#but i digress...

PART ONE: ALD SON OF ALD

(or, "Alduin is Real" is a legitimate source, you cowards!)

A very important thing that tends to be skipped over when people think about Alduin and his relationship to the kalpic cycle is that his destiny is ultimately to devour his father Akatosh—Bormahu, Alkosh, Auriel, whatever you want to call him—and replace him as chief of the pantheon of the next kalpa. The Monomyth points out Auri-El as being created by Anu:

"So that he might know himself this way, too, Anu created Auriel, the soul of his soul. Auriel bled through the Aurbis as a new force, called time."

And yet Varieties of Faith says Auri-El was a mortal!

"To make up for it, Auri-El led the original Aldmer [...] He then ascended to heaven in full observance of his followers so that they might learn the steps needed to escape the mortal plane."

What's up with that? How could Auri-El be both mortal and a god created by Anu? Varities of Faith says that Auri-El was weakened into mortality due to Lorkhan's trick to make the Aedra give up their power and create Nirn. The Monomyth also states this. But how does this place a being like Alduin into the equation? Are Auri-El and Auri-El separate entities or are they one in the same? There is no Alduin in the Altmeri mythos, but there is in the Redguard mythos—by the name of Satakal! Now we're getting somewhere. After all, Satakal eats his own tail and will one day consume and end the kalpa: look at Knowing Satakal.

"'Satakal is the making and the unmaking, the birth and the death, love and fear." "For the world is the egg that Satakal laid, and the egg that in time Satakal shall eat." [...] "Does not the serpent made of sky above reflect the serpent made of the sea below? Yea, it is so.'"

Not only does Knowing Satakal explicitly say that Satakal will one day consume the world but that the "serpent made of sky above"—Satakal—represent the "serpent made of the sea below"—Orgnum, Commander of Twelve-Dozen-and-One. Orgnum is a representation (or perhaps an incarnation? blessed by?) Satakal. If Satakal above represents Orgnum—assuming he is indeed Satakal—below, then are they not one in the same or are Satakal and Orgnum different? Perhaps they're both. Once again, from The Monomyth:

"Some things were about to start, but they were eaten up as Satak got to that part of its body. This was a violent time. [...] Pretty soon Akel caused Satak to bite its own heart and that was the end. The hunger, though, refused to stop, even in death, and so the First Serpent shed its skin to begin anew. As the old world died, Satakal began, and when things realized this pattern so did they realize what their part in it was."

What exactly is going on here? Satakal begins when Satak—Anu—ends, after Satak eats its own heart and consumes the old Kalpa. But Satak isn't Alduin, or even Akatosh, he's Anu! This isn't actually as big of a problem as it might seem: after all, if you look at how Anu/Anuiel are talked about compared to Padomay/Sithis there's a big shift there: Anu and Anuiel are pretty interchangeable, whereas Sithis isn't conflated with Padomay nearly as often and is often treated as his own, independent force—if Anuiel and Anu are relatively interchangable and Auri-El is seen as the soul of Anuiel as both The Monomyth and Varieties of Faith say:

"Anu encompassed, and encompasses, all things. So that he might know himself he created Anuiel, his soul and the soul of all things. Anuiel, as all souls, was given to self-reflection..." [...] "So that he might know himself this way, too, Anu created Auriel, the soul of his soul. Auriel bled through the Aurbis as a new force, called time. With time, various aspects of the Aurbis began to understand their natures and limitations."

And from Varieties:

"The Elven Akatosh is Auri-El. Auri-El is the soul of Anui-El, who, in turn, is the soul of Anu the Everything. He is the chief of most Aldmeri pantheons. Most Altmeri and Bosmeri claim direct descent from Auri-El. In his only known moment of weakness, he agreed to take his part in the creation of the mortal plane, that act which forever sundered the Elves from the spirit worlds of eternity."

then, well, do you see what I see here? Anu is directly said to have created Auri-El, being both the god of time and (one of the) chief(s) of the Altmeri/Bosmeri pantheons. It's incredibly similar to the Akatosh/Alduin dichotomy, with dragons as a whole being parts of Akatosh and the greater oversoul. Shalidor's Insights says as much:

"Dragons have existed since the beginning of Time, as some kind of kindred spirits to (crossed out text) -- either a lesser relation to him or his children or part of him that split off when Time began or whatever. In the beginning, dragons were wild and uncivilized, like everything else. Alduin was the creator of dragon civilization - the Firstborn..."

