Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-25343239-20150319182007/@comment-260563-20180224035951

I kinda like the Ayleids over the Dwemer a bit more. Don't mistake me, I liked the Dwemer architecture and steampunk tech, but the Ayleids' architecture looks more beautiful. They created the White-Gold Tower and and many magic artifacts like Varla and Welkynd stones. They also had a propensity for dealing with Daedra. One of their kings, Umaril, was even half-divine, hence why he survived getting killed by Pelinal Whitestrake.

Also, unlike the Falmer and Altmer, who were defeated by manpower in wars, the Ayleids had to be defeated by the intervention of the Aedric Divines. Nobody knows if the Dwemer could have been defeated by mortal factions, because they just disappeared, but the Ayleids were so powerful that the humans literally needed gods on their side to defeat the Ayleids. That's pretty tough. No variant of the Aldmeri Dominion came close to being that much of a threat to mankind.