I'm still hearing what they did wrong and not how to do it right. Also you seem to miss the part of the Concordat that puts the hurt on the Empire: The huge gold concession, draining their coffers, and the disbanding of the blades, essentially leaving the Empire blind as their eyes and ears across Tamriel are now defunct

Or maybe that's what they were doing in Skyrim before Ulfric decided to throw a tantrum and attract Dominion attention. Given how lax they are at enforcing the ban in the other holds when the Dominion isn't around, it seems that's exactly what the Empire was doing before the Civil War erupted.

no, they did it to protect the entirety.. the dominion was at its doorsteps, it was either make concessions and have time to rebuild but take the land back later, or have to dominion massacre and pillage the empire in its whole while the loss of leadership causes an immediate power crisis throughout the provinces while the dominion immediately has access to the rest of Tamriel because of Cyrodiils location (being the most strategically important location on the continent) as well as having access to the province that has more of the natural resources you need to fund an army than any others..



can you think of another option the empire could have taken that wouldn't put the entirety of its people in life threatening danger? if so, we would love to hear it!


(at the same time, when Hammerfell was lost in the concessions, the Legion actually talked to its soldiers from the province and said "go home, they need you more than we do at the moment, but we'll be back")

they were, as is confirmed by Tullius they were in the stages of preparing GWII when Ulfric started the coup, meaning Ulfric put GWII on hold

and thats exactly what the Empire had been doing..


it was taking the responsibility of enforcing the ban, but then not actually doing anything about it at all, that is confirmed by several NPCs in game.. but when Ulfric started his coup, the dominion came in and said "well, since your forces are caught up in this war, were gonna enforce that for you until you get things under control", thats one of the reasons why the Dossier the Thalmor have on Ulfric says they want the conflict to drag on as long as possible, the very existence of the Stormcloak rebellion is weakening humanities chance at winning GWII..

The point is they should have continued on the same course as before and refusing the Justicars access to Skyrim, which only serves to give the Stormcloak cause more validity. But instead they are too meek to provoke the Thalmor.

Skyrim is no danger, and Hammerfell handled the Dominion alone and lived through their own danger. Seems to me the only things that was in danger is the Cyrodiil's rulling classes peace of mind, status quo and positions.

Sure Cyrodiil would suffer some more, but at least Hammerfell wouldn't leave the Empire and there would not be a Stormcloak rebellion. + the Empire's international prestige would not be basically ruined in 1 sudden move.

If the Dominion was strong enough to pose this '' life threatening danger'' they would not have signed the treaty. They were devastated too.

This treaty is an Imperial attempt to fix Cyrodiil after the devastation, after being tired of War, nothing else. Sure they can do what they think is right for them, but don't be surprised when people start to lose faith in the Empire after that and leave it.

They are presumably in these stages from day 1 after the treaty and this preparation continues even as the Civil War continues.

It's easy to say that the Empire shouldn't have signed the Concordat after the fact. Hammerfell never "defeated" the Dominion, they fought to a standstill, and it took years and devastated Hammerfell's southern reaches. We also don't know what concessions Hammerfell may have made in the Second Treaty of Stros M'kai in exchange for the Thalmor withdrawing their troops (presumably they couldn't impose an unconditional withdrawal if it was truly a standstill).

Cyrodiil hasn't exactly been in the best shape since the Great War, either. So it's not like the Empire is twiddling its thumbs while at the height of its strength.

Because when you wander into a bear's cave, you don't wave your genitals at the bear daring it to maul you. You put armor on and prepare for a fight first.

And all it cost them was a devastated Southern Hammerfell, and who knows how many casualties from Redguards and 'defenct' Legionnaires that were left in Hammerfell after they ceded at the expense of the Empire.

Well that and the mounting civilian deaths as the Dominion slaughtered anyone they could find that wasn't Dominion. I'm sure the common man had a stake in the war as well with the 'not dying' thing.

Had the War continued Cyrodiil wouldn't be the only one to suffer. Hammerfell and Skyrim would feel the brunt of a full Dominion attack, the kind that swept through Cyrodiil and took the Imperial city would be felt in other provinces, breaking the Empire. They wouldn't just lose face, they would lose everything.