This establishes the very clear dichotomy between the creation of Alduin by Akatosh and the creation of Auriel by Anu(iel). Anu(iel) created Auriel/Akatosh, the god of time who would go on to become the new chief of the gods, while Akatosh created Alduin, his firstborn and the creator of dragon civilization.

Let's go on to Shor son of Shor. Lorkhan and Akatosh are definitive opposites of each other: yet they were born in the same way, through Anu and Padomay creating the et'Ada and those initial spirits being formalized into coherent forms. When Akatosh forms, Time begins and the other et'Ada can take shape, and with Akatosh comes Lorkhan: with stasis, time, Akatosh, comes chaos, mortality, Lorkhan. It's a cycle, just like the kalpas themselves. The Ald—Anu—of the last cycle created the Ald of this cycle, Akatosh. The Shor of the last cycle created the Shor of this cycle, Lorkhan. Ald, son of Ald, (Akatosh, son of Anu) Shor, son of Shor (Lorkhan, son of Sithis). Akatosh is the son of Ald but has become the new Ald, taken his place: he has devoured his father during the transition between kalpas, with Ald/Anu becoming part of the Aurbis itself. Shor son of Shor also directly conflates Akatosh with Ald but makes a stark difference between Lorkhan and Shor father of Shor:

"The Moot looked to the tribe of Ald son of Ald but he would break no oath of the Pact, saying 'Shor has paid ransom now three times for the the sins we accused him of... [...] Shor found the alcove at the core of the world and spoke to his dead father. He said a prayer to remove any trickery of mirrors and the ghost of Shor father of Shor appeared, saying 'Ald and the others have paid time and again for the the [sic] sins we accused them of..."

It all comes full circle here. Shor son of Shor still has a father to look back on, the Shor from the previous Kalpa. He meets with Shor father of Shor after he spits out his heart into the circle after chastising Ald for continuing the kalpa. Keep that idea of "Ald continuing the kalpa" in mind. Ald, meanwhile, does not have a father to meet with: his role when the Moot meets is the role that his father would take. He has very explicitly taken the role of his father. Akatosh has taken Anuiel's role of chief of the gods and the living soul of Anu.

PART TWO: THE FOURTH FIGHT OF THE ALDUDAGGA

(or, story time with Papa Akatosh)

The Seven Fights are undeniably canon. They're the foundation that Skyrim's main quest rests upon: without the Seven Fights we don't get a good explanation of Alduin, what the kalpa actually is, and how Skyrim's storyline connects to Oblivion's (outside of Alduin's Wall).

Skyrim's plot is about the Fourth Fight of the Aldudagga: Akatosh stopping Alduin from eating the world. Let's take a look at the most important parts of the Fourth Fight:

"And the third, who looked akin to a Karstaag-man, [gigantic], and adorned in storm cloud and endless, endless yellowtooth… [he] was Alduin the World-Eater, and he only said, 'Ho ha ho.' 'You will eat nothing here, aspect Ald,' said the Aka-Tusk, sensing trouble. 'Do not forget that it was Heaven itself that shed you from me.' 'Who cares,' the World-Eater said, 'You speak of the Prolix Laws, which do not bind me if you strain our kinship. You awoke me. That bell-sound has consequence. And the Dagon here, well, he’s going to tell me right now where he’s hidden all the additions to the World he has hoarded in the long aeons of salmon-leap which he calls his own survival.' [...] Korl-jkorl watched the three Powers [of the Around Us] bicker, lament, and tummy-rumble their various agendas and he found himself most upset. This was god-talk, and we Nords have always felt nuisance with that. We blame having to live in the here and now for the most part for the most for that. So Korl-jkorl revealed himself, saying, 'Get off this hilltop, all three of you; [your intrusions] have only ever caused upset and you full well know it. What authority do you have to observe the lands of Rebec the Red with such potent intent that has yet to be decided among any of you?' And then, like most Nords when they are ready to settle matters, he brandished a weapon, that Nordic gesture which really translates to I don’t really care your answer to my question.' [...] 'Wait,' Aka said, and those around him felt his hold on Time. “We came merely to look upon your allies in ash, fallen in a place you regard in glory and that the Drummer has seen fit to–' 'No, we didn’t,' the Dagon said, shifting in his furs. 'Who knows why we came, except at your summons. And if this Northman wants to fight, I agree with Old Ald here: good.' And the Lord of Tumult and Foul Tempers then shed his guise, and held weapons and High King heads in each of his fists. 'Come then, little Nord, let me beat you dead into the snow with the brainpans of your ancient forebears.'

