Spoiler:

According to the Greybeards themselves, the gift of being a Dragonborn is a direct gift from Akatosh (Alduin for the Nords), the God of Time and the chief deity of the Nine Divines.

He chooses a Dragon as his Avatar, as he did during the Oblivion Crisis when he defeated Mehrunes Dagon.

This is important knowledge for those who were concerned about their roleplaying experience concerning the matter of whether it would make sense, considering the lore, for certain races to be Dragonborn.

Now we know that being Dragonborn is not hereditiary, but arbitrarily decided by Akatosh, whose motives remain somewhat of a mystery, though the Greybeards say that there have been many Dragonborn who appeared in times of great need.

We already know that Dragonborn are chosen by the Gods, Todd has stated it several times in demos and interviews.

Why would Alduin/Akatosh appoint the PC Dragon Born, when we probably end the eventual crisis or whatever he has in stock for us?

well that's the million dollar question isn't it?

so the hero is actually an avatar of akatosh?....knew it was something like that

not really no, were not THAT powerfull. but yes, we are one of the agents of the highest god, thats pretty impressive.
martin took on a dragonshape and could be considerd a avatar. but hey, were pretty close, and who knows maybe in a expansion pack, we shall take to the skies trailing light and fire

I actually think we are just as significant in such terms as Martin. I would assume that Martin taking the form of a dragon had much more to do with his devotion to Akatosh than some illegitimate bloodline tie to Talos.

I think Alduin's role in all this is essentially unclear. We see him as evil, but it's tough to judge without knowing all the facts.

What if he HAS to destroy the world in order to re-build it, and by not doing so it would be even worse? Maybe he's compelled to, but wants an agent to try and stop him.

Will be interesting

Definitely moving up from being an agent of an agent... or plainly being an agent... but being a re-incarnation of a saint felt nice too. And that whole mad god thing was sweet as well.

ok so i guess we are more of a herald of akatosh then....nice

Maybe he wants the player to help him take over the world. Which is why he sent a dragon to save the player in the beginning.

Well I think the lore is made to be broken. Its left vague because we are ment to fill in the blanks. If we want to think of our charachters as some long lost septim bloodline then fine and if we want to be a random dragon born appointed by Aktaosh then that alright it is out game. When Mr Howard was asked what is a dragon born then he could not have been any more vague than he was "born with the soul of a dragon" The elder scrolls lore has been changed so much to fit to other aspects of the elder scrolls its not even any point considering anything as canon.

So alduin wants us to stop him from destroying the world?

considering ourself a long lost member of the septim bloodline is pretty much non-canon well to believe that after more then about 10 generations we would still hold any power without the amulet is redicules

Oh yer and flying dragons brining back the dead and lizzard and cat people walking on their two legs is not ridiculous?
If you had bothered to read my post you would see that i said nothing is realy canon so you point is kinda invalid to my post. to you too

Also, we don't get to meet the leader of the Greybeards until we are "ready" at which point the Power of the Voice will open our path to him.

Well, Jyggalagg thanked us for having defeated him while he was going rampage, so I'm not surprised it's another case of God gone mad that gives a mere mortal the power needed to defeat him.

Maybe Alduin made an oath that oblige him to destroy the world in the same way he was obliged to help during the Oblivion crisis. Those crazy Gods. Can't stay away from mer and men binding them to their bidding...

This may be far-fetched but hear me out, what if Alduin/Akatosh has a golum/Smeagol type deal going on. Akatosh makes the pc a dragonborn to stop Alduin, his evil half...maybe? ya idk xD

I don't think thats far fetched atall , i think its a completely viable theory.

a herald of akatosh

John the Baptist motif then, there is One to come after

Sorry, I'm getting cabin fever with a week to go

Akatosh is a completely insane schizophrenic god, canonically. He wants to stop himself. Also, he wants to stop himself from stopping himself. He's tired of his bullcrap, always foiling his plans that he made to foil his plans.

Because Alduin and Akatosh are not the same gods. Ask someone like Hellmouth or another lore buff or search it, and you will find that despite their positions being the same in the pantheon, the people's beliefs shape the gods nature. Alduin is different from Akatosh because the Nords and Imperials vision towards him diverge.

Hmm it could be that he gives the power to a mortal, then goes to destroy the world. Maybe he actually WANTS to be defeated: to see whether someone in tamriel has the courage to stand up and fight despite all odds or not... if someone does manage to do so, he knows that the world is worth continuing.

We also need to realize that this game is 'lore in the making.' Meaning, all the lore we know so far could ultimately change in this game.

This is correct, they are the same divine entity split by the various mortal beleifs about him. Alduin was first (actually Auri-El was possibly first), but they are both the same god and different. My theory is that Akatosh knew his Alduin aspect was getting ready to reset the world, and made a dragonborn to stop himself.