The Last Dragonborn: A Case for the Cosmic Villain

An Exploration of How Skyrim's Hero is Actually the Greatest Threat to Reality

The popular narrative frames the Last Dragonborn as a hero—a prophesied savior who defeats Alduin the World-Eater and saves Tamriel from destruction. But when we examine the deep lore of The Elder Scrolls, strip away the game's heroic framing, and look at what the Dragonborn actually does, a far darker picture emerges. This isn't a story about a hero. It's a story about a cosmic-level catastrophe masquerading as salvation.

Let me be clear from the outset: The Last Dragonborn is not just morally questionable—they are objectively, cosmologically, catastrophically the villain of their own story.

I. Breaking the Cosmic Cycle: The Alduin Disaster

Let's start with the most damning evidence: Paarthurnax referred to kalpas as being "the egg of the next world", and considered Alduin's defeat at the hands of the Last Dragonborn enough to stop (either permanently or temporarily) the end of the world.

To understand why this is catastrophic, we need to understand what a kalpa actually is. In Aldmeri belief, Anu birthed his own soul after his battle with Padomay, so that he could understand himself and self-reflect. This reborn soul was known as Anui-El and, in turn, became the soul of all things. However, as Anu created Anui-El, Padomay birthed his own soul, Sithis, creating the fundamental duality from which all reality springs.

The kalpa cycle—the periodic destruction and rebirth of the universe—isn't some evil plot. It's a fundamental cosmic function, as natural as breathing. Alduin's role as World-Eater is to devour the current iteration of existence so a new one can be born. This is the design of reality itself.

Yes, Alduin had become corrupted during Skyrim's events, choosing to dominate rather than end the kalpa as he should. But here's the critical point: by killing Alduin rather than correcting his behavior, the Dragonborn didn't save the world—they potentially broke the universe's reset mechanism.

There is evidence that the cycle is broken. The current kalpa very likely exists into the 9th era, which with as much as we can tell, outlasts the time a kalpa should exist. The Dragonborn has made this kalpa eternal, preventing the natural rebirth process that has occurred since the beginning of time itself.

Imagine if someone disabled death itself. Bodies would continue to decay, minds would continue to deteriorate, but nothing could ever truly end and be renewed. That's what the Dragonborn may have done to reality itself.

II. Hermaeus Mora's Champion: Servant of the Demon of Knowledge

Once Miraak is beaten, Hermaeus Mora kills him, stating that the Dragonborn is his new champion. This isn't a minor detail or optional quest—it's the climax of the Dragonborn DLC and a core part of the Dragonborn's canonical story.

Who is Hermaeus Mora? Hermaeus Mora is the Daedric Prince of Forbidden Knowledge, hidden shoals, whirlpools, and sudden squalls. His sphere also encompasses destiny; he scries the tides of Fate, weaving through the past and future as interpreted in the stars and heavens. More importantly, he is also known to betray his servants to their deaths when he perceives them as having outlived their usefulness to him.

The Dragonborn doesn't stumble into Mora's service accidentally. To defeat Miraak and learn the Bend Will shout, the Dragonborn had to convince the spiritual leader of the Skaal, Storn Crag-Strider, to give up the knowledge, which killed him as it was removed from his body.

Read that again. The Dragonborn murdered an innocent shaman—delivered him knowingly to his death—so that a Daedric Prince of forbidden knowledge could steal the sacred traditions that the Skaal had protected for generations. This wasn't collateral damage. This was deliberate sacrifice of an innocent life for personal power.

And Mora makes it explicitly clear:

"You will serve me, willing or not. All who seek after the secrets of the world are my servants... I know what you want: to use your power as Dragonborn to bend the world to your will. Here then is the knowledge you need, although you did not know you needed it. The second Word of Power. Use it to bend the wills of mortals to your purpose."

The Dragonborn IS Hermaeus Mora's champion. A servant of a being who collects knowledge and discards those who provide it like used tools.

