I'm just wondering. Akatosh is leader of Nine Divines, he is also the only one with any real power as the rest are lesser deities, and one is even an exalted human. Basically Akatosh is the glue that holds the divines together, and protects them and the world form the Daedra. But now we're finding out that Alduin is Akatosh's alter ego. Now the leader of the Nine Divines, and the true source of there power, has turned evil and is their enemy. Will the Nine Divine be able to survive this? Is it the end of the Aedra as masters of the world? Will the Daedra be able to take over again after the events in Skyrim? It's all very confusing, and it leads me to believe that maybe all the gods are unstable, or that none of them are actually good at all. What do you guys think of this whole mess. :shrug:

In short, it doesn't change anything. Akatosh has always been Alduin, and Alduin has always been Akatosh; at the same time, they're completely different people.

To put it in an even shorter form: the gods are schizophrenic as all hell. Each god is everything that every culture believes they are, even when those beliefs are completely contradictory.

Ya they don't seem to be the kind of people you want to be ruling the entire world. (That's why monotheism is better! ) That being said, I think there is more to it then that.

The Gods were never "good". They only want to get away from Nirn, after being bound to it.

maybe this will be a significant element of the game. the empire is in ruins, maybe a conflict with aludin will be the blow that not only kills the imperial cult but the empire as a whole.

Your questions stem from a string of misconceptions. Akatosh is not the "leader" or the glue that holds them together. The Nine Divine is not a traditional religion. It's all really complicated and it's too much to get into here.

In short, Alduin is not really "evil," the Aedra are trying to escape Mundus because it's viewed by them as a trap created by Lorkhan. Akatosh only seemed benevolent to the Imperials because that is how they view him.

Thinking whether or not the Aedra are "good" or "evil" is a matter of perspective, or just entirely futile in itself.

Alduin is the the time dragon. He is coming to bring an end to this age, as its time has come, just as the previous ages have also come to an end. After each of those ages, Lorkharn convinced the gods to recreate the world. The signs of the end of this age have passed, he comes again to swallow this epoch.

From what I can tell, he's a neutral deity in Nordic culture. In this game, you're fighting him because you want humanity to continue to exist, this cycle to exist. Alduin is still Akatosh, and it might be interesting to see how that plays out. But it will not play out in the way you're thinking.

Dis gave mah brain a major case of the boo-boo ouchies....

Somebody has done there research have a fishy stick classic.

Wow, you guys are already thinking about the lore?

My only plan has been to go Ice-age on aldun's ass... :icecream:

Hopefully this will answer some of your (OP's) questions and clarify some of the misinformation that was given. From the book The Amulet of Kings: "On behalf of the suffering human races, St. Alessia, the first in the line of Cyrodiils, sought the aid of Akatosh, the Dragon God of Time, and ruler of the noble Aedra. Akatosh, looking with pity upon the plight of men, drew precious blood from his own heart, and blessed St. Alessia with this blood of Dragons, and made a Covenant that so long as Alessia's generations were true to the dragon blood, Akatosh would endeavor to seal tight the Gates of Oblivion, and to deny the armies of daedra and undead to their enemies, the Daedra-loving Ayleids.

In token of this Covenant, Akatosh gave to Alessia and her descendants the Amulet of Kings and the Eternal Dragonfires of the Imperial City. Thus does Alessia become the first gem in the Cyrodilic Amulet of Kings. The gem is the Red Diamond in the middle of the Amulet. This is the Symbol of the Empire and later taken as the symbol of the Septim line. It is surrounded by eight other gems, one for each of the divines.

So long as the Empire shall maintain its worship of Akatosh and his kin, and so long as Alessia's heirs shall bear the Amulet of Kings, Akatosh and his divine kin maintain a strong barrier between Tamriel and Oblivion, so that mortal man need never again fear the devastating summoned hosts of the Daedra Lords.


But if the Empire should slacken in its dedication to the Nine Divines, or if the blood of Alessia's heirs should fail, then shall the barriers between Tamriel and the Daedric realms fall, and Daedra-worshippers might summon lesser Daedra and undead spirits to trouble the races of men." Bolded portion by me. The Nine Divines are Akatosh's kin, not necessarily his inferiors. The "religion" Velorien puts it isn't that complicated for discussion here.

My only suggesiton is, if you have Oblivion, go back and read the books in the game. There is more than enough lore there to provide an understanding of what was and what may be in Skyrim. :tes:

This/

You are awesome.

