Why is worship of the Nine Divine god Talos illegal in Tamriel, now? Has it been explained in depth yet by Bethesda, or is it something we are going to have to find out ourselves in the game? There must be a pretty important reason behind the sudden, unlawful worship of the former divine Talos.

The Empire went to war with the Aldmeri Dominion. They lost. In the truce, the Altmer demanded that the worship of Talos to be wiped out.

Because it's been outlawed by the Thalmor. They've got a political stranglehold on the Empire.

The Thalmor kicked the Empire's ass and to avoid total collapse Emperor Titus Mede allowed the Thalmor to send in witchhunters basically to kill all worshippers of Talos. Thats wut happens when you get your ass kicked in war.

I've always hated the Empire, but to see it become such a hollow shade of its former self is kind of saddening. The Medes lack that certain Septim something. They aren't strong enough to hold the Empire together, and now they're just figureheads, it seems.

Aldmeri Dominion and Thalmor... is there a part of the site that I can read about all of this? From where was this explained? I'd like to see it for myself, thanks. It's interesting how the Empire has changed in the course of two-hundred years, but I assume the Talos ban is recent, contemporaneous to the events of Skyrim.

There is very little information on the Thalmor currently, I'm assuming most of the info we have is from leaked footage.

The info comes from the two (only two) books. They talk about it a bit I guess.

First of all, read up here on the history of Tamriel: http://www.imperial-library.info/content/tamriel-timeline

I would also suggest spending some time in the Elder Scrolls Lore forum.

But I'll sum up for you as best I can. The Thalmor are evil elves who want to do more than just obliterate mankind. They want to make it so that we can't exist. They want to erase the possibility of our existence. They think that they are really gods who have been forced to embody flesh and blood bodies in this world. They want to return to the cosmos and be gods again. For some reason, getting rid of even the possibility of man makes that possible, or at least they think it will.

But what does Talos have to do with it? Well, Talos was a dragonborn MAN who ascended and became a god. He symbolizes man's ascendency somehow. In Tamriel, if people worship Talos, then he exists. If they don't worship him, he ceases to exist. In Tamriel, beliefs shape reality. So perhaps if Talos ceases to exist, man will not be able to ascend anymore, which will help clear the way for the elves.

It's kind of complicated, I know. But it all started way back in the beginning of the First Era, when Nords first began to settle in Skyrim. The elves, who had been there first, became concerned that man would become too powerful and take over. So they burned the Nordic capital to the ground in an event now known as the Night of Tears. Ysgramir and his two sons were the only survivors. But Ysgramir came back with his famous 500 Companions (whose descendants now populate the Companions Guild) and defeated the elves, and the two races have been bitter rivals ever since.

Perhaps the elves' jealousy of man stems from a theory they might have that man's dominance of the land will keep them from becoming gods...I'm not sure on that point, but whatever. You get the idea.

All of this background history becomes somewhat important to Skyrim. Well, it's important if you care about lore. But if you want to learn more about it, there will be lots of in game books and people to talk to, etc.

Bottom line: the Thalmor are evil high elves who are trying to erase mankind, and banning the worship of Talos helps them to achieve that goal. Your response: kill them on sight.

More reading:

On the Aldmeri Dominion (of which the Thalmor were a part): http://www.imperial-library.info/content/rise-and-fall-aldmeri-dominion

Then note this line from the timeline of the Fourth Era (which began just after the Oblivion crisis): "In Valenwood, the weakening of the Imperial causes Thalmor to restore their rule over Valenwood. Their ultimate goal is to bring back Tamriel to Merethic Era. The first step of the group is restoring the Aldmeri Dominion."

If you want to see it for yourself, wait until you can find out by playing the game. There is some little information on what happened in the last 200 years in the two novels, but they are primarily about the author's own little bubble in the lore, so they aren't very good sources aynway.

The Thalmor had settled in Valenwood and had brought structure and law when there and then Tiber Septim came in and claimed Valenwood as part of his province. Then later Emperor Mede fought against the Thalmor and failed as everyone else stated.

The backdrop for the Stormcloak rebellion is pretty epic. The Empire as corrupt and oppressive as it is, is just a simpler enemy to the more dogmatic and genocidal Thalmor. I am already starting to wonder on the political ramifications that will come into play in Elder Scrolls 6. Good job, Bethesda. You have some really talented writers coming up with the lore, please keep up the great work.

The Stormcloaks can be pretty corrupt from what I've seen as well.

Yes but it becomes "being able to live as a Nord" or "having to live as an Imperial subject now sold out to Aldmeri dogs who will genocide my people?"

its going to be more difficult to side with the stormcloaks if I am anything other than human though as the stormcloaks want to drive all nonhumans out of Skyrim.

And here I thought the Empire was big, mighty and powerful. Seeing all the lands of Tamriel under their control... with Imperial Legion and warriors from all across Tamriel, how could they lose? Who are the Thalmors, the Aldmeri Dominon, really? Now I should really kick their ass on behalf of the Empire.

After the Septims died everything went to total hell, pretty much.

Also, this is why I am glad to be a Dunmer. We're bitter and cranky at times, but atleast we don't try to freaking kill everyone.

i think we found our first DLC !!!!

lol...

As an Imperial, i will fight for the Empire, but once the war is over, I will glady kill all those Thalmor agents.

What i dont get is why the bosmer and the altmers are so deeply connected. I thought the bosmers were secluded wood elves living in the forests like druids hugging trees, while the Altmers are high elf mages so high on themselves they consider all other races "lesser"

By the sound of it, the bosmer sounds more barbaric like the orcs and are having a major bromance with the altmers. /Lorenoob =(

You used the key word there.

Elf.

They're both elves descended from the same ancestors, so in their eyes, they are kin. They live hundreds of years.

I'm assuming they even consider the Dunmer to be brothers as well, but since Morrowind is on the opposite side of Tamriel (not to mention conquered by the Argonians and blown half to bits by Red Mountain erupting), they don't have a huge role to play in the Thalmor. The Nords did let the refugees into Skyrim, after all.

Someone said the Stormcloaks want to drive the non-humans out of Skyrim. Source?

How do the Thalmor view the beast races?

So...

If you're human, the Thalmor wants you dead.

If you're not human, the Stormcloaks want you out of Skyrim.

The lore in TES is very deep. It goes back in time quite a ways. The elves, humans, and beast races of Tamriel all have had racial tension with one another throughout that time. This site can hook you up with a lot of answers to your lore questions: http://www.uesp.net/.