:facepalm:

If it makes you feel any better, I did. Although since I already knew enough lore to not need an answer [to the thread's question], this is perhaps not reassurance.

@thread
Because some of these old spirits have lived far too long, and have some serious psychology to work out. But it's not very wise to speak ill of the Dragon, at any time... unless you're a hero, I suppose.

There are worst stuff that people mispell than Alduin.

Whoever said that Aka and Alduin represent two perspectives on time is right on the money.

That's the key difference. The dichotomy of dragons represents how the Imperials and Nords view time.

Look back on their respective real-world inspirations, the Romans and the Norse/Germanic peoples. Romans were optimistic. They believed that their gods were absolutely immortal and could not die. Further, that these gods had ordained them to rule the world for all eternity.

The Norse were pessimists. Their gods could and would die, in Ragnorak, which would further consume the whole of creation.

That's the Imperials and Nords in a friggin' nut-shell. The Imperials see the Dragon (Time) as eternal and omnibenevolent, the breadth and beauty of creation. It guides them on the path to mastery of the world, the Empire-Without-End. But to the Nords, that same Dragon (again, Time) is ruinous. It destroys everything without exception. Nations, empires, great generals, feeble paupers, men, women, children, love, beauty, the whole world.

Again, it's a matter of perspective.

That being said though, are we even actually fighting Alduin? Because I don't recall him being mentioned at all, outside of a few scattered magazine blurbs.

Yes. It's confirmed.

attempting to kill the nine would be as foolish as trying to permanently kill a daedric prince. Someone needs to drop a few trillion sponges to soak up the waters of oblivion LOL

Think of it like Aldiun acts like a year. He helps the leaves on the tree grow durring the spring and summer months. But then he brings winter around as well, not because he's two different people and likes and hates people at the same time, but because if winter doesn't come the ground would run out of nutrients and the tree the leaves are on would die.

The covanant we had with Akatosh was like a promiss that he would allow Nirn to exist in eternal summer as long as they give him power through faith. But now both the covanant is broken and he has enough power to bring "winter" to Nirn. We're royaly screwed. Not even Dagon and Shor were able to hide even a little bit of Nirn away from Aldiun when he entered his Kalpa. And even if we do succeed - the next poor sap destined to save the world will have to deal with Nirn slowly dying because Aldiun didn't eat it because the Dragonborn stopped him.

What I think is that in real life when two cultures merged the deities are normally merged also. It may be the case that the Nords have always been worshiping a dragon Alduin and when they were joined with the Empire their dragon god is merged with another dragon god. creating another persona for Akatosh in belief even though they are separate entity entirely....

Its like that, but sort of the other way around.
One thing that is viewed in different ways.
Like you could see the slightly different pantheons of the Greeks and Romans.

Yea like public misspelled to pubic...

Crax's post laid it out perfectly.

We are fighting Alduin. He's Akatosh's alter ego, how the Nords percieve Akatosh.

It's like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They're both the same man, just two different personas.

While Dr. Jekyll helps a fallen little girl, Mr. Hyde just stomps on her and walks off.

Same with Akatosh and Alduin. While Akatosh saves the world, Alduin wants to devour it.

The difference is that in Tamriel, Jekyll can play cards with Hyde.

It was a waste of time because it's wrong. Alduin would never make a statist pact with a human. He is the mortal enemy of man.

A dynamically-evolving conglomeration of Alduin and Auriel, metaphysically bound to Shezarr, perhaps in the form of their joint avatar Pelinal, on the other hand, would and did. Some things can't be explained simply.

This is exactly what it is. Good example

I have to disagree. He is more like an inbodyment of a year - instead of one body housing two beings. He formed to pact with man in order to regain the power he lost when he was traqed on Nirn. The reason he saved us in Oblivion was because Martin was breaking his part of the pact. With the amulet broken, he wouldn't have to protect us - but people will keep putting their faith in him due to family tradition and such. Of course he'd take that agreement. Save Nirn from Dagon and get out of his part of the pact. Its' not like he saved us out of the kindness of his heart.

And two hundred years later he now has enough power to go through with another Kalpa. This isn't the first time Alduin ate everything. It's quite possible that if Nirn isn't eaten - something very bad will happen. Like if the same kind of crops are grown year long, the land will eventually run out of nutrients to support life. If Nirn isn't eaten, the power it draws on to support life may very well run out. It's not like the year hates the tree's, it's just winter is a neccessary part of life to continue on.

