at how disliked he must be
"Hi. We are going to use unused dialogue to prove our point"..... Uhhhh. Do I need to say anything or are we all smart enough to know what is wrong with that....
Oh boy I wonder where the one with a torture room for Argonians is going to be in the list
😂 take a wild guess!
Hippity hoppity, lizards are property
1/10, I've been in better torture rooms smh
She’s also resentful of cat folk and dark elves.
Well, Countess Alesia Caro has always been an N'wah.
Can we really blame Indarys for not wanting to mess with the psycho murder cult, with an army of skilled assassins and influence?
No we can’t! That’s why I didn’t want to put him too low 😂 I will say though, the other day I found an in game testimony against him saying he was having several affairs (from Ulrich Leland’s notes) I didn’t know about it until a few days ago, so I might’ve put him a little lower knowing that!
Worth noting, the Countess of Chorrol is the Countess of Leyawiin's mother. Makes me wonder how honorable she can be if she raised such a bigot.
Yes! I couldn’t help but wonder where it came from! I was thinking maybe it came from Count Valga (her dad) because I didn’t see anything outward from the countess but who knows!
A good person can raise such a fucked up child just like a bad person can raise a good child in the end some people will turn out like their parents others not
I mostly agree with your placements on the list, with a few exceptions: I think Janus and Millona should be bumped up a bit. Janus is a pretty decent Count, which is particularly impressive due to his condition; he also goes out of his way to try to find a cure for vampirism. Granted, that's mainly because he's worried about his wife's health, but it does show a lot about him. Millona has a pretty clear love for her people and her city, as when you ask her about Anvil, she says you can best learn about it by talking to its people, and she even tells you her favorite spot for sightseeing. Now, Marius and Alessia Caro, on the other hand...
---- Marius is a bit of a gray area for me. I think I've mentioned this before, but I'm not 100% convinced on his involvement in the torture chamber. There seem to be three possibilities. One: He partakes in the torture, making him guilty. Two: He _knows_ about the torture, but is not a participant, thus making him complicit. Three: He's none the wiser, making him innocent.
No matter which one you go with, the results don't bode well. If he's either guilty or complicit, then that means he's warm, friendly, and welcoming to an Argonian character, and even willing to sell them a "quaint" house within his city, but he would see _absolutely nothing wrong_ with him and/or his wife effectively abducting that same Argonian and _brutalizing_ them in his basement. If he _doesn't_ know about the torture (and is therefore innocent), then that means all of this brutality is being done _right under his nose,_ by the very people he should be able to trust the most. Like I said, whether he knows or not, it doesn't paint a pretty picture.
---- Alessia's a fucking scumbag, pure and simple. What I find funny about her is: If you're playing as an Argonian, _and_ have become Knight-Errant of the White Stallion, then she gives you her usual "dirty Argonian" greeting; but if you then ask her about Leyawiin, she says the city must rely on "persons such as yourself" to stay safe in times of strife. So she's the definition of two-faced, flip-flopping between "racist asshole" and "comforting matriarch" as needed. Thing is, if you ask On-Staya Sundew (the Count's Argonian advisor), she says she's only an advisor "in theory", insinuating that his wife is the one who wears the pants around there. And if you talk to Witseidutsei (the Argonian proprietor of the Five Claws Lodge), she says, "Lady Alessia tells Count Marius exactly what to do, and he does as she says." Again, heavily implying that Marius is too love-stricken to see how much of a monster his wife truly is.
One thing I find interesting about Alessia though, is: She frequently speaks with Mahei and Numeen Deric, two well-to-do _Argonians._ Which seems downright baffling, given what we know about her. My theory is as follows: Mahei and Numeen both have surnames, which is already strange by Argonian standards. But their surname is (as mentioned above) _Deric,_ which sounds more like a Breton than an Argonian. We _know_ this is indeed their surname too, as many of Leyawiin's NPCs refer to Mahei and Numeen as "The Derics" when gossiping about how much they argue with one another; furthermore, if you pickpocket them (or kill them and loot the bodies) the key to their house is referred to as the _"Derics' Key._ They also wear matching Imperial-style black-and-burgundy outfits, and live in an Imperial-style house.
So, we have a pair of Argonians, who have adopted a Breton surname, wear Imperial-style clothes, and live in an Imperial-style house. This is significant, because if you ask Alessia's advisor, Hlidara Mothril, about Leyawiin, she says that the city "must move towards the mainstream of Imperial culture, both in political and economical affairs." To me, this seems to imply that Alessia doesn't necessarily hate Argonians, but rather, Argonian _culture._ Which might seem strange at first, but that sort of thing happens in the real world more often than you'd think.
