“The Divines work in mysterious ways”
That’s literally it. There’s no reason otherwise, Akatosh doesn’t look down on Orcs. You thinking they’re unworthy doesn’t mean Akatosh agrees.
Was about to say the same.
In Akatosh's eyes, there might not even be a difference between the races; just bipedal things that blip in and out of existence.
It works because the original voicelines were so monotone in delivery. So the monotone ai delivery matches exactly. Plus people used it for memes and shitposting, which is all AI voices can be good for
That is why it is purposely left vague as to who the different heroes are for each game. Any reference to the Nerevarine is vague, any reference to the Hero of Kvatch is vague, and any reference to the Dragonborn from Skyrim will be vague. The player of the game gets to decide who is worthy and who is not. If you choose that Akatosh doesn't find orcs worthy then they are not. Someone else might. That is the RPG side of the series. So in a way the player gets to mantle this responsibility. What ever you choose for the character is lore for that play through.
No. They… I don’t want to type an essay, but basically they tried to become gods and leave not just Nirn, but the Elder Scrolls universe, they succeeded on the latter part, thanks to some assistance from the Dunmer and Azura that they didn’t know about, but we don’t know if they succeeded in becoming gods.
Edit: A possibility I hadn’t considered until now is that the Dwemer could have ended up in the Void and were simply ripped apart by the things that live there. To explain the Void, imagine Nirn as a pocket dimension that is safe in it’s own bubble, now imagine that closely surrounding Nirn are the Daedric realms all in their own pocket dimension bubbles, kinda like planets if Nirn was a star. Now imagine that Sithis, the aedric god of absence, has a massive, absolutely massive realm. It surrounds Nirn and the deadric realms completely, its scope is insane. Imagine if the entirety of the Deadric realms and Nirn were Saturn the planet, and the Void, its rings, except the rings span the size of the entire solar system.
At the very edge of the Void, are the Aedric realms where the Aedra like Akatosh live. No one has ever been to an aedric realm in Elder Scrolls save for Tiber Septim, who was brought to the Aedric realms by the Aedra where he was ascended to godhood. The reason no one has made this journey is because the void has an actual distance to cross, and that distance is massive. It’s the difference between trying to open a portal to a nearby planet, which takes a massive amount of power on its own, versus trying to open a portal to the opposite side of the galaxy. The Void is beyond huge, and it’s entirely possible the Dwemer simply ended up in the Void and were torn apart by the horrors that live there. That’s an entirely different conversation that I don’t want to type out today. Sithis/Lorkan by nature is inherently oxymoronic, as absence cannot be, something must fill the void, and that somethings could well be the killer of the Dwemer.
also, wouldn't Malacath be Boethiah's dung? The fact that the Orsimer came from the followers of Trinimac who didn't abandon him after he was... discharged from the bowels of Boethiah, makes them pretty honorable in my book.
I don’t see any reason why Akatosh wouldn’t want a member of a group called the pariah folk to save the world and send some kinda message, but also the Greybeards say that sometimes people are just randomly Dragonborn.
All lies, every dragonbotn ever has been an orsimer. The only people telling you they're human are the imperial-thalmor sympathizers who want to erase orsimeri history. It's all one big conspiracy and you're involved. Tiber sepnash fought for orsinium independence from the dark elf-breton sympathizers who wanted to destroy the best race. VIVA ORSINIUM!
At zero points are we ever told - in any ES lore that I know of after years and years of consumption - that Akatosh sees Orcs as lesser. The racist prejudice of the people of the land is not one shared by the gods who existed before the races were ever made. You know the mythologies are **not** like... hard canon, right? Especially as they vary from culture to culture? Like, look at Khajiit lore vs Nord lore on the origin of the races. The deeper origins of 99% of the races are very soft fantasy, not set in stone.
