Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-27007772-20140611204941/@comment-24075086-20150701025628

What confuses me is how people treat the empire as somehow a better alternative to the thalmor.

Both factions want to completely control Tamriel and impose their own ideals on its people, and executes anyone that disagrees (Lorkhan knows the empire's done a lot of that in Skyrim).

Both treat anyone not in their elite circles as little better than animals, and speak with sickening arrogance. You've seen how Vittoria Vici's family speaks to the Snow-Shods, those words wouldn't sound out of place at all coming out of a thalmor's mouth...in fact there are thalmor agents that make me want to massacre them less than the emperor's own family. Vulwulf is exactly right when he compares the empire to the Thalmor, they are both trying to erase the cultures and identities of the provinces and replace them with their own.

The empire is NOT in any way better than the thalmor, which ever faction wins we'll all lose. Under the empire anyone not a ruling rich elite is essentially a second class citizen. Just like how under the thalmor anyone not an elf would be. There is no end-game difference between the empire and the dominion...the empire's just less fruity and flamboyant that's all.