That would be the twist to end all twists. Martin and one of his summoned liches get a little to tipsy and the rest is history. 9 months later, Ugly Septim is born. Sound about right. But seriously, you have a decent point. The devs should consider it.

And what if you were the child of Martin Septim and the Daedra worshipper in TESV?

1) A reason to start in prison.
2) Ability to choose race, as that is decided by the mother's race.
3) Fallout 3 proved that the PC's mother face can be changed to look a bit like the PC.

If that were the case then wouldn't you be one of a kind? Other than the Grey Prince, has there ever been a hybrid of two different races before. I remember in 'The real Barenziah' (I cant remember which volume) she was pregnant with the child of the Emperor, before he had it destroyed. Imagine a Dunmer/Imperial, he would look like Michael Jackson. I think the PC would look like an abomination. Thats just my thoughts.

No. The child always take the mothers race, so you wouldn't really know if someone was a mixed race.

And do you really think that the people of Tamriel will accept the illegitimate son of a illegement son that is a Daedra Worshipper? That's like the United States voting in Osama Bin Laden as the next president. It ain't happening.

First off, the fact that we would have no proof that this new son is really a son. And he would be a Sanguine worshipper, which is taboo in pretty much all of Tamriel's cultures.

I doubt Daedra worship is inherited but I agree that he/she would have trouble proving their birth. Personally I'm hoping for something like the Year of the Four Emperors in Roman history. The War of the Red Diamond sets a precedent for civil war over the throne rather than a sensible compromise mediated by the Elder Council.

It would never happen to begin with, but if it did, I believe your goal would be to try to sway everybodys opinions about you being the heir to the throne by defending the Empire against all odds. And eventually being told by and Aedra in front of a big crowd, that your are the heir to the throne.

The Aedra aren't pro-Empire (well, possibly, if the Dragon-break things turns out to be true). And most of the Empire would still be not care if the Aedra said "This is Martin's son". They still wouldn't care.

Quite possibly your right. I was just saying thats how it might go. I personally think that would have no shot at happening. Whats more likely is that it will be the PC mission to find the new emperor, whomever he/she is or where. Or when.

If a Dark Elf would be emperor it would be Helseth with support of Barenziah. Vivec is just a lunatic.

Thats also a possibility. He is extremely loyal to the Empire, and Barenziah is a lady of the people. It is not inconceivable to think that could happen.

I doubt most of the people really care who becomes the next Emperor. Either way, its the Elder Council's call.

maybe nobility will whine and mock ... but there atleast two assasin guilds who can take care of it, and used to kill emperor's before ...

I think they'll care when the Empire is breaking up and only the new emperor can hold it together. The people will probably care when there livelihoods are in jeopardy.

That's what I'm saying; they can't be picky when choosing one. At least, not unless the Empire actually falls apart. So they probably won't care whoever becomes the emperor, so long as there is an emperor again.

I would not be surprised if the Emperor in TES V woudl be somekind of iron fisted facist as those kind of people usally take over when things are bad.
There is bound to be somone who has enough royal blood to make a claim for the throne, even if it's a very very very distant relative.

Indeed. They can't be picky, but I would definately recommend the Elder Council be in general agreement if not total agreement on the new emperor. If they choose someone who is unqualified than that is probably worse than having the Elder Council take over, with a republic or with an oligarchy.

Yeah. They will care. People generally care when a certain point is crossed. A Daedra worshipper would be past this point. A member of a persecuted religion within the Empire will NOT be accepted. Religion is generally extremely important to people. Even in most modern, more tolerant nations, people don't accept a different person of a different religion rule them, unless he can back his rule up with overwhelming force.

Example. United States has only one president that was non-Protestant (and we was killed). And presidents are not usually considered one of the head figures of a religion, and supposed to be a near-god figure. They will NOT accept Daedra Worshipper. We don't even know if they would really accept Martin, but we never had a chance to find out.

But the Empire is not a democracy. The people have gotten used to the fact that who becomes emperor isn't their problem, unless it actually affects them negatively. And as I remember, the Reman Empire didn't care when the Potenate took over, and they didn't care when Sanguine lived in the Palace.

They would have accepted Martin. The blades backed him up from the beginning with Juaffrey. The people would have loved him if he had lived through the crisis. I'm not saying he would be 100% accepted by everyone, but over time his support would grow greatly throughout the Empire. IMO of course.

Sanguine lived in the Imperial Palace!?

I think I remember hearing that somewhere bit I can't recall where exactly.

People prefer not to be ruled by someone of an alien culture. That is why when people have a chance, they will overthrow that alien in favor of a local. They will accept an alien emporer in good times, but in dire straits, that alien will be seen as that. The Empire is in dire straits, they will not accept an alien. The potenate resided over good times and was an important figure for three generations, so he was already fairly Cyrodiilized, and by that time many Cyrodiil's population had Tsaeci blood. We don't know how they reacted when Sanguine lived in the palace. That was Reman the second right?

But Cyrodiil did not let Katariah's son rule, because he was Dunmer, even though he was the closest in blood to Tiber Septim.

They will also accept an alien emperor out of desperation for an Emperor again. And unless they can find another candidate with significant support, they got no choice but to go with it; as I said, its up to the Elder Council. Its not a choice between two people, its a choice of somebody or nobody. And an Empire without an emperor is an uncertain thing.

True. An empire without an emperor will not last. It will eventually succumb to one enemy or another. Or perhaps even itself. The best chances for the empires survival is to elect or promote an emperor as soon as possible, while making informed, educated, and well thoughtout decisions.

I wonder how the devs will handle this new Fourth Era. They can't have the player character go on a quest to find a new emperor and install him on the throne; too similar to Oblivion's plot. It will be interesting to see what angle they take with the next TES game.