I knew you would wait for a long period of inactivity from me to post this article, Phil 

It has it all, Talos, CHIM, metaphysics and an inciting title  

Seriously though, great job mate!  

You can see the flaw with this theory Thorien. If only Wulfharth is Shezarrine (required only to power the Numidium) then the concept of Talos being a new Lorkhan is weakened considerably.

Lissette has it right, though. Although it is never spelled out directly in lore, the fact that Wulfharth is the original Ysmir and that title is now synonymous with Dragonborn speaks volumes.

I mentioned earlier that Akatosh is time while Lorkhan is space, two entities who by their very nature are intertwined. Maybe a Shezarrine is no different from a Dragonborn as the "blessing" comes from the same place? A coin is worth the same whether you look at the heads or the tails side.

Thank you Vaz!  Not a single mention in the article of Thalmor "unmaking the world" either. Tell me you're proud

I don't see any problem with the Numidium. Three souls needed to power it (because one is not powerful enough), but one of them is quite enough to be identified as Lorkhan. Then the three merge and become one, and the Numidium thinks that this is now a new version of Lorkhan.

If Dragonborn=Shezzarine, then does that mean that Alessia and Reman Cyrodiil were Shezzarines? And Pelinal and other Shezzarines were all Dragonborns? 

Akatosh and Lorkhan (time and space) may be intertwined but that doesn't mean they are one and the same. You can't say that space=time. They have each his own function.

A Shezzarine is an incarnation of Lorkhan, i.e. he is Lorkhan, one and the same soul that has been reborn again and again. How can there be 3 Lorkhans at the same time? Does he copypaste himself? (Lol)

I think though it is possible for a Shezzarine to be a Dragonborn (if Akatosh decides to make a Dragonborn from a Shezzarine), as well as there to be more than one Dragonborn, though it seems unlikely to me because I don't see any logic in it.

And if Wulfhart was a Dragonborn, why the Greybeards didn't call him to High Hrothgar, but only Hjalti?

As for him being the original Ysmir, who gave him that title? I can't find any link right now, but unless I remember wrongly, it was how people called him. As I see it, they could call him anything, whether he was a Dragonborn or not.

TLD is both an avatar of Akatosh and an avatar of Lorkhan, just like Talos.

This is so true. The idea of multiple concepts coalescing in one person/divine is a recurring theme in TES. I am reminded of the two-headed representation of Akatosh in Oblivion. 

It's my opinion that Lorkhan and Akatosh are two-sides of the same coin. (could a dragon break be Akatosh losing his mind - or the two personalities vying for control of the moment? Maybe a thought for another discussion) Talos and the TLD follow suit.

Talos if far more important to Tamriel than Skyrim's surface-level presentation. One man's opinion, anyway.

All perfectly valid points. On the Dragonborn = Shezarrine, please note that was only a thought for the sake of discussion. That said, it might have an element of truth to it: Pelinal the Shezarrine, while deep in his madness, acknowledged Aka as his "other half" and referenced their shared madness. If Pelinal can be conscious of this connection between the two, how can he not also be Dragonborn?

Akatosh and Lorkhan (time and space) may be intertwined but that doesn't mean they are one and the same. You can't say that space=time. They have each his own function.

Now I am not 100% sure on this but from what little I know of physics and mathematics - the language of the universe, time = distance/speed. To have a concept of time there needs to be a space for it to occur in. Time will cease having all meaning at the heat death of the universe as there will be nothing to distinguish one moment form the next. Time will cease to exist.

A Shezzarine is an incarnation of Lorkhan, i.e. he is Lorkhan, one and the same soul that has been reborn again and again. How can there be 3 Lorkhans at the same time? Does he copypaste himself? (Lol)

That I do not know and so is a great discussion point. I will ask Matt and Tom and see what they say. Matt! Tom! What do you think? Personally, if there can be more than one Drgonborn, why not more than one Shezarrine? Lorkhan's soul is pretty damn big and there's  probably plenty enough of it to go around

And if Wulfhart was a Dragonborn, why the Greybeards didn't call him to High Hrothgar, but only Hjalti?

Wulfharth did indeed go to Hrothgar: "He goes directly to High Hrothgar to hear the Greybeards speak. When they do, Ysmir is blasted to ash again. He is not the chosen one. It is a warrior youth from High Rock. As the Grey Wind goes to find this boy, he hears the Greybeards' warning: remember the color of betrayal, King Wulfharth."

It's all interpretation and nothing is wrong with yours. It could be that he was Dragonborn but not the prophesied one in a Miraak/TLD relationship (ie, if Miraak wasn't stuck in Apocrypha and went to Hrothgar at the same time as you, what would the Greybeards say?) or it could be you are entirely correct and he wasn't Dragonborn at all.

As for him being the original Ysmir, who gave him that title? I can't find any link right now, but unless I remember wrongly, it was how people called him. As I see it, they could call him anything, whether he was a Dragonborn or not.

Well that's really complicated. We touched upon the subject in The What Are Dragons? discussion. I quote:

How does this concept fit into Talos and Ysgramor lore, taking into consideration Kuhlmann's own thoughts on Ysgramor as a dragon? Simply, given enough time and hyperbole is it possible for anyone to become a dragon?

Ysmir means Dragon of the North iirc. Did Wulfie earn this title with his merethic era antics? Has it since become literal through mythopoeia?

This conversation has only solidified my ideas. Thank you. 

