Serana's questline gets worse every replay and I finally figured out why

[RiftenWanderer]

I just finished Dawnguard for like the fifth time and something clicked. Her whole arc is basically "follow me around while I angst about my family drama" and the game never actually lets you DO anything about it except watch cutscenes.

Like, Harkon's just... there. You kill him, credits roll on that part, and then what? Serana gets one conversation where she's like "yeah my dad was bad" and that's supposed to be closure? Compare that to something like Karliah's arc in the Thieves Guild where you're actively uncovering betrayal and making choices that matter. With Serana you're just a spectator to her story.

And the weird part is the game KNOWS she's interesting. The voice acting is great, the lore about Molag Bal and the Volkihar stuff is genuinely dark, but then the questline just... doesn't trust you to engage with it. You can't convince her to do anything different. You can't side with Harkon (well, technically you can but the game punishes you for it). You're locked into being supportive boyfriend NPC #47.

idk maybe I'm being harsh. What do people actually like about her questline? Because I keep coming back to it thinking there's something I'm missing.

 

[TamrielTactician]

I get what you're saying, and you're not wrong that Serana's arc is more passive than Karliah's - but I think you're maybe underselling how much the questline is about that passivity, if that makes sense?

Like, Karliah's story works because you're solving a mystery with her as a partner. Serana's is different - it's about her coming to terms with centuries of abuse and deciding what she wants to do with her immortality. The game can't really let you "convince her to do something different" because the whole point is that she's finally making her own choices after being controlled by her family. If you could talk her into siding with Harkon or whatever, it kinda defeats that thematically.

That said, yeah, the execution is clunky. The Harkon fight happens and then... you're just done, narratively. There's no real confrontation with Serana about what comes next, no quest where you actually help her process it beyond a few dialogue lines. Compare that to the Thieves Guild where Trinity Restored is this whole thing where you're actively fixing the Guild's problems - with Dawnguard you're just walking away. The lore is genuinely compelling (Molag Bal's involvement, the whole Daughter of Coldharbour angle) but the game doesn't give you much room to actually engage with it beyond listening to her talk about it.

I think that's why people either love her or find her frustrating. If you vibe with the character and the voice acting carries you through, it's great. If you want agency and meaningful choices in her story, you're gonna feel like a sidekick the whole time.