Dagoth Ur and Akulakhan: A Hypothesis

Hello all,

I meant to post this sometime yesterday, but I got sidetracked by a scientific debate over PM regarding my previous posts…there were a few interesting ideas tossed around, so keep your eyes peeled for a future post on that topic!

As for this subject: I know MK’s Landfall will probably answer this question in a more profound manner than I can hope to accomplish in this post, but I figured I might as well add the little tidbits I’ve stumbled upon in investigating the topic.

Now, on to the main question: what was Dagoth Ur really trying to accomplish with Akulakhan? As spoken directly from the big man himself.

Akulakhan will serve three purposes. First, it will be the champion of my armies, liberating first Vvardenfell, then Morrowind, and then, perhaps the rest of Tamriel. Second, it will serve as a sower and cultivator of the divine substance derived from the Heart. Three, it will serve as the prominent banner and symbol of our cause −− to defy the Empire, to liberate mortals from ancient superstitions, and to glorify our crusade against the gods.

Seems simple enough, right? Keeping in mind that Dagoth Ur was a sleeping, dreaming, dead god, we can interpret the above to mean that he was planning to take Mundus into himself and his House, leading to a static, solipsistic Dream within a Dream1. Despite all conflicting versions of the Battle of Red Mountain, Dagoth Ur was A Hurt God in the end; he was tasked with guarding the Kagrenac’s tools by Nerevar’s order, killed, kept in a quasi-living dream state for hundreds of years, and eventually came to be murdered by the Nerevarine,

That is bitter. The gods and fates are cruel. I served you faithfully once, Lord Nerevar, and you repaid me with death. I hope this time it will be you who pays for your faithfullness.

Regardless, this all begs the question of how he planned to use Akulakhan to accomplish its aforementioned goals. Besides the Heart, what was special about Akulakhan to allow it to achieve anything at all? As far as we can tell in-game, it is a giant, stone-flesh golem; its similarities with Anumidium end there. Dagoth doesn’t seem to be planning an exodus of the Dunmer or his “inspired” creations. Before continuing, I’d like you to recall this sentence from the five step plan:

House Dagoth has a tradition of subterfuge and treachery, and because he is a deceiver, he will expect deception.

Although this quote comes from a highly biased source (and not to mention a notorious liar), I still believe it is likely Dagoth Ur did not revealed the full extent of his machinations to us…and so, I present my main conjecture:

Dagoth had constructed Akulakhan to mantle both Aka and Lorkhan simultaneously; in other words, his plan was to change the very nature of spacetime itself, leaving the entirety of Mundus as putty in his GHARTOK. If Dagoth Ur had mantled AkaLorkh, then there was nothing anyone in Mundus could have done to stop him from absorbing Conventional Creation into himself.

TEAR DOWN THE PYLONS

This mantling would occur through the entangled Enantionmorph of Sharmat/Hortator/Akulakhan. From the canonical ending, Sharmat (King)/Hortator (Rebel) + Akulakhan (Witness), or possibly even Akulakhan (King)/Hortator (Rebel) + Sharmat (Witness), as both were maimed/destroyed in the process. Dagoth Ur’s intent was to have Hortator (King)/Sharmat (Rebel) + Akulakhan (Witness), or perhaps Akulakhan (King)/Sharmat (Rebel) + Hortator (Witness). It’s not really possible to know what Akulakhan might have expected as an outcome, but it’s safe to bet that overall, this is probably one of the more symmetric Enantiomorphs in the lore. This is evidenced by the numerological symmetry 1 and 11, Nerevarine and Dagoth Ur. If the Enantiomorph were fully symmetric, then we could guess that Akulakhan is 111 = 11 + 12.

Furthermore, mantling the Gray Maybe would imply that Dagoth Ur would have had the power to Break the Dragon and the Serpent, which would not only aid him in achieving the 3 goals he mentioned, but also potentially even permit him to achieve true Divinity3. In fact, mantling Lorkhan would allow him to challenge the Empire through Talos, which is precisely the 3^rd goal he mentions above:

A noble ambition. And anyone who should make war upon the Septims should be my friend.

There are two remaining pieces of weak evidence that I can think of that support this notion.

Etymology: Where does Akulakhan’s name come from? Given Dagoth’s appreciation of Kagrenac’s work (“I have long studied Kagrenac, and have come to admire his wisdom and craft,”), it is reasonable to assume it came from Dwemeris:

AkaLorkh = Aka + Lorkhan = AKHAT + LHKAN = AKHATLHKAN ~ Akulakhan

Avatar of Talos: A manifestation of Talos shows up to give you a lucky coin before entering Red Mountain with Wraithguard equipped. I’d argue that Talos (metaphorically, the Empire), is taking the threat to his Lorkhanic position quite seriously, and is attempting to aid you as much as he can for the fated battle4.