Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-25343239-20150319182007/@comment-260563-20180324170133

Canon lore states that the elves don't breed as fast as men: that's why the Falmer attacked the humans, and that's why the Elven Queen Ayrenn Arana Aldmeri founded the First Aldmeri Dominion to get reinforcements by getting the Bosmer Treethanes and Khajiit Chieftains to join the Altmer Thalmor organization that was holding the Dominion together.

Canon lore states that the Dominion lost a huge chunk of their armed forces in the Great War, so much so that they can't even hold a blasted ruin like Hammerfell. And when combined with the first fact, it goes to show that the Thalmor aren't militarily capable of moving against the Empire at all. Hence the White Gold Concordat.

Canon lore states that not only do the humans have a fast reproduction rate, but that the Empire is also overflowing with cash, capable of bribing Jarls to shut up about the White-Gold Concordat and paying local Nords to join the Legion instead of redirecting forces from Cyrodiil to fight the Stormcloaks.

Canon lore states that Imperial holds like Markarth and Solitude are wealthier than Windhelm and crime-ridden Riften. It also states that Whiterun, a neutral hold that Ulfric Stormcloak attacks, is also a wealthy trading hub, which of course, means that all the wealthy holds in Skyrim that can afford a prolonged war are on the Imperial side, which means that realistically, the Skyrim Civil War won't last long.

Canonically, tactics talk is definitely not moot. That's why Ulfric begins the game with a gag on his mouth. Tullius had superior tactics compared to Ulfric, and according to canon lore, was able to easily defeat him. Even after Helgen, Ulfric remains holed up in Windhelm, knowing that open battle with Tullius will end with him captured again.

Canon lore shows us that the Third Aldmeri Dominion isn't recruiting forces from Valenwood or the Khajiit client states. The Wood Elves are either servants like Brelas, or are getting massacred, like Malborn's family. The Khajiit, on the other hand, would rather leave their countries to trade, and unlike the East Empire Company which is wealthy enough to hire mercenaries, the Khajiit trading caravans are too poor to even hire sellswords, which goes to show how poor they are under Dominion control.

Canon lore states that Imperial magic organizations like the Synod and the College of Whispers are either gathering magic artifacts of power or practicing necromancy and conjuration. Which means that come the next war, Imperial battlemages will either be coming at the Thalmor with powerful magic artifacts, or will be raising undead armies and conjuring up armies of Daedra against the Thalmor. Not to mention the fact that Imperial spellswords and battlemages can be seen in places like Dwemer ruins or even in Helgen. So that means that while the Thalmor have a huge advantage over the likes of the Stormcloaks due to the Stormcloaks not caring about magic, the Imperials are a whole different story, able to match the Thalmor in magical capabilities. They obviously had to, otherwise, they'd have never retaken Cyrodiil with muscle alone, because as we already discussed, muscle alone isn't good enough to fight magic armies.

So from what we can gather from canon lore, most of the reasons raised as to why the Dominion will win against the Empire are crap. At most, they can get another draw, at worst, the Empire will crush them by the nuts, and with most of their armies already wiped out, an invasion of Alinor won't be that difficult.