It's nearing a decade since the last installment in the TES timeline, I'm so happy lore nerds continue again and again to cover every detail for the newbies. You're doing ShoddyCast's work for a new generation, DN.
@@Zheqii to be fair even with considering ESO it’s almost a decade from its conception as well. Legends and Blades came later but are very minuscule. ESO’s content out-sizes the main games though, that much can be accepted. Plus they have an awesome new expansion releasing in 2022 that will potentially add a new land mass to the map!
Here's the thing about Talos: The divine power he offers is literally the only one in vanilla Skyrim that cannot be replicated by men or mer. Any wizard that studies enchantments can not only make an amulet similar to any of the divine amulets, but could also improve it. Reducing the cooldown for Shouts? It cannot be replicated. Deny Talos a place in the pantheon, ban his worship, but it doesn't matter. Talos is simply an undeniable god, whether you treat him as Aedra or Daedra.
The blessing of Talos isn't the only blessing in-game that can't be replicated The Bloodstone Chalice does things that can't be replicated by enchantments too (affecting the Drain ability) And the Blades' weapons and Esbern's blessing are specifically designed against Dragons And the blessing from reading all the tablets on the way up High Hrothgar is only replicable by the Thu'um (Animal Allegiance)
@@midnightcoffee6463 One thing that I didn't think about until this video... Yes Akatosh is the God of Time and Order, the Elves view him as the eternal enemy of Lorkhan/Shor/Shezzar/part of Talos. But Akatosh is also Alduin, bringer of destruction to Men. So I find it pretty interesting that the Blades use weapons and blessings of Talos, which specifically harm Akatosh and his children. The weapons designed to harm Akatosh are those blessed by Shezzar, which I think lends further evidence to the whole Akatosh and Lorkhan being cosmic enemies.
Kyne isn't just "Kynareth with her name stretched out". Kyne is considered the warrior goddess in the nordic pantheon, and the wife of Shor. She is a chief god in their pantheon, and is not only considered to be the goddess who gave the gift of the Thu'um to the nords, but also is said to lead their dead to the afterlife, to Sovngarde. In other words, she is as watered down as Shor was, to the point that people don't even consider Kyne and Kynareth to be the same deity.
"The two simply do not mix." Unless you consider that technically space (Lorkhan) and time (Auriel/Akatosh) are basically the same thing, or at least two sides of the same coin. Reality doesn't exist without both. How can one appreciate freedom without knowing any boundaries?
The 8 Divines are a mental tyranny that enslaves humanity without force. If Elves cannot rule Humans with a whip, they will rule over their minds and who they worship. This is why the Empire can get rolled and commoners seem to just accept it, they are of the same mind as Elves at that point.
I think Talos is cool af because he finally unites the powers of Anu and Padomay. He has shown that they do not need to fight. Tiber Septim was a dragonborn in life, which means he is a son of Akatosh, yet he mantled Shor, and ascended into godhood. I truly believe that the two-headed emperor that vivec was scared of was not referring to the fact that Talos was made up of (technically) 2 men, Tiber Septim and the Underking, but instead that the forces of chaos and order had finally united.
I don't disagree that Tiber Septim likely did some horrible things, however as far as I'm concerned acknowledging him as a god is simply a statement of fact. I think Martin being able to use Talos' blood to open the portal to Mankar Cameron's paradise pretty much proves that he is one.
Dragon blood. There are better reasons to assert Talos as a divine, such as him only coming about after the Warp in the West and retroactively always existing.
Wait so if he retroactively always existed after he became a god, where is he in ESO? I assume he should be there since Cyrodiil isn't a jungle anymore, which would lead you to believe that his influence had already spread throughout time
Something about the way you do things... differently than the other Elder Scrolls lore channels makes me prefer you over bigger names such as FudgeMuppet or Camelworks (both of which I do appreciate massively as well). I dunno, maybe it's the way you explain concepts I am already well familiar with that keeps them interesting. You know, things I have heard a hundred times before. I think it's because you tend to stick to a topic and a clear train of thought instead of going on yet another tangent about CHIM.
You know, a guy named William Shakesman once said, "Brevity is the soul of wit." I think I spend almost as much time writing these videos as I do editing them. I try my hardest to pick a topic and stick to it without wasting anyone's time. Not that there aren't complex subjects in TES. Tangents are sometimes warranted, but if it takes you most of an hour to get through explaining something as straightforward as a single pantheon, you're doing it wrong. In my opinion, anyway.
And the presentation! It helps me to focus on the words by how you place them and use them illustrate ideas and not just throwing up pretty images or landscapes. You should be a teacher!
This is very similar in how Christianity gained popularity in the Roman Empire. Christians adopted Greco-Roman pagan traditions as their own and added their own twist to them to make them just different enough to be considered Christian but similar enough that pagans might be attracted to the new religion. Holidays like Easter and Christmas are examples of this
"Hey, these two holidays happen in the same month, one must be based off the other." Christmas is on December 25th because it was believed that Jesus died on March 25th and the Romans believed that great people were conceived on the same day they died. So add 9 months to the day they believed Jesus was conceived and you get the day Romans believed he was born. Saturnalia, at it's peak, was from December 17th to the 23rd. You might as well argue that Christmas is rebranded Hannukah. And that reasoning... How stupid do you think Pagans were? "Hey, their holiday is near our holiday. We should convert!" Easter isn't a Pagan holiday either. Rabbits were a symbol of new life in spring, which is central to the resurrection. The Church banned eating eggs during Holy Week, and people didn't just throw out good food so they kept them and ate them when Holy Week ended, and because eggs then got associated with Holy Week they started decorating them. Pagans aren't the only people who associate things with other things.
@@ElliotKeaton For real - it's like when people see a picture of the Virgin Mary holding the Baby Jesus and compare it to icons of fertility goddesses holding babies and go "See! It's obviously the same!" Ignoring the fact that mothers hold their babies.
The similarities are only cosmetic, Christianity has a lot in common with other middle eastern religions/cults like Mithraism, and very little with western european pagan religions. The only serious influence western paganism had on Christianity is indirect, and it us how the worship if Zeus influenced the jewish religion.
I have a feeling that no one got a notification, since that there seems to be no one waiting for this premiere, with a Channel of tens of thousands of subs. I didn’t get a notification.
