I just noticed this but isn`t the emperor`s plan to fill the prophecy of the Nerevarine a bit counterproductive?

The prophecy states that the Nerevarine will come back and drive out all the false gods and outlanders. Outlanders meaning the emperor`s own people.

Caius Cosades first says that he thought that the emperor wanted to have control over the natives by getting an agent to "fake" being the Nerevar but he says this doesn`t seem the case. If you also read the uncoded letter to Caius Cosades it states that the emperor believes this prophecy to be true, meaning they`re not just sending a fake Nerevarine in there. They`re hoping it`s the real deal.

So what was going on in the emperor`s head? Did he want to get his legions driven out of Morrowind?

If you read the prophecies (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:The_Seven_Visions, http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:The_Lost_Prophecy and http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:The_Seven_Curses), you'll notice that they don't actually say anything at all about driving away the outlanders. You could interpret the last verse of the 'Seven Visions' that way, if you really stretch it, but equally it could be just wishful thinking on the part of the Ashlanders. Of course, it's also possible that the Emperor didn't realise the full extent of the prophecies - or that he did realise, but considered Dagoth Ur enough of a danger to make it worth the risk. (After all, if Ur had won, the Empire would undoubtedly have been driven out anyway.)

But the emporer's decoded letter itself states that the Nerevarine would drive out the Empire. Regardless of its truth, he still believed it.

Moved, as contains plot spoilers

Presumably he's more concerned about Dagoth Ur, then. Or maybe he believes the prophecy will inevitably come true in any case - perhaps because it's set out in the Elder Scrolls or something - and wants to make sure the Nerevarine is someone of his own choosing? Some interesting possibilties here...

Yes: the threat of Dagoth-Ur aquiring the full power of the Akulakhan is deemed more important (to a learned person like the Emperor) to stop than revoking the empire.

Of course if Dagoth Ur was permitted free reign to conquor Tamriel, then you might argue that the Daedric Invasion would have been prevented, Uriel would not have been killed (by assassins atleast) and the outcomes of the Daedric Invasion (beyond the events of Oblivion, in lore-land ) would not have happened.

Infact you COULD argue that stopping Dagoth Ur was the worst thing the Nerevarine could have done for Morrowind, since the daedric invasion almost gave free reign to Argonia invading it where Dagoth Ur and his far more militant empire could have resisted such endevours (assuming the daedric invasion happened anyway)


But thats only an elaborate guess

Did the emperor actually know that Akulakhan was being built?

By the way here`s the part of the decoded letter that suggests the emperor thought that the Nerevarine would drive away his people:

"His Majesty's particular wishes are as follows.

A local superstition holds that an orphan and outcast, a youth born on a certain day to uncertain parents, shall unite all the tribes of the Dunmer, drive out the invaders of Morrowind, and shall reestablish the ancient laws and customs of the Dark Elven nations.

/.../

%PCName has the appearance of meeting the conditions of this local superstition. Therefore it is his Majesty's desire that %PCName shall, insofar as is possible, satisfy the conditions of this ancient prophecy, and shall become the Nerevarine."

Well, even this could be interpreted in many different ways. The Dark Elves were invaders of Morrowind long before Imperials had even thrown off the yoke of the Aylieds, and you also have to look at the timing of the prophecy, which Uriel Septim and his ministers would have done.
The prophecy surfaced as the tribes were pushed further and further from the airable lands of southern Vvardenfall. To them, the lords of the three houses would be considered invaders, or possibly, "Invaders" meant the warped monsters of Dagoth Ur reborn, because they would often attack villages, and were very dangerous, provoking Uriel's response.
Still, invaders may have meant outlanders, but if that is the case, then I believe that Uriel would have counted on a Morrowind with a weaker Tribunal after the Nerevarine Prophecy, thus, far easier to reconquer if they rebelled.

PS, after a little research, I found no primary document saying that the Nerevarine would even kick out the outlanders, this only appears in imperial works on the prophecy.

Yes, this is definitely the case. It seems only the emperors note and some optimistic ashlanders suggest this would happen.

But didn't the Emperor think "Well, if this were to happen, I'd want this guy to be friendly to me, with Imperial allegiances if possible..."? Whether or not he knew or thought that the goal of the Neriverine was to cast out the outlanders, the Neriverine would certainly be an important force in Morrowind, and hopefully, I imagine the Emperor would think, he would remember that it was indeed the Emperor who freed him.

It was also the emperors laws that (maybe) imprisoned him to begin with. So..

No i think that the wise Uriel was acting in what he thought was the best for the whole of tamriel, not just the empire. The Greater Good.

Could be that he was looking even farther ahead. After all, the Emperor has the Elder Scrolls at his disposal, which appear to be pretty reliable.

According to what I have heard, the Empire collapses some time after the events in Oblivion. My guess is that, if the Emperor knows this, the Empire being forced out of Morrowind is the least of his concerns; he sees that Dagoth Ur will cause more harm to the world than the Empire's continued presence in Morrowind will help. This is not to mention that the Blight functions in such a way that a military campaign to destroy Dagoth Ur's forces would be futile as long as Dagoth Ur himself remained to sustain it. In that sense, the Emperor had no choice but to play along with the prophecy.

