
It is not annihilation per se, but rather an eternal nowhere. The soul remains trapped in the gem until the item is used for enchanting, at which point the soul is cast into the Soul Cairn.

A soul is trapped and transported to the Soul Cairn, where it waits until the soul gem to which it is tethered is consumed. The Soul Cairn is a way station for entrapped souls.Therefore, there seem to be two viable ways of understanding the Soul Cairn: On the other, the fissures filled up my petty, lesser, common, and greater gems. Is the Soul Cairn only for the souls of man and mer? On the one hand, aside from Arvak, I only encountered sentient souls.Are the souls in the Soul Cairn currently trapped in gems and awaiting annihilation, or are they here because their souls were already used up in an enchantment?.Are they the residue of a soul being used in an enchantment? Soul husks are plant-like objects, but the name suggests that they are something left behind.As demonstrated by the encounter during The Black Star, the space inside a soul gem is not the same as the Soul Cairn.During The Black Star, when Malyn Varen dies inside a soul gem, his soul is utterly destroyed (Nelacar refers to it as non-existence).Soul Gems can be filled by activating Soul Fissures inside the Cairn.Not all of the entities within the Soul Cairn are entrapped souls.Some souls deal better with the Soul Cairn than others (Jiub, Morven Stroud).The Soul Cairn is vast and depressing - more Limbo than Hell.

The Soul Cairn is populated by entrapped souls.Said gems may be used to enchant or recharge.Upon death, a Soul Trapped being’s soul is.PLEASE NOTE: HERE BE SPOILERS! If you have visited this blog before, thanks and welcome back! These posts are of particular use to those readers less familiar with Skyrim (or video games in general). These posts include a short introduction to this project, a content-specific author bio, and a few other pieces that explain key concepts relevant to this study. If you have not visited this blog before, it might be helpful to read the posts labeled " Orientation," most of which are the first few entries in the blog archive (see right). Please note that the purpose of this blog is to discuss morality within the context of the game, not to determine whether playing the game is immoral in and of itself the latter type of "discussion" tends toward tedium and inhibits, rather than promotes, a meaningful conversation.

Rather than a fansite, review, or walkthrough, it is a serious attempt to examine the game through a moral lens. Welcome! This blog is devoted to considerations of morality in the The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim by Bethesda.