The problem with the outlawing of Talos worship is that it was the outlawing of all Talos worship... If all the elves had demanded was that he be stripped of his status as a Divine then that would be fine, there are plenty of deities still worshipped outside of the Divines like the daedra and Shor so Talos could have just joined them
during the beginning of skyrim, as you arrive in helfen you can see the thalmor there trying to convince Tullius not to execute Ulfric, as that would end the war
@@Afrancis16 I don't think banning worship was to start a rebellion, I think it's actually been to start their plan to unmake reality and ascend First step was to ban Talos, since he helps in keeping reality together.
Daedra are not the ancestors of man despite sharing many qualities of humans. Many of the Divines were simply tricked into creating Nirn and cannot be considered to be strictly benevolent, perhaps they would be tyrannical if they still had the power to be. Talos is the only deity that reflects the values and nature of humans. He is basically humans' only true deity.
Thank you everybody for watching this presentation of The Elder Scrolls Lore! If you like this video and want to see them get made more quickly, then please consider supporting the channel on Patreon. Check out Patreon.com/DoubleNegative to learn more. Thanks again, and have a wonderful day.
I actually have a theory about Sithis or the soul / aspect of Sithis, every game player, you are that reincarnation, and some other prominent figures like Tiber Septim, Pelinal White Whitestrake, Nerevar (Which means the Neravarine was a reincarnation of a reincarnation, so it checks out... sort of) etc. We know the other spirit of Light and order became Akatosh/Auri-El so he's accounted for, but Sithis' soul is only partially accounted for, his aspect lives, dies and disappears. It's important to think of chaos more as change and opportunity than the whole Warhammer doom and gloom Chaos. We've already got the upset step-son, Mehrunes Dagon for that part of chaos. With that in mind, Tin-foil hats on! As the aspect of Chaos wherever you play the game chaos happens: Dragons returning, oblivion crisis, heart of Lorkhan tom-foolery. Change is ensured at the end of every game. And why would every Deadric Prince jump at the opportunity to make you their champion? Why don't you go insane when you read an Elder scroll? Why does every guild and organization simp after you? Like the Kodlak of the Companions just straight up had a dream you'd be the next Harbinger and said:" Yup, sounds 'bout right." Fate guides you to the point that even if you just go exploring with no purpose in mind and you'll stumble on some once in a lifetime adventure, but then again for you that's just a Wednesday. You learn and master skills in weeks or months that others dedicate their entire lifetime... or lifetimes (looking at you necromancers) to master. And finally, and most importantly, if my theory is correct that means Tiber Septim is an aspect of the soul of Lorkhan, which would explain why he could use the Numidium to conquer Tamriel so easily. You know, seeing that it was made with his heart. When he died and ascended it just means that Lorkhan/Shor/Shezzar i.e. THE GOD OF CREATION, finally getting some well earned recognition. PRAISE TALOS!!!
What you’re talking about sounds a lot like the idea of the Shezarrine, which is a theory that certain mortal heroes are actual reincarnations of the spirit of Lorkhan.
I'd like to offer a counter to Talos worship being banned, I don't think it is at all about morality. Even Christ himself in the Christian Bible is said to have done things some would find morally questionable today, I think Talos draws a parallel to our own world in this regard. Elves and Humanity have been at constant odds, banning Talos worship is just the Elves solidifying their victory over the Empire by forbidding them from calling upon the true god of man. By "true god of man" I think Talos genuinely is intended to be. While humans share much in the way of ambition, independence, and change with the Daedric gods, the Daedra see them as mere pawns and do not see any spiritual bond between them. Talos reflects the values and nature of humanity (especially aspects of mortals the Daedra find repulsive like humility and brotherhood), no other divine does. In fact, how the entire pantheon was created was arbitrary in order to appease Elven kings and would-be foreign sympathizers. In essence, Talos is the ONLY true god among humans, this is why it was so important for the Dominion to ban his worship, they are basically denying humanity their own divinity while affirming their own.
Plus there is also the idea that in Oblivion. You need the blood of a god and because Talos was human once they could use the blood from his armour for a ritual and it worked. I see the main argument elves make isn’t about whether or not you should rever Talos as a god but they say that it is Impossible for a human to ascend to godhood when we know that isn’t true because Talos’s blood worked in Oblivion as a substitute for blood of the gods. Now I haven’t beaten Oblivion I just heard about this so if I am wrong please correct me.
To be fair, Akatosh would also be important, no? The humans still wouldn't want to worship Auriel, the Elven God of Time. Giving Talos too much credit, in my opinion 🤔
Another PLUS, By Talos being Highlighted in Human Religion you are saying that YOU can ascend to GOD HOOD as well, and that REALLY OFFENDS the Elves as, this is Shor's message in a way also, the proving grounds back to Atherius. And the Elves want to DESTROY Mundus to return to Atherius, contradictory teachings.
Great video and great lore. Elder Scrolls isn’t my favorite Bethesda property(as you can probably guess) but I really enjoy hearing you present the lore in an enjoyable digestible way.
If the Empire eventually defeats the Thalmor and the Aldmeri Dominion, when they reinstate Talos as a divine, they may as well put Shezarr up there as well, making it the Ten Divines.
Ten clearly you have barely listened to the video at all. Akatosh/Auriel and Shezzar/Shor/Lorkhan are incompatible with each other. Shor is pissing off the elves, while the same goes for Nords, who back at the times of Alessia still had Alduin in their pantheon, and were weary of him. They didn't know or even acknowledged Akatosh as seperate entity from Alduin. Hell, they avoided worshipping him to prevent getting his attention or bringing him back, and saw people of Cyrodiil as morons for setting him up as chief of the Divines, thus bringing attention to his worship. Back then Kyne/Kynareth was the most important deity in Nordic pantheon, since she was responsible for the creation of Nords, gifting them the Thuum, being wife of Shor, and carrying their spirits to Sovngarde. Shor was considered dead/missing god by Nords as well, but definitely they put him as close contender to Kynareth. Shor/Shezzar/Lorkhan cannot be an active member of the Eight/Nine Divines, since he is dead, and to keep things stable between men and mer, he must be worshipped as the missing god. As for Talos, I'm not sure whether after whatever happens after the next Great War, he should be accepted back to the Divines, or worshipped as entirely seperate deity.
