User blog comment:Lab Coat Billy/Volkihar vs Dawnguard: A New War/@comment-12654584-20130801072413

I'm afraid your question makes very little sense to me. Either side being "right" isn't a possibility because there's no argument (let alone dialog) between the two groups for one side to be right about. The two simply have their own mutually exclusive agendas, are hostile to each other, and so, they fight.

As far as whether or not they are in the right (meaning whether or not their actions are justified), neither one is. Harkon is a megalomaniacal tyrant, and the entire Volkihar Clan is patently evil and has committed countless atrocities, from keeping enthralled blood cattle to killings to giving vampirism to people against their will and without their knowledge to Harkon's plan to block out the sun.

Isran and the Dawnguard, on the other hand, are not much better. Isran foolishly believes that all vampires are evil by virtue of being vampires (Serana is proof to the contrary), and fails to take into account the fact that, because the Dawnguard lacks the power to quickly overwhelm the Volkihar vampires, a war with them would inevitably involve collateral damage.

Perhaps the two factions' worst downfall is their inability to come to the negotiating table. The details for a peace agreement that satisfies both groups are not difficult to imagine. Blood donation, easy to do safely with Restoration magic, and negotiating with Skyrim's Jarls to get them to halt attacks on the Volkihar vampires could be offered by the Dawnguard. The Volkihar vampires could stop using blood cattle and attacking the citizens of Skyrim, and make all their conversions to vampirism conditional on the will of the recipient. Since vampires outside the Volkihar clan are still vampires and attack the people of Skyrim, and increase unrest over vampirism in the people in the process, hunting them jointly would further both groups' goals.

Ultimately this conflict is characterized by short-sightedness and hubris, like so many conflicts in Elder Scrolls' lore.