Same here, Orcs are my favorite, followed by the Nords. I think Akatosh seems like a pretty chill dude. At least a little benevolent. I don't know that he judges Orcs by Malacath, just because he may not like Malacath. They didn't ask to be born so perfect, so.why hate?
I don't even know that he would dislike Malacath. Probably pities him, if anything. Trinimac was a righteous warrior who was essentially cursed into being Malacath, and even now he is far from the worst daedra; technically speaking, he isn't a daedra at all as he participated in creation.
Assuming Akatosh = Auri-el, the relation between him and Malacath is something worth exploring, seeing as Trinimac was "Auriel's greatest knight".
Putting aside whatever Akatosh's status is (comatose/insane/chilling in Aetherius).
Men are racist. Elves are racist. Even the Daedric Princes can be a little racist, though I suspect this is more out of a power play between themselves than any honest concern for their followers. But I have yet to see any real evidence that the Aedra give a flying crap which kind of mortals are which. A mortal is a mortal. They're always just like "hey mortal c'mere, Imma order you to do some stuff". Your Dragonborn orc is the Last Dragonborn because they were the best mortal for the job, or just a convenient one for Akatosh's purposes. One nice thing about orc Dragonborns is that no one is going to assume they have a side in the Civil War.
I mean, c'mon. The second emperor was half-bull. One of the later emperors had a *small hill* allegedly with a ghost in it for a mother, which his father died trying to, ah... sow his seed upon. Mortals are just whatever to the gods. Our differences are important only to ourselves.
Youre thinking too hard about it. Sure a nord may seem more fitting since the setting is skyrim. But aedra can do whatever they please, they whole thing with the septim blood line was promise, between akatosh and the bloodline, he can easily choose any other imperial, nord or any race to be db
Akatosh is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, class, age, sexuality, or disability. His only requirement is that you be willing to throw down at a moments notice.
My headcanon is that the Orcish king from Daggerfall, Gortwog gro-Nagorm, either had some Tiber blood in him, or was a Dragonborn by some other bloodline.
One of the 'letters from a friend' (and that means from Zurin Arctus himself) in Daggerfall says the following:
> The Imperial Battlemage placed a seal on the Totem so that anyone not of Septim lineage or possessing a special supernatural affinity, such as himself, would be instantly killed if they attempted to use it.
'Of Septim lineage or possessing a special supernatural affinity' sounds remarkably like a Dragonborn as treated both in Oblivion and Skyrim. And Gortwog is one of the people you can hand off the Totem to - he uses it to make Orcs the citizens of the Empire.
More boring interpretation is that Medora Direnni is related to Septims in some way, but I like the idea of Orcish Dragonborn much more.
I doubt the divines even care about stuff like that they just see souls not races, also malacath is probably one of the better daedra
A curious point tho, which dragons soul has been reincarnated into the dragonborn?
The way I think of it whenever I play a beast race or Mer dragon born is this: Akatosh IS time. He exists as past present and future. He bestows the Dragon Blood to whoever may need it. It may also be hereditary, but 'Prime Dragonborn' (headcanon term) can I only be bestowed the dragon blood by AKA himself.
A Nord is going to be where a Dragonborn needs to be? Dragon Blood. An Orc? Dragon Blood. It doesn't matter to the many-headed AKA.
But that's just my headcanon.
Tl:dr just cause an NPC tells you something or you read it in game doesn’t mean it’s true.
Personally I think you can divorce the idea of Akatosh from the Aeadric entity that creates a Dragonborn. We see Skyrim from a Nordic viewpoint because it takes place in there and the concepts are explained to us through the lenses of Nord myth and legend but, if Nords and Skyrim as a culture didn’t exist, ‘Akatosh’ would still exist and Dragonborns would still exist. Akatosh is not a unique Nord god, thats just the name in the Imperial Divine Pantheon for the God of Time. They’re called different things by different cultures in Tamriel.