It is also possible that, if there is no document that conclusively states that that is the Nerevarine's job, then the Emperor either was not aware, or that he was aware but had no confirmation of it as a part of the prophecy. Therefore, it could have just been a risk that he needed to take.

If I recall, though, the Nerevarine prophecy originated with Azura getting mad at the Tribunal for killing Nerevar, or something like that, in the Battle of Red Mountain (the details were always foggy at best). That being the case, I have a hard time believing that the Empire was ever even a consideration, given that the prophecy would have come about long before Imperial rule. It might have more to do with the Tribunal's influence spreading and "corrupting" the way things were in Morrowind, or it could be wishful thinking corrupting ancient prophecy.

At that, it could be that the Emperor was trying to appease Azura for some reason. Not making any claims there, but it is kind of an interesting consideration.

Ooh, very interesting point!

I love that Morrowind's lore is complex enough that it can provoke a whole discussion like this!

Maybe the Blight had something to do with it as well.
http://uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Blight

If Oblivion's characterization of the Emperor has any weight, he probably foresaw some way the in which nerevarine prophecy would ultimately serve his ends. This, in spite of views probably held by his advisers, and in spite of the likelihood the nerevarine would be rebellious. It's that dragon blood, eh, eh, eh? "They see more than lesser men."

-plus the fact that the Empire wanted to be friends with Nerevarine. "Hey, we tell you you fulfill the prophecy, so you let us be, right? It's a deal. Let's just take care of Dagoth Ur."

I don't know why they had to include the "drive the outlanders away from Morrowind" part of the prophecy. Maybe Caius just showed Nerevarine the letter even though he shouldn't have? It was coded originally, after all. Maybe they just thought that Nerevarine thought it to mean Dagoth Ur and his minions (and not non-Dunmer), OR that they thought Nerevarine could be told the truth nonetheless, because he wasn't born an Ashlander and thus had nothing deep against the Empire.

It is very trusting from the Empire nonethess to give this information to Nerevarine, concidering (s)he started from their prison. Maybe it's just a traditional way to start TES game and nothing more. But it IS part of the story and a gap in storytelling that begs for explanation. Maybe they thought N would think (s)he was treated mercifully and would remember the treatment (s)he got when/if (s)he became an enormously strong and influental Hortator and Neravarine.

Also good talk about Elder Scrolls. Possibly they had read something far worse than a possible random type possibly driving any non-Dunmer off Morrowind.

Don't you, if I remember correctly, swear to protect the empire and the emperor when you first talk with Caius Cosades and join the Blades?
So I guess the emperor must have thought that having an outlander, who is also a member of the Blades, being the Nerevarine would make it less likely that s/he would go against the empire.

The Nerevarine having united the Dunmer (at least on Vvardenfel) and using that power after defeating Dagoth Ur, would not only pose a threat to the empire, but also to king Helseth, who already sends the DB after you for just being the Nerevarine. And what if the emperor would let it slip that the Nerevarine was working for the empire the entire time. I'm don't think the Redoran, Telvanni or the Ashlanders would follow someone who could still be a part of some plan of the emperor's.

Since Caius sends you around gathering information on the prophecy, I guess the emperor only knew about it from hearsay, and as someone already wrote "drive the outlanders away" was probably interpreted out of the prophecy by some people and became so popular, that anyone who didn't know about the real prophecy believed it to be an original part.

Seeing that it's not really a secret that the Tribunal Temple was going after everyone who thought s/he was the Nerevarine, the emperor must have thought that fulfilling the prophecy would not only put a person more or less loyal to the empire in a position of power, but also weaken the standing of the Temple amongst the Dunmer. It was still a risk he had to take, but unless the Nerevarine would have failed to stop Dagoth Ur, there is not much that could have gone wrong.

Then again what if the Nerevarine would have joined Dagoth Ur? What if the Nerevarine would have taken the first chance he had to start a new life and never went to Balmora, instead going to Vos and became a farmer? Or what if the last that was seen of him were some cleanly picked bones, after he disappeared in a cloud of cliff racers?

The posts here focus on the role of the Nerevarine in defeating Dagoth Ur, which the Empire sees as a definite benefit. In the case of the Emperor, however, I put forward that he may have been just as concerned with releasing the Heart of Lorkhan, which was the other thing the Nerevarine accomplished (which, honestly, may turn out to have even more dramatic effects). Uriel is a decedent of Talos, after all (ala Wulf, at the Ghostgate, widely believed to be an aspect of Lorkhan).

This is a very interesting move on his part, no matter how you slice it.

Positives: Dagoth Ur defeated / one more step toward Lorkhan's return

Negatives: Possible expulsion of the Empire from Morrowind / there is no way he could have been completely unknowledgeable about the weakening of the barrier-possibility of the Oblivion invasion once the Red Tower was removed