I think this is the most likely scenario.

I think it's likely that as popular a design design as this has been will not be shelved. So the question isn't whether dragons will still exist, but what lore explanation will be necessary to explain that they still exist.

We have a pretty good explanation, don't we? Alduin brought them back into the world, the Dragonborn and the Blades couldn't have possibly killed them all, so there will still be a few around to serve as special enemies in future TES games.

They're not so bound to Alduin, that they'd vanish just as he does. If that were the case, I doubt Paarthurnax would have been able to even hold a differing opinion to that of Alduin's. What I'd really like to know is why the dragons were evil in the first place. Before Skyrim, weren't they revered by the Cyrodiils? Did Nordic myth change them to become evil, as myth is known to affect Aedra?

Exactly. Not all of them are evil. In fact, the ones that continued in such a way were the ones that ended up being killed in the Dragon Wars or by the Reman/Dragonguard actions. Look at Paarhurnax and Nafaalilargus/Nahfahlaar - Good examples of dragons who sought peace or interacted with mortal races. Even in-game, some just circle about, have a look, then fly off.

Probably because the dragons revived by Alduin were his former servants, dragons who fought and died in the dragon wars. They would have a good reason to follow Alduin his orders and to be "evil".

My problem with Skyrim is that it only really shows one side of the dragons, and that it is their very nature (@Paarthurnax) that causes them to be destructive, and that nature can only be checked by thousands of years of meditation.

Well that's how Paarthunax handled it, not every dragon in the past has done it in the same way, and some of them have been succesful. I guess it's kinda like a drug addict, some people quit cold turkey some people go to rehab, there are dozens of different rehab clinics with different programs and some might work for one and not the other. Paarth took his rehab way and stuck by it, but that doesn't mean every dragon should have to do the same.

I mean just look at the dragon that ends up following you (forgot his name) he isn't going around killing hundreds of people anymore, instead he seems rather peaceful and just kills when you ask him too. I don't know whether this a perminant or a temporary situation but it seems that dragons can overcome their "nature" in many ways, and perhaps not all are as bound by their nature as Paarth was/is.

I don't understand why dragons have to be destructive to begin with. Why do the Cyrodiils love them? Is it a sort a phase thing? Like Akatosh? One minute he's nice another he's eating the world.

A dragon's nature is to dominate, not be a mass murderer. Odahviing follows you because you're more powerful then him, and your thu'um is something to respect.

@Chaplain, Cyrodiilic dragon imagery seems to be a side effect of the akaviri influence felt during the time of Reman's empire.

Wasn't there some line somewhere saying that dragons were the protectors of Cyrodiil and vice versa?

Tiber's Empire employed dragons like Nafalilargus, but the imagery is older than tiber. (it dates back to the potentates)

Well, considering they'll have trouble writing off the Dovahkiin anyway, I think he'll either become a god or a dragon. I like the Dragon idea which I just thought of.

Plus the whole 'domination' thing fits well for an empire.

On topic, I think they won't be just another "wild" animal group in future games. If the Dragonborn lets Paarthurnax live, then P-dog (OOOOOOWWW) takes his handful of Dragons and teaches them how to meditate and hide from the world, and the remaining violent/"feral" dragons are put down by the Dovahkiin (and Delphine's group of *cough*Blades*cough*). If the Dragonborn kills Paarthurnax, the Blades gather their forces and lead a dragon pogrom.

Either way: Violent dragon encounters go down, Blades membership goes up.

Delphine is the one that needs to die. I can't belive Beth made a protagonist so stupid and wrong. First they make the point that they are there to serve me, then they make me go kill my mentor. That's not my duty. It's yours bitc. Do it yourself.

And then they have to go and make Delphine and Esbern essential just to rub it in our faces.

Of course Dragons won't be around later. With their ancient enemy at hand once again, the Cliff Racers shall rise up and take root in Skyrim. With the soul of a dragon, not even the Dovahkiin will be able to stem the tide. The cliff racer menace will whipe out all record of the events taking place following 4E201, leaving everybody angry and slightly confused.