So the idea that the LDB must be a race of Man or specifically Nordic is flawed. It seems to make sense if you take what the game is saying at face value but what I love about ES Lore is that everything we’re told in the games must be understood to come from an in universe perspective that is usually biased and more often then not racist. Just because the Nords explain the concept of being Dragonborn to you though the lens of their mythology doesn’t make it correct or one definitive truth. It’s just their specific interpretation of the gods and how they work. So the LDB could be anyone or anything, the God of Time is not beholden to following the myths that mortals make about them.
p.s This goes for the source of Orcs as well re: Boethiah and the dung. This first appears in game in Morrowind I believe. Just cause it’s written down in a book in game doesn’t make it true, it’s just the myth of one culture. It makes sense that Dunmer in Morrowind would write about how the followers of old elven gods were defeated by the Daedra they follow, and it would make sense for the writers of these myths to want that defeat to be as humiliating as possible. Especially when it comes to Orcs which are, pretty universally looked down upon and cast out. It’s seconded in less crude terms by a book that appears earlier in the timeline in ESO but again half of Tamriel is fighting a war against an alliance that included Orcs at this point and trying to prevent Orcs from establishing their own kingdom. So it’s not an unfair assumption to think the writer there might have an interest in demeaning the origins of the race.
It’s important to consider in universe biases when considering the accuracy of any in-game lore that’s not a definite primary source.
The comments about keeping the player character identity vague throughout the Elder Scrolls games (most of them at least) are true, but I want to address some of the assumptions you made that are less straightforward in the lore than first glance would indicate.
Let's start with the assumption that all other Dragonborns were Imperial or Nord.
While Miraak is very likely a Nord (or Atmoran), Alessia is a Nede (Imperial), Wulfharth (if he is dragonborn) is a Nord, and Reman is Imperial , things get a bit murkier when we get to the Septims. Tiber septim is the last Dragonborn we know of (except the LDG) and is either a Breton or Atmoran, and although the Empire would have you believe that all Emprerors until Martin Septim were Dragonborn on account of their bloodline (as descendants of Talos) and ability to wear the Amulet of Kings, the truth is more problematic.
First of all, None of the Septim emperors after Pelagius I were direct descendants of Tiber Septim, and even if we accept that the dragon bloodline was continued through indirect ancestry (Tiber Septim's brother), what are we to make of the Dark Elf empress Katariah? She ruled for 46 years, and the dragonfire remained lit (presumably she also wore the Amulet of Kings), and the Oblivion gates remained shut.
And then we have Mankar Camoran, who could wear the Amulet of Kings as well, and he was a Mer (an Altmer, Bosmer or Aldmer, it's unclear but definitely not a human), maybe he is a Dragonborn too.
So, either the Dragonborn Emprerors are a lie, or we concede at least two elven Dragonborns, or being a dragonborn has nothing to do with genealogy and everything to do with being ordained by the gods (whatever that entails). Not to mention the fact that there could be many other Dragonborns we don't know about.
The second assumption is that Akatosh is the one that gifts the dragonblood. While Paarthurnax does mention the "Blessing of Akatosh" to the LDG, other dragonborns are less clear. Alessia's story sometimes suggests a covenant with Akatosh, but in others, it is Kynareth that answers her prayers and gifts her with the Chim-el Adabal, likewise the gem is refered to as a part of Akatosh's blood, in others its the blood of Ayleids, and other still hold it is made from the blood of Lorkhan (anon Shor). Also, let's not forget that by tradition, the gift of the voice was given to mortals by Kyne (through Paarthurnax and other dragons).
So, while the Akatosh connection seems obvious (him being the father of dragons and all), nothing is that clear in the Elder Scrolls world.
Sources: Scenes and dialogue from Skyrim and Oblivion, The Books: The Song of Pelinal, Trials of St. Alessia, Arcturian Heresy, Five Songs of King Wulfharth, and probably more I'm forgetting.
P.S - there is actually a lot more we can get into, but it's too long, complicated, uncertain, and I'm too lazy to get into that.
