Sources from the game suggest that there is no duality going on now. No one side of the other.

When I saw that Alduin was just one differently coloured dragon, I was pretty surprised. I thougtt Alduin was going to be more than one creature.

But Alduin is simply that? One physical dragon.

I have not played the main quest yet.
But I do know that there is an Orc written book that says Alduin is not Akatosh
And an Imperial book that says the opposite.

Both can be found in the College of Winterhold.

That book is actually written by a nord. It's called "Alduin is real" and subtitled "and he ent Akatosh"

Alduin, at the time of the game, is just big, well-connected dragon. That doesn't mean he wasn't or won't be a god. But at the present time, he shows no sign of extraordinary divinity.

As far as I currently understand Alduin the Dragon did mantel Akatosh to travel back into time.
My personal understanding of lore may be faulty.

As you haven't played the main quest yet, I'll simply say that the incarnation of Alduin we see in the game isn't there by choice. So I don't think he's mantling anything this time.

Hm.
Ill deal with that bridge when I come to it.
:)

Mannimarco Moment. Another [censored] Mannimarco Moment.

It's also worth noting that Shor is said to have done many, many things, such as attending Sovnguard and speaking plainly to people, etc. Shor Son of Shor. Alduin Son of Alduin. We killed Akatosh's ability to form a solid Alduin avatar in Mundus. That's my take on it.

The fact that the player can reinforce the idea that we did not kill Alduin for good to Argenir and the game hints at it so much seems to imply that this wasn't just a thoughtless oversight by the developers. I think there's more here than we're giving credit to. Maybe just wishful thinking.

I also thought the He Ant Alduin book was kind of poking fun at the issue people had with believing Akatosh was Alduin.

I actually think that's the perfect comparison. In OB, you kill the wimpy Altmer portion of Manimarco, while leaving the moon in the sky. Here, you kill the wimpy dragon portion, while the world-eating power is still far away. It's easy to become disappointed by this, but it's nearly as easy to see the bright side.

The Akatosh incarnation we saw at the end of Oblivion was anything but whimpy, though.

I guess lore bends towards whatever it easier for the devs.

Oh come now, it's nowhere near that bad. The only prior mention of Alduin in-game was in Varieties of Faith so there's not even much to contradict. He also specifically states a connection to the Dragon God when you first defeat him, referring to himself as the Firstborn of Akatosh, and others call him the world-eater as well. Even Arngeir isn't surprised that you didn't consume his soul, and says that he's much more than just another dragon.

The presentation's pretty terrible, but this is not the same case as the first lich, whom we've interacted with directly and about whom much has been written, turning into a mincing high elf pansy in a cheap Halloween costume. It could be worse.

The main question, perhaps, going forward, is where the kalpa cycle fits into all of this. Is Alduin even a part of it anymore (and if he is, how exactly this 30-foot long dragon was planning on ending the world is beyond me)?

Perhaps the dov survive from one kalpa to the next and Alduin is always the one who takes upon himself the mantle of the Dragon God, to devour the world as the all-conquering all-consuming harbinger of the end. We'll have to wait for more text-based gifts from Kirkbride or DLC books to give us the full picture, but at least Arngeir didn't say "Alduin's dead, here is some reskinned Imperial Guard armor that you have to wait a week to get and that is crappier than what you're currently wearing anyway."

Maybe he's a dragon pretending to be Alduin with an army of brainwashed dragons.
Are the dragons in this game still Jills, or are they the other kind?

So they're not Jills is what you're saying?

Also I just had this crazy idea man.
What if
now bear with me
what if
everyone were everyone else.
WHOA.

They are not, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1237986-what-is-dragon-blood-and-why-is-it-required-to-wear-the-amulet-of-kings/page__view__findpost__p__18793413.

Other way around. Alduin was a dragon pretending to be an aspect of his father Akatosh

Which is annoying because it conflicts with the idea that Akatosh is a (very real) invention of the Alessian pantheon, and needlessly does away with the very logical idea of Alduin as the Nordic conception of Auriel.

Cyrocentrism has taken over the lore.

Ald son of Ald.

If anything it's probably more like Talos/Tiber Septim. He ascended to divinity and then ruled Tamriel as a mortal emperor until his death in 3E 38.

Alduin the dragon king and firstborn of Akatosh is also Alduin the World-Eater, you just defeated the first one while we await the coming of the second.

Sigh. I was very fond of the idea of Akatosh-Auriel-Alduin fundamentally being one entity, and the dragons being (an)Jills.

I want to believe that Alduin is still the Nords version of of akatosh. I think there's still somethings we're missing here.

With the nords, even the stormcloaks, now having a more imperialized religion, how does alduin still fit in? If the old beliefs faded completely, wold ald exist at all?

Also the part about breaking into the thalmoor embassy seems to be a bit tacked on. Is it just to reinforce that alduin is not auriel?

How can ald be firstborn of aka without actually being aka?

I was hoping for a little closure and confirmation at the end of the MQ, but I guess it wouldn't be an elder scrolls game if that was the case

Then comes the other 800lb guerrilla, what about Auriel? He's not the good guy time god, unless you believe the mer, as Auriel is anti-Mundus.

Will Beth cop-out, and also make Auriel =/= Akatosh, and make the artificially created time god the real one? Then what's the point of Shezarr and the Divines? Something ain't right, and I just cannot accept at face value that the Mannimarco of dragons we got was really the fabled world devourer, Alduin, and that Akatosh is truly the real time god.

I feel your pain. Not having the game yet I've done my best to stay away from any spoilers but every time I look at the lore forum I see this damn topic and its has disheartened me greatly. BOO on you Beth, BOOOOO!