Close.
They want to return to the dawn time before creation, and be one with the gods.
They want to shed their mortal shells and become divine again.

seriously, read that instead of some people's earnest but ultimately botched interpretations

I believe the Thalmor are like the Aldmeri Dominions version of storm troopers. They enforce the law signed that ended the great war and banned the worship of talos.

Basically they're [censored]s

if the dominion is Nazi's then the Thalmor are the Gestapo kill em if you see em. thats what i do.

As a Bosmer character, I do find it a shame I cant join the Thalmor. Would of made an interesting choice like Legion in New Vegas. Control, law and order back in some parts, but at a price. Why would the people rally behind the Empire now if they bent to the Aldmeri will so easy?

Great topic, there isn't a lot I've come across in game that really brings the player up to speed on the whole Aldmeri Dominion situation. I was too busy trying to figure out what the Stormcloaks were up to. Got it sussed now, a bit disappointed as mentioned that there aren't any oppurtunities to side with/work for the Thalmor as that would be quite fun as a Altmer character. Where did the Dunmer stand during the war? Were they involved? did they revolt? I'm currently RP'ing a very patriotic Nord, wearing my amulet of Talos and mercilessly killing any imperial patrols I come across in the wilderness. Needless to say any Altmer I come across are even less welcome.

I really like the cultural and political undertones throughout Skyrim, the Dunmer quarter in Windhelm and the Forsworn causing trouble over in the Southwest.

No, if you want to use this anology then the Aldmeri Dominion is the Third Reich and the Thalmor are the Nazi party. They are the ruling government of the Aldmeri Dominion.

I think this stuff was hinted at in Oblivion. People kept saying something about upheaval in the Summerset Isles. I thought it would be an expansion but maybe the ultimate result was this, 200 years later. The political situation in the game is very interesting and complex. While I think Ulfric is more or less a villain his position has grey shades and the Thalmor's interests are served by the civil war. I haven't played far enough to know how it all pans out but the scene setting is very good.

The Thalmore are a political faction from Summerset that thinks the Elves are superior to humans and should rule the world. During the Oblivion crisis they grabbed power because they were instrumental in saving the Summerset Isle from the invasion, and have since expanded their empire to include Valenwood and parts of Highrock. They also have an alliance with Elseweyr and, are doing their best to fan the Stormcloak rebellion to destroy Skyrim.

Too bad after you help the Stormcloaks demolish the already weakened Empire there will be nothing to stop the Aldmari from conquering everything in sight, enjoy sippin Skooma and singing chants in the park while elves destroy everything in sight hippy . Gotta look at the bigger picture, you may not like all that the Empire stands for but "where it really counts: the protection of man" they are right there. Unless you are playing an elf, then I understand

The Thalmor is the name for the governing body of the Aldmeri Dominion. They are just the name of a party of High Elves.

Thalmor are bunch of A-holes that need to die.......painfully.

This thread should be in spoilers section, but in any case...

For those who want to join Stormcloaks.



(sort of minor Spoilers in link)

Read this: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Thalmor_Dossier:_Ulfric_Stormcloak

(end spoilers)

I did a lot of reading about Thalmor yesterday, mostly because I wanted more lore information on the Mer. I was having trouble deciding between Bosmer and Dunmer, and if I wanted to join Stormcloaks or Empire...well, I have since decided ;P I mean, if I chose one or the other I know I don't need to roleplay that I'm part of Thalmor (even though I could) and there is probably quite a few Elves that don't even like whats happening...but it did help my decision

Plus, Stormcloaks seem a bit racist toward Dunmer and other species/races that aren't Nord.

no they're not
there's a difference between using religion for political purposes
or actually believing the stuff yourself
it seems to me the thalmor (most of them at least) actually believe in their dogma and don't just use it to oppress the nords

the empire were on there knees when they gave in to the thalmors demands. it was either give in or be detroyed at least now they can recover and live on to fight another day...

I belief propaganda was placed by the Thalmor for the Imperial's and Stormcloaks to fight in a civil war, then the Thalmor will just wipe out whats left of the mess. Using your intellect over fighting, damn elves.

this.
the thalmor had the imperial city at its knees but the empire along with the sons of skyrim pushed the thalmor back. so now the empire and thalmor have suffered a blow. the concordat of white gold is signed by the empire giving them chance to get back to there former self and the thalmor now need a new approach.

aweakend skyrim province due to the civil war just like the empire after the oblivion crisis would make things alot easier for the thalmor..

The Aldmeri Dominion is located on summer set Island right? How can a freaking ISLAND be a treath to a region 10 TIMES as big? WTF

High Elves made an "alliance" with the Bosmer. Then took advantage of an empire who just suffered the death of two emperor's and an attack from Oblivion.

Their upper class are very, very powerful and nearly immortal wizards.
If someone tries to invade their island by sea, theyll just move it to another place or shroud it in mist.
They did it in the past.

At some point in the game, you meet with a wood elf contact and one of the things that gets brought up are the "purges" in Valenwood. So yeah, the Thalmor are some nasty SOB's. I'll still go to bat for them/argue for their worldview, but I acknowledge that i'm basically rooting for the bad guys. I can't help it - I've always preferred elves in fantasy series.

I hope they release a DLC that lets my man-god character single handedly destroy all of them. I usually love elves in games and lore but I hate these guys with a passion(mostly because I like Talos). I've killed so many of them they tried to assassinate me multiple times.

The Thalmor and the lore pertaining to the Great War are by far my favorite new developments within the Elder Scrolls universe; the developers have introduced us to the Elder Scroll's version of World War 2 and the Nazi party. From what I have gathered through books and the wiki, the Thalmor are pretty much anologous to the Nazi Party in every way - a minority party that capitalized on a time of turmoil (the Oblivion Crisis) to gain almost complete social and political dominance over the population. Not every high elf or bosmer is a Thalmor, but it sounds like the dominion operates heavily on fear, intimidation, and propaganda, and i'd expect that somewhere on the Summerset Isles is a highly charismatic, cunning, and ruthless leader anologous to Hitler. Basically, the Thalmor agents infiltrated the nearby provinces (especially Valenwood) and toppled the society both through force and through political manipulation. Then, they either caused or capitalized on a strange celestial event in which the Moons disappeared for two years and then suddenly reappeared, which they took credit for in order to win over the hearts and minds of the highly superstitious Khajiit. The Thalmor also invaded Hammerfell, which never fully recovered, so now the empire has effectively lost all of the south-western provinces to Thalmor influence.

This inevitable conflict would make for an excellent expansion pack or even a sequel, as we could fight against the Thalmor within one of the provinces yet to be featured.

Thalmor = most hated organisation I have ever encountered in a game.

One thing I should emphasize that others may have mentioned is this - The Thalmor are not are race, they are a political group. They are the ruling council of the Aldermi Dominion, which is the Bosmer- Altmer rebellion group that beat the [censored] out of the legion and forced heavy concessions with that White-Gold concordant. You learn more about them in the game, and how their motivations are to continue to weaken the Empire and gain more ground, but are doing it slowly. They want the civil war in Skyrim, it weakens the Legion and Skyrim for when they eventually start the war again.