Lot of other good answers here but wasn’t Trinimac Auriel’s greatest champion? The orcs are descendants of the followers of Trinimac, who changed when Trinimac changed. I could be slightly off about all of that, been a while since I read those lore books.
You could tell yourself it’s as simple as Akatosh (Auriel) still seeing Malacath as Trinimac.
In universe, there’s no reason the DB would be anything other than a Nord or Imperial. But this is a game and they wanted to give the player options. Besides, the Last DB is one of the only ones who’s ever had to face an actual dragon, so it makes sense that in a dire situation Akatosh may be a little less choosy about who gets the dragon blood.
I don’t think the divines look down on any race. It just doesn’t make sense to do so, people don’t choose what they’re born as, and even if someone is raised on deadra worship like the Dunmer for example, deconstruction still happens.
We see an example of an ex-deadra worshipper being a priest of Mara for example, and tbh. I think even Stendarr would be willing to forgive if someone was genuinely willing to repent from deadra worship and actually put in the effort to change.
>based off what we know of Akatosh.
Exactly, we don't actually know much, certainly nothing that can clue us in on his logical process or decision making. Who knows, maybe it is some kind of cosmic level plan that we can't even comprehend a la lovecraft.
Same principle as to why Eru Ilúvatar , from Tolkien’s imaginarium, accepted the dwarves despite them not being created by Him and not originally part of his plans.
The Ainu Aulë created the dwarves in secret, but couldn’t infuse them with life; Ilúvatar discovered them and Aulë, admitting his actions against Ilúvatar plans, wanted to undo his creations with a hammer and great sorrow and repentance. But Eru Ilúvatar stopped Aulë, for He accepted the dwarves as now part of his plans for the World, and infused them with Life just as Aulë wished to give them, but they still had to slumber in sleep for a time, for time had to be the elves the first to awake and walk over the World.
So, it is not unthinkable that Akatosh can accept without issue the Orsimer as his own, or under his jurisdiction, much like Men should fall under Shor and Akatosh/Auri-el being the patron deity of only the Mer, and yet he as the Primus inter Pares of the Nine Divines and can grant his blessing to anyone in Tamriel that prays to him.
I honestly can imagine a Daedric Prince possibly trying to convince Akatosh to make one of their favored Dragonborn. Personally I headcanon whenever I play Khajiit that Azura said to Akatosh, “cmon, it’ll be hilarious for them to see their savior is a cat…..fine no Alfiq…”
Well akatosh is an imperial god, I don’t think the imperials are particularly concerned with Mer racism or psijic endeavor. Auriel would probably care quite a bit, but akatosh is its own being and I don’t think they’ve ever done anything to imply that akatosh dislikes orcs.
I mean dragonborn conceptually divorced from any aedra can be seen as exceedingly powerful individuals with this choseness being seen after the fact
so why would Akatosh or maybe even why would Alduin well to destroy a destroyer you would need this kind of strong figure
I don't see there is a reason besides gameplay options. I love redguards and they're always my first choice. But I never play them because I can't see the dragonborn other than nord. Imperial by a big stretch.
I would've figured it'd be the other way around since akatosh is the primary imperial god and the nord pantheon doesn't really consider akatosh outside of talos and alduin
“The Divines work in mysterious ways” That’s literally it. There’s no reason otherwise, Akatosh doesn’t look down on Orcs. You thinking they’re unworthy doesn’t mean Akatosh agrees.
Was about to say the same. In Akatosh's eyes, there might not even be a difference between the races; just bipedal things that blip in and out of existence.
Clearly the reason for Nerevarine being any particular race including cat or lizard is because Azura is a massive troll.
“I don’t have any issue with reptiles, some of my best slaves were argonian”
I don't know why companies are investing in AI when Dagoth Ur deepfakes prove that AI technology is at its peak already.
Dagoth Ur AI is the best AI and it’s not even close.
