Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-209.7.3.188-20160303204000/@comment-993964-20161028182003

The Beautiful Princess Ashley wrote: Terawolf119 wrote:

Why is everyone saying that? it was the Empire who allowed the Thalmor to go through people's houses, and after Ulfric won, they all could go back to that. after the markarth incident, the empire had no choice but to do that, as otherwise, they'd risk a war they weren't yet ready for. if ulfric hadn't demanded free worship, the thalmor wouldn't have the presence they have now. I have to adress some points 1. To say that the Empire did not "enforce the ban on Talos" because they didn't arrest people who got caught seems like a ridiculous notion to me. It's like saying the guards are emphatically encouraging me to murder and steal so long as I don't get caught. I doubt that is truly the case. The Empire shut down the public shrines, and locked up anyone who preached the religion of Talos like poor Heimskr. Furthermore, publishing The Talos Mistake is going beyond what is necessary to appease the elves. They signed the damn treaty, acting as the Domninion's mouthpiece is completely unnecessary- which further highlights either their weakness or their subservience.

2. Shifting the blame on Ulfric for the presence of the Thalmor in Skyrim is a complete misdirect of the Empire's role in allowing them to enforce the Talos ban. The Markath Incident is just a convenient excuse for the Dominion, but even if it had it not occurred, they could have easily highlighted any public Talos worship that happened as an excuse to bring Thalmor to Skyrim. They could have used Heimskr or planted a Forsworn as their own agent posing as a public Talos preacher as an excuse to enforce the ban and the Empire would still appease them by letting them into Skyrim because they are weak; if they were too weak to deny the Thalmor after the Markath Incident, they would still be too weak to deny them at any time. Thus, the Empire is responsible for the Thalmor's presence in Skyrim.

3. We could play blame game but the real issue is who's solution is best for the next war with the Aldmeri Dominion. Currently, the Stormcloaks would drive out the Thalmor presence by force. The Imperials would continue to appease the elves and allow them to stay in Skyrim. Whether you support the Imperials to avenge a slight by the Storkcloaks or not, it's still making a choice to support Thalmor presence and influence in Skyrim. Personally, I fail to see how that's a good thing.