Archer Drake
Parkour Enthusiast
Yesterday, I was watching a video about what could possibly happen to the Dragonborn after the events of Skyrim. The video I watched focused primarily on whether or not Side-quests can be considered actual story or not, and the last few moments in the "Dragonborn" DLC. The video poster seemed to think that the Dragonborn would spend a decent amount of time either defying Hermeaus-Mora or serving him in Apocrypha.
Personally, I think this guy is nowhere near the right track.
However, I have my own theory. While seemingly ridiculous at first, there are a number of subtle hints that seem to point in this direction. So, what happens to the Dragonborn?
He/She/They return to the Heavens because the Dragonborn is Akatosh.
Ridiculous, right? Well, think about this.
The main story revolves around killing the two most powerful creatures ever seen - Lore-wise, because many think Alduin and Miraak were much too easy. So, our Dragonborn must be more powerful than both of them in order to be able to defeat them. This point alone hints that our Dragonborn is "special" to some extent, and much more powerful than normal. However, it's only a strange point and doesn't really steer my thoughts toward the Dragonborn being Akatosh.
Let's think about Alduin for a moment. Lore-wise, he is extremely powerful. So powerful that he cannot be bested by three Tongues and an Elder Scroll. Alduin is the first Dragon to be born, and therefore the most powerful. Who could possibly be more powerful? Alduin's Creator. Personally, I think it doesn't leave a lot of room for thinking that it can be anyone but Akatosh. Story-wise, it does seem to fit with the game. A father has two sons, who preside over all of Dragon-kind, both of them extremely powerful. However, the older of the two turns down a dark path and must be destroyed, yet neither Dragon nor mortal can hope to defeat Alduin. Even the blessed mortal children of Akatosh prove too weak to defeat Alduin. So, Akatosh decends from the heavens - at the same time Alduin re-appears no less, which points to some kind of foresight of the coming battle - and becomes the Last Dragonborn, the most powerful being alive.
Akatosh has already made one appearance as a man before, where he wielded his legendary bow, Auriel's Bow. He may have been in Tamriel at another time as a mage, which seems to explain why there is a magicka regen bonus on his amulet. So, Akatosh obviously has the ability to appear in Tamriel. What does any of this have to do with the Dragonborn?
Well, to start, the Dragonborn has the soul of a Dragon, and Dragon's souls are...immortal, for lack of a better word. So it's physically possible for Akatosh to descend from the heavens in mortal form. Also, the Dragonborn is a blank slate at the beginning of the game, unbound by Race and Gender. In addition to that, the Dragonborn can learn and perfect any skill and become a legendary figure in ANY group or guild. Why? Because the Dragonborn is literally a God.
Where does Miraak fit into this? It's essentially the same setup as Alduin, save for the fact that Miraak is not Akatosh's son, but Akatosh created him - because he has created all Dragonborn. Miraak is the most powerful Dragonborn. Period. So why in the world are we able to kill him? We can kill Miraak because we started out more powerful. While Miraak surpasses the Dragonborn in Shouting ability, overall, the Dragonborn is much more powerful. Again, pointing to the strong possibility that the Dragonborn is Akatosh.
I know my theory requires Akatosh descending from the heavens and then returning, but like I said, he has done it before. Also, a mortal has risen to the heavens once before. Remember Talos? Many people, especially Hiemskr push the idea that Talos did enough deeds as a man to ascend to the heavens. So, regardless of the fact that Akatosh has moved from the heavens, it is possible because of Talos.
Story-wise all of this makes sense. Dragons and Dragonborn are our main enemies in game, and both are creations of Akatosh. If the Dragonborn is Akatosh, he would be coming from the heavens to remove his creations from the world because their power has proven too great, and corrupts many of them due to a lust to be even more powerful. Akatosh becomes the Last Dragonborn, removes these dangerous creations from the world, and returns to the heavens.
Two more things, Miraak says that the Dragonborn is more powerful than he thought, which supports my idea. Also our Dragonborn is the first to not take over the world and become some all-powerful tyrant. Yes, I know the Dragonborn can join a guild of assassins and kill the Emperor. I'm also aware you can go on slaughter sprees inside holds, but there isn't a quest for world domination. It's just part of the free-world setup of Skyrim.
This approach would also satisfy most gamers, because no matter what you do, the Dragonborn returns to the heavens as Akatosh after the events of the game.