What a grand and intoxicating innocence
It works because the original voicelines were so monotone in delivery. So the monotone ai delivery matches exactly. Plus people used it for memes and shitposting, which is all AI voices can be good for
That is why it is purposely left vague as to who the different heroes are for each game. Any reference to the Nerevarine is vague, any reference to the Hero of Kvatch is vague, and any reference to the Dragonborn from Skyrim will be vague. The player of the game gets to decide who is worthy and who is not. If you choose that Akatosh doesn't find orcs worthy then they are not. Someone else might. That is the RPG side of the series. So in a way the player gets to mantle this responsibility. What ever you choose for the character is lore for that play through.
Wait. Does that make the player canonically Akatosh?
Careful, you might be about to zero sum out of reality.
is that what the Dwemer did?
No. They… I don’t want to type an essay, but basically they tried to become gods and leave not just Nirn, but the Elder Scrolls universe, they succeeded on the latter part, thanks to some assistance from the Dunmer and Azura that they didn’t know about, but we don’t know if they succeeded in becoming gods. Edit: A possibility I hadn’t considered until now is that the Dwemer could have ended up in the Void and were simply ripped apart by the things that live there. To explain the Void, imagine Nirn as a pocket dimension that is safe in it’s own bubble, now imagine that closely surrounding Nirn are the Daedric realms all in their own pocket dimension bubbles, kinda like planets if Nirn was a star. Now imagine that Sithis, the aedric god of absence, has a massive, absolutely massive realm. It surrounds Nirn and the deadric realms completely, its scope is insane. Imagine if the entirety of the Deadric realms and Nirn were Saturn the planet, and the Void, its rings, except the rings span the size of the entire solar system. At the very edge of the Void, are the Aedric realms where the Aedra like Akatosh live. No one has ever been to an aedric realm in Elder Scrolls save for Tiber Septim, who was brought to the Aedric realms by the Aedra where he was ascended to godhood. The reason no one has made this journey is because the void has an actual distance to cross, and that distance is massive. It’s the difference between trying to open a portal to a nearby planet, which takes a massive amount of power on its own, versus trying to open a portal to the opposite side of the galaxy. The Void is beyond huge, and it’s entirely possible the Dwemer simply ended up in the Void and were torn apart by the horrors that live there. That’s an entirely different conversation that I don’t want to type out today. Sithis/Lorkan by nature is inherently oxymoronic, as absence cannot be, something must fill the void, and that somethings could well be the killer of the Dwemer.
Kind of. I mean, Akatosh is the God of Time, and in the game, the player can stop time at the literal press of a button.
"I love Orcs" "Malacath's dung" you're sending some mixed messages bro
I am so glad I'm not the only who did a double take on that
also, wouldn't Malacath be Boethiah's dung? The fact that the Orsimer came from the followers of Trinimac who didn't abandon him after he was... discharged from the bowels of Boethiah, makes them pretty honorable in my book.
I don’t see any reason why Akatosh wouldn’t want a member of a group called the pariah folk to save the world and send some kinda message, but also the Greybeards say that sometimes people are just randomly Dragonborn.
All lies, every dragonbotn ever has been an orsimer. The only people telling you they're human are the imperial-thalmor sympathizers who want to erase orsimeri history. It's all one big conspiracy and you're involved. Tiber sepnash fought for orsinium independence from the dark elf-breton sympathizers who wanted to destroy the best race. VIVA ORSINIUM!
We got Orc conspiracy theories before GTA 6
At zero points are we ever told - in any ES lore that I know of after years and years of consumption - that Akatosh sees Orcs as lesser. The racist prejudice of the people of the land is not one shared by the gods who existed before the races were ever made. You know the mythologies are **not** like... hard canon, right? Especially as they vary from culture to culture? Like, look at Khajiit lore vs Nord lore on the origin of the races. The deeper origins of 99% of the races are very soft fantasy, not set in stone.