@@grzegorzflorek5623Talos should be accepted back into the divines, we already know he is a divine. The thalmor don’t, simply because he’s a man, and men can’t be “Gods” in their eyes
This has left me wondering, why is Akatosh/Auri-El considered benevolent by mortal men considering his role in the Elven pantheon and direct opposition to Lorkhan/Shezarr?
My theory for the 8 planets is that we don't know exactly who they belong to. That's how there was the possibility for the debate of who should be in the Imperial pantheon. Those 8 planets were presumably the most powerful Aedra that stayed in Mundus and that's how we know for sure Akatosh would've been one of those 8. For the other 7, it was more focused on keeping the Elves and the Nords content. So even though Tsun wasn't one of those "8 powerful Aedra" who would've had a planet, he was considered because he would appease the Nords. Even if there was an extremely powerful Aedra that would've probably been powerful enough to have one of those planets, if they were heavily biased towards the Elves or the Nords, the imperial pantheon wouldn't have included them.
I find it so funny how Talos is not just Shezarr's replacement but also the fact that some part of Talos was Shezarr which explains why the Thalmor absolutely despise Talos on top of the fact it was only a couple of generations ago that they got nuked by Tiber Septim
so glad i have notifs turned on, thanks again for another great vid. Wish shor could’ve gotten a better deal, he’s one of my favorites and it sucks he faded into obscurity when he was once so loved by men
"...and an eternal rivalry between men and elves is born. Can we all agree on that?" Dragon cult: "Interesting theory, however; in rebuttal I would submit as evidence that ALDUIN IS AKATOSH"
The Nine Divines are one of the more interesting concepts in the Elder Scrolls. They're simultaneously completely powerless and omnipotent, worshipped as gods and slaves to mortals. They allow Daedric princes to run roughshod over Nirn but when they feel like it, they can utterly annihilate them. And then there's Alduin, whose very existence allows him to devour the Daedra and all of Oblivion, only to crap it all out again in a new Kalpa.
Great video! I'd argue that daedra worship might be more of a "practical" endeavor than worship of the aedra, however, since daedra have more of an explicit relationship with man/mer/beastfolk etc. But aedra worship doesn't really come with strings attached, so I get your meaning.
Talos is the mantling of tiber septim unto shor's divine place. He was a shezzarine (man who had shezzars soul inside him, a reincarnation of sorts.) He deserves his divine status. Shor may be dead but Talos took his place.
@@Matakshaman yes but unlike the last dragonborn Tiber Septim actually mantled the god himself and not just is an incarnation anymore. He ascended to godhood.
If the divines are so compassionate and represent good, to the point that Talos would contradict them, why are the elves so ruthless and evil? Aren't the dominion in direct contradiction to mara for example? Or do the elves not worship mara?
There’s a lot to cover here! First, Mara is an elven deity taken from the Aldmeri pantheon, so yes the high elves worship her The reasons for the Thalmor behaving the way they do are complicated. It’s a lot more complicated than “elves are evil and ruthless and hate humans for stupid reasons.” At the beginning of the third era, Tiber Septim (who would become Talos) launched an unprovoked conquest of Summerset using the Numidium, an overwhelming dwarven superweapon. Before this, his Empire and Summerset co-existed as neighbouring countries because the Imperial navy was not capable of conquering Summerset. The Numidium changed the game. For the high elves, Tiber Septim basically rolled up without warning and unleashed a superweapon on an unsuspecting population who had no reason to expect an attack. It was a horrific event in their cultural history, and even though the high elves were brought into the Empire, they did NOT have warm fuzzy feelings for their new emperor. Fast forward to the time of his death, and this war criminal gets canonized as a god. Put up on a pedestal alongside the ancient elven gods who literally created the world. You can understand how the elves were not happy to see Talos not only get away scot free for what he did to their people, but to actually be celebrated Tamriel-wide as a hero god. Obviously the Thalmor are fascist and horrible, but hopefully you can better understand why they hate Talos so much (they have their reasons). Consider also that high elves live hundreds of years; for them, Tiber Septim’s crimes are not ancient history, there are elves alive today who remember Tiber Septim’s invasion happening on their doorsteps. Lastly and most importantly, remember that the Thalmor =/= all high elves. Much like how not all Germans during WWII were supporters of the Nazi party, not all high elves are supporters of the Thalmor’s extremism. In fact, the Thalmor have existed for a long time as a minor political party in Summerset, and only relatively recently have come to power due to clever manipulation (indoctrinating young elves against mankind; taking credit for feats that they were not responsible for in order to gain public admiration, etc.) There are many, many high elves that think the Thalmor have gone way too far, but the Thalmor have secret police whose whole job is to find and kill political dissidents, so its a very tricky situation for anyone in Summerset to do anything about it (there’s actually an elven legate in Skyrim who talks about a horrific battle in Hammerfell between Thalmor assassins and high elven refugees who fled Summerset) To sum it all up: 1. Elves as a whole are not evil, and they do worship Mara 2. Elves disliking Talos makes total sense considering the fact that he decimated them with war crimes 3. The Thalmor are an extremely dangerous and radical political group that have taken over high elven society 4. Many high elves would like to see this change (don’t paint them all with the same brush!) Sorry for the super long reply, I just find this particular part of TES lore super fascinating and I like to talk about it! I hope I helped answer your question a bit
Regardless of whether the Imperial Cult canonizes Talos as a Divine or not - and regardless of if it's morally/politically right for them to do so, the truth of the matter is that he _did_ ascend to some form of Greater Spirit with some capability to bless those who ask for it, and the Thalmor are just pissy that a High Elf didn't do it first (because let's not forget that the Thalmor are a genocide cult that think destroying the world will turn them all back into et'Ada). One of the themes of TES5, from what I can see, is a desire for and return to tradition. The Last Dragonborn's arrival revives knowledge of the old ways. The plots of the Companions, Thieves Guild, and Dark Brotherhood being about how straying from tradition brought ruin to their respective groups. The Skyrim Civil War is - among many things - a duel between those who want to be pragmatic and those who believe the only course is an immediate return to tradition; though whether Ulfric realizes he's being played or not is to be determined (my money's on Galmar being a spy, but that's just me). Perhaps the time of the Alessian Cult is over, and it's time to acknowledge that Mankind should beseech Akatosh and Shor to once again send champions such as Pelinal and Talos to stave off another attempt by Elven Heretics to desecrate and bring ruin to the world. Or maybe I'm reading too deep into this and it'll never be that interesting because Bethesda.