Let's go over this real quick. Three beings arrive at the "ice-lined shoreline of Rebec's holdings"—Skyrim. These three beings are Akatosh, Dagon, and Alduin. Alduin is prepared to eat the world but is stopped by Akatosh and challenged by Korl-jkorl, a Nord warrior who wants them all to shut up. Dagon—the Leaper Demon King, who has his own machinations to fight off Alduin—says that the destruction the fighting between them will cause is a good thing.

Let's cut to the chase. Korl-jkorl is the Last Dragonborn. The player is caught inbetween this battle between Akatosh and Alduin—by the time Skyrim happens the Leaper Demon King/Dagon has already been cast into Oblivion by Alduin and become Mehrunes Dagon, although whether that was the last Kalpa or another Kalpa ages ago doesn't really matter but we'll still get to that—and is forced to fight Alduin. Akatosh wants Alduin to stop eating the world, and the Last Dragonborn is his vehicle to do so. Esbern even says as much at Alduin's Wall:

"Now they kneel, their ancient mission fulfilled, as the Last Dragonborn contends with Alduin at the end of time."

And keep in mind where this conversation and battle takes place: Sovngarde. The conversation between Dagon, Akatosh, and Alduin all takes place in Sovngarde, (presumably) Korl-jkorl fights Alduin in Sovngarde, and where does Alduin's devouring of the world begin during the events of Skyrim? Sovngarde! Alduin crosses to Sovngarde and begins devouring the souls of the dead there, growing in size and power. Sovngarde is also a realm of Aetherius, the realm of the gods themselves, and what does he say so many times throughout Skyrim? "Your souls will feed my hunger"; "To feed my power when I come for you in Sovngarde"; "I will devour your souls in Sovngarde"; "Terorr awaits in Sovngarde", and so on, and so forth. This is where Alduin's consumption of the world begins.

(What exactly are the Prolix Laws? Who fucking knows? The way that they're brought up makes me think that the agency to break them falls onto Akatosh: perhaps the 'Prolix Laws' are the name for the convenant that defines the Kalpic Cycle, i.e. Alduin eventually eating Akatosh. Given that the word prolix means something containing too many words maybe it has something to do with how dragons/dragonborns/Thu'um users can shape reality through speech. Is it dracochrysalis? [credit to u/Mdnthrvst on r/TESLore!] Does it have something to do with specifically dragons as a whole like Akatosh, Alduin, the Jills, the Dovah, the Dragonborn, and so on. Maybe the term 'Prolix Law' is as simple as the will to dominate? Dragons have an innate will to dominate and control all other living things, and maybe that's the 'Prolix Laws': those desires, with Akatosh dominating Alduin before Alduin becomes so strong that he cannot forcibly dominate him anymore. I don't know, I'm just kinda spitballing. Maybe it's just purple prose.)

So then why does Alduin try to take over the world? Why does he establish the Dragon Cult? I think there are two answers to this question, both of which answer the question by themselves and amplify each other as answers:

1: Alduin was effectively making an all-you-can-eat buffet in Sovngarde.

By establishing the Dragon Cult, not only does Alduin gain an incredibly devoted army of dragons and zealous humans but also an incredibly large population of mortals to be culled. Non-believers, rebels, traitors, whathaveyou. By fostering and creating a tyrannical cult Alduin was creating effectively a mortal farm, creating an indefinite source of mortals to kill and dragons to command to keep killing mortals to keep sending souls to Sovngarde to keep eating while he prepares to eat the world. It's all connected, man!

