Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-6685058-20130727045056/@comment-25035274-20161212095535

64.134.242.65 wrote: Disco Pickles wrote: I beleive that Talos is a god, but I don't beleive he is an Aedra, his power represents more the power of a Dedra. Also, about the Altmeri Dominion being a group of horrible people that only want to end the world, this is not the case. As you see in ESO, the queen who was in charge at the time that game took place actually hated the racists that believed that Altmer are the best race, and that Bosmer and Kajit should be forced to leave the Summerset Isles. The Thalmor are more like those racists than the old Dominion, which I personally loved a lot. The racist Altmer were also the ones who took all of the credit for stopping the Oblivion Crisis. The old Dominion also saved the Kajit from certain death when they brought back the two moons (I forgot  the names of the moons) for no reason but to help the Kajit from certain extinction. If you want a group of racists, then look at the Bretons, who continuosly had the Redgaurds help them sack and murder the Orcs of Orsinium in High Rock. Talos is a Man-God, who apotheosized by achieving CHIM and mantling Lorkhan. He cannot be an Aedroth or a Daedroth, as those were roles that only apply to the et'Ada: the Original Spirits that resulted from the interplay between Anu and Padomay. That said, the Aldmeri Dominion of the 4th Era is not the Aldmeri Dominion of the 2nd, nor are they even remotely related; further, the Thalmor do not seek to rule the world, nor do their Leadership actually believe in the nonsense about Elven Supremacy. The average Dominion Foot Soldier may believe in the Nazi-esque ideology that the Thalmor Leadership have crafted, but this is not what drives their actions, and is unrelated to their ultimate goals. The Thalmor of the 4th Era Aldmeri Dominion do not simply seek to destroy the world, they seek the unmaking of Mundus: a return to the nonlinear Time of the Dawn Era, which they believe will allow them to revert back to Divine Spirits (Ada). This involves removing Talos' influence from the world, as Talos acts in place of the Heart of Lorkhan: he is a Tower unto himself, and alongside Ada-Mantia he fortifies the Wheel of Convention and stabilizes Creation. They believe that as long as Man exists, Talos will continue to fortify the Wheel: whether they believe he depends on their worship for his divinity (which is false), or whether they believe their worship is his Stone (which may be true) is unknown.

All of which is only true if Bethesda decide to accept everything Kirkbride writes as canon. They very well may not, and there is no evidence by which you can ultimately say that they do. The fact that they obviously accept some of his writings as canon is not sufficient to serve as proof that they accept all he writes as canon.

And ultimately, Bethesda are the arbiters of what is and is not the actual lore of the franchise. Anything that is not expressly implemented as canon by them is, ultimately, head-canon at best. Fan-fiction, in other words. Even if it is written by someone who was formerly responsible for handling lore officially.