You know, it would be kinda cool if the Elder Scrolls got a cult of dual worship, containing only Auri-el and Shor as their deities and worshipping the concept of balance in the world, order challenged by chaos in an endless struggle, neither of which is wholly evil or good.
So the devines were aedra that gave up some of their power to create mundus an walked amongst mer and men before ascending to their own realms within mundus, is that right? Great video btw 👍 the way you tell it makes it sound exciting
While you may not like it, and while it may not "fit" the character, Talos is undeniably a divine. There may have been terrible things he did, but he did them to unite nations and create peace, uniting Tamriel for the first time ever. People will talk about "slaughter" and unnecessary deaths, but there would have been just as much if Tamriel stayed divided, only instead over a longer period of time that would have possibly added up to be even more.
12:30. No. :D Okay but seriously we have no idea how exactly Lorkhan's destruction happened, there's even theories that he specifically chose to have his heart taken out and dropped onto Nirn, likely to further stabilize its existence. As for Akatosh and Shezarr hating each other/being opposed, this is again something that is unknown, though I would personally doubt it as Akatosh was willing to make at least one Shezarrine, who is the literal mortal incarnation of Shezarr, a Dragonborn: Talos. As for the Aldmeri Dominion, they didn't *just* want Talos to be removed from the Imperial Cult officially and no longer included in sermons and the like. If that were the case they wouldn't be hunting down those that worship him in private. No, they seemingly want him completely stamped out and his worship removed from living memory as well. Plus, we've seen Thalmor members deny his godhood in spoken dialogue. Sorry for commenting on a 2 month old video, I just found this channel and I must say I really like how you portray this information, even if I don't agree with all of it down to the tiny details. Keep up the good work.
I put my own take on shezzar and akatosh is that everything the slaves believed aboyt shezzar was true but shezzar's heart was removed by himself because he had chaos hungry ideas and he removed it in front of the gods saying "I am more trouble than im worth please hide my heart so i wouldn't cause chaos" then he removed his heart then jumped to masser and secunda to become the dead moon then the other gods placed his heart where red mountain would be and sometimes shezzar would come down to help out man mer and beastfolk alike like when he helped the slaves kill the ayleids
Might is Right bro. Morality is small mortal perception with no relevance on universal scale. Talos is both Darkness and Light, the perfect balance for any true god. If a god is held to petty human standards in any way, then it is not a god.
I would say that Talos reflects the best and worst parts of humanity, he is truly a human god with all the virtues and flaws that accompany us, he is simply a man who rose to wield the power of a Divine.
I watch most of your videos with love, but I think this video is an elf-sided video. Talos is considered a god, especially for the Nords, as it represents shor. not because he conquered all tamriel.
Even still if we are just speaking factually we know talos exists and we know that Tiber septim became him so wether you worship him or not he IS talos
It's nearing a decade since the last installment in the TES timeline, I'm so happy lore nerds continue again and again to cover every detail for the newbies. You're doing ShoddyCast's work for a new generation, DN.
Eso was released in 2014 and keeps adding tons of lore each gear
@@Zheqii to be fair even with considering ESO it’s almost a decade from its conception as well. Legends and Blades came later but are very minuscule. ESO’s content out-sizes the main games though, that much can be accepted.
Plus they have an awesome new expansion releasing in 2022 that will potentially add a new land mass to the map!
Here's the thing about Talos: The divine power he offers is literally the only one in vanilla Skyrim that cannot be replicated by men or mer.
Any wizard that studies enchantments can not only make an amulet similar to any of the divine amulets, but could also improve it.
Reducing the cooldown for Shouts? It cannot be replicated. Deny Talos a place in the pantheon, ban his worship, but it doesn't matter. Talos is simply an undeniable god, whether you treat him as Aedra or Daedra.
Tbf to the mages. There hasn't been any progress in the thuum department magic wise for there never was a major need for it.
The blessing of Talos isn't the only blessing in-game that can't be replicated
The Bloodstone Chalice does things that can't be replicated by enchantments too (affecting the Drain ability)
And the Blades' weapons and Esbern's blessing are specifically designed against Dragons
And the blessing from reading all the tablets on the way up High Hrothgar is only replicable by the Thu'um (Animal Allegiance)
@@midnightcoffee6463 One thing that I didn't think about until this video...
Yes Akatosh is the God of Time and Order, the Elves view him as the eternal enemy of Lorkhan/Shor/Shezzar/part of Talos.
But Akatosh is also Alduin, bringer of destruction to Men.
So I find it pretty interesting that the Blades use weapons and blessings of Talos, which specifically harm Akatosh and his children.
The weapons designed to harm Akatosh are those blessed by Shezzar, which I think lends further evidence to the whole Akatosh and Lorkhan being cosmic enemies.
Kyne isn't just "Kynareth with her name stretched out". Kyne is considered the warrior goddess in the nordic pantheon, and the wife of Shor. She is a chief god in their pantheon, and is not only considered to be the goddess who gave the gift of the Thu'um to the nords, but also is said to lead their dead to the afterlife, to Sovngarde. In other words, she is as watered down as Shor was, to the point that people don't even consider Kyne and Kynareth to be the same deity.
Yeah, like that old man in the shack who has you do a hunting quest (can't remember his name, but the Giant Mudcrab is involved)
That's an elven propaganda. Sisters and brothers by Shor praise Talos and the Nine!
By Shor's bones! I never expected DN to take the side of the elves! TO ARMS MY FELLOW NORDS!
we need a modern pelinal whitestrake
@@s0uls4nd these elven boiz need to be taught their lesson again
Stop role playing in real life it’s embarrassing.
@@Super50ldier I call him Chael Sonnen
"The two simply do not mix."
Unless you consider that technically space (Lorkhan) and time (Auriel/Akatosh) are basically the same thing, or at least two sides of the same coin. Reality doesn't exist without both.
How can one appreciate freedom without knowing any boundaries?
The 8 Divines are a mental tyranny that enslaves humanity without force. If Elves cannot rule Humans with a whip, they will rule over their minds and who they worship. This is why the Empire can get rolled and commoners seem to just accept it, they are of the same mind as Elves at that point.
