Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-18016240-20131125000510/@comment-121511-20150418234857

87.9.216.67 wrote: Talos is not a God, he is mantling Lorkhan wich is totally different thing, it is something  that in our real life  world we would call Possession.

Talos is a God: the steps of the dead are but one of the Walking Ways, and the Walking Ways lead to apotheosis. Further than mantling, Talos is also the only other known entity aside Vivec to have achieved CHIM. It is for this reason, apotheosis by two Walking Ways, that Talos is considered one of the most powerful Gods in the Aurbis.

Beyond that, mantling and possession are completely separate concepts. Mantling involves exploiting the fallibility of the universe, acting so similarly to another entity (a dead or missing God) that you convince the Godhead that you were never separate beings. Your identities are merged, and you become a God: however, as the Champion of Cyrodiil's case shows, mantling normally leads to the dominance of the (decidedly larger) identity being mantled. The Champion mantled Sheogorath, but as Sheogorath is a much larger identity, the end result was more similar to the Madgod than to the Champion. Talos mantled Lorkhan, yes, but he avoided this loss of identity through CHIM: CHIM guarantees permanence of Self. Thus he took Lorkhan's sphere and his Throne, but remained his own self.