January 3, 2012 1:49 PM EST
"Because slaying the son of a god isn't a big deal at all..."
That's precisely my point. Alduin is important, he should have had some character to go along with it. You never get the opportunity to converse with him or even understand his motives. An anonymous villain can be effective (like Sauron in the Lord of the Rings novels), but there's none of the necessary compelxity to make that work with Alduin.
I like the suggestions that some people think he might be Akatosh himself, but what does Alduin think of it all? Is he deranged, does he think he is Akatosh, does he think he's doing Akatosh's bidding, is he doing it out of spite, does he love his father, hate him, embrace his teachings, reject them?
I was anticipating some deep conversation with him, like a twisted version of Paarthurnax, but all he did was show up, go through all the typical dragon motions, and then get jumped by a bunch of Nordic ghosts while I wondered what the hell was going on.
With Mankar Camoran, you got to understand his viewpoint, and his religion, and even when he was dead, we got the shocking confrontation with Merhunes Dagon afterwards. None of that with Alduin.