@@dikasmusha6194 hi, no
@@mie3657 uh yes
@@Super50ldier same guy
They are equal and opposite to one another.
I think Talos is cool af because he finally unites the powers of Anu and Padomay. He has shown that they do not need to fight. Tiber Septim was a dragonborn in life, which means he is a son of Akatosh, yet he mantled Shor, and ascended into godhood. I truly believe that the two-headed emperor that vivec was scared of was not referring to the fact that Talos was made up of (technically) 2 men, Tiber Septim and the Underking, but instead that the forces of chaos and order had finally united.
I don't disagree that Tiber Septim likely did some horrible things, however as far as I'm concerned acknowledging him as a god is simply a statement of fact. I think Martin being able to use Talos' blood to open the portal to Mankar Cameron's paradise pretty much proves that he is one.
Dragon blood. There are better reasons to assert Talos as a divine, such as him only coming about after the Warp in the West and retroactively always existing.
Wait so if he retroactively always existed after he became a god, where is he in ESO? I assume he should be there since Cyrodiil isn't a jungle anymore, which would lead you to believe that his influence had already spread throughout time
Talos be praised.
THALMOR, OPEN UP
@@aetherinfuse FUS-RO-DAH
@@tyty-xm8fw DAMNIT
Shezarr be praised.
Something about the way you do things... differently than the other Elder Scrolls lore channels makes me prefer you over bigger names such as FudgeMuppet or Camelworks (both of which I do appreciate massively as well). I dunno, maybe it's the way you explain concepts I am already well familiar with that keeps them interesting. You know, things I have heard a hundred times before. I think it's because you tend to stick to a topic and a clear train of thought instead of going on yet another tangent about CHIM.
You know, a guy named William Shakesman once said, "Brevity is the soul of wit."
I think I spend almost as much time writing these videos as I do editing them. I try my hardest to pick a topic and stick to it without wasting anyone's time. Not that there aren't complex subjects in TES. Tangents are sometimes warranted, but if it takes you most of an hour to get through explaining something as straightforward as a single pantheon, you're doing it wrong. In my opinion, anyway.
@@DoubleNegative I like that you use in game sources for your videos. Even warning us what is speculation and what is a known fact.
@@Y-all-mofos-need-Talos This name tho...
@@DoubleNegative Your hard work shows! I've never not enjoyed one of your vids. Thank you for putting so much time and effort into them!
And the presentation! It helps me to focus on the words by how you place them and use them illustrate ideas and not just throwing up pretty images or landscapes. You should be a teacher!
Didn't know this channel was bought out by the Thalmor.
Great video though (as always)
This is very similar in how Christianity gained popularity in the Roman Empire. Christians adopted Greco-Roman pagan traditions as their own and added their own twist to them to make them just different enough to be considered Christian but similar enough that pagans might be attracted to the new religion. Holidays like Easter and Christmas are examples of this
Yeap kinda did the same in Indian subcontinent. Brainwashed everyone into British Victorians which is a culture based on Christianity.
"Hey, these two holidays happen in the same month, one must be based off the other."
Christmas is on December 25th because it was believed that Jesus died on March 25th and the Romans believed that great people were conceived on the same day they died.
So add 9 months to the day they believed Jesus was conceived and you get the day Romans believed he was born.
Saturnalia, at it's peak, was from December 17th to the 23rd. You might as well argue that Christmas is rebranded Hannukah.
And that reasoning... How stupid do you think Pagans were? "Hey, their holiday is near our holiday. We should convert!"
Easter isn't a Pagan holiday either.
Rabbits were a symbol of new life in spring, which is central to the resurrection.
The Church banned eating eggs during Holy Week, and people didn't just throw out good food so they kept them and ate them when Holy Week ended, and because eggs then got associated with Holy Week they started decorating them.
Pagans aren't the only people who associate things with other things.
@@ElliotKeaton For real - it's like when people see a picture of the Virgin Mary holding the Baby Jesus and compare it to icons of fertility goddesses holding babies and go "See! It's obviously the same!"
Ignoring the fact that mothers hold their babies.
The similarities are only cosmetic, Christianity has a lot in common with other middle eastern religions/cults like Mithraism, and very little with western european pagan religions. The only serious influence western paganism had on Christianity is indirect, and it us how the worship if Zeus influenced the jewish religion.
I have a feeling that no one got a notification, since that there seems to be no one waiting for this premiere, with a Channel of tens of thousands of subs. I didn’t get a notification.
I just got one now lol
And your comment says 5 hours ago but the video says it uploaded 23 minutes ago
How does that work?
@@Master_K14 Well I saw the premiere around when I posted this comment. Maybe it is just UA-cam being UA-cam
Yeah I got no notification but I have the bell rung for this Channel
By the Nine divines! You came back!
I never left the party. I was just over there in the corner reading a book for a while.
The problem with the outlawing of Talos worship is that it was the outlawing of all Talos worship... If all the elves had demanded was that he be stripped of his status as a Divine then that would be fine, there are plenty of deities still worshipped outside of the Divines like the daedra and Shor so Talos could have just joined them
I’m pretty sure they didn’t actually care, they just did it so the Nords would rebel and weaken the empire
during the beginning of skyrim, as you arrive in helfen you can see the thalmor there trying to convince Tullius not to execute Ulfric, as that would end the war
@@Afrancis16 I don't think banning worship was to start a rebellion, I think it's actually been to start their plan to unmake reality and ascend
First step was to ban Talos, since he helps in keeping reality together.
They want to erase men to reach heaven, Talos stands in the way of that goal, so they erase him too.
Daedra are not the ancestors of man despite sharing many qualities of humans. Many of the Divines were simply tricked into creating Nirn and cannot be considered to be strictly benevolent, perhaps they would be tyrannical if they still had the power to be. Talos is the only deity that reflects the values and nature of humans. He is basically humans' only true deity.
The lord or lore has returned! All praise the lord of lore!!!!!
Great work! You are honestly the best TES lore channel on youtube.
Thank you everybody for watching this presentation of The Elder Scrolls Lore! If you like this video and want to see them get made more quickly, then please consider supporting the channel on Patreon.
Check out Patreon.com/DoubleNegative to learn more. Thanks again, and have a wonderful day.
