Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-173.81.113.240-20170211002607

There have been a lot of discussions about which group is stronger between the Aedra, Daedra and Dragons. Here is what I believe in the strongest and why. (Not using the Anu and Padomay blood thing)

Strongest: Daedric Princes, why?

1. Their power: The Princes retain all of their power from the Dawn Age, they are called Daedra due to the Altmer language which means '''NOT OUR ANCESTORS. '''They did not take part in the creation of Mundus, which refers to the nine planets and two moons that are need in the night sky, Originally the Daedra and Aedra came from the same race of beings known as et'Ada meaning that they both hold the same capabilities from each other. But while the Aedra sacrificed their power to create the mortal realm, weakening themselves and binding them to creation, the Daedric Princes created realms of their own. But rather than sacrificing their power, they created the realms to be literal extensions of themselves allowing their power to grow over time and their realm to expand. In these realms, their powers are at their peak being nigh-omnipotent.

2. Immortality: It has been stated numerous times, that Daedra cannot be killed permanently, the Daedric Princes are among those that can never truly be killed. As stated before, Daedric Princes' realms are literal extensions of themselves where their power comes from and grows, its due to this that even when they are defeated in Mundus (Mehrunes Dagon) or in their own realm (Molag Bal), they cannot be killed. The only thing that has brought any of them close to death is when their True Name is uttered which drains of them of their power and are banished back to the Void of Oblivion but even then, they see this akin to sleeping, not death and its the closest that they can come to it.

3. Weaken/Wounded/Banished: Daedric Princes even when defeated in their own realm, are weakened for a time in which they have to recover. While in another realm such as that of another Prince or even in Nirn, which in itself is considered to be Lorkhan's realm, they are nowhere near their full power. But this tends to be overlooked by the Oblivion Crisis when Mehrunes Dagon was defeated by the Avatar of Akatosh; note that the game itself is meant to provide a challenge, an enjoyable time not represent reality. Even as Dagon attempted to enter Tamriel in his true and fully empowered form, it would have been impossible because his realm is literally him and will always be weaker when entering the realm of another Prince, even when there isn't a Prince present. This is best shown during ESO when Meridia says to Molag Bal that he is "a mere phantom in my realm" and it was this weakened that allowed the Avatar to win. Another example is when Dagon attempted to invade Morrowind with it taking the combine might of two of the Tribunal to merely banish him back, both of whom were living gods due to the power of Lorkhan's heart.

4. Strongest Daedric Prince: True is, there will never be a strongest Daedric Prince though people tend to bring up Jyggalag as an example of a Prince being the strongest. But this was not the case, the other Princes did not fear him but rather they feared that his Realm would grow so large and powerful that him alone could overtake the collective power of the Princes. That is why they cursed him, not because he was the strongest but due to the mere threat of that possibility. The Princes themselves are in a highly complex and dangerous game of supremacy amongst each other using the mortals of Nirn as their pawns to gain more power or undermine their rivals. Something that had been shown several times in ESO with Meridia bringing Hollow City into Molag Bal's realm and when he had the Last Dragonborn force a priest of Boethiah to convert. But in these battles, it provides a strange balance keeping them one of them from becoming too powerful.

Second strongest: Magna Ge, why?

1. Their power: Unlike the Daedric Princes who flat out refused to take part, the Magna Ge are a group of et'Ada that initially took part but then fled once they realized what was going on. Magnus was the first to leave for Aetherius, the realm of magic and the afterlife, with him having most of his strength tore a massive hole through Oblivion which later became the sun. Many others followed him in great number, they tore smaller holes which became the stars but they still retained much of their power during that time. Though they weren't as strong as Magnus himself, they were still strong enough to escape before they became bound to creation and Mundus.

2. Their race: The Magna Ge, like the Daedric Princes and Aedra are still members of the et'Ada which grants them a great deal of power and immortality. Along with them being in Aetherius, the practical home of the et'Ada prior to Oblivion, they could have regained some of their power over the millennia. Also its said that the Prince Meridia was originally a Magna-Ge but was found consorting with Daedra and was turned into a Prince, even still after that "fall" she was still a very powerful and dangerous Prince in her own right.

3. Strongest of the Magna-Ge: Magnus is the strongest of them all, he remained much more of his power than the others being the first to leave almost immediately upon discovering what was happening. This makes him almost on par with the Daedric Princes in terms of power.

Third Strongest: Aedra, why?

