The Empire's economy is as healthy as every other nation from what we can gather(which isn't much since all we have is hearsay). The Dominion is playing to it's strengths by manipulating others to weaken the empire. What the Dominion gained from the great war was taking Hammerfell from the Empire, which was the main reason for their invasion. It was only when they saw the Empire was so weak that they attacked Cyrodiil. All that wealth from the empire and they lost their capital like it was nothing. The Dominion can afford to be patient. The Empire can not.
Except the Dominion LOST Hammerfell. Their sole territorial gain from the war, and they LOST IT. So quite literally, they lost God knows how many soldiers, God knows how much coin, only to gain a desert shithole that they eventually LOST. And again, the Altmer kill over half their potential soldiers and workforce, which means that they're operating at a far smaller capacity than the humans of Cyrodiil are.
The same can be siad for the Dominion. Time only makes it stronger. More time to build it's own forces. The only source i could find about your crazy eugenics is ONE book written as anti elf propaganda.
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Pocket_Guide_to_the_Empire,_1st_Edition/Aldmeri_Dominion One person had this to say about that "
The 1st Edition pocket guide is often noted for being anti-elven propaganda - notably, no other sources back up the above assertion, and we have never seen any evidence of it in games that visit Altmer territory". So your theory about high elf eugenics is just propaganda with no truth behind it. The Bosmer aren't rebelling. The ones who disagree are getting purged and you see no evidence of anything of the sort. you can even consider Malborn a biased source since his family was purged. The Khajiit are doing what they have always done. It doesn't mean they have no options at home. There is good money to be made after all. Just because it's dangerous has never stopped any enterprising merchant. The Empire is never going to start that war with the Altmeri Dominion. It will be on the Altmer's terms when that war starts, and the Empire is in an even worse position now than before. They can recover with time, but their armies were only able to win one fight in the great war, with all it's advantages, money and troops.
And your proof for any of this is what, again? Just thumping about the Thalmor? Look, I understand that bad guys can be cool and all, but the one thing about the Thalmor that the lore makes clear is that they're just as vulnerable as the Empire. Their army was driven out of Cyrodiil, and the war ended with their chief commander dangling from a cage in the Imperial City before some Daedra took him. And of course, the fact that they lost Hammerfell and have to rely on third-party patsies like Ulfric Stormcloak goes to show that they're just as hurting as the Empire is. They're just good at hiding it and pretending that they're still on top, when in reality, all that talk of the Dominion being so much more powerful than the Empire is hot air. Titus Mede II was a coward for signing that treaty, a stronger ruler would have fought longer and would have secured peace on better terms.
And yes, I am somewhat of a Thalmor fan. My third Skyrim playthrough, I outright made a Thalmor Dragonborn. But I'm not stupid enough to think that they're invincible, especially due to their insane racial policies where they kill more than half their babies in the crib due to racial impurity. Most of the things they did before the Great War was genius. Everything after the Great War, not so much. It's again, just like the Sith Empire in SWTOR: the first war was a stunning success story for them, the second one, not so much.
And if the Dominion does the basic war play of a pincer attack? The Empire is fucked again. Send your massive army of force-conscripted soldiers to invade the north, then while they're busy swoop in from the south and beat their army just like before. You act like the Imperial army is such a good force, but the Dominion were hammering them into the ground. The next war they won't have Hammerfell's troops. It would be a slaughter.
How? The Dominion army is far smaller due to their smaller populace. If they split up their armies, they run the risk of both wings failing horribly at their attack. A smaller force needs to stay united to hit the enemy hard and fast. If they split up, they run the risk of getting crushed by a larger army.
They absolutely are worse than the Blades. The Blades have actually accomplished things in their history. You can also complete the dark Brotherhood storyline before you get shouts, so the demigod argument is out the window. The penitus were absolute garbage. A random assassin comes out of nowhere and makes them look like fools. Titus was unpopular, but his death is going to cause ripples that you refuse to see. The Emperor was just murdered in Skyrim. The Empire cannot protect it's own leader again. Now they have to pick the next Emperor. They aren't just going to crown someone, especially not a backwater general like Tullius. The Dragonborn will fade away like every other protagonist after their game. The Council will have to find a new Emperor, and thats an opporunity for the Dominion to mess with that. They could end up with a Dominion sympathizer as Emperor, or another weak ruler like Titus, which will have more problems down the line.
By that argument, the Empire can win Skyrim without the need of a demigod, because you can go to the Imperial Legion right away before you get Shouts, and win the war against Ulfric Stormcloak. That is an asinine argument, as the player can just lower the difficulty and make the Civil War or Dark Brotherhood questline easy as pie.