If you combine everything I've said, it seems fairly plausible that the Dragonborn could be Akatosh.
Support my idea, or hate it, this is just my opinion. I want to see what everyone thinks about this.
Thanks for reading!
Personally, I think this guy is nowhere near the right track.
However, I have my own theory. While seemingly ridiculous at first, there are a number of subtle hints that seem to point in this direction. So, what happens to the Dragonborn?
He/She/They return to the Heavens because the Dragonborn is Akatosh.
Ridiculous, right? Well, think about this.
The main story revolves around killing the two most powerful creatures ever seen - Lore-wise, because many think Alduin and Miraak were much too easy. So, our Dragonborn must be more powerful than both of them in order to be able to defeat them. This point alone hints that our Dragonborn is "special" to some extent, and much more powerful than normal. However, it's only a strange point and doesn't really steer my thoughts toward the Dragonborn being Akatosh.
Let's think about Alduin for a moment. Lore-wise, he is extremely powerful. So powerful that he cannot be bested by three Tongues and an Elder Scroll. Alduin is the first Dragon to be born, and therefore the most powerful. Who could possibly be more powerful? Alduin's Creator. Personally, I think it doesn't leave a lot of room for thinking that it can be anyone but Akatosh. Story-wise, it does seem to fit with the game. A father has two sons, who preside over all of Dragon-kind, both of them extremely powerful. However, the older of the two turns down a dark path and must be destroyed, yet neither Dragon nor mortal can hope to defeat Alduin. Even the blessed mortal children of Akatosh prove too weak to defeat Alduin. So, Akatosh decends from the heavens - at the same time Alduin re-appears no less, which points to some kind of foresight of the coming battle - and becomes the Last Dragonborn, the most powerful being alive.
Akatosh has already made one appearance as a man before, where he wielded his legendary bow, Auriel's Bow. He may have been in Tamriel at another time as a mage, which seems to explain why there is a magicka regen bonus on his amulet. So, Akatosh obviously has the ability to appear in Tamriel. What does any of this have to do with the Dragonborn?
Well, to start, the Dragonborn has the soul of a Dragon, and Dragon's souls are...immortal, for lack of a better word. So it's physically possible for Akatosh to descend from the heavens in mortal form. Also, the Dragonborn is a blank slate at the beginning of the game, unbound by Race and Gender. In addition to that, the Dragonborn can learn and perfect any skill and become a legendary figure in ANY group or guild. Why? Because the Dragonborn is literally a God.
Where does Miraak fit into this? It's essentially the same setup as Alduin, save for the fact that Miraak is not Akatosh's son, but Akatosh created him - because he has created all Dragonborn. Miraak is the most powerful Dragonborn. Period. So why in the world are we able to kill him? We can kill Miraak because we started out more powerful. While Miraak surpasses the Dragonborn in Shouting ability, overall, the Dragonborn is much more powerful. Again, pointing to the strong possibility that the Dragonborn is Akatosh.
I know my theory requires Akatosh descending from the heavens and then returning, but like I said, he has done it before. Also, a mortal has risen to the heavens once before. Remember Talos? Many people, especially Hiemskr push the idea that Talos did enough deeds as a man to ascend to the heavens. So, regardless of the fact that Akatosh has moved from the heavens, it is possible because of Talos.
Story-wise all of this makes sense. Dragons and Dragonborn are our main enemies in game, and both are creations of Akatosh. If the Dragonborn is Akatosh, he would be coming from the heavens to remove his creations from the world because their power has proven too great, and corrupts many of them due to a lust to be even more powerful. Akatosh becomes the Last Dragonborn, removes these dangerous creations from the world, and returns to the heavens.
Two more things, Miraak says that the Dragonborn is more powerful than he thought, which supports my idea. Also our Dragonborn is the first to not take over the world and become some all-powerful tyrant. Yes, I know the Dragonborn can join a guild of assassins and kill the Emperor. I'm also aware you can go on slaughter sprees inside holds, but there isn't a quest for world domination. It's just part of the free-world setup of Skyrim.
This approach would also satisfy most gamers, because no matter what you do, the Dragonborn returns to the heavens as Akatosh after the events of the game.
If you combine everything I've said, it seems fairly plausible that the Dragonborn could be Akatosh.
Support my idea, or hate it, this is just my opinion. I want to see what everyone thinks about this.
Thanks for reading!