No, thank you for spending so much of your time with this!  

Please tell me you have a deep insight into the cave as a stone issue? I will need to look at the Tower lore again but the Prophecy of TLD kind of makes the whole of Skyrim a Tower: When the Snow Tower lies sundered, kingless, bleeding.

But if the entire province is a tower and a cave its stone, what possible cave in either a literal or metaphorical sense can be said to have been damaged? Mythically, the final act of the TESIV questline ended the recurring theme of Daedric influence in Cyrodiil - to them that was their bugbear as dragons are to the Nords. The White Tower falling was a prelude to that.

So what, thematically, has changed in Skyrim? A Civil War? Alduin's return? The forced rejection of Talos? If the latter is the event which started the snowball rolling, how can we link that to a cave?

Pelinal the Shezarrine, while deep in his madness, acknowledged Aka as his "other half" and referenced their shared madness. 

As I see it, that's excatly what you were saying about Akatosh and Lorkhan being "ying and yang". Pelinal is talking About Akatosh being his other half - Lorkhan's other half, since he is Lorkhan. It doesn't mean that he has a dragon soul.

To have a concept of time there needs to be a space for it to occur in. 

You are right about that, but... there did the idea that Lorkhan is space come from? Because when I think of it, it's feel somehow wrong to me. Lorkhan is change. Time and space are order, they can be static. For any life to be there, the time and the space are not enough, there must be a power that brings change. That is what Lorkhan is. The space, I think, is made by the other Aedra, while Auri-El is time.

Personally, if there can be more than one Drgonborn, why not more than one Shezarrine? Lorkhan's soul is pretty damn big and there's  probably plenty enough of it to go around

Because Lorkhan's soul, however big, is one soul, one entity. While a Dragonborn is not an incarnation of Akatosh himself, but another entity created from his power, something like a child (just like a dragon). There are many dragon souls, thus I think that more than one Dragonborn is theoretically possible, but highly unlikely, because one Dragonborn is perfectly enough for the purpose he was born for, there's no need for more. 

As for Miraak, he is:

1. dead for many centuries;

2. probably not a real Dragonborn as he's said to get his power from the dragons. Even if he is a real Dragonborn, see #1.

Ysmir means Dragon of the North iirc. Did Wulfie earn this title with his merethic era antics?

Since the Nords used to worship dragons and view a dragon as the strongest creature (just like we say a lion is the king of animals), it seems very likely that they might call someone powerful, a hero, a dragon. It doesn't mean that he was a literal one)) Or that he had a literal soul of one either.

And besides all of this, the whole concept of Dragonborn=Shezzarine seems wrong to me from a few more perspectives. For instance, with all the Dragonborns and Shezzarines being humans, there does that place the elves? And there does it place dragons?

(You never answered my question whether a mer Shezzarine is possible, haha))

I will look into the mythology. I agree that all of Skyrim is the tower, though the lore article states that it is the Throat of the World. But metaphorically, you can refer to the province in by both names. 

Does the Stone need to be necessarily damaged at this point? What we have, in my opinion here, is the beginnings of Tower disconnect. I think that Skyrim's destruction can be prevented. Alduin being the instrument of destruction, or the Civil War, whichever is bigger. When it lies sundered, kingless, and bleeding, it could also mean that it's wounded not necessarily dead and needs help. Perhaps it simply needs reconnection to its Stone? 

Every Tower has its Stone.^[9] They are magical and physical echoes of Ada-Mantia's Zero Stone, by which a Tower might focus its energy to mold creation.^{[OOG 2]} While Aetherius is the source of "creatia", accessing the spirit realm is difficult and requires great expenditures.^{[10][OOG 2]} Therefore, the general rule is that Stones cultivate creatia indirectly, borrowing surplus creatia which has washed into Oblivion from Aetherius. The Stones then graft this creatia to the terrestrial domain of their respective Towers.^{[OOG 2]}

In various times and ways throughout history, the connection between a Stone and its Tower has become compromised, apparently resulting in the deactivation of whatever protection that Tower had afforded Mundus. The deactivation of a Tower is believed to pose the greatest possible threat to the very existence of the mortal realm. As such, mystics can become alarmed at mere interest in the subject among the common folk. It should be kept in mind that the designations below ("Ayleid", "Dwemer", etc.) are metaphysical and conceptual in nature, as no race is of a single shared mind. The Towers are first and foremost metaphysical concepts, and the constructs representing them are mere physical echoes.^{[OOG 2]}

Blackreach is one giant cave and in it, you find an Elderscroll. Just throwing stuff at you at this point. I've listed a few potential caves that are very significant to the events of the game. But I can also begin to think of this metaphorically as well. I think that the Snow Tower is not deactivated, that through the events of the game, this Tower is saved, at least for now. It can still be destroyed. 

But, you know me, I love playing around with Tower Lore. 

Cave, cave, cave. I remember College literature class and I just thought of something. I wonder if Kirkbride ever read Plato?

Allegory of the Cave

Plato's metaphor of the Cave

Interesting stuff. Puts a whole spin into Septimus' outpost and Hermeaus Mora. 

Hehe, I thought about Blackreach too. That consequently brought my thoughts to those who created it, the Dwemer. Since all the Towers were built by elves (either literally or metaphysically), it could mean that the Snow Tower was created by the Dwemer, but they already have their Tower (the Brass one)), so I wonder, maybe the Snow Tower was created, and thus connected to the Falmer?