In Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, players would often encounter guards who would remark that, like you, they used to be an adventurer — at least until they took an arrow to the knee. The line of dialogue ended up becoming one of the most popular memes to spring out of the game, due in large part to just how frequently the player heard it. Bethesda’s latest game, the sci-fi action-RPG Starfield, features a reference to that Skyrim meme.
On Reddit, user Kinevi1 posted a screenshot of an otherwise-unnamed colonist saying, “I used to be an explorer too, but then I- No, never mind. It’s a long story.” The Easter egg is a clear reference to Skyrim‘s “arrow to the knee” meme.
The “arrow to the knee” meme was all the rage when Skyrim first released in 2011. Anywhere you went, even in non-gaming circles, people referenced the now-iconic line. Tons of theories sprung up about why just so many people were claiming an arrow to their knee ended their adventuring careers, with one particularly notable one claiming it was actually a way of expressing that the guards had gotten married. They had not, in fact, been shot in the knee with actual arrows.
This reference to Skyrim in Starfield is one of many Easter eggs players have found in their first twenty-four hours of the game. Recently, players discovered an Easter egg referencing a notorious scam in which a person calls regarding their car’s extended warranty. Easter eggs and references such as these are relatively common in Bethesda games, and I always love discovering new ways the studio has been slipping in its little jokes.
Starfield is out now for those who purchased certain editions of the game. If you’re not one of them, you’ll be able to play the game starting on Sept. 6.
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