Anti-Elven prejudice was to be expected in Skyrim, and the recent war plus the rebuilding of the Aldmeri Dominion probably made things even worse for them. Still, not all Altmer are allied with the Thalmor, and it may be an interesting challenge to make Nords trust an Altmer as being a Dragonborn and someone to protect them. Roleplaying a Thalmor Altmer is an interesting alternative as well, and I may try that myself.

This. I would love to see a scenario like this play out. Akatosh (Alduin) has always been the most prestigious of the gods for the Aldmer, likewise, Shor (Lorkhan) has been the most influential deity for the Nords (man). I have a theory that Dovahkiin may actually be a http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Wulfharth, a reincarnated demi-god of Shor (Shezarr/Lorkhan), especially given that Alduin and Akatosh are one in the same...

I guess you guys missed my post edit above? I have read that some of the Blades think that the Thalmor are involved in Alduin's return.

I did miss it. But still, this only reinforces my theory

It's possible. Shor/Lorkhan is the champion of the Nords/men, and it may truly be a struggle between Shor and Auri-El/Alduin, and they are pretty much the complete opposites to each other, and Nords venerate Shor/Lorkhan the most (aside from Talos, who was not born divine), while the Altmer see him as the responsible for their bind to mortal things, while they venerate the most the dragon God that mirrors the most feared God of the Nords. It would surely be quite ironic if an Altmer turned out to be the Dragonborn in this case.

thank you. for proof listen/watch the sounds of skyrim audio/video. esben is not the last blade. (they also hint that there may be even more blades)

you and I think alike

I believe I have heard something about the Blades having some sort of last refuge as well. I think it might have been the Temple-like thing we saw in the latest "World of Skyrim" trailer.

It'd be nice if Skyrim gained its independence and remained neutral with the other provinces. I don't mind the empire but I would rather see the nords rule themselves. Their traditions and culture is cool in my opinion and shouldn't be affected by the empire. If the Thalmor were to attack Skyrim once they are independent then I think the nords would do alright on their own ground. The difficult terrain and cold weather makes it tougher for foreigners to invade. I believe Skyrim could get help from other human provinces as they may see it as a fight for humanity.

I'm unsure of the exact intentions of the empire or stormcloaks. At this point I guess I'd have to side with the stormcloaks even if they aren't exactly the good guys. It looks fun to beat on the empire for a change and I don't care if the imperial are secretly trying to stop the Thalmor; if I don't know for sure then they are my enemy.

We don't know much yet, but the same applies to everyone else in Skyrim. Everyone is picking sides without really knowing about what's truly going on, we'll just have to do the same.

lol yeah I was thinking about that too. You have to assume that (because it is an option) the Dovahkiin is an Altmer! Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Thalmor consider Lorkhan to be a trickster and deceiver of elves. If the player chooses to play his Dovahkiin character as an Altmer (and Dovahkiin is a Shezarrine), that the Thalmor would believe it to be the ultimate form of trickery; having Shor's Shezarrine, Dovahkiin, bane of Alduin -- their hero-god (of the Thalmor), be non other than an Altmer! I think they'd be infuriated at Shor lol...

Ok, we agree: Thalmor = bad. That's a good place to start.

But let's talk about how the Altmer wage war. There's a thread on this in the lore section of this forum here: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1253125-altmers-ability-to-wage-war/

In your argument, you're making an assumption that I think you should stop making. Don't get me wrong, it's a very reasonable assumption, and I think many other people are making the same assumption.

You're assuming that what the Thalmor WANTED to do was immediately kill everyone in the Empire, and that the Empire made them stop it by signing the peace treaty (the White Gold Concordat that outlaws the worship of Talos and allows for Thalmori agents to infiltrate the Empire and root out the cult of Talos.)

But let's question that assumption, as reasonable as it seems to be. After all, by all accounts, the High Elves have longed to get rid of mankind. Why wouldn't they simply try to destroy them outright as quickly as possible? Well, that's how you and I would do it, but that's not necessarily how the High Elves would choose to do it.

Let me draw you an anology. Suppose there was something you wanted really, really bad - Skyrim, for example. Well, suppose I said that you could have Skyrim, that I would give it to you, but not for 100 years. That'd be kind of stupid right? We'd both be dead.

Now pretend you're an Altmer that lives to be 1,000 years old. Waiting 100 years doesn't seem so bad anymore. Still a long time, but not as bad as it would be for us. But instead of wanting Skyrim, they want the destruction of humanity. They've already been waiting for 1,000's of years. Eras, aeons. They are a very patient people.

Might they have a reason for waiting? YES! Quite simply, they'll bleed the Empire dry slowly, bleed humanity slowly, watching us bleed to death over a period of decades, growing weaker and weaker with every passing year. Eventually, those of us who remember the Great War will die off, and our children will never know a world without Thalmori agents permeating their lives. In a generation or two, they will have wiped out Talos worship altogether, blotted out his memory from the hearts of man, and somehow that weakens humanity even further.