Hi
Thank you for still making videos.
Thank you for the work you put into these!
I genuinely enjoy every single lore video you make and I'd greatly appreciate more of this kind of content. I wish I could help through patreon.
I actually have a theory about Sithis or the soul / aspect of Sithis, every game player, you are that reincarnation, and some other prominent figures like Tiber Septim, Pelinal White Whitestrake, Nerevar (Which means the Neravarine was a reincarnation of a reincarnation, so it checks out... sort of) etc. We know the other spirit of Light and order became Akatosh/Auri-El so he's accounted for, but Sithis' soul is only partially accounted for, his aspect lives, dies and disappears.
It's important to think of chaos more as change and opportunity than the whole Warhammer doom and gloom Chaos. We've already got the upset step-son, Mehrunes Dagon for that part of chaos. With that in mind, Tin-foil hats on!
As the aspect of Chaos wherever you play the game chaos happens: Dragons returning, oblivion crisis, heart of Lorkhan tom-foolery. Change is ensured at the end of every game. And why would every Deadric Prince jump at the opportunity to make you their champion? Why don't you go insane when you read an Elder scroll? Why does every guild and organization simp after you? Like the Kodlak of the Companions just straight up had a dream you'd be the next Harbinger and said:" Yup, sounds 'bout right." Fate guides you to the point that even if you just go exploring with no purpose in mind and you'll stumble on some once in a lifetime adventure, but then again for you that's just a Wednesday. You learn and master skills in weeks or months that others dedicate their entire lifetime... or lifetimes (looking at you necromancers) to master.
And finally, and most importantly, if my theory is correct that means Tiber Septim is an aspect of the soul of Lorkhan, which would explain why he could use the Numidium to conquer Tamriel so easily. You know, seeing that it was made with his heart. When he died and ascended it just means that Lorkhan/Shor/Shezzar i.e. THE GOD OF CREATION, finally getting some well earned recognition.
PRAISE TALOS!!!
What you’re talking about sounds a lot like the idea of the Shezarrine, which is a theory that certain mortal heroes are actual reincarnations of the spirit of Lorkhan.
These lore videos keep us alive, I hope that one day the gameplay and graphics in TES games will catch up with its lore, great job
I 100% agree! The introduction of the deitfied Tiber Septim messed up the balance! Blessings of the 8 upon yous!
Found the Thalmor plant.
Welcome back! Love your lore vids and I love the divines
Tiber was brutal, sounds like an elf sympathizer
I'd like to offer a counter to Talos worship being banned, I don't think it is at all about morality. Even Christ himself in the Christian Bible is said to have done things some would find morally questionable today, I think Talos draws a parallel to our own world in this regard. Elves and Humanity have been at constant odds, banning Talos worship is just the Elves solidifying their victory over the Empire by forbidding them from calling upon the true god of man.
By "true god of man" I think Talos genuinely is intended to be. While humans share much in the way of ambition, independence, and change with the Daedric gods, the Daedra see them as mere pawns and do not see any spiritual bond between them. Talos reflects the values and nature of humanity (especially aspects of mortals the Daedra find repulsive like humility and brotherhood), no other divine does. In fact, how the entire pantheon was created was arbitrary in order to appease Elven kings and would-be foreign sympathizers. In essence, Talos is the ONLY true god among humans, this is why it was so important for the Dominion to ban his worship, they are basically denying humanity their own divinity while affirming their own.
This.
Plus there is also the idea that in Oblivion. You need the blood of a god and because Talos was human once they could use the blood from his armour for a ritual and it worked. I see the main argument elves make isn’t about whether or not you should rever Talos as a god but they say that it is Impossible for a human to ascend to godhood when we know that isn’t true because Talos’s blood worked in Oblivion as a substitute for blood of the gods. Now I haven’t beaten Oblivion I just heard about this so if I am wrong please correct me.
To be fair, Akatosh would also be important, no? The humans still wouldn't want to worship Auriel, the Elven God of Time.
Giving Talos too much credit, in my opinion 🤔
Another PLUS, By Talos being Highlighted in Human Religion you are saying that YOU can ascend to GOD HOOD as well, and that REALLY OFFENDS the Elves as, this is Shor's message in a way also, the proving grounds back to Atherius. And the Elves want to DESTROY Mundus to return to Atherius, contradictory teachings.
@@thalmoragent9344 dude your user name plus your comment 😂
Been listening to all your videos in the background while working the past few days. Keep up the great work!
One of the best video essays out there. I reference this video often in debates. Very useful lore that is often ignored.
This gets recommended to me just as I started a monk/priest character. Great video.
Great video and great lore. Elder Scrolls isn’t my favorite Bethesda property(as you can probably guess) but I really enjoy hearing you present the lore in an enjoyable digestible way.
Holy shit, I can't believe my eyes. he finally uploaded again! Welcome back
As always when new video pops up from you, i drop all I'm doing and go watch. Very interesting as expected, thank you for making ))
Even though I knew this topic, I still got great enjoyment from this video. Good job and fantastic editing too.
The best Elder Scrolls lore channel
About time! I was waiting for another upload of elderscrolls lore.
If the Empire eventually defeats the Thalmor and the Aldmeri Dominion, when they reinstate Talos as a divine, they may as well put Shezarr up there as well, making it the Ten Divines.
Ten clearly you have barely listened to the video at all. Akatosh/Auriel and Shezzar/Shor/Lorkhan are incompatible with each other. Shor is pissing off the elves, while the same goes for Nords, who back at the times of Alessia still had Alduin in their pantheon, and were weary of him. They didn't know or even acknowledged Akatosh as seperate entity from Alduin. Hell, they avoided worshipping him to prevent getting his attention or bringing him back, and saw people of Cyrodiil as morons for setting him up as chief of the Divines, thus bringing attention to his worship. Back then Kyne/Kynareth was the most important deity in Nordic pantheon, since she was responsible for the creation of Nords, gifting them the Thuum, being wife of Shor, and carrying their spirits to Sovngarde. Shor was considered dead/missing god by Nords as well, but definitely they put him as close contender to Kynareth. Shor/Shezzar/Lorkhan cannot be an active member of the Eight/Nine Divines, since he is dead, and to keep things stable between men and mer, he must be worshipped as the missing god. As for Talos, I'm not sure whether after whatever happens after the next Great War, he should be accepted back to the Divines, or worshipped as entirely seperate deity.
