Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-26213507-20150715194939/@comment-26801133-20150809060549

Shigeru Thalmor Slayer wrote:

It would be worse if the Emperor had accepted the ultimatun. Quoting the book Great War "Critics have pointed out that the Concordat is almost identical to the ultimatum the Emperor rejected five years earlier. However, there is a great difference between agreeing to such terms under the mere threat of war, and agreeing to them at the end of a long and destructive war. No part of the Empire would have accepted these terms in 4E 171, dictated by the Thalmor at swords-point. Titus II would have faced civil war. By 4E 175, most of the Empire welcomed peace at almost any price."

And what does this say? That Titus Mede II sent thousands of Imperials, Nords, Bretons and Redguards to die just to show off some strength from his Empire, which it never had, and to keep his own throne? That line in the book kind off confirms that the Emperor knew that they were inferior to the Dominion and there was no way they could decline those demands in the long run.

During the course of the Great War, it was proven that both armies were equal at best and had they kept fighting, there was a small chance to drive out the Dominion once and for all. But of course, this would lead to even bigger casualties than it already was, Cyrodiil would be a ruined state and the Empire(as a whole) would had little chance of surviving, but the single provinces that weren't besieged would have still been able to recover. How convenient too that the Emperor surrendered right after they retook the Imperial City. They didn't even bother to fight on after that, which is a slap in the face for all the soldiers who truly wanted to drive out the Dominion, but instead were used as pawns in one man’s plan to retake his own capital.

As I see it, Titus Mede's cared more about the authority of his crumbling Empire as well as his own post as Emperor than the provinces whose gold and blood made it possible for it to exist. The Empire has become something of a leech of the other provinces that needs to be removed before they become completely drained. Seceding Skyrim from the Empire will not help the Thalmor. They just need internal conflict to weaken the Empire. Once peace is achieved (with either side), both the province and the Empire can rebuild.