So is Akatosh like the old testament version of God, kills of the whole world just because he fancies it

That's incorrect. What texts make you say that?

Bottom line is that they are different identities that exist simultaneously. They share a body, but that body is just a dead planet orbiting Nirn, the remnant of the original spirit that sacrificed itself in Creation and was reborn in fractured form by inconsistent mortal belief. Nords believe in one Time God, Imperials believe in another, and the Altmer something else. These are the main three; we won't even get into what the Khajiit and Redguards et al think about it.

ALL these Time Gods exist. They all have a different consciousness and set of motives and powers. The being that devours the world never said a word to Alessia. If you read the Song of King Wulfharth, you will see Nords writing about Wulfharth fighting Lorkhan. But Wulfharth is Lorkhan! Or to be precise, he is an avatar of Shor, the Nordic interpretation of the Scarab God as he is known to the Dunmer.

Enough power? Life force? Where are you getting this?

Why are we fighting Akatosh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D47LUpR5ZV8

There is more than one god in TES.

No [censored], it was just an allegorical example

I want to kill all Daedra, Aedra, Mer and Beast races only men may exist.

Why is their such a thing as gods anyway?

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/oblivion-lunar-lorkhan quickly stats that the eight gave their power to create the mortal plane. It was a trap, depending who you ask, by Doom Drum. Doom Drum convinced the aedra to create the mortal plane, and that some of their power was needed to do so. Not soon after, many learned that the mortal plane was taking more of their energy that what was suppose to. Some excaped, creating the sun and stars that we see. Other's died - becoming the Earth-bones. And the last eight became the divines, Akatosh included.

It was my understanding that all the ones that sacrificed themselves were Earth-bones, but some stopped half way through and used faith to keep themselves together and alive. The Nords see Aldiun as both a creater and a distroyer as said http://www.imperial-library.info/content/morrowind-varieties-faith-empire, not just an eater. That's why I think that they are the same being, with the mortals just looking at the different things he did. If the Nords see Alduin as both a creater and a distroyer, then Aldiun isn't just the evil aspect of Akatosh.

Alduin is the creator because He is the Dragon God of Time. After He eats one kalpa, the next one begins. He starts time, and then ends it.

This is found in most myths, except the time-ending part.

Yeah, that's mostly it. The being now known as Akatosh was trapped on Nirn, presumably because he didn't read Lorkhan's fine print. The Earthbone spirits were subsumed completely, becoming the physical substance of Nirn.

But we can also describe the sacrifice of the eight et'Ada spirits as deaths. They gave up part of themselves, and their immortality with it. What does this mean functionally speaking?

They became, for all intents and purposes, dead planets stuck in Nirns orbit. The original eight 'died,' by losing their power and identities. But their mortal descendents re-constituted them based on their memories of the Dawn Era's struggles. Since the elves and humans had different experiences, they remembered different deities. Different deities were therefore constructed from their opposing beliefs, and they are all very, very real.

Auriel wants to escape the mortal world, as per Aldmeri belief. Alduin wants to destroy it. Akatosh wants to preserve it, and not just as some stalling tactic so he can pull off his own escapist coup. He is a being that has been completely reinvented by mortals, and should be viewed as separate from Auriel and Alduin, and completely separate from the original spirit whose corpse floats in the sky as a planet.

Alduin is a renewer deity who causes beginnings by bringing about the end. He reflects Skyrim's cyclical conception of time (which their southern cousins do not apparently share) and their dread of time's ravages on mortal works. And really, he is just Auriel as imagined by a hostile Nord. But Auriel still isn't a dragon, and has a mind of his own. Basically, we are dealing with an exclusively Nordic view of the apocalypse.
Akatosh is a statist deity who reflects Cyrodiil's confidence and self regard. He fortifies Nirn just as he fortifies the Empire. He is really almost Alduin's antithesis, forged as he was from an awkward compromise of pantheons. Maybe that's why he's insane. In any case, he's not plotting on behalf of his dragon twin. He doesn't share Alduin's goals and is incapable of acting in concert with his alter-ego.

This is, imo, the best explanation.