Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-26177830-20150401044533/@comment-121511-20150402045031

TheEssence wrote: Thanks for the response, I got the knowledge from reading your Elder Scroll again!

Speaking of Kirkbride, many debaters on the site like Comicvine disregard the Elder Scrolls canon source about the work of him. Many people do not believe that Alduin can actually destroy both daedras and aedras when the time comes, they only see gameplay Alduin which is a puny dragon. Alduin can eat universes after universes (kalpa), it is a feat of an universe scale (Goku fans disagree). My point here is in where is the authentic and canon source that I can use to counter the doubts on the verse of Elder Scrolls.

Some people tell me that Talos is strongest being in TES beside Anu and Padomay, while some tell me that Numidium is the strongest being for he possessed the Heart of Lorkhan which is unlocking into CHIM. Vivec is a possiblity, or even HunDingood (i forgot the name). Alduin is possibly the second strongest being in TES, because some people told me that Alduin will inevitably recycle the entire world even the daedras and aedras in the new cycle. The evidence of how Alduin humaliated Mehrunes Dagon is the prime example, even the Greedy Man does no harm to him.

The question is above, about how can I prove the crediblity of Elder Scrolls source when debating?

Well, keep in mind that the turning of the Kalpas only affects Mundus, not the Planes of Oblivion or Aetherius: the Daedra, the Aedra, and the various Magna-Ge are not consumed by the resetting of the cycle. The various Aspect-Gods do disappear, insofar as their existence is reliant on the beliefs of their worshipers: thus, although Akatosh and Alkosh, for example, may not exist in the next Kalpa, there will be new Time Dragon Aspects that take their place in accordance with whatever cultures arise. Indeed, as Alduin is the Nordic Aspect of Aka, it is implied that Alduin too will disappear in the next Kalpa, and that a new Aspect-God will be shed according to the beliefs of one of these new cultures to take on the role of World Eater. It is entirely possible that Thartaag the World Devourer, of Skaal myth, is a seeped through memory of the previous Kalpa's World Eater, who preceded Alduin.

As for Talos, he is the answer given as to the most powerful being when Michael Kirkbride was asked on it: he not only attained CHIM, he mantled Lorkhan, thus achieving apotheosis by two Walking Ways. The Heart of Lorkhan is not the secret to CHIM, nor does it automatically grant CHIM: while the Numidium is incredibly powerful, and certainly capable of destroying the Aurbis if unopposed, it is not because of the Heart or because of CHIM. Rather, it is due to the fact that it is comprised of the collective identity of the Dwemer, apotheosized by soulstack, and given strength of purpose in world refusal. Keep in mind that CHIM isn't simply an automatic key to becoming all powerful. While CHIM grants you the ability to alter the Dream in powerful and significant ways, doing so is incredibly difficult, and incredibly dangerous: losing one's grasp of "I AM" and "I AM NOT" can result in a loss of divinity or, worse, zero-sum (accepting the latter truth but not the former, and ceasing to exist entirely). The foremost advantage of CHIM is permanence: those with CHIM define who they are, and cannot be erased from the Dream even by the mightiest of Gods. Death becomes meaningless, and you persist indefinitely, so long as you hold Royalty.

That said, keep in mind that power is a very contextual thing in The Elder Scrolls: Gods do not have quantifiable and easily comparable "power levels", and their "strength" in an encounter can depend on a great many factors. It is never as simple as saying "this God is more powerful than this God, therefore this God will always win", as neither of those statements is true. For example, when it is time for the World Eater to turn the Kalpa, he will turn the Kalpa: not even the combined might of all the Aspect-Gods and all the Daedra Lords may prevent him from doing so. When he is not, however, he can be demonstrably defeated by a mortal Hero (the Last Dragonborn). Similarly, when the HoonDing is making way for the Yokudan people, it is an unstoppable force: however, when not doing so, it is irrelevant. Context is key, and Gods hold most power within their Spheres of Influence. So I suppose a more correct answer would be that there is no "most powerful deity" in the Aurbis, or rather that it depends on the context of the situation.

As for Michael Kirkbride, Bethesda has never established a codified "canon" with TES lore, and show no desire for doing so. While Kirkbride may no longer be employed in an official capacity he still created the foundations for a great deal of the defining lore, and many of his post-Morrowind works have been included and/or written for subsequent games such as Oblivion, Skyrim, and ESO. Bethesda also makes a point not to contradict even his more obscure lore, such as to continue to allow it to fit into their timelines, even if they may not include it outright.

At any rate, I am far from the foremost expert on the topic. As before, I would recommend reading through threads and asking questions on reddit.com/r/teslore, as it's filled with a great deal of helpful scholars who are well-versed in their source material. I gather what I know from what I read here and there.