Hades said:
I hear that last option being suggested a lot but I never quite got it. I'm not the biggest lore nut when it comes to the Elder scrolls but I don't think its ever said that every Dragonborn is related which would be something that would have made the Skyrim Dragon born a Septim capable of being crowned emperor. I also don't recall hearing how the Septims got emperor because of being a Dragonborn. They got to be emperor thanks to a huge gollum and plenty of armies.
I don't think the point is that being Dragonborn makes you an inheritor of the Septim dynasty or inherently worthy of being the Emperor, I think the point is that the Dragonborn is an incredibly powerful being who defeated the World Eater and could potentially be friends with the new king of the dragons.[footnote]Only if they make the right choice though, and everyone else can have fun with hanging out with fucking Delphine.[/footnote] All of those things tend to make becoming Emperor seem like a rather simple task, especially if you already assassinated him and the guy who hired you, leaving the empire without a leader.
vallorn said:
That's all well and good, but isn't it pointed out that the Empire literally did nothing to actually ban the worship of Talos until the Stormcloaks decided to throw a fit about how they couldn't do so loudly and openly? At which point the Justiciars came to Skyrim to enforce the treaty and the ban themselves? Add that with the idea that the Empire's supposedly building up its strength to start another war with the Thalmor, and such a thing's likely not going to happen if they have to throw resources away dealing with the Nords' tantrum and lose what Skyrim provided to a racist asshole dancing along to the Thalmor's tune.