2: Alduin was preparing to usurp Akatosh's role as the chief god of the next Kalpa.

Alduin, like Akatosh, is a dragon-god who is destined to take his creator's place as chief of the pantheon. We established this earlier, with The Monomyth, Varieties of Faith, and Shor son of Shor. By establishing a cult surrounding himself, Alduin not only manages to make the connection between himself and Akatosh far less clear but also directly conflates them as the dragon-chiefs of mortal pantheons. Akatosh later does something similar, reinforcing his role as the chief of the pantheon, when he visits Alessia and makes the covenant with her.

So, at the end of all of this, let's recap the basic points.

One part of the Kalpic Cycle, the "Fourth Fight", is the next god of time in some form usurping his father and taking his place as the new god of time. In the last Kalpa, Ald son of Ald (who we know as Akatosh/Auriel) somehow/eventually became the new Ald father of Ald (Anuiel), but Shor son of Shor (who we know as Lorkhan) remains separate from Shor father of Shor (who we know as Sithis).

In the current Kalpa, this represents itself as Alduin preparing to devour the world and eventually devour his father as well as all of Aetherius and the existence of both Lorkhan and Sithis: like how Anuiel and Anu have both become Ald father of Ald (Anuiel consumed Anu and Akatosh consumed Anuiel), Sithis and Padomay have both become Shor father of Shor (Padomay father of Sithis, Sithis father of Lorkhan, if you will).

The plot of Skyrim is a recreation, retelling, or reappearance of the Fourth Fight. Akatosh is Aka-tusk, Alduin is Alduin, Dagon eventually became one part of Mehrunes Dagon so he's out of the equation, and the Last Dragonborn is Korl-jkorl.

But here's where it gets all fucky.

Our Kalpa is special.

PART THREE: TALOS SON OF TALOS

(or, talos fucks everything up as usual)

Shor son of Shor is not supposed to replace his father like Alduin will eventually replace Akatosh. Lorkhan and Sithis exist independently of each other. Hello, little Sithis! Anyways, you know how the character of Shor father of Shor is still supposed to die? Let's go back to Shor son of Shor:

"'Shor breathed the lamplights of the Underworld to life with small whispers of fire. The dark did not frighten him– he had been born in a cave much like this– but nevertheless it added to the mounting disgust in his spirit. Ever since the Moot at the House of We, where the chieftains of the other tribes had accused him of trespass and cattle-theft and foul-mouthery, he knew it would come to a war we could not win. Any of those words were enough for the treason-mark, and traitors were only met with banishment, disfigurement, or half-death. He had taken the first with pride, roaring a chieftain’s gobletman into dust to underscore his willingness to leave, knowing we would follow. He had taken the second by drawing a circle on the House’s adamantine floor with his tailmouth-tusk which broke with a keening sound, showing the other chieftains that it would all come around again. And he took the third by vomiting his own heart into the circle like a hammerclap, guarding his wraith in the manner of his father and roaring at the other tribes, 'Again we fight for our petty placements in this House, in the Around Us, and all it will amount to is a helix of ghosts like mine now spit into the world below where we fight again! I can already feel the war below us starting, and yet you have not yet thrown your first spears even here!' We took our leave of the House and would never reconvene again in this age.

Shor, i.e. Lorkhan, has still spit out his heart onto the floor. Assuming that Akatosh's Kalpic Cycle is the story of the World-Eater devouring his father and usurping his place, then why isn't Lorkhan's? Ald has continued the Kalpa: he has devoured the previous world and became father of the next. Shor creates Nirn, loses his heart as punishment, and becomes nearly forgotten by the mortals he created. With Alduin son of Akatosh walking around... where the hell's Bob son of Lorkhan?

I think you know where I'm going with this. Talos was supposed to be the new Lorkhan: he was supposed to trick the gods in the next Kalpa and give up his heart as punishment. But something went wrong. I'm not entirely sure what that "something" is—was it Hjalti being Dragonborn? The enantiomorph happening at all? The Underking? Akatosh's covenant with Alessia? The Dwemer meddling around with the Heart of Lorkhan? Tiber achieving CHIM?—but in any case Talos becomes more than just a new Lorkhan. Tiber Septim ascends to godhood through the Walking Ways—all six, as a matter of fact, whether it be a separate aspect, all three, two at a time, and so on. L, O, R, K, H, A, N. Please, please, please read The Nature of the Psijic Endeavor; The Six Walking Ways Compendium by u/Axo25.

