The Purpose of the Arena, and It's Achievement: A Theory of Everything

CHIM, Amaranth, Vivec, Dragon Breaks, Elder Scrolls, C0DA, Dwemeri World-Refusal and Convention. If these metaphysics buzzwords bother you, you need not continue reading. This is going to be one of those posts. I'll also be throwing real-word philosophy in, and as it happens I have no formal instruction that field. So, brace yourself. I am sorry if this causes a torrent of “What is Chim?” posts, but I won't let fear compromise good scholarly work.

Nota Bene: This has gone through minimal revision, and cites very few sources. Simply ask and I'll expand upon my reasoning and inspiration (or fix spelling/grammar errors).

Real-World Philosophy

Everything in the universe is the result of some other thing. Those other things are the result of yet other things. You may trace all these results back to the Big Bang. But what causes creation? Eventually, once we follow the chain of events far enough, we need a starting point after some fashion to exist. This would be God, or the Necessary Existent, if you prefer. The existence of anything demands this. However, the existence of the universe is not provable. Being rational beings compelled to doubt everything, we must doubt all aspects of our conscious experience. The only certainty is that the conscious experience itself exists, and therefore God or the Necessary Existent. Everything between those two points (the universe) may be doubted. Indeed, it may be doubted whether or not there is a distinct at all.

CHIM

The Elder Scrolls is a universe we have the luxury of viewing from the outside, and can therefore more confidently assert what the basic underpinnings are. We know, for instance, that there is a God named “I”, which is the Wheel viewed from the side. CHIM is effectively realizing oneness with God (hence the name “I”). Sound familiar? In TES, we know that the conscious experience is one in the same with God. Furthermore, the pitfall of this is realizing that the world can't be real. Look above, and note that the world demands a Necessary Existent. Failure to cope with the evident impossibility of the world results in zero-summing: not compromising one's own existence (1) with the impossibility of the universe (-1). Alternatively, you could take Dwemer approach and refuse the world outright.

Lorkhan's Plan: The Arena

Based on what was established earlier, there is a “god-state” in which preexisting factors and logical sequences do not need to exist for events to occur. This is where God or the Necessary Existent brings the universe (or conscious experience) into being. In TES, this is the Dawn Era, the timeless time. The introduction of linear time (in which conventional cause and effect exists) begins with Convention (the Impossipoint, made impossible by the non-existence of anything before it). The traditional Elven goal (so far as we can see) is to return to this “god-state” in some process related to the Towers, which was demonstrated by Auriel. But that is neither here nor there.

Lorkhan managed to see the nature of the universe (the name of God is I), and release the truth of (while not quite achieving) CHIM. Lorkhan came to the conclusion that in order to allow for an order of beings who achieved CHIM to exist, he had to execute a series of rapid sub-creations (which is the process of spirits sacrificing themselves to create lower orders of creatures (more or less)) and constant re-mold these new beings until some capable of achieving CHIM came about. This mechanism would have to be self-sustaining, as it's creators would be sacrificed to power it.

Enter Magnus, the Architect. Lorkhan charges him with the construction of this mechanism. In order to facilitate re-molding, Magnus creates the Dreamsleeve and Mortality. A mortal will compile experience, but if they fail to achieve CHIM, they eventually die and their soul and memories find their way to the Dreamsleeve, the oceans (which may be assumed based upon the revelation that water is memory). As water is needed for life, and all water may be traced back to the oceans by the water cycle, every newborn mortal is born with a scrambled-up new soul. However, you have the problem of junk gumming up the works. Faced with threats such as Daedric invasions, pankratoswords, rogue Numidium-like things, mortal sorcerers mucking up the whole system and any number of possible accidents, it is necessary once in a while to throw the reset switch. This is why we have Alduin. If Alduin does not eat the world, then mortals are bound to find a way to destroy themselves eventually.

The centerpiece, however, is the Arena. Crisis is the best teacher, and the Arena throws up crisis after crisis. Without conflict and struggle to force advancement, mortals will fall into idleness and waste time on their computers writing about video games and fail to move closer to CHIM. To play out these crises, the Arena selects gladiators.

Gladiators, Heroes and the Elder Scrolls

As focal points of conflict and contention, the Arena elevates gladiators. As gladiators in the real world, they are simultaneously icons and villains. Pelinal Whitestrake, for instance, is hailed as one of the chief heroes of Cyrodiilic tradition, and is most noted for his genocidal tendencies. Vivec, who will be discussed more later, is the guardian of the Dunmer and murder-rapes his own children. The account of these events is one of the most circulated books in Morrowind, the Thirty-Six Lessons. So who are the gladiators? They are the heroes and the villains (both at once) who cover themselves in blood and glory to hone down the people into a shape capable of contemplating the deep mysteries of the universe.

And then there are the Elder Scrolls. They do not tie too directly into this line of thinking, but they are relevant and it would be a huge mistake to discuss the entire universe while neglecting it's namesake. So what are the Elder Scrolls? They are timeless objects of great power which detail the fate of a Hero, which is quite wibbly-wobbly. Likewise, a Hero is a mortal of great power who has a very wibbly-wobbly fate, whether looked in prospect or retrospect. And we have a quote from Martin Septim (from the end of Oblivion): “When the next Elder Scroll is written, you shall be it's author”. Much can be read from this statement, from “Stay tuned for TES V,” to “Canon is what you make of it”. I choose to read it as “You will BECOME an Elder Scroll”. All of your deeds and power will be reduced to the writing on the Elder Scroll, and may be read to suggest your destiny or utilized to bring your power back into the world.