P.S. Hlidara doesn't like the torture chamber either. Because if you ask her about it during the Thieves' Guild quest "Ahdarji's Heirloom", she quickly switches gears, saying "It's too dangerous" to speak of it, and will further describe the secret passage leading from the Countess's private quarters to the torture chamber, and will even add "Sometimes I can hear the screams of the prisoners in my chambers..." And when she's talking about the torture, her voice is _dripping_ with horror, pretty clearly implying that even though she agrees Leyawiin should be Imperialized, even she knows this is *NOT* the way to go about it.
Edit: Fixed some typos.
This is a very well-thought-out comment. Bravo
@@Lunam_D._Roger Thanks, it always feels good to go over theories I've been thinking about :D
@@Lunam_D._Rogeragreed, great comment 👍
You forgot about the most dishonorable count in the game. The count of Sutch! He did not even have the courtesy to show up nor have a city that the player could visit!
TBF, Korvus kept trying to rid himself of the Gray Fox persona once he realized what the price actually was, it just wasn't exactly easy to accomplish, and he explicitly stated he unconditionally quits crime immediately, so he's a lot better a person than any other criminal, discounting the Player.
One major note against Hassildor that wasn't mentioned; the Pale Lady. She's a hostile vampire npc living in Castle Skingrad that you encounter during the thieves guild quest "Lost Histories". She preys on the city's prison population, not always killing them but certainly killing them *sometimes*, regardless of the crimes they have committed. In fact the only direct example we get of her killing someone is a thief, which in my book certainly isn't an executable offense. She has the key to Skingrad Castle, and given the count's similarly vampiric nature, it's strongly implied that she is an underling of his. She also mentions harvesting the player character's blood for a "mistress" which the only viable candidate that we know of for that title would be the Count's wife, perhaps implying that the Count is still keeping her sparsely fed despite her protests against feeding (otherwise this "mistress" might be cut content?).
Frankly I think having a blood harvesting chamber attached to your prison that targets prisoners regardless of the crimes they have committed is more damning than everything else here, aside from the racist torture. Still love my boy Hassildor though, long may he reign.
Yeah I was surprised the Pale Lady wasn't mentioned. I had a pretty good opinion about the count until I did this quest, you can't tell me he doesn't know...
Honestly think it's a bit of a gray area to denounce the countess for taking back her husband despite him having been the gray fox - because she only does so after he gives up the title.
The fact that she forgives him, and never took another husband, makes it clear how much she loves him. And yet, she declares she will denounce him as her husband if he tries to step up as count, when he admits he's the gray fox.
So while it's true it's questionable that she takes 'a criminal who abandoned her' back, it's also shown how she places her town above her personal feelings by rejecting him at first. So I would personally bump her up to at LEAST be above the rumored wife killer.
I found your channel this last month and it has influenced me to buy the game for PC. Ive played Oblivion multiple times on the 360 and i enjoy it more than Skyrim. It has a great atmosphere. I love your videos. Keep up the good work. All the best to you!
I really appreciate it and I’m glad you like the game! It’s full of surprises and fun things that I haven’t even seen in 17 years of it being out! Happy holidays and merry Christmas! :)
I mostly agree with this list.
On the note of Andel Indarys,I think he does know about the dark brotherhood sanctuary,and being a Dunmeri Count and that close to the boarder of Morrowind,I think he was going to bring The Tong to Cheydinhal,to wipe out the brotherhood.
So the brotherhood killed his wife to send a message.
Great video as always! I dont think I've seen many videos talking about the counts in oblivion, so this was a good watch. Hope you had a good Christmas!
Did you know there was content cut where the player could have replaced Goldwine as the Count of Kvatch?
Yes! It would’ve been really cool to see!
WHAT . There has to be a mod that brings that back .
I mostly agree but I would make a few tweaks tbh, I gotta say that the countess of anvil deserves a higher place on the list, dialogue with the citizens and even the poor ones say she goes out of her way to greet them and is very fond of her people and the city. I get the reasoning but idk, maybe I just have a soft spot for her.
Yeah after I made the list and the video I was just brainstorming some people I’d move a little higher and a littler lower, I think I would put her a spot higher tbh
@@ABardsBallad either way I think most of the list is pretty damn accurate, maybe Indaril, but I think you make a good point about it all being conjecture
I love your videos man. Oblivion is one of my all time favorites
Thank you for the support! Merry Christmas and happy holidays!! :)
Ranking counts from best to worst; 1: Count Goldwine. Reason He dead 😂
😂 can’t get into any controversy if you aren’t alive anymore!! 😂
I couldn't live with someone like that.