Anyways. Something goes wrong. Instead of becoming the new Shor son of Shor, he mantles Lorkhan: in effect, he has begun consuming his father. This is a fuckup of colossal proportions. If there's no Shor son of Shor then what the fuck is going to happen when Alduin consumes the world?

And this finally, finally, finally brings us back to the main point. What I want to do is layout a rough timeline, if you will, of what I think happened. It's gonna be rough and barebones, but I want this to be relatively approachable.

Anuiel and Sithis are created as the souls of Anu and Padomay.

Akatosh and Lorkhan are created as the souls of Anuiel and Sithis, becoming the characters of "Ald son of Ald" and "Shor son of Shor".

Akatosh consumes the world and his father. The old Kalpa ends and the next Kalpa begins with Akatosh as the new dragon-god of time.

Lorkhan tricks the Aedra into creating Nirn. He vomits out his heart/his heart is ripped out of his body and he becomes a forgotten deity.

Alduin emerges to consume the world. He creates the Dragon Cult to dominate the world and ensure a stream of sacrifices in Sovngarde so that he can grow large enough.

Paarthurnax teaches the early Tongues and Alduin is cast adrift in time through the Elder Scroll. The Time-Wound is created.

The Dwemer fuck with the Heart of Lorkhan. Just wanna include this in here for good measure.

Wulfharth is blasted away by the Greybeards and becomes the Underking.

The enantiomorph happens. Wulfarth and Zurin Arctus kill each other, Zurin's heart is blasted out of his body and he becomes the next Underking (this is the guy we see in Daggerfall), and Tiber Septim claims his heart to power the Numidium, completing two of the six Walking Ways (the First Way, through Numidium, and the Fifth Way, through the enantiomorph).

Talos uses the Numidium to siege down Alinor. He achieves CHIM around this time, and when he returns from Alinor he uses Word (the Prolix Tower) reshapes Cyrodiil from a jungle to verdant greenlands. He completes two more Walking Ways (the Third Way, through the Prolix Tower, and the Fourth Way, through CHIM).

Talos conquers all of Tamriel, completing the Second Way (the Sword).

Talos creates the Septim Dynasty and ensures the rule of the Dragonborn Emperors, completing the Sixth and final Walking Way (the scarab).

Tiber Septim dies and ascends to Godhood. He, either unintentionally or intentionally, begins mantling Lorkhan.

The events of Morrowind.

The events of Oblivion.

Alduin returns and prepares to consume the world once more. Like old times, he attempts to reinstate his Dragon Cult and use both it and the Civil War to ensure a steady stream of souls to Sovngarde.

The events of Skyrim. Alduin eventually makes it to Sovngarde but is defeated there by the Last Dragonborn, just like how he was defeated by Korl-jkorl in the Fourth Fight of the Aldudagga.

So, yes, Alduin was trying to consume the world. Yes, Talos fucked everything up. Yes, Akatosh is Auriel, and maybe, the Fourth Aldudagga might be the true Prophecy that the Last Dragonborn is the Hero of. After all, each Event is preceded by Prophecy. But without the Hero, there is no Event. 

I'm not so sure about that one though.

Thanks for reading.

SOURCES:

A Retrospective: Mantella, Mantella, What's in a Mantella? by u/DanielK2312 on r/TESlore (the inspiration for this post!)

Why You Should Kill Paarthurnax: A Modest Proposal by u/DanielK2312 on r/TESlore (no direct quotes, but Selfish Altruism does a great job of explaining Alduin's role through Paarthurnax's eyes)

The Monomyth by Michael Kirkbride

Varieties of Faith in the Empire by Michael Kirkbride

Knowing Satakal by Anonymous

Shalidor's Insights by Anonymous

Shor son of Shor by Michael Kirkbride

The Seven Fights of the Aldudagga by Michael Kirkbride