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That recycles the souls for others to use, so obviously they aren't dead souls.

Right. Souls don't exactly die or get destroyed. The worst that happens is they end up in the Soul Cairn, or some realm of Oblivion or Alduin's belly.

The only reference we have to a soul being shattered is Umaril's, when we're told he no longer exists anywhere. That might just mean he doesn't exist as himself any more. As in his soul was still recycled and he lost his memories and personality.

You could point out the Dwemer or the Aedra as being dead souls, but that's not an accurate description of either group. Their souls simply became something else.

I'm likely reading way too much into things, but I always saw a two part split throughout Skyrim's main quests and lore.

On one side is the sphere encompassing the traits of the orthodox account of Tiber Septim- honour, pride, bravery, exuberance, and irrationality (honour over rationality).

On the other side is the sphere encompassing the traits of the Arcturian Heresy's account of Tiber Septim- deviousness, cunning, ambition, pragmatism and rationality over honour.

Wulfharth, the Stormcloaks, and the Greybeards all embody some/all of the traits of the former sphere. Zurin Arctus, the Empire, and the Blades all embody some/all of the traits of the latter sphere.

Perhaps the aspects of Shezzar can also be incorporated into one of these two spheres- the brave and battle-hardened warrior god Shor would fit into the former sphere while the trickster Lorkhan would fit into the latter sphere.

These two spheres combined embody Talos and as the Dovahkiin may be an incarnation of Talos, it is up to him/her to choose which sphere he/she gravitates towards throughout the events of Skyrim.

That's a beautiful way to look at it!

as dragon born, the hero of skyrim and Talos both have the dovah lust for power so in a way deciding how you deal with that by playing the game is kind of making that choice

i have a character who definitely does not sit well in the "noble" corner lol

who knows, maybe skyrim is alot like morrowinds story, in morrowind you are a reincarnation of nerevar. So maybe in skyrim Talos put sum of his soul in you to unite his people

You guys do know that ebery character is basicly a reincarnation of Talos. Talos is Shezarr who is Lorkahn. It is usually assumed that every character is a Shezarrine, even the Nerevariine. It's not really that suprising.

I've only ever heard one or two people make the claim the Incarnate is a Shezzarine. Although that would make sense, I suppose. Vivec claims Nerevar had "the hands of the GHARTOK", meaning "God's hands". When Vivec talks about "God" he's usually either talking about Lorkhan or the Godhead. If Nerever is an incarnation of the Godhead himself he'd be something altogether unique, so it's plausible he's a Shezzarine.

Is there any significance behind the ghost of Hroldan mistaking the Dovahkiin for Hjalti? Is the recognition only because you're dragonborn, or is there some other connection there perhaps?

I doubt anything will come of it, just another ambiguous plot point, but I'm curious to hear other opinions.

Probably has to do with the Dovahkiin being a Dovahkiin/Shezzarine like Tiber was.

Some people believe that Pelinal, Ysmir, Hans the fox, and various other people were the same person, most likely because they were all Shezzairnes and people saw them all as the same.

I always thought that only the PC in Oblivion was a shezzarine , since he seemed more the type , its just a feeling i had , itsnot backed by any Lore or theories

but no ,i dont think the Dovahkiin is Talos , Apparently , talos is actually three people combined , and i think the dragonblood is a gift of Akatosh , and not Talos ,so i assumed the Dragonborn of skyrim was an agent of Akatosh ... but im no expert on this stuff

Talos is made out of three Shezzarines, essentially they are all really the same person, Lorkhan. Akatosh is really Lorkhan. Talos is Lorkahn. There for, Talos is Akatosh, Lorkhan and the Many-Headed-Talos, all at once. Essentially to qualify as Shezzarine, one must prolong Mundus. Only Lorkhan the one who made Mundus, is the one who wants to truly prolong the process and is the only one who is capable of doing that. Almost, if not all, of the player characters qualify and are likely Shezzarine. The Dovahkiin is sort of unique, much like Tiber Septim or Wulffharth, in that they are Dragonborn and Shezzarine. That is too close to be a random accurance.

