The Dragonborn Theory

Before we start I would just like to put two excerpts/quotes out there this one:

“Because of this connection with the Emperors, however, the other significance of the Dragonborn has been obscured and largely forgotten by all but scholars and those of us dedicated to the service of the blessed Talos, Who Was Tiber Septim. Very few realize that being Dragonborn is not a simple matter of heredity – being the blessing of Akatosh Himself, it is beyond our understanding exactly how and why it is bestowed. Those who become Emperor and light the Dragonfires are surely Dragonborn – the proof is in the wearing of the Amulet and the lighting of the Fires. But were they Dragonborn and thus able to do these things – or was the doing the sign of the blessing of Akatosh descending upon them? All that we can say is that it is both, and neither – a divine mystery.”

—The Book of the Dragonborn, Prior Emelene Madrine, 3E360

And this one:

“One upon a time, there were many Dragonborn, the gift passed down through the generations. Over time, though, the bloodlines faded along with their importance, until all that was left was the Septims. Your character in Skyrim, though, is from one of the lost lines of Dragonborn, maybe even the last one.”

—Gamestop interview with Todd Howard,March 2011

The Origins of the Dovah – Sos

For years, we thought that the Septims – The Emperors of Tamriel – were the last of the Dragonborn, an apparently once plentiful group of people blessed by Akatosh. The term itself was first used when St. Alessia was given the Amulet of Kings and the Dragonfires were first lit at the Temple of the One in the Imperial City. She was actually the first to be called Dragonborn which means there were Dragonborn before her, a well known example of this is Miraak (a.k.a. Allegiance Guide.) Now see Mr. Allegiance Guide here was a Dragonborn and a Dragon Priest, infact he was the first ever Dragonborn, he was the first one to ever actually kill Dragons and absorb their souls, now this is something all Dragonborn can do, or should be able to do. But all that stuff with Allegiance Guide happened waaay back during the Merethic Era, an era most Imperial scholars during the first era didn’t give a fuck about, thus they called St. Alessia (did I mention she was called Al-Esh at one point?) the first Dragonborn. But remember what Todd Howard said? “Once upon a time, there were many Dragonborn” what does that mean you ask? It means that Akatosh probably blessed a shitload of people with dragonblood at one point, he did go mad once, did you know that? Well to be fair he was split by a bunch of Ape cultists called the Marukhati Selectives, but that’s not why we are here. Since there were once a bountiful amount of dragonborn at one point, you can say that they all led lives of Glory and Honor, like a true Nord! Raaaggghh!!! but they probably didn’t. They probably lived normal boring lives as traders, farmers, and maybe even soldiers, but there is really no way to prove it back then.

Being a Dragonborn – Los Do Tiid

Now of course there’s only three ways to verify Dragonbornicity; One kill a dragon, sadly after centuries of dragon hunting, dragons became a rare sight in Tamriel. Two train with the Greybeards, suuure I bet any Emperor would want to throw away a life of luxury, and glory just so he can train with a bunch of old men who live in a mountain, and eat preserved food. And the third (and final) way to find out if someone is a Dragonborn is The Amulet of Kings, but sadly Martin Septim died for you, so no one’s gonna find that thing anymore.

So what does that mean? Being a Dragonborn IS ABOUT TIME. Born too late? Someone killed of all the dragons, and the Amulet of Kings is gone, so no one would know. Born too early? Well sorry bro dragons were wiped out by the Dragonguard, oh and you can’t touch the Amulet of Kings cause your not an Emperor, go near it and YOU DIE BITCH. So now we know a lot of Dragonborn (or is it Dragonborns?) existed at one point, and the only known, – until the events of TESV Skyrim of course – were the Septims. Too bad that one guy turned into a dragon, I mean damn bro I wasn’t expecting that. And post-Septims we were left with 200 years of no Dragonborn right? Fuck no. Like I said there was no way to know if you were the Dragonborn during that time hell anyone could’ve been Dragonborn, for all we know Glarthir could’ve been Dragonborn. But we wouldn’t know, would we?

Nuz Fin Kelle Prodah Nii!

