But, sadly, until something DOES appear in game, or in a tie-in product, it means it doesn't HAVE to be canon if Bethesda were to change their mind.

Personally, from what we DO have in-game, I think it's the best explanation. And certainly what I would consider to be my own personal take on things. But if it's not published in an OFFICIAL capacity, on an official Bethesda site or in an official Bethesda product, it isn't actual canon.

That's how it works.

I have not. Any idea where you found said books?

Dwarves v3 says :
"For instance, while we can say with absolute certainty that the disappearance of the entire dwarven race happened very suddenly, only the laziest of junior scholars would say that this event happened in the same day or even the same hour. There is simply no proof to dispute the theory that perhaps the dwarves disappeared from Tamriel gradually over the course of several years or indeed several decades."

Which is not exactly saying a great deal one way or the other.

And if you are really desperate for a Dwarf, make a ripped Bosmer. It's close enough.

They enslaved, drugged and blinded them. That's so badass. Dwemer were such an awesome race.

I'm curious about this book too. Could you maybe try to find the title? And if you remember, how exactly did it explain that not all Dwemer disappeared? Because we already have one possibility - Dwemer that weren't on Nirn at the time, like Yagrum.

Interesting...

That does make you wonder if a retcon is on the horizon. It at least gives some wriggle-room, possibly.

Although, personally I still believe they all went 'bink' out of existence together...

Well it's Calcelmo's personal bias, and maybe his scholarship is suffering because he's too busy thinking about the Redguard with her clothes off.

A lot of it is in-game, it compiles all the topics about the Dwemer in Morrowind.
Some of it is out-game dev quotes that explain certain aspects of lore.
Thats the meat of it.
Its all spun together using an in-universe voice by a lore forum poster, and was later confirmed to be correct by dev's.

On the topic of Calcelmo:
He means well and is a good scientist, but he is one man working alone. There do not seem to be any authorities on the matter that he relies on, it is all original research.
Some of it is a bit off.
Im sure he would profit greatly from a meeting with Demnevanni or Fyr.

And as I say, it's certainly the way I interpret things too.

However, confirmed by a Dev or not, it's a third party article. It cannot be considered TRUE canon, when referenced, because it's not part of any Official TES product.

if people wanna know what the dwemer look like go play morrowind..

Yes, but Im not finicky like that about stuff.
Also, you cannot define TES canon solely by what appears in-game.
Some TES lore comes from dev quotes on this forum as well.
I dont really like to use the word 'canon', it feels restrictive.
Maybe its not canon but it certainly is lore.

Also, the fact that developers pretty much said this explanation is what happened lends 'canonicity', I think, for people who are finicky about this sort of stuff.

Now that doesnt mean anyone of us or our player characters has to believe it, there is plenty room for conflicting views in TES, look at Mannimarco and his following, for one of many examples, or those crazy things Mankar Camoran said.
Yet, when you view it in an out-of-universe context this kind of 'truth' is handy as a starting point, a baseline, the bones to start imagining from.

God, that stuff makes my brain hurt.

For now.

I mean I thought I knew what Elven women in TES looked like until I played Skyrim...

lol dwarven armor isn't made by the dwarves , its actually just made out of the metal people have scavenged from the dawrven ruins. Dwarves didn't use armour, at least that my understanding of the lore.

Dwemer are not extinct. If you talk to Falion in Morthal about curing Vampirism, he specifically says that he's met Daedra and *Dwemer* while exploring the Outer Realms. So yeah, they still exist, they're just displaced and not present on Nirn/Mundus.

I have not been a vampire in Skyrim and cant find the exact quote, do you know it?
As I said above, I dont doubt that the Dwemer could be brought back if the powers that be think it interesting enough, it just would be a retcon. Or possibly they are like Yagrum.

Again, personally I am of the opinion that they are infinitely more interesting when gone forever than if brought back.
Now that they are gone they have mystery, you can imagine all sorts of things. All that possibility will collapse into a single inevitability when they are brought back. I have no doubt that no matter how well done it would be, it would dissapoint.
Because the mystery will be gone.

i want classic not unique they have argonians and khajiits thats unique enough. think how big skyrim could be to a dwarf

even their beds and chest are smaller

"Contrary to many legends, archaeological evidence of known Dwemer ruins leads one to believe that the Dwarves were about the same size as the typical human or elf, evidenced by the fact that all existing Dwarven armor is average sized (although some of the books within the game have stated that "dwarven armor" is either the outer shells of machines they built, or mismatched pieces from various devices). This is likely to be because many of the Dwemer resided near the Giants of the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Velothi_Mountains, who had never encountered any races of Men or Mer before and, in perspective, saw them as being much smaller, and thus deemed them to be "Dwarves." http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Imperial excavation of Dwemer ruins and machinery supports the Dlyxexic theory that the translation of Dwemer as Deep Elves might also be read as Smart Elves. Indeed, perhaps the brilliant students of the Ehlnofey mentioned in http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Annotated_Anuad are the Dwarves themselves. Many http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Redguard in Hammerfell have shown a particular interest in the Dwemer ruins there for unknown reasons. Theories persist that http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Yokuda, the original homeland of the Redguards, was an ancestral Dwemer city.*"

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dwemer

The more you know
* Links in the quoted text are a carry-over from the quoted article. No idea how to undo them.

But Dwemer were the same size as the other races. Lol, this was written in stone long before Skyrim.

Accidentally double posted

more to morgames point how hard would it be to mysteriously find a small dwarf village brewing the strongest brew in all of sky where the men are men and the women well look like the men! seems silly to just dismiss this race from a lack of lore standpoint.

still dont change what you see in the game. and sterotype foe dwarves are all over. Live under ground in massive stone buildings? check. make self opperating construcks such as golems, giant robot secuirty guards? check. experts in rock masonery? check. the orcs are what you are use to in fantasy as well the elves why do dwarfs have to be different by the way only scholars train for hundreds of years in the matter call em dwemmer everyone else call em dwarves.

Because the Dwemer became the Golden Skin of the Numidium...

"shave my back and call me an elf" thats awesome and what skyrim needs more comedic dialouge