III. The Lorkhan Connection: Agent of the Trickster God

Now we enter truly speculative but heavily supported territory: Is the Last Dragonborn a Shezarrine—an avatar of Lorkhan?

The evidence is complex. Dragonborns bear the soul of a dragon, which is an aspect of Akatosh (Auri-El). Shezarrines, however, are aspects of Lorkhan (Shor).

However, metaphysical patterns suggest otherwise. Lorkhan was a prisoner in Ada-Mantia, subject to having his heart ripped out by Auri-El and then shot into what would become Red Mountain. In Elder Scrolls metaphysics, Prisoners are considered fragments of Lorkhan—entities existing outside causality. And the Dragonborn begins explicitly as a Prisoner.

Regardless of literal status, the Dragonborn functionally serves Lorkhan's cosmic agenda. Who is Lorkhan? He convinced the Original Spirits (et'Ada) to create Mundus, upsetting cosmic stasis—much like his father Padomay or Sithis introduced instability and possibility into the undivided universe.

Lorkhan is the Trickster God. By defeating Alduin—an aspect of Akatosh, Lorkhan's ancient enemy—the Dragonborn perpetuates Lorkhan's mortal creation by preventing its natural end. Whether intentional or not, the Dragonborn serves the agenda of the cosmic deceiver.

IV. The Daedric Prince Collection: Champion of Evil Incarnate

Beyond Hermaeus Mora, the Dragonborn can—and in standard completionist playthroughs does—become champion to nearly every Daedric Prince in existence:

• Molag Bal: Prince of domination, enslavement, and corruption. Becoming a vampire lord means accepting his blood curse.
• Hircine: Endless predation. The werewolf curse binds you to the Hunting Grounds.
• Mehrunes Dagon: Destruction, revolution, and violent change.
• Boethiah: Deceit, unlawful overthrow, and betrayal (requiring the ritual sacrifice of a loyal follower).
• Mephala: Lies, sex, murder, and manipulation.
• Namira: Ancient darkness, revulsion, decay, and cannibalism.
• Clavicus Vile: Faustian bargains and twisted wishes.

All Daedric Princes are purely Padomaic forces of chaos. These aren't morally ambiguous archetypes; they are manifestations of cosmic malice and disorder. The Dragonborn actively serves them, carries out their will, and wields their artifacts.

V. The Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild: Institutionalized Murder and Theft

Let's not forget the faction questlines:

• The Dark Brotherhood: The Dragonborn becomes the Listener, a contract assassin serving Sithis himself through the Night Mother. Serving the primordial void, murdering innocent targets across Tamriel for cold gold.
• The Thieves Guild: The Dragonborn becomes a Nightingale, swearing eternal servitude to Nocturnal. Your soul is bartered away to her realm of Evergloam after death.

Tsun, the gatekeeper of Sovngarde, explicitly identifies this corruption. If the Dragonborn claims membership in the Dark Brotherhood, Tsun declares:

"You trespass here, shadow-walker. Shor does not know you."

Even Shor's own gatekeeper rejects the Dragonborn.

VI. The Body Count: A Walking Genocide

Here game mechanics meet lore in the most disturbing way. The Dragonborn leaves mountains of corpses across Skyrim:

• Bandits killed on sight with zero legal process.
• Forsworn tribes slaughtered wholesale despite fighting for their ancestral homeland.
• Imperial and Stormcloak soldiers cut down by the hundreds.
• Dragons: Sentient, immortal beings who are fragments of Akatosh himself.

Dragons are shards of the Time Dragon. When the Dragonborn kills a dragon and devours its soul, it isn't ordinary death—it is permanent metaphysical annihilation, consuming divine shards to fuel mortal power.