And even without the shouts, the Last Dragonborn still has regenerative capabilities (the player's ability to regenerate health over time with no beds or healing potions) and is a better warrior than most. So again, the Dark Brotherhood needed a powerful warrior to decimate the Penitus Oculatus, while the Blades were made to look like fools by some random Daedra cult. In fact, getting killed by the Dark Brotherhood is a better excuse, since the Mythic Dawn wasn't as experienced in the art of assassination as the Dark Brotherhood is, and yet they were able to off the Emperor even though the Blades were at the height of their power at the time.
Also, when Uriel VII died, civil unrest did not break out among the people. Sure, they were shocked, but not as shellshocked as you would claim the Empire would be if Titus II dies. If anything, due to his unpopularity and the fact that he bent over backwards for the enemy like a coward, the people of the Empire would probably not even care. Uriel VII was a good ruler who was genuinely beloved by the populace, and he gets offed by some random Daedra cult. And yet life continued for the rest of the Empire.
Are you sure about the Dragonborn fading away? The Last Dragonborn could easily be the next Talos, lore-wise. For all you know, an Imperial Dragonborn could have easily taken the throne years after Titus Mede II died, or a Stormcloak Dragonborn could have succeeded Ulfric and turned Skyrim into a superpower to rival the Dominion. You don't know for sure what the Last Dragonborn's destiny would be.
Er, no? The Thalmor gian more from waiting then the Empire. Their wounds will heal as well and they will be spending alot of time crippling the empire while the empire struggles to recover. The Altmer's "cruel race policies" are known propaganda from a book with no other basis in lore. It's like saying the argonians are the best armorsmiths because they won a contest in one of the books. The only evidence of Bosmer discontent is from a man who had his family purged. For all we know, the purge is going to result in a loyal bosmer state. How does the Khajiit engaging in trade in other nations weaken the Dominion Economy? Where do you think this money is going? High Rock refusing to aid the Empire in a minor civil war is very worrying for the Empire. What is going on in High Rock that they can't send aid? What problems are going on there? WHY refuse to help your ally? High Rock isn't as loyal as you think it is.
No they won't. Again, you have no proof for any of this, and the fact that the Thalmor are so over-stretched that they lost a weakened desert kingdom and have to rely on third-party patsies goes to show that they're not as strong as you think they are, and that book that spoke of the Thalmor killing most of their babies for racial purity was probably more than true. A nation with more than enough soldiers has no need for peace treaties, nor would they lose weakened desert kingdoms to rebels, or have to rely on auxiliaries and patsies like Ulfric. That's what overstretched nations do-they don't have the soldiers, so they settle for negotiation and third-party patsies, and they end up losing nations that they occupied because THEY DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MEN.
Um, need i remind you that the stormcloaks can win? And all it takes is one plucky soldier to do something about the war(You can do the civil war as soon as you get out of Helgen). If High Rock sent aid the war would have been an imperial victory faster and it would be better. High Rock chooses to wait and see who wins. If the Stormcloaks win, the stage is set for High Rock to pull a Hammerfell and just leave. We'll just have to see who wins in the canon and what that causes.
The same thing goes for the Empire. Also, Ulfric notes that High Rock has no problems with the Empire, so that obviously shoots down your theories.
Yet you can't source your "Facts" and spout on and on about how the Empire is so great and powerful and rich and it's better than the Dominion. The majority opinion is that the Dominion has the advantage and the Empire is in a bad spot. The Thalmor are purging people who question the Dominion. The khajiit, a nation of caravan traders, going to trade with caravans? Perish the thought. For all we know, the money they get is going back to Elsweyr and the Dominion.
You have no sources at all. Skyrim THE GAME shows us that Imperial patsies like the Battle-Borns, Black-Briars, and Elisif's court are all rich fops, while the Empire itself is wealthy enough to A) pay the Jarls to shut up about the White-Gold Concordat and B) pay the locals to fight Ulfric Stormcloak. The East Empire Company, by all accounts, is making good money, while the Dominion on the other hand is so short-handed for manpower that not only do they have to use third-party patsies like Ulfric to weaken the Empire, but they lost Hammerfell as well. The former isn't a sign of their weakness, but the latter obviously is. How weak must your nation be to lose a desert shithole that has already been ravaged by war for God knows how long? It's not like the USA where they have to obey things like the Geneva Convention-if they had the manpower, the Thalmor could have easily PURGED the populace like they did in Valenwood. Yet they can't, because they don't have the manpower. Which is bad news when round 2 of the war starts.
The Sith Empire was just as cocky as the Thalmor were prior to the Second Great Galactic War in SWTOR. They won the last war, they sacked Coruscant and forced the Republic to sign an uneven treaty. Yet in the second war, they lost so much due to the logistics turning against them (Republic army and populace is bigger than theirs) that after a few defeats, they're on the breaking point, and the top Dark Councilor tells an Imperial player that they're about to lose the war in the first expansion. The Thalmor are headed for the same fate, due to their asinine race policies of purging not only the Bosmer, but their own babies for racial impurities.
Fair point. Too bad it's meaningless in the long run. Half the nords want the empire gone, and the other half throw away their past and traditions for money. They think the empire will fix all their problems but refuse to do anything about it.