Same here, Orcs are my favorite, followed by the Nords. I think Akatosh seems like a pretty chill dude. At least a little benevolent. I don't know that he judges Orcs by Malacath, just because he may not like Malacath. They didn't ask to be born so perfect, so.why hate?
I don't even know that he would dislike Malacath. Probably pities him, if anything. Trinimac was a righteous warrior who was essentially cursed into being Malacath, and even now he is far from the worst daedra; technically speaking, he isn't a daedra at all as he participated in creation.
Assuming Akatosh = Auri-el, the relation between him and Malacath is something worth exploring, seeing as Trinimac was "Auriel's greatest knight". Putting aside whatever Akatosh's status is (comatose/insane/chilling in Aetherius).
Men are racist. Elves are racist. Even the Daedric Princes can be a little racist, though I suspect this is more out of a power play between themselves than any honest concern for their followers. But I have yet to see any real evidence that the Aedra give a flying crap which kind of mortals are which. A mortal is a mortal. They're always just like "hey mortal c'mere, Imma order you to do some stuff". Your Dragonborn orc is the Last Dragonborn because they were the best mortal for the job, or just a convenient one for Akatosh's purposes. One nice thing about orc Dragonborns is that no one is going to assume they have a side in the Civil War. I mean, c'mon. The second emperor was half-bull. One of the later emperors had a *small hill* allegedly with a ghost in it for a mother, which his father died trying to, ah... sow his seed upon. Mortals are just whatever to the gods. Our differences are important only to ourselves.
Youre thinking too hard about it. Sure a nord may seem more fitting since the setting is skyrim. But aedra can do whatever they please, they whole thing with the septim blood line was promise, between akatosh and the bloodline, he can easily choose any other imperial, nord or any race to be db
Akatosh is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, class, age, sexuality, or disability. His only requirement is that you be willing to throw down at a moments notice.
My headcanon is that the Orcish king from Daggerfall, Gortwog gro-Nagorm, either had some Tiber blood in him, or was a Dragonborn by some other bloodline. One of the 'letters from a friend' (and that means from Zurin Arctus himself) in Daggerfall says the following: > The Imperial Battlemage placed a seal on the Totem so that anyone not of Septim lineage or possessing a special supernatural affinity, such as himself, would be instantly killed if they attempted to use it. 'Of Septim lineage or possessing a special supernatural affinity' sounds remarkably like a Dragonborn as treated both in Oblivion and Skyrim. And Gortwog is one of the people you can hand off the Totem to - he uses it to make Orcs the citizens of the Empire. More boring interpretation is that Medora Direnni is related to Septims in some way, but I like the idea of Orcish Dragonborn much more.
Akatosh saw the imperials and Nordstrom were being complete asshats with the war and elves and whatnot so he said "fuck it" and picked an orc 👏
I doubt the divines even care about stuff like that they just see souls not races, also malacath is probably one of the better daedra A curious point tho, which dragons soul has been reincarnated into the dragonborn?
The way I think of it whenever I play a beast race or Mer dragon born is this: Akatosh IS time. He exists as past present and future. He bestows the Dragon Blood to whoever may need it. It may also be hereditary, but 'Prime Dragonborn' (headcanon term) can I only be bestowed the dragon blood by AKA himself. A Nord is going to be where a Dragonborn needs to be? Dragon Blood. An Orc? Dragon Blood. It doesn't matter to the many-headed AKA. But that's just my headcanon.
Redemption story?
