The thalmor are fool's. Their beliefs are purely false. I have seen sovangard with mine own eyes. If the Elves are as perfect as they believe themselves to be why is it that they always seem to fall when Waring against men? More importantly, the Thalmor are trying to destroy mankind. Which is odd because Akatosh himself gave the dragonborn the soul of a dragon, the Dragonborn (Canon) is from the race of man not mer. Talos is a god, he was also a dragonborn. Kyne, or kynareth blessed them men with the ability to speek the thu'um the language of dragons, Mer eat your heart out.

Edit: The thalmor also planned the civil war thuroughly, Ulfric is a puppet of the Thalmor, he is the equivalent of a russian sleeper cell IRL.

It was a mistake for the Empire to invade skyrim. They should have just made treaty with Ulfric or whoever the moot appointed as king. The empire weakens both cyrodil and skyrim, playing right into the thalmor plans.

Talos founded the Empire. The Dominion has got a problem with the Empire and will see him as the root of their problem, surely. Whatever Talos stands for will not be shared by the Dominion and the worshipping of Talos will likely infuriate them...

...All praise Talos!!

Another thread about this?

The whole is equal to the sum of its parts regardless.

The reason has been stated. They think it's insulting that a mere man could be given god hood.

why? its the whole point of the mundus in lore, to accend to a higher plain and all that good stuff, plus it was three dudes who mantled lorkhan, not just tiber septim

but one was supposed to be an ascended elf. it complicates the racial superiority claim of the thalmor if both man and mer can achieve divinity.

The Thalmor believe only elves can ascend. The very idea of a human ascending is abhorrent to them.

The elves in the long run want to destroy man and all they stand for AND the world and ascend themselves they are bat[censored] crazy. Also I dont see how Akatosh could be an ascended elves like the elves believe...wait...Dragons are the children of akatosh....that means.... Mother of God, dragons are elves!!!11!!

Its exactly as the Priest in Whiterun says: They hate the idea that a Man, not Mer, became a Divine.

Is it me or does it seem that with each game it gets closer to the concept that what isn't man must be mer. Khajiit, Argonian, Dragons, rabbits, deer, mudcrabs, skeevers, etc.

Haha ya, thought tbh I think the dragons being Akatosh's children (Alduin being his First born) proves that he never was an elf.

Kudos for actually looking for a political angle, op. The thing I find weird is that everyone goes straight to the superiority complex, or some religious slight thing, but never hits on something I consider very important to remember.

Talos founded the Empire. He's Tiber Septim, the first emperor. It's fully possible that, [censored]s though they may be, the Thalmor's reasons for banning his worship weren't so much 'We don't believe in Talos!' (It's never been an issue in previous games that I've noticed) as it was 'No, your empire is not some holy relic founded by a god-king.' It could very easily have a lot in common with the very same reasons the US, after VJ-day, forcing the Emperor of that nation to come out and drop all claims of godhood.

It might have just been a way to take away one more reason for the Empire to try and rebel against the rule of the Thalmor. Because let's be honest here, while the Thalmor aren't technically in charge, they've set themselves up in such a way that they could go shadow government at a moment's notice. Protecting Tiber Septim, Talos, the God-King's empire from outside influence makes for a hell of a rallying cry. Diminished, somewhat, by the Septims having died out 200 years ago, but still potent enough that if I had just slapped the Empire 6 ways from Tuesday, and got them to surrender on my terms, I'd want to see about heading that particular approach off.

Vivec, Alessia, Nevar and Dagoth Ur called. Thalmor are a little late.

How so? The Thalmor believe all elves are gods stuck on Mundus and they believe by eradicating man, and the worship of talos (which will cause the end of the world) that they will all become gods again.

This, add that this is some idea who is pushed from the top, the smart thing would be to say that he is not an god and pressure temples to agree with them but not crack down elsewhere as it creates problems.

Bingo.

I'd also contend that the often-mentioned plan to undo Mundus by wiping out Talos and Man is in fact derived from their immense hatred of man and the fact that the man who shamed them supposedly became a god. I can't see any other reason that they think that just wiping out just a few sapient species and eliminating the worship of a being that only came into existence 600 years ago will actually somehow undo creation.

They wish to remove the person who is holding back the next world (so to speak) They risk killing everyone including themselves in there plan... '
They often claim to be the "best" but often do not have anythign to back it up but stories and there "word"

I meet a 4000+ Dunmer who would probaly put many "High" Altmer to shame. =p

I understand what they wanna do. but they seem to be doing it blindly... and it will end the world inless they are stopped.

Alot of Humans are physically stronger than elves. All the Altmer got over humans is magic use and life span. redgaurd or nord warriors would beat elven ones anyday.

Bretons, the race of choice for all min-maxing munchkins, are half-breeds and actually have all of the strengths and none of the weaknesses of their forefathers. This itself gives proof that Altmers are not really the superior race.

I have no clue where there getting this either. So far as I know the Thalmor are after power pure and simple. They believe in the superiority of Mer above other races with Altmer at the top.

A couple centuries to master any skill is a major advantage. Strictly speaking due to the bonuses form height a single swing from an Altmer deals more damage then from a redguard or a nord, assuming equal skill ranks and perks.

So far as Skyrim is concerned Bretons do not have a bonus to magicka or the ten-fold magicka regeneration for 60 seconds.
Altmer also have no weaknesses to the elements in this game either.

What appears to be an Altmeri commentary on Talos:
To kill Man is to reach Heaven, from where we came before the Doom Drum's iniquity. When we accomplish this, we can escape the mockery and long shame of the Material Prison.
To achieve this goal, we must:
1) Erase the Upstart Talos from the mythic. His presence fortifies the Wheel of the Convention, and binds our souls to this plane.
2) Remove Man not just from the world, but from the Pattern of Possibility, so that the very idea of them can be forgotten and thereby never again repeated.
3) With Talos and the Sons of Talos removed, the Dragon will become ours to unbind. The world of mortals will be over. The Dragon will uncoil his hold on the stagnancy of linear time and move as Free Serpent again, moving through the Aether without measure or burden, spilling time along the innumerable roads we once travelled. And with that we will regain the mantle of the imperishable spirit.

Source: Imperial Library

You're basically making the same point he just made.

I've yet so see that in-game so far as I know its not in-game at all, from what I can tell the original source is a forum post by Michael Kirkbride who wasn't involved in Skyrim's development. So its quite possible the whole thing is not canon, or not even directly connected to the Thalmor. We also have no idea of the context, maybe it was some ranting lunatic not associated with the Thalmor at all. The commentary isn't found in-game, its not written by someone involved in Skyrim's development and we have no clue to the actual context. So the whole thing is suspect and should be ignored.