#tes 2

Excuse the Gloom

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“Underking”

If you listen to the Nords who fanboy over Talos, he’s the very avatar of Incorruptible Pure Pureness, the Absolute Apex of Nordiness.

But while there’s two differing accounts of his life, the one considered a heresy only paints him as... marginally worse than the other (which is still pretty bad). Considering that the most likely truth is somewhat less than the Orthodox version pushed by the Empire, I think it’s safe to say we can lean on the account provided by The Arcturian Heresy, and even that may not be pushing things far enough.

He cavorted with violent racists and particularly oppressive imperialists, and regularly betrayed people he’d sworn to aid or defend. 

He forced his mistresses to have abortions done against their will so that his son would inherit everything. One of those mistresses was Barenziah (yes, THAT Barenziah). When Barenziah refused, Tiber Septim pretended to relent and then instructed her healer to induce an abortion behind her back, most likely via slow-acting poison as it would be the easiest way to do it on the sly. Barenziah completely justifiably stormed out of the Imperial City shortly afterwards.

He also betrayed both of his mentors and closest advisors by ripping out their souls and using them to power a bit of Doomsday Tech he was given by Vivec as a bribe in exchange for Morrowind joining the empire willingly and not having every last Dark Elf butchered. He then promptly used that Doomsday Tech to butcher his way through the Summerset Isles instead. Soul trapping Ysmir Wulfharth and Zurin Arctus ended up creating the Underking, the villain of TES2: Daggerfall. Nice job breaking it “hero”.

And not that anyone has really played it or generally remembers that it exists, but the villain of Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard? Racist and oppressive fat bastard by the name of Amiel Richton? Handpicked by Tiber Septim to be governor of Stros M’kai. And he’s doubtless far from the only such example placed by Tiber Septim in such a position, given what else we know about him.

Tiber Septim is not a hero. He’s not even a mixed figure of both good and bad. He was a human-supremacist who by and large didn’t care for other races except for what he could get out of them, ground the innocent under his heel, instated abusers and oppressors as territorial governors, broke oaths, lied, cheated, manipulated, and massacred, and established his empire by being a terrible excuse for a human being in ANY era. Yes he was successful, but his most successful heirs were those who were more honorable men.

Tiber Septim is a fine example of an evil emperor with good publicity. He is Emperor Palpatine.

The Empire is better off without deifying him.

Any Nord who speaks well of Tiber Septim or the god Talos that was apotheosized out of him either A) does not know the history of Tiber Septim (likely, given how illiterate societies at Skyrim’s level of development tend to be) or B) knows and either doesn’t care or actively thinks Tiber did nothing wrong.

The latter two should be squashed and ground into the dirt like the worms they are -- it’s the Tamrielic equivalent of the “Hitler did nothing wrong” crowd.

This guy is closer to Molag Bal or Mannimarco’s temperament than any of the Aedra. He does NOT deserve to be counted among them.

The killer part? 

Most likely, Tiber Septim probably wasn’t even a Nord or Atmoran.

There’s a very good chance that the account that he was born in the city state of Alcaire in High Rock is accurate, which would have in all likelihood made him a Breton.

The Nords of the Fourth Era insist on worshipping something that is utterly false on every level and they define themselves by it.