Meridia's Beacon / "A New Hand Touches The Beacon"

About

"A New Hand Touches The Beacon" is a catchphrase referencing Meridia's Beacon, a quest item found in Skyrim that starts a quest many players find tedious. Both the beacon and the catchphrase became a source of memes, particularly YouTube parodies, in which the subject dreads picking up the item.

Origin

In Skyrim, the item "Meridia's Beacon" can be found in a random chest by the player, and upon adding the beacon to your inventory, the phrase "A new hand touches the beacon" is heard as the quest "The Break of Dawn" begins.^[1] "The Break of Dawn" is an infamous quest for Skyrim players due to it essentially beginning at random, and if a player is not at the appropriate level upon discovering the beacon, it can be lengthy, tedious, and difficult.^[2] On December 24th, 2017, YouTuber jaxx attax posted a video of encountering the beacon in a streamed playthrough of Skyrim, gaining over 239,000 views in five and a half years.

Spread

Meridia's Beacon became the subject of parodies, particularly on YouTube, starting in the early 2020s. On October 18th, 2021, YouTuber OwlishGamer posted a video featuring The Witcher reacting to finding the beacon with dismay, gaining over 2 million views in nearly two years (shown below, left). On July 12th, 2022, YouTuber My Two Pence posted a variation showing Walter White finding the beacon and reacting similarly, gaining over 129,000 views in nearly one year (shown below, right).

On April 15th, 2020, Redditor Everestax posted to /r/dogelore^[3] a meme about Meridia's dialogue being jarringly loud, gaining over 2,600 points in three years (shown below, left). On August 1st, 2018, Redditor cosmixtoast posted a Who Would Win? meme about Meridia's Beacon to /r/ElderScrolls,^[4] gaining over 4,600 points in five years (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References