@@grzegorzflorek5623Talos should be accepted back into the divines, we already know he is a divine. The thalmor don’t, simply because he’s a man, and men can’t be “Gods” in their eyes
This has left me wondering, why is Akatosh/Auri-El considered benevolent by mortal men considering his role in the Elven pantheon and direct opposition to Lorkhan/Shezarr?
My theory for the 8 planets is that we don't know exactly who they belong to. That's how there was the possibility for the debate of who should be in the Imperial pantheon. Those 8 planets were presumably the most powerful Aedra that stayed in Mundus and that's how we know for sure Akatosh would've been one of those 8. For the other 7, it was more focused on keeping the Elves and the Nords content. So even though Tsun wasn't one of those "8 powerful Aedra" who would've had a planet, he was considered because he would appease the Nords. Even if there was an extremely powerful Aedra that would've probably been powerful enough to have one of those planets, if they were heavily biased towards the Elves or the Nords, the imperial pantheon wouldn't have included them.
Oh boy, do not let Ulfric Stormcloak see this
Been re playing elder scrolls and can't get enough of these lore videos. Love your content
I find it so funny how Talos is not just Shezarr's replacement but also the fact that some part of Talos was Shezarr
which explains why the Thalmor absolutely despise Talos
on top of the fact it was only a couple of generations ago that they got nuked by Tiber Septim
Recently found your channel man and I absolutely love your lore series! I hope you come back and do more if you ever can!
Finally! Someone who acknowledges the lack of true divinity of the false god of Tiber Septim.
so glad i have notifs turned on, thanks again for another great vid. Wish shor could’ve gotten a better deal, he’s one of my favorites and it sucks he faded into obscurity when he was once so loved by men
Holy shit. I just noticed this was a recent video. Haha I was wondering when you would continue this series.
I had work when this premiered and I couldn't watch it. Just remembered that you uploaded this masterpiece, keep it up
"...and an eternal rivalry between men and elves is born. Can we all agree on that?"
Dragon cult: "Interesting theory, however; in rebuttal I would submit as evidence that ALDUIN IS AKATOSH"
The Nine Divines are one of the more interesting concepts in the Elder Scrolls. They're simultaneously completely powerless and omnipotent, worshipped as gods and slaves to mortals. They allow Daedric princes to run roughshod over Nirn but when they feel like it, they can utterly annihilate them. And then there's Alduin, whose very existence allows him to devour the Daedra and all of Oblivion, only to crap it all out again in a new Kalpa.
Talos is a war god so I can agree that he shouldn’t really be a part of the imperial cult but he should still be worshiped.
Been waiting on this notification for a long time🙌
Great video! I'd argue that daedra worship might be more of a "practical" endeavor than worship of the aedra, however, since daedra have more of an explicit relationship with man/mer/beastfolk etc. But aedra worship doesn't really come with strings attached, so I get your meaning.
Now that we got the nine* out of the way, can you do a video on the daedric prince’s?
I like to see things from an old school Nord lens. :D My 'letter from a friend' are from Ysmir, The Grey Wind!
Talos is the mantling of tiber septim unto shor's divine place. He was a shezzarine (man who had shezzars soul inside him, a reincarnation of sorts.) He deserves his divine status. Shor may be dead but Talos took his place.
Which is why he, like Shezzar, should get an honorable mention but not a seat at the divine table.
(The last dragonborn is also a shezzarine btw)
@@Matakshaman yes but unlike the last dragonborn Tiber Septim actually mantled the god himself and not just is an incarnation anymore. He ascended to godhood.
If the divines are so compassionate and represent good, to the point that Talos would contradict them, why are the elves so ruthless and evil? Aren't the dominion in direct contradiction to mara for example? Or do the elves not worship mara?
There’s a lot to cover here!
First, Mara is an elven deity taken from the Aldmeri pantheon, so yes the high elves worship her
The reasons for the Thalmor behaving the way they do are complicated. It’s a lot more complicated than “elves are evil and ruthless and hate humans for stupid reasons.”
At the beginning of the third era, Tiber Septim (who would become Talos) launched an unprovoked conquest of Summerset using the Numidium, an overwhelming dwarven superweapon. Before this, his Empire and Summerset co-existed as neighbouring countries because the Imperial navy was not capable of conquering Summerset. The Numidium changed the game.
For the high elves, Tiber Septim basically rolled up without warning and unleashed a superweapon on an unsuspecting population who had no reason to expect an attack. It was a horrific event in their cultural history, and even though the high elves were brought into the Empire, they did NOT have warm fuzzy feelings for their new emperor.
Fast forward to the time of his death, and this war criminal gets canonized as a god. Put up on a pedestal alongside the ancient elven gods who literally created the world. You can understand how the elves were not happy to see Talos not only get away scot free for what he did to their people, but to actually be celebrated Tamriel-wide as a hero god.
Obviously the Thalmor are fascist and horrible, but hopefully you can better understand why they hate Talos so much (they have their reasons). Consider also that high elves live hundreds of years; for them, Tiber Septim’s crimes are not ancient history, there are elves alive today who remember Tiber Septim’s invasion happening on their doorsteps.
Lastly and most importantly, remember that the Thalmor =/= all high elves. Much like how not all Germans during WWII were supporters of the Nazi party, not all high elves are supporters of the Thalmor’s extremism. In fact, the Thalmor have existed for a long time as a minor political party in Summerset, and only relatively recently have come to power due to clever manipulation (indoctrinating young elves against mankind; taking credit for feats that they were not responsible for in order to gain public admiration, etc.) There are many, many high elves that think the Thalmor have gone way too far, but the Thalmor have secret police whose whole job is to find and kill political dissidents, so its a very tricky situation for anyone in Summerset to do anything about it (there’s actually an elven legate in Skyrim who talks about a horrific battle in Hammerfell between Thalmor assassins and high elven refugees who fled Summerset)
To sum it all up:
1. Elves as a whole are not evil, and they do worship Mara
2. Elves disliking Talos makes total sense considering the fact that he decimated them with war crimes
3. The Thalmor are an extremely dangerous and radical political group that have taken over high elven society
4. Many high elves would like to see this change (don’t paint them all with the same brush!)
Sorry for the super long reply, I just find this particular part of TES lore super fascinating and I like to talk about it! I hope I helped answer your question a bit
Incredible video. Congratulations brother!