I can’t tell if Dagoth Ur would love or hate Alessia Caro. On the one hand she hates Khajit and Argonians, but on the other hand she’s a mongrel imperial dog. She’s also not properly using the Khajit and Argonians as farm tools so that’d probably be another knock against her.
😂 yeah that’s a tough call tbh
Best mongrel dog, sometimes Dagoth would throw a dog biscuit at her before slamming the door in her face.
The mongrel dogs of the Empire have once again proven their genetic inferiority with their wasteful use of farm tools, not that such proof is ever required. Farm tools are a property investment that should be used to their full potential and specifically for all hours of the day. Yet the mongrel dogs have them sleeping on the streets of their cities, the very notion of "homeless" farm tools is an oxymoron of moronic proportions that befits their equally moronic kind. Destroying their property investments is merely further proof of why only the Dunmer deserve to announce their rightfully earned bigotry as the other races cannot even use something as basic as farm tools properly without breaking them.
Before watching this video, I tried to make a list myself, but I couldn't really from top of my head, though I had a feeling countess of Bruma would be one of the most honorable ones and Bravil & Leyawiin Counts and Countess would be the most problematic ones. I was quite correct, I completely forgot about Corvus though and it makes sense why he was placed where he was placed. From what little we know about Kvatch's count, it does make sense why he is number 1 spot. Well explained background of all the Counts & Countesses!
Goldwine is the William Henry Harrison of Counts, died fast enough to not do some ghoul shit in office.
Keep up the good content I enjoy watching it hope your channel grows
countess leyawiin's advisor, Hlidara, was kind of foreshadowing skyrim's thalmor emissary Elenwen with their shared desire to advance social tensions on the grounds of race + religion.
I do wish they'd kept the elves character design from Oblivion, though. I could never play a high elf in skyrim bc they were simply hideous lol
also, leyawiin's architecture was so underrated. I was so mad that I could only buy that moldy shack. I think I used to roleplay as owning the dark brotherhood member's home after killing him beause he was always roaming.
ah, the memories!
The Caros are esteemed Imperial nobles who keep the riffraff out of Leyawiin, clearly they are the most illustrious and successful nobles in Cyrodiil
Whoa. A Christmas treat ❤
Thank you 😊
Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I appreciate your continued support of these videos!
@@ABardsBallad Most welcome. Have a great end of year!
Thanks for sharing!
Random question for anyone who knows but does Lucien Lechance exist in-game before triggering the Dark Brotherhood quest line? Or once it’s been triggered, can he be found without him approaching the Hero First?
Most likely he's only enabled when needed, and/or stored in an inaccessible holding cell. That's how Bethesda usually handles that sort of thing. But he does run off after saying his piece, and you can follow him for some distance. I'm just not sure whether he actually waits somewhere or just disappears once out of range. Interestingly when he confronts you after the dead drop quests, that's actually a different NPC to the one you met before.
Fun upload!! Thanks ^^
Holy crap.. i did not finish the thieves guild yet and the grey fox being her husbandd is crezeyy .. da hek..
Capital!
Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
Merry Christmas to you hope you have a blessed day.
Countess Carvain is my favorite, however Countess Valgas' daughter, Alessia Caro is my most disliked, for being racist and for torturing Argonians. She doesn't deserve to be a countess nor does she deserve her essential status.
I hear you! Carvain is awesome and Caro is awful! Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
@@ABardsBallad You too man.
Just Iran I always wondered why curing vampirism isnt streamlined cuase its completely possible . A little tedious sure and I don't think you need ashes from a vampire in Skyrim.
One thing Skyrim did better than Oblivion was have the Jarls feel more like actual characters involved with their cities and the events of the game. The counts are just kind of there.
If I remember correctly, bravils count is the only one not essential and you can actually kill him. Did it on accident once and laughed at how disliked he must be
Not gunna lie, I thought that thumbnail said something else.
Personally i thin hassildor deserves to be a bit higher he only feeds on prisoners or willing subjects and is a good count
Indeed and despite being Vampire can’t meet his citizen directly he made Skingrad safe clean and welfared city
Bravil count is the best just because you can kill him
"Hi. We are going to use unused dialogue to prove our point".....
Uhhhh. Do I need to say anything or are we all smart enough to know what is wrong with that....