But of course, that doesn't matter if only Cyrodiil suffers. What's a few million more dead Imperials?

Or they could bluff seeing as how the Empire has no idea what they have in reserve because the Blades that could have given them actual numbers are all dead. And the emperor had a choice: call that bluff and continue a war that almost saw the destruction of the Empire and the Dominion claiming Talos' throne, or sign a treaty that would give the Empire a fighting chance to strike back when they recovered. That includes High Rock, the one province that is still part of the Empire regardless of the Civil War's outcome.

That's the point of every treaty. That logic makes the Treaty of S'tros M'kai just as bad for the Redguards accepting it instead of pushing into Dominion land. Seeing as how they still have plenty of legion troops that the Empire 'disbanded' to keep it protected from the Dominion even after it seceded they would have the manpower.

How can the Legions still be ready for another war right after signing the Concordat? Did they take 0 casualties during the Great War? Did they just press gang every fighting man and woman in Cyrodiil into the legion? How could they recover that quickly?

War isn't a self-contained event. It has rippling effects on everything from food supplies (gotta feed your fighting forces), people (the men and women that fight have to come from somewhere), economy (someone's gotta pay to get things made, materials need to be used), etc. It is possible for a war to be devastating enough that, even if you keep pushing through and win, society will be so drained that it can't recover and maintain itself. Despite winning, you can still have economic collapse, wide-spread food shortages, abandoned cities, etc, all just asking for the Empire to fall under its own weight and throw things into anarchy. Or at least open the opportunity for some members of an unhappy populace to take advantage and start a rebellion against a weak and feeble Empire, putting you right back at square one and be even worse off than when you started.

Seems you misunderstood what i said. What i said is that the Empire was preparing for a rematch , from day 1. In other words they knew the peace that was just established isn't gonna last forever.

On the topic of recovery. Mer races and especially the altmer breed very slowly. In 30(or was it 20) years since the GW, the men races would breed like rabbits. Especially after major wars.

This is pure speculation on my part but I am not even sure if they have the cannon fodder to conduct any major invasions anymore. Especially now that every1 will be prepared. Don't forget that they atacked suddenly and without warning at the start of the GW and every1 was cought by surprise. That's why they resort to assassins, plots and sneaky diplomacy today.

MIGHT have. If you are going to keep pushing on through the war, you have to have a good idea of whether or not you can win. Both sides were so depleted that the Thalmor and the Empire had no choice but to basically postpone such an escalation of hostilities. And like Huleed said, you can have all sorts of economic issues even if you push enough that you can win. In the end, it would have in all likelihood been a pyrrhic victory if you continued to fight. And with such a low amount of resources and soldiers, there is no way the Empire could go all the way to the Summerset Isles to put an end to the Thalmor when the Altmer have the best navy in Tamriel, even in the Thalmor's own weakened state.

Annihilated after they annihilated a bunch of innocent civilians.

United? Hardly. They may have finally come to each other's aid to fend off the Thalmor, but they are by no means united. The Crowns and Forebears have left each other to fend for themselves countless times, which is still going to contribute to enmity between the two. Redguards can hold grudges for a long time. And half of Hammerfell is still reeling from the Thalmor invasion. The Redguards aren't going to be a force to be reckoned with just yet.

Yeah, what a big baby, demanding that his fundamental rights as a person be respected by his ruling government.

If you think the Stormcloak rebellion was foolish, fine. I get that side of the argument, it makes a lot of sense. However what I don't understand is the belittling of the Stormcloak's grievances. CITIZENS of the Empire are being rounded up, tortured, and executed by a FOREIGN government in IMPERIAL territory. As far as the citizenry of the Empire are concerned that is a huge violation of the Empire's stated or implicit duty to protect them. Blame Ulfric for it or not, HE isn't the one rounding up people or allowing people to be rounded up. The Empire and the Thalmor are doing that.

Now as for Ulfric supporters outside of Skyrim... who can say? I'm sure there must be some. If he wins his war then he'll probably gain some foreign supporters just because he'll have likely risen in power, influence, and wealth.