Objective: Investigate the dragon at the Western Watchtower with Irileth's guards.
Payoff: Absorb your first dragon soul and unlock Unrelenting Force.
Reward: Thane of Whiterun (a housecarl and the house Breezehome become available).
1. To the Western Watchtower
Jarl Balgruuf orders you to join his housecarl Irileth and a squad of guards at the Western Watchtower, just outside Whiterun. When you arrive, the tower is aflame and Mirmulnir is circling overhead.
Irileth is essential and can't die here, but the ordinary guards fighting alongside her aren't — search the tower and its base afterward and you'll often find one or two who didn't make it, along with whatever they were carrying. This holds across all three releases (2011 original, 2016 Special Edition, 2021 Anniversary Edition): nothing about this fight or its scaling changed between them.
2. Boss: Mirmulnir
- 1
Phase 1 — Flying
While the dragon strafes and breathes fire, use a bow or Destruction magic. Keep moving and take cover behind the tower to avoid the fire breath. The guards will help chip its health.
- 2
Phase 2 — Grounded
Dragons can't stay airborne past roughly half health, which is what forces Mirmulnir down for good. Rush in with melee for big damage, but back off when it rears up to bite or shout — within biting range at low health, it can kill you outright with a finishing move rather than a normal hit. Focus fire and it falls quickly.
Its fire breath can down a low-level character in seconds. Keep a healing potion hotkeyed and never stand still in the open. Mirmulnir is a fire dragon — resistant to fire damage and weak to frost — so a Frost spell or enchant works better here than fighting fire with fire.
3. Absorbing the Soul
As Mirmulnir dies, its body ignites and a stream of light pours into you — you absorb its dragon soul. The stunned guards realize you are Dragonborn. Open your Magic → Shouts menu and spend the soul to unlock Fus (Unrelenting Force). Try it out with the Shout button!
Moments later, a thunderous voice booms across all of Skyrim: "DOVAHKIIN!" — the Greybeards are summoning you.
4. Chapter Complete
Return to Jarl Balgruuf. He names you Thane of Whiterun, hands over an enchanted Axe of Whiterun (its exact enchantment is randomly rolled), and assigns you the housecarl Lydia as a follower. He also urges you to answer the Greybeards' call at High Hrothgar.
Lydia stays at Dragonsreach until you actually own a house for her to guard. Breezehome, Whiterun's cheapest home, costs 5,000 gold from steward Proventus Avenicci — Lydia moves in the moment you buy it. Furnishing it completely (bedroom, alchemy corner, weapon racks and the rest) adds roughly another 1,800 gold on top of the purchase.