In short, the Elder Scrolls themselves are the essence of Heroes, who have the power to do virtually everything by being like a wave created by quantum superposition (so long as no one checks, all possibilities occur and interact with each other). It's like playing whack-a-mole with a section of plywood. Any problem which comes up goes right back where it came from. Each problem which comes up is a crisis which needs to be resolved, and in the resolution mortals come closer to enlightenment.

The Velothi Plan

The machine is broken. Before enlightened beings come about, Alduin eats the world, or it is destroyed in fire. The fabricators can no longer fix it, as they programed it to run on repeat and then threw themselves into it's cogs. Now the Daedric Dream Team comes about. Azura, Boethiah and Mephala take on the task of forcing the machine to work. Their plan is to run a relatively small group and run them through the universe on fast-forward. Before we go further, let's look at why these three are the dream team. Azura's sphere is prophecy. What is prophecy? Let's call it “prediction”, which is the practice of making an assertion about the future. Prediction and Prophecy are authenticated by proving to be true. Making the Arena function as it was intended becomes the highest goal of Azura. Boethiah's sphere is victory. He is the ideal gladiator: focused, glorious, hateful and everything else. He sets himself to driving people to achieving their potential, with the weak carved out in battle. Mephala has the most critical role, as her tenants are a stepping stone to CHIM. We'll get back to these all soon enough.

Now, Azura appears before Veloth and gives him a set of instructions for the initiation of the plan. Veloth will lead his people to the East where they will confront the greatest danger, the world-refuting Dwemer and their greatest creation, the Numidium. The Dwemer and House Dagoth are the antithesis of the Velothi and their plan. Where the Velothi seek unity with God as the ultimate end, the Dwemer and Dagoth seek the reduction of the universe to it's logical place (none). Through conquests of Numidium and other trials, the Velothi will move closer to enlightment.

There are three major deviations from the Lorkhanic Plan in the Velothi Plan. First, the Ancestors remain with the Velothi, and new souls are taken from the general reservoir without returning. It's selfish and greedy, but accelerates the process because knowledge is not lost with generations. Second, a paragon of the people is created. Nerevar is the bleeding edge of Velothi progress towards enlightenment. Nerevar inspires conflict around himself, while at the same time resolving it. Nerevar is also not part of the Velothi reincarnation scheme. Nerevar goes to the Dreamsleeve so that a new, more potent form arises. Rejects, the Failed Incarnates, are chewed up and spat back out into the oceans. In this way, the Velothi will be periodically provided with a being capable of pushing them to their limit. Thirdly, the Velothi are cursed and blessed. They live in possibly the worst environment, beset by unforgiving enemies, but they have help. Their “help” are the Daedra and ALMSIVI. They make certain the Velothi don't fall too far. This mean that they'll pull the Velothi back from the abyss and that they'll browbeat the Velothi for their mistakes. This is epitomized by the conversion from Chimer to Dunmer: they become a harsher and hardier people.

Now we need to talk about the ALMSIVI and just how important the Anticipation scheme really is. Azura anticipates Sotha Sil. As discussed before, Azura is pleased when things work as they ought to, and Sotha Sil becomes the world-mechanism. Boethiah anticipates Almalexia. While Almalexia is gentler than Boethiah, she is an overbearing mother who gives the best to her children and expects them to make the best out of themselves. Moreover, she is not afraid of enforcing her will with a sword. Then, most importantly, Mephala anticipates Vivec. Vivec cites Mephala as a source of his teachings, though he takes them considerably farther. It is Vivec who first achieves CHIM and guides Nerevar.

The great crises accompany Nerevar. The one we have the most solidified knowledge on is the Battle of Red Mountain. Through this, Velothi history changes course radically, but navigation rarely takes one along the straight path. The first known incarnation of Nerevar defeats the Dwemer and the first occurrence of Numidium, the conflict transforms the Chimer into Dunmer, Nerevar is found insufficient and is killed to clear the way for next incarnation and a new conflict is created between the Daedra and ALMSIVI. They remain co-conspirators, but fight without holds regardless. They do this because the existence of conflict drives the Velothi towards the common goal. The embattled state of the Velothi was planned well in advance, and the great turns of the battle as well.

(I would like to take an aside here and mention that I have often argued that the Daedra and ALMSIVI are both more or less good, but the existence of conflict between them was bad. Times do change.)

Amaranth

Amaranth is the ultimate goal, the step beyond CHIM which Nerevar is meant to take. This step is taken by the last incarnate, Jubal-lun-Sul. Jubal is the scion of a bloodied but not beaten nation who takes the last step into oneness with God and over the philosophic cadaver world- and self- refusal. Jubal is the product himself of all those years of strife, and has fully absorbed the Thirty-Six Lessons.

Conclusion

By rights, nothing should be real. The Dwemer seek to correct the apparent impossibility of self, cosmos and divinity by eliminating these three items, also known as world-refusal. Velothi seek to reconcile impossibility with reality, also known as CHIM and Amarath.

TL;DR: Only the Dunmeri Master Race is real.