Well, the elven versions want to escape. The Cyrodiilic ones are perfectly happy with the way things are, and I don't think the Nordic or Yokundan versions even frame their thoughts on Creation in those terms.

the mad god?
im sure the gods just are some super duper uber powerfull something? and can be affected by curses and such. thus hes both or anduin is "switch" to reset things who then goes to sleep and new life begins. stupid sto speculate anyways, it is at it is and WE have to put things how they should be (again)

This a hundred times².

They didn't write 4500 pages of text in Morrowind/ Oblivion for funzies.

Supposedly the divines get a lot of power from worship, and worship tends to get really popular when the chief your pantheon appears as a flaming avatar and beats up the prince of destruction who is invading your plane of existence.

Maybe if the Nine Divines get their power from worship, everyone should turn to Daedra worship and summon someone like Mehrunes Dagon to help you kill Alduin....
That'd teach him for being all like "ALL YOUR LANDS ARE BELONG TO US"

It is not just power, the very nature of the gods is changed by the beliefs of mortals. The reason Auri'el, the Cyrodiilic Akatosh, and Alduin are such different, and conflicting, versions of Akatosh the Dragon of Time, is partly just because different mortals see the entity in these disparate ways.

If only there were a culture that believes Akatosh is a gigantic pair of briasts who hands out free icecream...

for me they don't even exist (RP reason) I hate them and if they can be killed I will go on a quest to do it.

they svck and I hate them and the empire and it will be my goal to bring all of them down until their very names are expunged from all history until the end of time, I will turn all the emperors into demonic figures and the nine into pagan idols that are worshiped by zealot fools.

the empire and all that it stands for will turn to dust under my foot and then that dust shall be blown into the winds of oblivion, and when I pass no one will know that something called the empire or the nine had ever existed, I shall be their end and the last creature to hold knowledge about them

MUAHHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHA :teehee:

Its not really that hard to believe Akatosh is Alduin. He's the god of time. Time has a beginning, a middle, and an end. There is no getting around that fact. The different names represent what he is seen for doing or what he will do by the people. Nords focus on the part where he ends time, and call him Alduin. Akatosh is the name for people who think of him as the person who helped start time.

Some people are happy he helped life begin because he began time, but other people see him as the person who will also end time so that another time can begin. Its like the seasons. Spring can't come till winter passes. Akatosh is just doing his job, by starting, continuing, and then ending time so the cycle can begin again. He's just one spirit, he doesn't have multiply personalities, he just is following his job discription. He gains power through faith like all the other spirits, so he will be quite the helpful guy when he's starting time and helping time continue, but eventually all that has to come to an end. Maybe he thinks those who are alive no longer deserve to live, or maybe he is just hungry...doesn't really matter, he obviously has decided that this is a good a time as any to end our existance to start another one.

But that's where we come in. Somehow, we have to stop the god of time from doing his job, without killing him. Killing time itself would not be a good idea. Many of the spirits were only able to come into being because of time, they were able to have pasts and futures and that helped them become what they are. If we suddenly remove time, anything could happen. There would be no past, no future. Present wouldn't even exist as we think it would. So a way to stop Alduin without killing him would be ideal.

PS: This all hinges on my current understanding of lore. Don't take it as fact, just my opinion on the matter.

What exactly is so messy about it? Alduin is part of the local Skyrim pantheon, the Nine Divines (including Akatosh) is part of the Imperial pantheon. Different people have different ideas about what's what. The Nine Divines aren't even remotely affected by some dragon awakening in Skyrim believed to be Alduin. But whether he really IS Alduin or not, is anyone's guess.

You forget that Bethesda tells the Elder Scrolls stories in the eyes if Tamriel's inhabitants. There are no set rules or historical canons (well some, but not related to this).

The way I see it, it's kind of like the difference between the Gods in Greek Mythology and Roman Mythology, or the God in Christian, Jewish, and Islam beliefs. They're all the same Gods but have different names and each God is different depending on the religion and culture.

So if nobody believed, then the gods would cease to exist? interesting... it's like that made-for-TV "Merlin" movie

The Dwemer preferred their god's of "Logic" and "Reason"( http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dwemer#Religion_.26_Philosophy ) so i wonder if the god's appeared as anything to them (since logic and reason are ways of thinking, not gods)