Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-27007772-20140611204941/@comment-121511-20150325163617

Draevan13 wrote: Still, the Dominion had just lost an entire army. Not took losses then retreated: decimated to the last. Not only that, the Dominion had thought the Empire defeated, then the Red Ring happened: just as the Empire had now way of knowing what the Dominion had left, the reverse was true also. Status quo ante bellum would have been the better choice.

Either way the Dominion's going to attack again, but now the Empire has to have a go at it considerably weaker than they would have been had Mede not conceeded. Luckily he's dead now, I hope the new Emperor is made of sterner stuff.

On the contrary, the Dominion had a very good idea of how badly beaten the Empire was: Cyrodiil was the heart of its territory and arguably provided the bulk of its economic and military power, and it was all but destroyed in the process of fighting. The arrogance of the Dominion's military leadership led to the loss of one of its two primary hosts to Mede's shrewd command, but they knew that while the Empire was largely exhausted, they still had intact infrastructure and troops in reserve that they could call upon, and they also knew that their own heartland of Summerset was impenetrable. They also knew, however, that they no longer had the means to conquer the whole of mainland Tamriel: hence, the Concordat was their best option.

I agree that it was a much larger loss than the Empire had any way of knowing, and perhaps if Mede had known, he would not have agreed to the Concordat and may have stood some chance at turning the tide of conflict: however, he did not know, and could not know, precisely because he was not privy to the information that we as outsider observers decades after the War's end are privy to. He was not willing to take the risk, as he had no reason to believe the Dominion was anywhere near defeated, and another Dominion host or two would not only destroy an Empire that had lasted hundreds of years, but also mean torturous deaths for hundreds if not thousands of the people that he was sworn to protect as Emperor. Even if he did feel that perhaps the loss of Lord Naarifin's host was a heavy blow, he was not willing to take that risk, and indeed no leader that cares for his people would take that risk: he sacrificed Face in order to spare his people no shortage of suffering, knowing full well that many of his subjects would subsequently despise him for it. That combined with his great leadership during the War would make him an excellent Emperor, not a terrible one. However, it is precisely due to the fact that he is so controversial that he would not be the Emperor needed for the Second Great War: it is speculated often that he arranged his own asssassination, or at least expected and welcomed it, as it allowed him to become a martyr and for a new Emperor to take his place with more support from the people.

Certainly, however, the Empire is considerably weaker than the Dominion in the present (insofar as the "present" is considered the events of Skyrim). Whether it is able or unable to quell the Stormcloak Rebellion, I still can't imagine it being able to succeed in the coming war without some form of intervention by a Hero, or other sort of deus ex machina.