Hello everyone I just had some questions about Akatosh/Alduin. I'm just trying to understand the lore a little better. Thank you in advance for any help you guys can give me to do so.

1. Why did Akatosh make that covenant with Allesia?

2. Based on Alduin's Wall, the events of previous games set in motion the soon-to-be events of Skyrim. I know that the events of Morrowind weakened the protection Tamriel against Oblivion. Other than that I'm not sure how the games are related. ( I have not played Arena or Daggerfall but I do know the outlined story of what happened).

3. How awesome is this game going to be on a scale of 1 to 10? I would say 50.

Against I apologize if I am missing something because I haven't done my homework.

This would probably do better in the lore forum, but despite the fact my coffee hasn't set in I'll try to help.

I don't think Akatosh had a choice to agree to the pact. He was tricked into agreeing to help make the world, and he was stuck obeying that worlds rules. Now that the pact is broken, I'd imagine he's a touch miffed.

As for all the previous games, the Staff of Chaos can open and close portals to "other worlds," Numidium was a Tower, so its loss or destruction would weaken the barrriers as well as cause a Dragon Break, Morrowind is as you say, and Oblivion severed the most prominent line of Dragonborn and their pact.

The way I understand it the Imperial Cult either misinterpretted the events of the first era or some vital accounts were lost (maybe even delibaretly). In any case, their picture is badly skewed. Instead of understanding that Alduin/Akatosh was bound to the mortals in order put an end to his tyrany, the tale got twisted into making a sacred pact in order to seal off the realm of Oblivion, which hamstrung the Ayleids (who just LOVED using Daedra as their forces) and made the victory of Saint Alless possible. I found it very strange that among the 9 divines, who were human-like, there was exatly one dragon. The lore suggests that this is because the pantheon of the Imperial Cult was artificial. When Aless liberated the slaves of the Ayleid empire with the help of the Nords, she was faced with a potential religious war as the slaves were by now too accustomed to the Ayleid doctrine, which conflicted with the beliefs of both the rebels and the Nords. To solve this, Alless created "an elegant compromise" by merging the Ayleid Akatosh with the (then) seven divines. This pieced-together pantheon suited both sides, but probably led to much of real history being forgotten, and in turn the aforementioned misinterpretation of what Akatosh really was up until that point. (for more info read "Shazaar and the gods" in Oblivion)
That's my version anyhow. I think discovering the truth behind the great dragon's duality will be part of the intrigue of the game's story.

Thank you for the responses. It would make sense that the people of Tamriel could be misinformed. I like how so much of Elder Scrolls lore is up to speculation.