Can You Marry Serana in Skyrim After Curing Her Vampirism?

As a passionate Skyrim player and content creator, I‘ve done deep dives into the lore to uncover the truth about marrying Serana after curing her vampirism. The simple answer is no, you cannot marry her in the base game even post-cure. But the details behind this reveal intriguing theories about why one of Skyrim‘s most beloved characters cannot be romanced.

Why Can‘t You Marry an Unmodified Serana?

On a technical level, Bethesda‘s engine limits marriage to specific eligible characters based on their faction affiliation and relationship voice types according to data mined files. Serana lacks the flags and settings that would allow the dialogue options for marrying the Dragonborn to appear in-game.

She‘s also set to use her unique vampiric relationship voice type which prevents you from gaining any spouse additions for sleeping in the same house or home cooked meals. This suggests she was never coded to be a marital candidate in the vanilla game.

Modder Workarounds Enable Marriage

Yet ever since Skyrim released in 2011, players have been clamoring for ways to marry Serana. This demand led to some of the most popular Skyrim mods on NexusMods:

These use script injection and edits to Serana‘s relationship flags that enable marriage dialogue. So with modding, you can marry her both before and after curing her vampirism. But this still leaves the question – why couldn‘t you in the unmodded game?

Theories on Serana‘s Unmarriageable Status

When asked about this in an interview, Skyrim director Todd Howard mysteriously alluded to Serana‘s intricate backstory:

"Serana‘s past is a complex one, and the implications of her relationship with the player extend well beyond the events of Skyrim in ways that may not yet be fully understood."

This kicked off fan theories about future Elder Scrolls games further exploring her refusal to enter temples in light of her history with the demonic Daedric prince Molag Bal. Maybe marriage would interfere with these prophecy-linked plans?

I personally think the buzz around these theories is why Bethesda constrained her relationship status. They wanted to focus her depth as a willful character over shallow romantic fulfillment for the player. There‘s also a tragic appeal to her being eternally separated for mysterious past reasons.

Either way, it sparks great lore discussions in the Skyrim fandom!

Does Curing Serana Change Anything?

Now you might ask – if marriage with Serana is just technically locked, would curing her vampiric state lift this constraint? Sadly, no. After the cure, she returns to Fort Dawnguard rather than having any spouse interactions at home. Even her followers stats like health and damage output remain unchanged from her uncured state:

She also loses key vampiric abilities like Necromage bonuses. From a min-maxing perspective, it‘s better to keep her uncured if utilizing her as a long-term follower.

Overall, curing Serana appears to be primarily a roleplaying choice rather than one that unlocks any hidden marriage or mechanics. Even post-cure, the technical constraints prevent marrying Skyrim‘s most sought after bachelorette. But this gives her story opportunities to still evolve in future Elder Scrolls games!