Half? It's less than half. Winterhold and Dawnstar are naught but small villages, while Windhelm and Riften are crime-ridden shitholes. The majority of Skyrim's populace reside in the central and western half, where all the money and good land is.
How did having ALL of Skyrim+Hammerfell work out for the great war? Not well? Oh ok. I'm sure half of Skyrim will be enough when the Dominion comes knocking.
The Dominion lost enough men in the last war that it will make it easier for the Empire to win the next.
And Skyrim is a frozen shithole. Your point? We won't have a source for the Dominion politics and economy until the next game at least. Using the same logic as your source, the khajiit and Bosmer are making money through farming, friendly contacts through the Dominion, and trade. Funny how that works out.
Nope. Skyrim has tons of fertile farmlands, mostly concentrated in the center and in the west, where the Empire holds sway. Not to mention that Whiterun and Solitude are good places for trade, which brings in more money. Much more than Elsweyr, whose populace are
Er, no. If you're dumb enough to think you can farm in Valenwood, you're an idiot. The Bosmer hold the land sacred. They do not harvest a single tree, plant, or fruit. They import wood from elsewhere to build their villages, and they adapted a mostly carnivorous diet because they can't eat the plants due to them being sacred. Whatever Bosmer who are still loyal to the Dominion will riot against them if they change that.
As for Elsweyr, the Khajiit are leaving in droves to trade in foreign lands. Which goes to show that it's a poverty-ridden shithole under the Dominion.
Now you're just guessing. Too bad for the Empire there is no USA or Russia here to help them. They have to HOPE the Dominion doesn't come back in force while they rebuild. Call the White Gold Concordant the Tamriel version of Appeasement if you will.
Except the Dominion isn't as strong as Nazi Germany. Them losing Hammerfell is proof that their casualties in the Great War overstretched their means. The Nazis didn't have to use third parties to weaken the British, nor did they lose Poland to some local rebels.
The empire lost hammerfell. That was the whole point of the Great War at first. The dominion never really had it. Hammerfell will rebuild like the empire and they will be independent. They might even help the Dominion if the Dominion plays up it's manipulative game. Valenwood and Elsweyr are just your theories with no real proof. Traders in Skyrim do not equal capital flight. A few purgings don't mean that Valenwood is uncooperative and at risk of revolt. We don't know anything about whats going on with High Rock, so saying that all of High rock is loyal is just speculation. The next game will show what their real feelings are.
Er, no. Hammerfell will never help the Dominion. As much as they hate the Empire, they hate the Dominion more for ravaging their land in the first place.
Let me rephrase your words: "Just because a few Jarls rebel doesn't mean Skyrim is uncooperative and at risk of revolt."
Also, "purgings" imply that the populace IS uncooperative, meaning that the Thalmor are outright eradicating entire mass populations due to them not being good little lapdogs. If they're that desperate that they have to use such heavy-handed tactics instead of just assassinating resistance leaders or defeating the rebels in battle like the Empire did to the Stormcloaks prior to the beginning of the game, it goes to show that they're far from the invincible power you make them out to be.
And again, Elsweyr isn't a wealthy land. The fact that people are willing to leave it and make their money traveling elsewhere goes to show that they aren't as wealthy as you claim they are.
What silly projection. You're the one without any sources, while I'm the one citing the game as proof.
You havn't posted any sources for your own arguments outside of your opinions and imagination. We are simply throwing opinions around. You think Cyrodiil is wealthy and powerful, but the Dominion kicked their butts when they had Hammerfell and all of Skyrim. If they had neither, it'll be even easier for the Dominion to turn Cyrodill into another Dominion State. The thalmor don't need to overstretch at that point. They can just move in and deal with them.
The Empire is wealthy enough that they can pay the locals to fight their wars for them, while also having their elites splash cash around like it's nothing. Meanwhile, the Dominion loses a battered desert province to local rebels. The only way the humans will lose the next war is if they're divided or led by an easily-manipulated moron who gets captured all the time.
Heres some interesting reading for those still curious about a second great war. One of those threads also has a conversation suggesting the purges in Valenwood aren't a thing either, since the only sources you get are Malborn and Delphine. Malborn's parents are said in a note to have died in a fire, but thats from a thalmor source and likely biased/false information given to other bosmers.
https://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/9zou62/how_will_the_aldmeri_dominion_go_to_war_against/ (you should really read this one, Lord Imperator.)
115 votes and 35 comments so far on Reddit
www.reddit.com
That's reddit, pal. Not official Elder Scrolls sources. Fans can suggest anything. Shit, half the fans say that the Stormcloaks can win with the Dragonborn against the Thalmor, and the other half of the fanbase says that the Empire will rise again. Of course, I'm somewhere in the middle, where I believe that the Empire will survive and thrive, but not rise again to pre-Oblivion Crisis levels, just continue to go on as a vestigial empire.
