Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-92.251.228.132-20141108020915/@comment-5824038-20150406085919

Well, your other points weren't moot. It's obvious that, if the Dragonborn becomes leader of all the guilds, then they could use them for either good or bad. However, we must remember that there must always be a distinction between gameplay and lore.

In game, you can become head of all of the guilds because the game was made so you can do that. However, looking at it lore-wise, it would have been basically impossible for one man or wwoman to lead all four major guilds. The Companions hate magic (when you spar with Vilkas at the beginning, if you use magic he goes 'This is the Companions! We don't use magic here!', and from his tone of voice it's obvious they dislike it), so I really doubt that they would allow the Arch-Mage join. And, conversely, the College of Winterhold believe in the free use of magic, and the sharing of knowledge etc, whereas the Companions are actually selfish mercenaries who will onlny help people who are willing to pay them extortionate amounts of money.

Pretty much all of the guilds have very different ideologies, so it's unlikely that anyone could join all of them and become leader. That's the difference between gameplay and lore. Gameplay will allow almost anything, but thinking about it logically from a lore point of view, it becomes rediculous and far-fetched.