#theres the part where Martin wears tiber septims armor

[the-old-caius]

I neglected to mention, I don't necessarily buy that the intended reading was simply Divine Right of Kings Good, Empire Good. It's not what I got out of it, at the very least. Martin has a crisis of faith specifically regarding the god that granted the right of Kings, says that waiting for a divine to intervene and guide you isn't how you fight off evil, (supposedly this is framed as correct, since that conviction is what leads us to victory at Bruma, subsequently being how we even get the amulet back) (the complicated part here is that while this, in part, denounces the idea of a god-chosen Emperor, he also fulfills that idea in the same act) and like, he ended the covenant, the third era and the septim dynasty, and that's what saved Tamriel, so. YMMV? In the end, a divine did intervene, but only because of the Amulet being shattered, so blindly clinging to that symbol of rule would've ended far worse... the invocation of the avatar is also weirdly ambiguous regarding why things actually happened. I've said this as a joke before, you could 100% read it as divine retribution instead. It's also not like Akatosh is a beacon of morality or sense.

The story lacks perspective- you get the Blades, a religious order dedicated to Talos and sworn to serve the Dragonborn on one side, and the insane world-ending cultists on the other. Not good! But Martin specifically, as arguably the central character of the Main Quest, has more going on than just being a symbol for a "righteous reign of emperors". Quite the opposite, at times

[the imperial legion specifically, the Empire's tool for conquest, also renders itself useless to actually fighting off the forces of Oblivion cause they're busy "defending" the border, so like... that might not count as an explicit condemnation of imperial conquest (Redguard did that), but it certainly doesn't cast it in a good light.]

M. Caius-antivirus 1) don’t know your pronouns 2) I keep thinking of your soldier/poet/king thingie and like. 🤔 can’t quite word it but do you think Martin found apotheosis as Just Martin or as Martin Septim? I know the intended reading is the second one because Todd Coward said divine right of kings, but the more I think about it, the more I find it romantic/rewarding that he was ultimately Just Martin. What do you think? :o

Good evening 1.) he/him :] and 2.) okay so here's the thing. I have so much to say about like. Everything that's behind the covenant and the amulet and how that kinda re-frames in my mind a little. Like the origins are pretty fucked up and I think making it fucked up was a conscious decision

Short answer is that I think the breaking of the amulet and covenant was another turning point where something significant changed. Avatar of Akatosh.

His blood... the dragon needs the mortality of human flesh for the blood to mean something? You know? All of it.