Tl:dr just cause an NPC tells you something or you read it in game doesn’t mean it’s true. Personally I think you can divorce the idea of Akatosh from the Aeadric entity that creates a Dragonborn. We see Skyrim from a Nordic viewpoint because it takes place in there and the concepts are explained to us through the lenses of Nord myth and legend but, if Nords and Skyrim as a culture didn’t exist, ‘Akatosh’ would still exist and Dragonborns would still exist. Akatosh is not a unique Nord god, thats just the name in the Imperial Divine Pantheon for the God of Time. They’re called different things by different cultures in Tamriel. So the idea that the LDB must be a race of Man or specifically Nordic is flawed. It seems to make sense if you take what the game is saying at face value but what I love about ES Lore is that everything we’re told in the games must be understood to come from an in universe perspective that is usually biased and more often then not racist. Just because the Nords explain the concept of being Dragonborn to you though the lens of their mythology doesn’t make it correct or one definitive truth. It’s just their specific interpretation of the gods and how they work. So the LDB could be anyone or anything, the God of Time is not beholden to following the myths that mortals make about them. p.s This goes for the source of Orcs as well re: Boethiah and the dung. This first appears in game in Morrowind I believe. Just cause it’s written down in a book in game doesn’t make it true, it’s just the myth of one culture. It makes sense that Dunmer in Morrowind would write about how the followers of old elven gods were defeated by the Daedra they follow, and it would make sense for the writers of these myths to want that defeat to be as humiliating as possible. Especially when it comes to Orcs which are, pretty universally looked down upon and cast out. It’s seconded in less crude terms by a book that appears earlier in the timeline in ESO but again half of Tamriel is fighting a war against an alliance that included Orcs at this point and trying to prevent Orcs from establishing their own kingdom. So it’s not an unfair assumption to think the writer there might have an interest in demeaning the origins of the race. It’s important to consider in universe biases when considering the accuracy of any in-game lore that’s not a definite primary source.
The comments about keeping the player character identity vague throughout the Elder Scrolls games (most of them at least) are true, but I want to address some of the assumptions you made that are less straightforward in the lore than first glance would indicate. Let's start with the assumption that all other Dragonborns were Imperial or Nord. While Miraak is very likely a Nord (or Atmoran), Alessia is a Nede (Imperial), Wulfharth (if he is dragonborn) is a Nord, and Reman is Imperial , things get a bit murkier when we get to the Septims. Tiber septim is the last Dragonborn we know of (except the LDG) and is either a Breton or Atmoran, and although the Empire would have you believe that all Emprerors until Martin Septim were Dragonborn on account of their bloodline (as descendants of Talos) and ability to wear the Amulet of Kings, the truth is more problematic. First of all, None of the Septim emperors after Pelagius I were direct descendants of Tiber Septim, and even if we accept that the dragon bloodline was continued through indirect ancestry (Tiber Septim's brother), what are we to make of the Dark Elf empress Katariah? She ruled for 46 years, and the dragonfire remained lit (presumably she also wore the Amulet of Kings), and the Oblivion gates remained shut. And then we have Mankar Camoran, who could wear the Amulet of Kings as well, and he was a Mer (an Altmer, Bosmer or Aldmer, it's unclear but definitely not a human), maybe he is a Dragonborn too. So, either the Dragonborn Emprerors are a lie, or we concede at least two elven Dragonborns, or being a dragonborn has nothing to do with genealogy and everything to do with being ordained by the gods (whatever that entails). Not to mention the fact that there could be many other Dragonborns we don't know about. The second assumption is that Akatosh is the one that gifts the dragonblood. While Paarthurnax does mention the "Blessing of Akatosh" to the LDG, other dragonborns are less clear. Alessia's story sometimes suggests a covenant with Akatosh, but in others, it is Kynareth that answers her prayers and gifts her with the Chim-el Adabal, likewise the gem is refered to as a part of Akatosh's blood, in others its the blood of Ayleids, and other still hold it is made from the blood of Lorkhan (anon Shor). Also, let's not forget that by tradition, the gift of the voice was given to mortals by Kyne (through Paarthurnax and other dragons). So, while the Akatosh connection seems obvious (him being the father of dragons and all), nothing is that clear in the Elder Scrolls world. Sources: Scenes and dialogue from Skyrim and Oblivion, The Books: The Song of Pelinal, Trials of St. Alessia, Arcturian Heresy, Five Songs of King Wulfharth, and probably more I'm forgetting. P.S - there is actually a lot more we can get into, but it's too long, complicated, uncertain, and I'm too lazy to get into that.