VII. The Cosmological Hierarchy and Your Place in It

To understand the full scope of the Dragonborn's villainy, consider the structure of reality:

• Anu and Padomay: Primordial concepts of Stasis and Change.
• Anui-El and Sithis: The souls of Anu and Padomay, whose interplay forms the Aurbis.
• Auri-El (Akatosh) and Lorkhan: The first divine emanations. Auri-El created Time, allowing the et'Ada to take form.
• Et'Ada: The original spirits (Aedra and Daedra).
• Alduin: The First-born of Akatosh, assigned the cosmic duty of eating the world to restart the kalpa.

By killing Alduin, the Dragonborn disrupted forces that predate time itself. These aren't political enemies—they are fundamental cosmic functions.

VIII. The Paarthurnax Dilemma: Hypocrisy and Genocide

Paarthurnax poses one of the game's most morally complex dilemmas. He was Alduin's chief lieutenant during the Dragon War, guilty of ancient atrocities, but later taught mortals the Thu'um and made their victory possible.

The Blades demand his execution. Many players refuse. But notice the hypocrisy: players spare the ancient war criminal while slaughtering dozens of innocent dragons whose only crime is existing. Conversely, if you kill him, you execute the only creature that achieved moral redemption. Either way, the Dragonborn acts as an unaccountable tyrant of life and death.

IX. The Final Argument: You Are the Villain

Let's compile the dossier:

• Broke the kalpa cycle: Potentially doomed reality to eternal rot by halting cosmic renewal.
• Hermaeus Mora's champion: Sacrificed an innocent Skaal shaman to gain forbidden power.
• Avatar of Lorkhan: Perpetuates the mortal trap by destroying Akatosh's First-born.
• Champion to Daedric Princes: Serves demons of rape, domination, cannibalism, and betrayal.
• Dark Brotherhood assassin: Contract killer for the void, rejected by Shor's gatekeeper.
• Nightingale of Nocturnal: Bartered their soul to Evergloam.
• Deicide and soul consumption: Permanently annihilates divine dragon shards.
• Unstoppable mass slaughter: Cut down thousands of mortals across the province.

Conclusion: The Boot Stamping on Reality's Face—Forever

The uncomfortable truth is that the Last Dragonborn represents the most terrifying kind of villain: one who doesn't recognize themselves as such.

Traditional villains have motivations, philosophies, and human limits. The Dragonborn is a force of pure, unchecked domination wrapped in prophecy, justified by destiny, and hailed as a savior.

The Thu'um as Cosmic Tyranny

Dragons do not merely speak; they impose their will upon the fabric of reality. When a dragon utters a Word of Power, existence has no choice but to conform. This is the power the Dragonborn wields—reality manipulation through sheer ontological bullying.

The Soul-Devouring Abomination

Every dragon soul consumed is a piece of Akatosh permanently obliterated from the cosmos. Paarthurnax asks:

"What is better - to be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?"

He asks this because he knows what you are: a dragon in mortal flesh, consumed by the draconic instinct to dominate, lacking any of the restraint he spent millennia cultivating.

The Prisoner Glitch

The Last Dragonborn is a walking metaphysical contradiction: bearing the soul of Akatosh (Anuic order) while existing as the Prisoner (Padomaic chaos). This isn't balance. It is a reality-breaking glitch that concentrated godlike power into a single, unaccountable mortal vessel.

The Landfall Catastrophe

In deep lore, breaking the kalpa cycle does not preserve the world in peace—it accelerates Landfall, the horrific breakdown of Nirn when reality collapses under its own stagnant weight. You didn't stop the end of the world; you ensured its destruction will be chaotic, painful, and permanent.

The Final Tally

The Last Dragonborn didn't save Tamriel. They broke cosmic law, sold their soul to multiple demons, eradicated sentient beings from existence, and trapped reality in an unending, decaying cycle.

The game ends with bards singing your praises and statues raised to your name. But beneath the heroic fanfare lies a chilling truth:

You are the lie. The walking catastrophe. The cosmic villain of Skyrim.