User blog comment:Saratje/The Great Paarthurnax Conspiracy/@comment-1080767-20120420054433

This is what I had initially believed: Alduin was reborn because the Time Wound held him captive for an unknown period of time. The Divines were the only beings that were aware of his return, and so the blessing of the Dragonborn was given here, to align with the conclusion of Alduin's prophecy. The Elder Scroll had nothing to do with unleashing Alduin; it served purely to educate and provide insight, as scrolls do. Of course, you can argue that it is entirely possible for the scroll to re-open a Time Wound since there was one that was able to create a Time Wound centuries ago. But I don't think that Alduin is a manifestation of Akatosh. He states that he is first-born of Akatosh, as I recall, and I take that not to mean that he is an Aedra himself. Assuming that, Alduin should not be capable of manipulating time - no beings on Nirn have been ever known to do that naturally.