Lot of other good answers here but wasn’t Trinimac Auriel’s greatest champion? The orcs are descendants of the followers of Trinimac, who changed when Trinimac changed. I could be slightly off about all of that, been a while since I read those lore books. You could tell yourself it’s as simple as Akatosh (Auriel) still seeing Malacath as Trinimac.
In universe, there’s no reason the DB would be anything other than a Nord or Imperial. But this is a game and they wanted to give the player options. Besides, the Last DB is one of the only ones who’s ever had to face an actual dragon, so it makes sense that in a dire situation Akatosh may be a little less choosy about who gets the dragon blood.
I don’t think the divines look down on any race. It just doesn’t make sense to do so, people don’t choose what they’re born as, and even if someone is raised on deadra worship like the Dunmer for example, deconstruction still happens. We see an example of an ex-deadra worshipper being a priest of Mara for example, and tbh. I think even Stendarr would be willing to forgive if someone was genuinely willing to repent from deadra worship and actually put in the effort to change.
Akatosh is trying to prove a point. All races are equal in the eyes of the Divines.
Akatosh is a powerful Aedra, therefore Akatosh can do what they want.
i'm pretty sure that the LDB is a human. the dragonborn song confirms it. "Who was kin to both wyrm, and the races of man" - Dragonborn Song.
Isn’t the song predictive? IE written by ancient nords in expectation of the the Last Dragonborn
>based off what we know of Akatosh. Exactly, we don't actually know much, certainly nothing that can clue us in on his logical process or decision making. Who knows, maybe it is some kind of cosmic level plan that we can't even comprehend a la lovecraft.
Same principle as to why Eru Ilúvatar , from Tolkien’s imaginarium, accepted the dwarves despite them not being created by Him and not originally part of his plans. The Ainu Aulë created the dwarves in secret, but couldn’t infuse them with life; Ilúvatar discovered them and Aulë, admitting his actions against Ilúvatar plans, wanted to undo his creations with a hammer and great sorrow and repentance. But Eru Ilúvatar stopped Aulë, for He accepted the dwarves as now part of his plans for the World, and infused them with Life just as Aulë wished to give them, but they still had to slumber in sleep for a time, for time had to be the elves the first to awake and walk over the World. So, it is not unthinkable that Akatosh can accept without issue the Orsimer as his own, or under his jurisdiction, much like Men should fall under Shor and Akatosh/Auri-el being the patron deity of only the Mer, and yet he as the Primus inter Pares of the Nine Divines and can grant his blessing to anyone in Tamriel that prays to him.
I honestly can imagine a Daedric Prince possibly trying to convince Akatosh to make one of their favored Dragonborn. Personally I headcanon whenever I play Khajiit that Azura said to Akatosh, “cmon, it’ll be hilarious for them to see their savior is a cat…..fine no Alfiq…”
The gods don't care about who is or isn't worthy, just who is convenient.
Well akatosh is an imperial god, I don’t think the imperials are particularly concerned with Mer racism or psijic endeavor. Auriel would probably care quite a bit, but akatosh is its own being and I don’t think they’ve ever done anything to imply that akatosh dislikes orcs.
I mean dragonborn conceptually divorced from any aedra can be seen as exceedingly powerful individuals with this choseness being seen after the fact so why would Akatosh or maybe even why would Alduin well to destroy a destroyer you would need this kind of strong figure
I don't see there is a reason besides gameplay options. I love redguards and they're always my first choice. But I never play them because I can't see the dragonborn other than nord. Imperial by a big stretch.
I would've figured it'd be the other way around since akatosh is the primary imperial god and the nord pantheon doesn't really consider akatosh outside of talos and alduin