1. Their name: Aedra is the opposite of Daedra in the language of the Altmer being OUR ANCESTORS, this is due to them being credited with the creation of Mundus having stayed behind and sacrified their strength willingly to create the mortal realm. In doing so, most of their divine power was lost in the formation of the planets and life itself but as they did, they also became bound to creation. These Aedra would become split into two groups, the nine who created and essentially became the planets were called the Divines and those who were rendered mortal would become known as Ehlonfey, the ancestors of men and mer.

2. Their power: Originally, the Aedra were et'Ada being very powerful but when creating Mundus, most of their power left with them making physical planets rather than realms and giving them life. Though this makes them very strong when dealing with affairs on their planets, they were essentially powerless to truly intervene and over time, they seemed to stop altogether other than the simple blessings. Its possible that their power is only being maintained by the worship of their mortals who called them the Divines. But since Oblivion came out showing the defeat of Mehrunes Dagon vs the Avatar of Akatosh, there are some things that have to be understood. First, Daedric Princes are always weaker when they are not in their own realm, no matter how much power they attempt to squeeze out, a significant portion will remain in their realm to maintain them. Also Princes can have multiple realms under their command which further extends their power to keep them in existence also unless a significantly powerful daedra were to act as the anchor to keep it from dissolving (like Paradise when Mankar Cameron was killed). Second, the Avatar of Akatosh did banish him back to Oblivion but this was after the shattering of the Amulet of Kings, releasing the blood of Akatosh combined with Dragonborn blood which made it strong enough to banish Dagon back into Oblivion. But even after a short tussle between them, the Avatar was shown to actually be weakened and tired before reactivating the White-Gold tower and turning to stone. This does not mean that Akatosh was stronger than Dagon or vice versa, it was a plot device to end the game in an interesting fashion.

3. Immortality: Unlike the Daedric Princes and Magna-Ge, the Aedra are immortal in a more conventional sense. When creating Mundus, they became bound to creation itself meaning that when their planets are destroyed, they essentially die or would be released to their full power. But sources have pointed to the former being the case.

4. Strongest among the Aedra: Akatosh, the Dragon God of Time. Though Trinimac was stated to be the strongest of them all, he was still defeated by Boethiah and turning him into Malacath. Akatosh is the literal representation of time itself and holds sway over it, allowing him to draw upon another source of power other than that of worship. This would make him very powerful and dangerous along with being essential for the other et'Ada for even having their own identities at the beginning of the Dawn Age due to his embodiment of time. But due to him sacrificing his power to create Mundus, Akatosh is still less powerful than the Daedric Princes despite what was shown in Oblivion, even while being strong enough to keep them from invading again. Though it should be noted that even with the "Jaws of Oblivion shut forever" Daedric Princes have been able to manifest themselves physically, spiritually and represent themselves in Mundus holding enough power to cause a great deal of suffering if they wished it. This shows that his power is not absolute and not enough to keep his more powerful brethren at bay.

Fourth Strongest: Dragons, why?

1. Their power: Dragons use a power called Thu'um or shout for their abilities and can fly for prolonged periods of time without having to land, they are very intelligent in comparison to humans or any other creatures present on Mundus. They also have razor sharp claws and powerful teeth, allowing them to attack swiftly and retreat. But they are also very prideful and its for this reason that they are capable of being defeated. Despite them being called the "Children of Akatosh", it can stand to reason that either they were actually created by Akatosh which would make them lesser Aedra in comparison to the Daedric Princes and Magna-Ge but unlike them, they are especially vulnerable to the effects of time itself.

2. Immortality: Dragons are immortal but not like how Daedra are, they can live indefinitely allowing them to accumulate vast amounts of knowledge though they are still affected by aging itself. The best example of this is Paarthurnax having lived for 4,000 to 5,000 years, he is shown to have tattered wings, worn scales and broken horns though many of these wounds could have happened during the Dragon War, they could have also happen during those millennia. Not only that, Dragons can be killed physically without them being able to be brought back except through another Dragon or someone using the Thu'um of resurrection which Alduin used. Though their souls would remain bound to the body until resurrected, they can be killed permanently by the Dragonborn who consumes the souls.

3. Strongest of the Dragons: Alduin, now there is a misconception when it comes to this dragon, people thinking that he would be able to kill a Daedric Prince due to his role of World Eater. Though he is the strongest of the dragons, he is nothing compared to a Daedric Prince, he is meant to destroy the world so that a new Kalpa, a new world essentially resetting everything in Mundus and the creation of a new Dawn Age. This returns the Aedra and Daedra once more into the united whole of the et'Ada, their original race with the distinction being wiped away. But whether this is true or not is only heresay with mere claims being made and if there were new Kalpas, I doubt it would have affected the Daedra do to their separate nature from the mortal realm even if the dragons do claim to have knowledge of it.  