Alternate History: What if the Septim Dynasty managed to survive?

[Darklordroy]

When I first started playing Skyrim back in 2011, I was kind of disappointed how everything went to hell in the past 200 years. Especially since the previous two games, Morrowind and Oblivion, were all about saving the Empire and even the world from terrible evils. So it felt really bad that the world you tried to save changed for the worst during the 200 year timeskip between Oblivion and Skyrim.

 

What I picked up during Skyrim that happened between Oblivion and Skyrim.:

 

* The Septim Dynasty is wiped out by the Mythic Dawn and Martin's sacrifice to stop Mehrunes Dagon, leaving Tamriel without an Emperor.

 

* The Ministry of Truth in Vivec falls, causing all kinds of apocalyptic stuff in Morrowind, followed by the invasion of the Argonians.

 

* Because of the political crisis caused by the lack of an emperor, many provinces, most notably Summerset Isles, secede from the empire, causing it to fall apart.

 

* The Imperial City is ultimately taken over by a mere warlord, Titus Mede I, who crowned himself the first Emperor of the Mede Dynasty.

 

* Great War happens, resulting in the White Gold Concordat, which caused Hammerfell to also break away from what's left of the Empire, and also causes Skyrim to be on the verge of breaking off, due to the religious issues the ban on Talos worship causes.

 

* Skyrim erupts into Civil war, while the world deals with a plague of giant flying lizards, led by a black one who is so hungry he is known as the World Eater.

 

But what if, by some twist of fate, Martin Septim manages to light the Dragonfires in time, preventing Dagon from entering Tamriel and ultimately Martin having to sacrifice himself? Which allows him to take his rightful place as Emperor of Tamriel.

How would this alternate version of Tamriel play out 200 years later, during the time of Skyrim?

 

My version of this alternate timeline

 

I certainly think Martin would have made a good emperor, capable of averting many of the political problems that happened after his death in the original timeline, as he displayed the qualities of a good inspiring leader during Oblivion, such as:

 

* According to several citizens of Kvatch, Martin led many people to the safety of the chapel during the chaos of the Daedric attack on Kvatch, showing he can keep a clear head in dangerous situations.

 

* He never sat still and spend almost all of his time researching how to stop the Daedric invasion, showing he is really invested in saving the empire.

 

* He personally took command over the Battle of Bruma, endangering himself, but showing the people he wasn't just some royal brat sitting on a throne while thousands would die in his name.

 

* His sacrifice shows he is willing to give anything up to save his people, including his life.

 

His ascension to the throne alone would avert the initial political crisis caused by the lack of an emperor, as seen in the original timeline. And him being an inspiring leader would certainly help in the years following the Oblivion Crisis, as people now have a legendary hero leading them during the years of restoration. The great Martin Septim, son of Uriel, who ascended the throne and lit the Dragonfires when Tamriel needed him the most.

 

Where things get a little bit more difficult are the seceding provinces. In the original timeline, Summerset Isles, Elseweyr and Black Marsh seceded soon after the crisis was over. In Oblivion your could hear NPC's talking about the latter two provinces planning to secede after Martin sacrificed himself. This could go either way. If leadership from Cyrodiil remains strong, despite having to recover from all the damage the Daedra caused, both of Elseweyr and Black Marsh might stay with the empire.

 

The difficult part is Summerset, as NPC's in Oblivion were already talking about Summerset Isles planning on seceding before the main quest has finished, as heard during their random bantering:

 

NPC 1: "They say syndicates of wizards have led a boycott of imperial goods in the land of the Altmer"

NPC 2: "The Altmer have powerful wizards. This could be a dangerous situation"

 

So you can conclude Summerset was already in political disarray despite or because of the crisis. From what I understood, the Thalmor grabbed power during the chaos following Martin's sacrifice, by claiming sole responsibility over solving the Oblivion crisis.

I think in this alternate timeline, Summerset might become the stage of a civil war. Because there is now an emperor on the throne of Cyrodill and one directly responsible for stopping the Oblivion crisis, there might be a group of Empire loyalists in Summerset, trying to prevent the Thalmor from taking over. Since political tensions, about wether to stay or secede in the Empire, in Summerset were already high at the time of Oblivion, this conflict could be as big as Skyrim's civil war.

 

Lets say, for the ease of this scenario, this war is concluded in the Empire's favor. The loyalists probably got help from the Empire itself and utterly defeated the Thalmor. Otherwise this would really become complicated. And even if the Thalmor did win, they would probably be too weak to become the threat that they became in Skyrim, due to having spend what little resources they'd have on this civil war.

 

The biggest event that would really test Martin's skills in leadership is the Red Year, in which Vardenfell got hit by the Ministry of truth. Since this event happens happens just five years after the end of the Oblivion crisis, the Empire would probably not have the means to help the large streams of Dark Elf refugees coming from Morrowind. I think this may play out similarly to how the original timeline plays out. Because the High king of Skyrim pities the Dark Elves, he will give them Solstheim to flee to.

 

The biggest point of divergence here would be wether the Argonians invade Morrowind or not. I think that if they haven't seceded from the Empire yet, they might not invade. But this is hard to say, as racial tensions run very high, due to this whole slavery thing the Dark Elves are guilty of.

If they do invade, the Dark Elves would be able to halt their invasion as in the original timeline. The biggest political impact this probably would have on the Empire are racial tensions between Argonians and Dunmer. If handled incorrectly, it might cause Black Marsh to secede. If this happens, the Empire, still recovering from the Oblivion Crisis, would probably let them for now, but bide their time until they are able to reconquer Black Marsh once they have the manpower to do so.

 

If the Empire manages to professionally handle this crisis, it might be able to completely recover to how it was during the height of its power. Especially, like I mentioned before, it is now led by an effective leader who personally stopped the Oblivion crisis. A living symbol of hope so to say.

If Martin's descendants are just as effective as he is, a conflict as the Great War would probably be averted.

Another important fact about having a Septim on the throne would be that they are the only ones able to light the Dragonfires. Without Martin's sacrifice, Mehrunes Dagon would not be destroyed by the Avatar of Akatosh, meaning the Dragonfires have to be lit each time another Septim takes over the throne. This will probably make other provinces think twice about waging war against the Septim Dynasty, as the fate of the world is literally in their hands.

 

So if you should play a Skyrim taking place in this alternate timeline, you would probably see the following:

 

* No civil war. Since the Great War was avoided, due to the Thalmor not taking control, the people of Skyrim would have no reason to fight amongst themselves.

 

* A stronger Imperial presence in Skyrim. Without a Great War to severely weaken the Imperial army, the empire would be able to garrison more men in Skyrim. Since the Septim bloodline descended directly from the Nord's favorite god, they would be much more welcoming to the Empire.

 

* Less racial tensions. The Great War and subsequent Skyrim Civil War might be the cause of many instances of racism you see in Skyrim. Especially toward elves.

 

* The Nine Divines. A given, since there was no White Gold Concordat banning Talos.

 

* A more unified Skyrim standing against the Dragon Crisis, as there is no civil war dividing the Nords against the true threat of the Dragons.

 

This is my theory on what would happen should Martin have ascended the throne. Since I am no expert in the lore of The Elder Scrolls, I might have missed a thing or two.

 

So, what do you think will happen if Martin managed to ascend the Imperial throne, as he was meant to?