That's what the Romans said.

It is a good thing that this isn't the Roman Empire we are talking about then.

Empires rise, empires fall. All empires.

United We Stand, divided we fall. The best chance for the empire to take out the Thalmor is with a United force. Certainly if Skyrim wants to follow Hammerfell and leave the empire, they can but that will make it all the easier for the Thalmor to conquer them all.

But this one doesn't have to fall now. Let's wait for when we don't risk destroying the world, then we will see.

There's another saying in statecraft- the more concentrated power is, the easier it is to conquer (James Boswell). The signing of the WGC proves this pretty aptly. If the head of a monolithic power is weak, the whole body suffers. Where power is decentralized and local, resistance is stronger. This is why Rome could conquer Gaul but not Germany. It's why Rome itself faltered during times of civil war over the succession. By interfering in its provinces and taking away their local initiative, the empire is weakening everyone.

Unity under a single head only works when that head is both strong and flexible so as to be responsive. The current empire is neither.


IMO it's already gone.

I pretty much had the same feeling as you until my character realize he isn't getting any younger. He is a werewolf mage that will ultimately get old and unable to move around... unless if he cures himself from the werewolf diseases and purposely get infected with the sanguinare vampiris so he can stop the aging process. All good things must come to an end and so will my characters adventurous days.

And in my humble opinion the Stormcloak rebellion was a moot point before it even started, but that doesn't change the fact that both parties are fighting and dying for their causes.

wait, on the Hammerfell vs Thalmor: was it not due to the Battle of the Red Ring that the Thalmor were weakened due to the loss of troops?

do you guys think that if the Thalmor invaded full-force into Hammerfell, would they be able to fight them down? i mean even united as one empire, Humanity had a problem fighting the full force of the Thalmor.

The Battle of Red Ring and signing of the White Gold Concordat was in 4E 175, the Second Treaty of Stros M'kai was 5 years later. The Dominion was weakened by the loss at Red Ring, but if Cyrodiil hadn't stopped fighting the Thalmor would have had a two front war instead of one and might have been destroyed.

If everyone were to secede from the Empire, the humanoids in Nirn would pretty much be doomed. The only way they're going to win against the Aldmeri Dominion is to stand together and take them down in one great battle. If the Aldmeri Dominion is allowed to separate the humanoids and attack with many small, tactful battles, they will more than likely beat the humanoids and succeed in their ultimate goal of uncreating Mundus.

You don't have to have an empire to have an alliance. Axis and allies, y'know?

But it may be better at times to build upon an existing alliance rather than create a new one.

Indeed, but you can still be bros with a nation without having to absorb them and have them follow your laws.

Indoubtedly, however a standardised set of laws that each party must follow may encourage unity and allow enforcement of these laws by an overarching governing body much easier.

If Cyrodiil relinquishes its claims on Skyrim, they will be building on an existing alliance. The two nations have many ties, cultural and economic. Granted, Ulfric will also have to act prudently here, and he might not.

Exactly, each side will make it troublesome to make alliances with some provinces, such as Hammerfell for the Empire and Cyrodill for the Stormcloaks.

The elves once decided to coexist with humans but their speed of breeding eventually convinced some elves to try to exterminate them instead. Humans came back in force and conquered the continent. The elves are not happy with this outcome and if the Thalmor get their way, I doubt humans will even be allowed as slaves. The Dominion ALMOST won that war. Only their own exhaustion, not altruism, kept them from killing every human on the continent, restoring their homeland to its once great state (in their mind).

The empire has weakened over time, and instead of breaking away, skyrim needs to re-energize the empire and replace those pacifists up on High Hrothgar with a school of the voice to reverse Jurgen Windcaller appalling lapse of judgement and add the voice back into the empire's wartime arsenal. Then when the Thalmor attack next, the Empire can hit them so hard, they might just be willing to negotiate fairly. Humans are willing to coexist, but first the Thalmor need to be badly discredited.