Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-3539474-20130910213054/@comment-1403309-20131029232436

Legate Alexandros wrote: Rambard wrote: It's funny, all the people saying that the Thalmor have a huge army. That's BS.

The Thalmor come from Summerset Isles. As they already said, they reproduce slower. So that means that all the Thalmor that exist are the Altmer from the Summerset Isles. Compared to Skyrim, it's a small patch of land. And if they reproduce slower than Men... well, do the maths for yourself.

The reason why the Empire lost against the Aldmeri Dominion is because of tactical disadvantage and disorganization. They thought that they had the Blades, but they hadn't. They left many flanks undefended. They didn't know how to fight off battle magicians. But, in the end, they learnt.

That's what allowed the White-Gold Concordat to be possible. The Aldmeri Dominion noticed that the Empire had learnt how to fight them off. It was just that the Empire was tired, and didn't have enough men or tactiques to drive an offensive against the Thalmor.

In short, the Thalmor are all appearance, pretty much like the Empire. They tried to make the Empire destroy itself by outlawing the worship of Talos. With this single condition, they expected to force the Civil War. And it worked.

But were the Empire and the Stormcloaks to call a secret truce, rid Skyrim silently of the Thalmor agents, and allow the Stormcloaks to land an attack on the Summerset Isles from behind... well, they would get creamed.

It is not the first time that Nords fight off Elves. Remember the Night of Tears? Falmer nearly obliterated the entire Nordic population of Skyrim during the Night of Tears. It was what followed, the Return. Ysgramor and his sons, came back with 500 companions from Atmora. That is where Nords fighting off elves part comes in. And frankly, technically there were no Nords yet, they were considered Atmorans. It wasn't until King Harald's time, when Atmorans living in Skyrim, started to call themselves Nords and Skyrim had become an independent entity from Atmora. I know that, but just saying The Return wouldn't be specific enough to make you immediately remember what I was talking about.

What I mean is, the Thalmor aren't really that impressive. They've shown all they've got in battle, and they've already been proven that it doesn't suffice for winning a war against The Empire and Skyrim.

You have to remember that many Stormcloaks are veterans from the Great War, so they already know how the Thalmor fight. Sure, they're butthurt, but they excel in physical combat and now know the tactics of the Thalmor. They also reproduce faster and have, most likely, a larger populationn. Of warriors.

The Thalmor don't have the surprise factor anymore. They had it once when they slaughtered all the Blades, but now the remaining ones are wary of them. They had it once when they dominated the Empire and took the Imperial City, but they were proven that they weren't the only ones that could come up with a strategy and make it work.