Looking at the Culling in TES: Legends, where Naarifin intended to open a gate (gates?) to Oblivion by sacrificing the population of the Imperial City, am I the only one who gets the feeling they retconned the effect Martin's sacrifice had on the Firmament?

Admittedly, i got that feeling in Skyrim when Dagon sent his hit-squad to 'thank' you for your help reforming the Razor.

Summoning individual daedra to the Mundus was possible under the Dragonfires. So was establishing portals that were "invitations" (to mortals) and did not "breach the Mundus", as Haskil puts it.

The Oblivion Gates to the Deadlands opened by the Mythic Dawn, whatever it was the Ayleids did and the Culling seem to be of a different nature. Establishing ways for Daedra to enter the Mundus en masse.

The big difference is, the Dremora that are sent to kill you aren't being summoned, nor is there an active portal. Dagon is sending them straight from his side.

But yeah, i know what you're saying. It's just that, between the novels, Skyrim, and now this Culling nonsense, i never got the feeling that what Martin did was that impressive. He shut one door, the easiest door, and that was it. There's still plenty of others, and a few windows to boot.

I'm atually wondering more about whether Martin shut the door at all, actually, which is the point of this thread. It seems to me that, despite smaller scale stuff remaining possible, this Culling thing leans towards opening full portals between the Mundus and Oblivion didn't stop being possible. The door just got a temporary barricade in front of it.