I am also very curious as to why their shines look the way they do. Why does Zenithar get an anvil, Stendarr a horn and Julianos a pyramid, etc.
Been here since Decadence Night
This video just furthers why I'm team Red Vines
Shor's bones! A handsome man in Falkreath 😏
Thank you recommended page!
Regardless of whether the Imperial Cult canonizes Talos as a Divine or not - and regardless of if it's morally/politically right for them to do so, the truth of the matter is that he _did_ ascend to some form of Greater Spirit with some capability to bless those who ask for it, and the Thalmor are just pissy that a High Elf didn't do it first (because let's not forget that the Thalmor are a genocide cult that think destroying the world will turn them all back into et'Ada).
One of the themes of TES5, from what I can see, is a desire for and return to tradition. The Last Dragonborn's arrival revives knowledge of the old ways. The plots of the Companions, Thieves Guild, and Dark Brotherhood being about how straying from tradition brought ruin to their respective groups. The Skyrim Civil War is - among many things - a duel between those who want to be pragmatic and those who believe the only course is an immediate return to tradition; though whether Ulfric realizes he's being played or not is to be determined (my money's on Galmar being a spy, but that's just me).
Perhaps the time of the Alessian Cult is over, and it's time to acknowledge that Mankind should beseech Akatosh and Shor to once again send champions such as Pelinal and Talos to stave off another attempt by Elven Heretics to desecrate and bring ruin to the world.
Or maybe I'm reading too deep into this and it'll never be that interesting because Bethesda.
Woooo, excited for this
The king has returned.
and we're back to lore videos! fuck yeah dude.
You know, it would be kinda cool if the Elder Scrolls got a cult of dual worship, containing only Auri-el and Shor as their deities and worshipping the concept of balance in the world, order challenged by chaos in an endless struggle, neither of which is wholly evil or good.
I came to this video lookin to better understand the divines but I left with more questions than I came with lol
Leaving a comment for the algorithm, great job !
8:45 This looks like the "Virgin/fan vs Chad/enjoyer etc" meme.
Uhuhuhu yess another lore video!
Great breakdown. Thanks
Ambition is on the list of virtues of the divines taught. If Stendarr is to Work then Talos is to Ambition
9:25, lmao it's Duncan from Dragon Age: Origins.
great video as always
So the devines were aedra that gave up some of their power to create mundus an walked amongst mer and men before ascending to their own realms within mundus, is that right?
Great video btw 👍 the way you tell it makes it sound exciting
While you may not like it, and while it may not "fit" the character, Talos is undeniably a divine. There may have been terrible things he did, but he did them to unite nations and create peace, uniting Tamriel for the first time ever. People will talk about "slaughter" and unnecessary deaths, but there would have been just as much if Tamriel stayed divided, only instead over a longer period of time that would have possibly added up to be even more.
12:30. No. :D
Okay but seriously we have no idea how exactly Lorkhan's destruction happened, there's even theories that he specifically chose to have his heart taken out and dropped onto Nirn, likely to further stabilize its existence. As for Akatosh and Shezarr hating each other/being opposed, this is again something that is unknown, though I would personally doubt it as Akatosh was willing to make at least one Shezarrine, who is the literal mortal incarnation of Shezarr, a Dragonborn: Talos.
As for the Aldmeri Dominion, they didn't *just* want Talos to be removed from the Imperial Cult officially and no longer included in sermons and the like. If that were the case they wouldn't be hunting down those that worship him in private. No, they seemingly want him completely stamped out and his worship removed from living memory as well. Plus, we've seen Thalmor members deny his godhood in spoken dialogue.
Sorry for commenting on a 2 month old video, I just found this channel and I must say I really like how you portray this information, even if I don't agree with all of it down to the tiny details. Keep up the good work.
I put my own take on shezzar and akatosh is that everything the slaves believed aboyt shezzar was true but shezzar's heart was removed by himself because he had chaos hungry ideas and he removed it in front of the gods saying "I am more trouble than im worth please hide my heart so i wouldn't cause chaos" then he removed his heart then jumped to masser and secunda to become the dead moon then the other gods placed his heart where red mountain would be and sometimes shezzar would come down to help out man mer and beastfolk alike like when he helped the slaves kill the ayleids
When is the point when the people of Tamriel had a new god?
Yas!!! More tes lore been a wee while
Next one of these you do please do a video on argonians like you did Kahjit? They are my favorite race
Jesus Christ
2:32 that was some heckin alliteration
Hes back
'This was the right call'
*nordic chanting intensifies*
I think I'm the only one here who isn't a Talos worshiper...
I shouldn't have said that, I can already hear the Nords outside.
The Return of the King
now this is hype. fuck yeah!
What mic do you use 🎙
Shure SM-58, with a Focusrite USB converter. Exact details are on my "About" page, I'm pretty sure.
@@DoubleNegative ohhh! thank you sir!
but then why do the elves support the khajiit if they think lorkhan is bad, when the khajiit believe he is the one who granted power to the two moons?
I love these videos!!!
Might is Right bro. Morality is small mortal perception with no relevance on universal scale. Talos is both Darkness and Light, the perfect balance for any true god. If a god is held to petty human standards in any way, then it is not a god.
I would say that Talos reflects the best and worst parts of humanity, he is truly a human god with all the virtues and flaws that accompany us, he is simply a man who rose to wield the power of a Divine.
I am so hyped. This is the elder scrolls show that sits 2nd to none.
2nd to TES Podcast
Hope you added some background music
Yoooooo new DN video
I know this video was bankrolled by Altmeri merchants
Nice
Talos Akatosh and Shor are the 3 main gods, or rather, they are the same god, a Trinity.
yay learning
There is no pantheon, only the Allmaker of the Skaal.
Oh shit! Oh fuck! Its happening!
I watch most of your videos with love, but I think this video is an elf-sided video. Talos is considered a god, especially for the Nords, as it represents shor. not because he conquered all tamriel.
Even still if we are just speaking factually we know talos exists and we know that Tiber septim became him so wether you worship him or not he IS talos
Amazing video, except for the blatant Thalmor propaganda. Great job!