Nah , i dont believe that they are all the same person , i think Akatosh is Akatosh , Talos is Talos (however many people that might be) and Lorkhan is Lorkhan

It's sort of complicated.

Akatosh and Lorkhan are basically like two personalities of the same deity. They are separated by a mostly arbitrary line placed between them by Mortals who cannot comprehend a being with two conflicting personas both active at the same time. Imagine a god with two heads if that helps.

Shezzarines are avatars of Lorkhan, so they are Lorkhan incarnate in mortal form. Thus three Shezzarines achieving apotheosis basically makes a new super Lorkhan.

Being an Avatar is different to being the real thing , when three avatars of Lorkhan combine to become one Talos , they do not become one Lorkhan , they become a Combination of three Avatars of Lorkhan , and thus become something new

That. That, makes absolutly no sense. Water mixed with water, mixed with water is still water; it does not matter if you change the container. Those three shared one soul, the soul or a piece of a soul of a god. They are all the same. These same people are also essentially our characters. Lorkhan is forced to be reborn time and time again. Lorkhan is Talos, Akatosh, Anu, Pad., Sithis, and YOU. That is just how the Elder Scrolls work. I know that you hate CHIM, MK's theories, and the whole idea of mantling of the Divines, but lets face it. This is all pretty much excepted lore. It may make sense only to MK, but Bethesda is trying it's hardest to make it even in-game lore. See KotN, see the Mirical of Peace( the Warp in the West), see the Song of Pelinel, etc. Even, see the Ghost of Old Hroldan. It's lore now and everybody just has to except that.

Each of the three people who make up Talos are different , with different personalitys and agendas , i never said that mixing the three people made something new in every way ,Talos is ALMOST lorkhan ...
let me explain , its like mixing Water with dirt in it , Water with salt in it , and water with sugar in together , the end result will not be Pure water , but it is mostly water ...

i dont really want to accept these things as Lore , but i suppose you may be right and i may have to accept them ... but a man can dream

Shezzarines are not avatars, they are "Lorkhanborn" mortals with the soul of Lorkhan. They thought they had different agendas but all hold the same purpose. You see, as the Towers began to fell, it becme more and more clear that Lorkhan needed to come back into power. Talos was made to serve this purpose. Talos holds Mundas together, along with the few remaining Towers. Lorkhan used different people, of different backgrounds, to manipulate the Mortals into prolonging creation.

I give up , im not going to be able to change your mind

this doesnt mean i agree though , i still dont think that Talos is Lorkhan

That's just how ES works. It's all about the Psjiic Endevor.

I've thought of Talos as kind of Lorkhans replacement, he kind of ascended and took his empty throne within the divines.

He was able to replace Lorkhan because he is Lorkhan.

Well the way I see it yes he is Lorkhan but theres much more to it than that for me. Hes become something else also in a way, in my opinion. Lorkhan might of changed form and became Talos, and now Lorkhan is a thing of the past, and isnt the same thing. Maybe Lorkhan finally acheived something he had been trying to acheve from the begining, maybe he finally found CHIM as Talos when he failed to get it as Lorkhan or something, which might have been his purpose for creating the Mundus in the first place, and continues to return as Shezzarines to help others find it. How can we know for sure? TES lore isn't written in stone and it always leaves room for interpretation of the individual reading it. And also its a fake fantasy world, in your TES Universe there the same god, in someone elses there not, your both right in respect to your own interpretation of it.

If you want to be optimistic, but I don't think Bethesda sees it that way.

Unless you can find the quote to end all quotes, I'd say you're just as equally optimistic. I agree more with anon's interpretation, to say that Talos is Lorkhan and leave it at that is too simple. However, that's just an opinion - I don't think either interpretation will ever be verified with the utmost certainty.