Then humanity will be ripe for the taking. Then the war will be much easier, fraught with much less risk, much safer for them. They can watch generations of men come and go - but they remain, patiently plotting our doom.

Time is on their side. Their goal was the Concordat. They WON. They achieved their objective. They probably could have slaughtered all of humanity, but that would have cost many lives and lots of money. They are cowards, content to bleed us slowly for centuries if they have to before they finally strike.

While you and other loyalists wax poetic about the strong noble Empire that stood up to the Elves and only made concessions as a last resort, all the Elves are wringing their hands because in their minds, the destruction of humanity has become as immanent as our getting Skyrim in 2 days. RIght now, Elves are in their chat forums talking about what they will do when they become gods again.

There is no hope in the Empire any longer. Its fall is certain. Its doom already written. There's no coming back from this. It's only a matter of time. And time is NOT on our side.

If the Thalmor attack all the way, they will be killing humans and Talos worshippers at the same time. There are two things that might happen if they do this.

Firstly, it might be possible for the remaining humans to increase their worship of Talos in hope of salvation. This might work out and make the Concordat look the worse choice. Talos might even incarnate and help win the war and rebuild a new Empire.

Secondly, it might be possible for the remaining humans to lose faith in Talos. The possibility of such a thing is evident in how people lost faith in the Nine Divines when the Daedra attacked during the Oblivion Crisis, even Martin Septim himself. If this happens, Talos and the other gods will weaken as the Thalmor invade. He will not be able to save the humans and eventually Talos and Humanity will both be destroyed in a single sweep by the Thalmor. This makes the Concordat look like the better option.

Historically it's like comparing the ancient Greeks' navy with Vikingr longboats. Both are comparable to each other. Both have geographical oddities that lead to strong naval traditions (Aldmeri have their islands, Nords have their fjords and deep rivers- again both compared to Greeks and Vikings). I'm sure the Aldmeri can field a fine navy, but that doesn't necessarily make them the best sailors either, by comparison. But just like having the most professional army didn't make Cyrodiilic Imperials the best fighters, being part of the most professional navy doesn't make you the best sailor. If one is to assume that the Nords borrow from Viking history when it comes to sailing (which it does), then all Nordic sailors know how to build a ship by hand, know every part of their ships and what they do, and are very sturdy on rough waters whereas someone else may not have the balance necessary to face down a shielded warrior in ship-to-ship combat. Ultimately, we'll see where Bethesda takes the series. Perhaps ducks will evolve and take over the world with their duck navy.

Elder Scrolls VI: Pond.

Argonians, not Dragons. Dirty lizard bastards running around in my home. Anyway, I still say if there is atleast some of the dunmer military left, and the Nords were to team up with them, they wouldn't exactly go down without a fight.

The Nords attacked Morrowind during the Oblivion Crisis, but maybe they might have forgiven each other after 200 years.

If they want to save their asses they need to make nice, even if it's temporary.

Yeah, I was just saying that it won't be so easy for them to work together.

Back to the original topic, so far the only proof we have of Imperial resistance against the Thalmor is General Tullius' apparent dislike of the Thalmor. I find this to be quite a big thing because General Tullius is the leader of the Imperial Legion, thus if we wanted to go rogue (against his own orders) and fight the Thalmor he could have the entire Skyrim Legion behind him. The orders don't speak well of the Empire as a whole but General Tullius dislike of the Thalmor speak well of the Skyrim Legion.

On a side note, it seems that almost everyone who has the game has been playing Stormcloak, thus we are getting very, very little information on the Imperial Legion side of the story.

If only we could of saved Martin somehow at the end of Oblivion. This probably wouldn't be as bad as it is right now, but sadly that isn't possible. But to be honest, the Thalmor don't really scare me all that much..I'm not easily intimidated by Altmer and Bosmer.

i wonder if we can make one of the opposing leaders defect to our side in order to unite both sides either by making tullius rebel against the thalmor to save the empire in his own way or by making ulfrik work together with the empire to save skyrim from the thalmor and the dragons.

I am... creepy elves. Never trust them! *drinks another Nordic mead*

Meh, Altmer maybe..But angry midgets with bows? Not at all. The only ones that could legitly intimidate me are the Dunmer...and I'm with them.

I don't think there could be a better scenario than the Legion and Skyrim dropping their petty fight, making nice, and then purging the Thalmor.

General Tullis only works with the Thalmor because he is under orders. As an Imperial I can understand why we sided with them, but maybe it would have been better to sacrifice ourselves for the good of the Empire. Some of the nations have already split away from us, but if we can unite them again with victory in this Cival War then we would defeat the Thalmor. Damn you Stormcloaks for indirectly aiding the cause of the Thalmor.