“When misrule takes its place at the eight corners of the world

When the Brass Tower walks and Time is reshaped

When the thrice-blessed fail and the Red Tower trembles

When the Dragonborn Ruler loses his throne, and the White Tower falls

When the Snow Tower lies sundered, kingless, bleeding

The World-Eater wakes, and the Wheel turns upon the Last Dragonborn.”

—Prophecy of the Dragonborn, said to come from an Elder Scroll

But the Elder Scrolls Foretold It! Yeah the scroll foretold it, you know what else they foretold? The sun would disappear, and Alduin (a.k.a. Destroyer Devour Master) would win. Which obviously they did not. You see the Elder Scrolls are a huge matter of debate and they always tell the truth even if it’s not. The Scrolls foretell possibilities, endless possibilities, they are full of knowledge that just reading one will probably blast you with 10 Billion Gigawatts of Knowledge to the face, hence blindness. The Elder Scrolls are obscure and the readers are usually blinded after reading them, hell they even have a hard time reading the scrolls at times, and you also have to take into consideration the sanity of the reader. I’m not saying Moth Priests are mad but going through years of training just to blind yourself would probably make me go mad. In short The Elder Scrolls record everything that was, is, could be, and could have been true, and it also depends on the reader on what they will see. Well you see this one particular prophecy is false, and true. Well it’s false in a sense that your Player Character in Skyrim -the same guy who stripped clothing from someone of the opposite gender and wore it- defeated Alduin, so this means it’s not the end of time yet even if Destroyer Devour Master is back from the Merethic Era. And it’s true in sense that in theory Alduin will keep returning and a Dragonborn may or may not face him every time, until Alduin wins, the poor guy just wanted to eat Nirn. And when he does finally get to eat Nirn we will get a New Kalpa, so yaaaayy more Indian word things!!!

Now back to the topic at hand, sure all the other things in the prophecy happened but are you sure those events are what the prophecy refers to? we are just in the fourth era, and if we follow MK’s writings there will be a lot more, meaning a lot of time for things similar to this to happen. If you didn’t understand the last sentence let’s put it this way; There could be another Dragon Break. Some other guys could be thrice blessed and the Red Mountain will most probably erupt again. And a Dragonborn could return to the throne, and then somewhere down the line lose it. And Skyrim will most likely lose a king again. And Destroyer Devour Master will return to fight another Dragonborn.

The Prior and the Wahlaan

What of the two first Quotes, don’t they contradict? Well the Book of the Dragonborn, is written in the Point of View of a Prior studying the Dragonborn, also note that she states "it is beyond our understanding exactly how and why it is bestowed." Her theory is just that, a theory, subjected to debate, argumentative, and dubious. Though the Dragonborn are blessed by Akatosh, what of Miraak? Surely good old Allegiance Guide was a devout follower of Akatosh who prayed at the chapel right? Probably not. My theory regarding Miraak is he was a Dragon Priest, and Dragons are creations of Akatosh, and he also did have access to Apocrypha were almost all knowledge is stored. (Those damned Skaal!) He could have found a way to somehow become Dragonborn, possibly not via Akatosh’s blessing. Exactly how is anyone’s guess. And this in-universe explanation doesn’t have to contradict with Todd Howard’s words (If you don’t know who he is, he’s the Wahlaan) since they can actually support each other in a really small theorized way. Akatosh can bless someone with dragonblood, and that dragonblood becomes hereditary, meaning your Dovahkiin (a.k.a. Dragon Hunter Child) if he or she has kids will be Dragonborn. But if the Dragonblood that Dragon Hunter Child has is hereditary or a blessing is debatable, depending on who you believe.

Ark Ful?

Well if you still don’t know how this will matter, and why this is relevant here’s how; Dragonborn Emperors could return, Dragon Shouts could return in Future Games, And the Blades will have a purpose. Of course those aren’t the only applications of having more dragonborn, I would like to hear how you guys think a future Dragonborn could be used, in the comments. And also your opinions, and your own theories based on what I stated here.

P.S. I will just post the Translations of the Dragon Language stuff in the comments later, need to rest for awhile. Unless of course someone else does it before me.

Oblaan Do Morahi