Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-25343239-20150319182007/@comment-260563-20180323151120

The Whiterun guards actually CAN end the Civil War. The only reason they didn't is because Balgruuf is afraid of the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves' Guild:

Hrongar: "Have you reconsidered my idea?"

Balgruuf: "I haven't changed my mind, if that's what you're asking. I won't leave Whiterun defenseless, even for a day."

Hrongar: "If we send half our guards to aid the Legion, just for a few days, it could tip the scales in the Empire's favor. The Companions can help protect the city, and the Emperor will be in our debt."

Balgruuf: "Have you lost all sense? We are short on guards as it is! If we lose half our men, the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild will have the run of the city. The Stormcloaks will be the least of our worries! The answer is no, I tell you! Now stop pestering me with your war-mongering!"

If only the rulers of Whiterun knew that the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves' Guild were no longer a massive threat, they could have, and WOULD HAVE, ended the war on the Empire's side. And they will regardless, because Ulfric attacks them regardless.

Yeah, no. I AM looking at the endgame, while it is you who is focusing on superficial aspects like number of provinces. The Empire draws men and shoves coin into the 2.5 (going to be 3 because Ulfric attacks Whiterun anyways, which will doom his movement) provinces it has left, whereareas the Dominion isn't splashing cash around its other two provinces, and the first province has a shitty reproduction rate (hence why the First Aldmeri Dominion was formed in the first place, to counter the Altmer's weak reproduction numbers) not to mention the fact that they lost most of their army during the last war.

So basically, the Empire has the wealthier half of Skyrim, holds like Solitude, Markarth, and Whiterun, giving them more than enough coin and manpower to sweep the Stormcloaks clean and pay to clean up the mess caused by the war, and the other two provinces are also giving coin, men, and arms for the armies of the Empire, while as I said, ES lore states that the Thalmor in the 4th era are slaughtering Wood Elves, while many Khajiits would rather go abroad in trading caravans without any protection whatsoever. They're not like the Empire's East Empire Company that actually has prosperous trade. So we have one province in the AD whose people are getting massacred, another province where many people would rather leave because they aren't making good coin, and the main province has shitty reproduction rates and lost most of its army. No wonder the Thalmor are scrounging for an advantage in Skyrim, trying to rile up Nords against the Empire while trying to collect magic artifacts and weapons like dragon priest masks, the Eye of Magnus, and Stalhrim weapons. They can't afford overt actions because most of their forces were lost in Cyrodiil and Hammerfell, and they're using the illusion that they "won" the last war as propaganda to push a narrative of inevitable victory, when in reality, their victory is anything but inevitable.

Both the Dominion and the Empire started off in chaos after the Oblivion Crisis, but as the Great War proved, it was the Empire that won that long staring contest, not the Dominion. The Dominion caught the Empire by surprise, but once the beast woke up, the Empire drove the Dominion back.

Having more cash is a proof that the Empire can recover faster than the Dominion. You know what also is a proof for the Empire's faster recovery? Humanity's faster birth rate, which was the one thing that A) scared the Snow Elves enough to try and wipe out the humans before they got too numerous, and B) got the queen of the Elves in ESO to form the First Aldmeri Dominion in the first place, because Alinor has shit for numbers and they needed Wood Elves and Khajiit as reinforcements. So, the humans can raise people faster, pay to train them and equip them as soldiers, while the Thalmor can't, because they have a lower birthrate ACCORDING TO ELDER SCROLLS LORE, so even if the Empire and the Thalmor had the same level of economic prosperity, the Empire would have the advantage because they can train more men.

The Thalmor gained NOTHING from the Great War. They got a religious agreement that nobody likes, they got a province they couldn't hold, and a small uprising in eastern Skyrim that the Imperial Legion back in Cyrodiil didn't give two shits about, they just sent their best general to help local recruits, and considering that Ulfric attacks Whiterun anyways, the pro-Imperial Nords will have manpower superiority. Not to mention superiority in money, which means they can pay for the war and pay to reconstruction afterwards. All that, in exchange for the Thalmor losing two major armies, and with the Altmer's lower reproduction rate, those armies are worth more than the Empire's. And all the Dominion did was lose armies, and their so-called "long term" goals are all failures too.

"Unbiased fact"? The unbiased fact is that the Dominion is on shaky ground. That they need their men more than the Empire needs its soldiers, and yet they lost most of their armies anyways, for goals that didn't help the Dominion at all. No economic tributes, no military advantages, just an uprising that Whiterun guards can and WILL put down, because Ulfric attacks Whiterun anyways. And with the Dominion letting the Khajiit sit in squalor while slaughtering the Bosmer on a regular basis, they still only have ONE province that matters in the war. ONE PROVINCE, with a low reproduction rate, that lost most of its armies in the last war. So yeah, it's not that far-fetched to think that the Empire's 2.5/3 provinces can win against the Dominion's one.