Since the "no more DLCs" announcement, I have been contemplating how Skyrim ended, particularly as it pertains to the Dragonborn.
Let me start with a little background. First, correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me that chief deity of the divines, the Dragon God of Time, has different aspects that appeal to both Man and Mer. Men typically refer to him as Akatosh and Mer know him as Auri-El (among other names). Second, the growing conflict between Man and Mer is an underlying theme in Skyrim. The game seems to be heading for some sort of showdown.
Here's my thought: has Dragonborn unwittingly aided a shift in power in favor of the Elves?
It seems to me that Dragonborn has weakened the Man-favored aspect of the chief god in a few ways. First, he restored Auriel's Chantry and avatar in Dawnguard. Second, he subverted the All-Maker's/Skaal's secrets to Hermaeus Mora in Dragonborn. All of these events happened in a logical progression. Dragonborn destroyed (?) Alduin in Sovngarde. Alduin was a threat to all of Tamriel. This threat could have kept Man and Mer loosely united to fight the World Eater. Now that Alduin is, at the very least, out of the picture, Man and Mer can resume their fight over dominance. Then come the DLCs, which seem to support the Mer aspects of Akatosh, while weakening the aspect favored by man. (Of course, Talos is EVERYTHING to the Nords. Akatosh is not given much thought. One could argue that banning Talos-worship was a calculated move by the Thalmor to weaken the adoration that men give to Akatosh).
While Dragonborn may not have given the Elves more power, per se, his actions could have the effect--at a minimum--of emboldening the Elves to fight harder.
What say ye?
Sorry I missed this way back when it was posted, but I think you are right on with this topic! I kind of look at this whole thing like a Chinese finger trap...on one side is a more Aedric influence pulling against a more Daedric influence with Nirn in the center, being squeezed and flattened. I have not played the DLC's yet to see how they contribute to this theory.
I do see the banning of Talos worship as provocative, but only in pursuit of the truth that the Altmer believe is theirs to pass on and act as guardians of. I think each game adds more and more info that place man and mer on opposite sides of the equation, and it seems increasingly difficult to imagine that a showdown of sorts is not inevitable.
The Last Dragonborn doesn't have a race. You talking about the trailer one? That's not a character, that's a faceless concept, kind of a fill-in-the-blanks type deal. This is how the canon Dragonborn will likely be mentioned.
The Dragonborn returned to stop the Dragon Break during 4E 201. They traveled into Sovngarde and defeated Alduin.
That's it, no race/gender/bio/etc . No credible source will list his/her race. I say credible because I'm gonna assume there will be some Nordic cults proclaiming the Dragonborn as a strong Nordic warrior. They tend to be pretty egotistical that way.
"Shor" simply objects to a "mer"-itocracy. He is just playing true to type.
I am being playful with my above comment, not incendiary, and we do not need a man versus mer showdown now. I think ArcanusLex brought up some interesting points in taking the TES game universe as a whole...looking at the power paradigms of different eras, and yes, we have participated in mostly man dominated ones. Could Skyrim be the turning point to an earlier era of mer domination or influence? I believe that is the question that is being debated.
The Last Dragonborn has the blood of Akatosh, the dragon god of time. He is a chief diety worshipped by men. Mer worship a similar deity, Auri-El. The difference between the two is comparable to the difference between the christian and muslim variants of "god". But since the dragonborn has the blood of Akatosh, this implies that the dragonborn is a human race (particularly imperial or nord). Nothing is made canon because that is Bethesda's way of keeping the game open to however you want to play.