The Talos Mistake Summary . This book is a treatise written by Leonora Venatus , the Imperial Liaison to the Aldmeri Dominion , which repudiates the worship of Talos and views the Empire ' s prior acceptance of his worship as the Ninth Divine to be a " mistake . " Content . As citizens of the Empire , all are of course familiar with the deeds of Emperor Tiber Septim . But it is the Emperor ' s ascent to godhood , as Talos , that is the subject of this work . Until Tiber Septim ' s death , there had been Eight Divines : Akatosh , Dibella , Arkay , Zenithar , Stendarr , Mara , Kynareth , and Julianos . These gods were , and are , worshipped throughout the Empire . And while some may have different names in the varying provinces ( for example , Akatosh is known as " Auri - El " to the Aldmer ; and Arkay is sometimes known as " Ar ' kay " ) , all are recognized and revered by all races and cultures of Tamriel . But when Tiber Septim passed to Aetherius , there came to be a Ninth Divine - Talos , also called Ysmir , the " Dragon of the North . " The man who was so loved in life became worshipped in death . Indeed , it can be argued that Talos , the Ninth Divine , became even more important than the Eight that had preceded him , at least to humans . For he was a god who was once just a man , and through great deeds actually managed to ascend to godhood . And if one human , could achieve such a feat - couldn ' t it be done again ? Couldn ' t all humans aspire to achieve divinity ? So we thought , we humans . And so we continued to worship Talos , and revere him as the ultimate hero - god . But that was then . This is now . And now , we know the truth : We were wrong . As citizens of the Empire , we all experienced the sorrows of the Great War . And it was not until the signing of the White - Gold Concordat , the treaty between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion , that we once again knew peace . One of the most important stipulations of that treaty , as every Imperial citizen is well aware , is that Talos can no longer be worshipped as a god . This edict shook the very foundations of the Empire . There were those who rebelled against the law . Indeed , some still do . But the citizens of the Empire must know this : the Emperor did not agree to outlaw the worship of Talos because it was demanded by the Thalmor , the ruling body of the Aldmeri Dominion . The Emperor agreed to the outlaw of the worship of Talos because it was the right thing to do . Today , the Emperor , and indeed the Empire itself , recognizes that allowing the worship of Talos was a mistake . For by doing so , by allowing the worship of Talos as a Divine the Empire actually did its own people a great disservice : for this only succeeded in weakening the memory of the man Tiber Septim and his many extraordinary ( though mortal ) deeds ; and pushing people away from the Eight Divines , the true gods , who do deserve our love and reverence . And so , the Empire admits it was wrong . The Talos Mistake will not be repeated . May we find centuries of peace and prosperity with our new Thalmor friends , and continue to share a spirituality that binds together all the cultures and races of Tamriel .