Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-11388043-20130711070950/@comment-24081142-20131104111643

Miraak, I think, was already Dragonborn when he made his deal with Herma-Mora. What he gained from that deal was a different kind of power.

Although many people on this forum are certain that 'Dragonborn Emperors' (ie, Septims) means something different from 'regular' Dragonborn, I'm not convinced. The main argument I've seen to support this seems to be that the Septim emperors couldn't shout.

But as there are no Greybeards or Dragon Walls in Cyrodiil, and no dragon souls to absorb, logically the Septims could never have learned to shout, whether or not they had the inborn potential. So the fact that they didn't do it, proves nothing. In Oblivion, if you try to wear the Amulet of Kings you are told that only the Dragonborn can wear it. It says nothing about royal blood or the Septim family name - the only (stated) reqirement is being Dragonborn.

As to Martin "giving Akatosh a boost", what? From what we know of Martin, yes, he knew a lot about Conjuration. But he certainly didn't have enough power to be the deciding factor in a battle between gods.

I think Alduin will be back, and probably is supposed to come back. My opinion (with no basis in TES lore) is that he had to be defeated in Skyrim not because he wanted to destroy the world, but because he was trying to do it at the wrong time. If you look at many real-world religions, a common element in many is that, at the designated End of Time, the 'bad guys' are allowed to destroy the world.