I love how the destinies of Martin and the Hero of Kvatch are so intertwined. You cannot have one without the other.
People presume that Martin is the only Chosen One. The one blessed by the Divines to stop Mehrunes Dagon from taking over Nirn. By all accounts, one would think the HOK is just some guy (or girl) who just happened to be in the right place at the right time to help Martin. And maybe that's true to an extent. But I really don't think that's the case. After all, the Emperor says he saw the HOK in his dreams, specifically, when we first meet him. Not just any random prisoner, but the HOK themselves. And he trusts the HOK immediately, despite literally just meeting them, with the Amulet of Kings and with finding his secret son that only Jauffre knows of. Why would he see the HOK specifically if the Divines did not intend for the HOK to also be Chosen?
The HOK is, in a way, just as much the Chosen One as Martin, because without the HOK, Martin never would have made it out of Kvatch alive. And without Martin, the HOK would never have made it out of the Imperial City alive. And without one or the other, the Mythic Dawn cult and Mehrunes Dagon would never have been stopped. Their mutual success relies entirely on being with the other.
The Hero closes the gates and gets the materials needed for Martin to succeed. They put their life on the line over and over, and they line everything up for Martin to succeed so he can end Mehrunes once and for all. And Martin makes the ultimate sacrifice to close all the gates and defeat Mehrunes Dagon for good and save all of Nirn, because only he, a Dragonborn, can access Akatosh's power to stop Dagon. Without Martin's sacrifice, without his blood, Mehrunes Dagon would have won. Neither could have succeeded without the other. The Hero could never have stopped Mehrunes on his own. Martin wouldn't have even lived long enough to stop Mehrunes if not for the HOK.
One cannot exist without the other. Without the HOK, there is no Emporer Martin Septim, last of the Septim line, no Avatar of Akatosh, no Hero King who sacrifices himself to save the world. Without Martin, there is no Hero of Kvatch, no Champion of Cyrodil, no new Sheogorath, no *insert all faction leader names the HOK can become.* Both would have died unmemerable nobodies without the other.
They were always meant to both be the Chosen One, destined to save Nirn. Together. Always.
And it makes Martin's death all the more painful. Because without Martin, their other half, the HOK returns to being a nobody in the eyes of Tamriel. Hence why, in the future, no one seems to remember anything important about them, other than they existed. Not their name, their age, their star sign, their race, their gender....Nothing.
Because they are nothing without Martin.
