Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-206.74.175.104-20151018163917/@comment-1600847-20160223165311

Bronkiin wrote: I don't think anyone is claiming the Thalmor quite literally control Imperial policy. The term "Thalmor puppets" is a rhetorical device as much as anything, and I would't treat it at face value. That being said, the loss of the right to fully police your own territory is an enormous loss of sovereignty. It's what caused Serbia to reject Austria's ultimatum before WWI.

Indeed, the Empire was powerless to the extent that it had no choice but to sign one of the most humiliating armistices imaginable. It is this fact that the Empire were utterly powerless, and still live with a Thalmor knife to the throat, that makes the White-Gold Concordat acceptable. If you make the Empire out to be much stronger than that, then they continue to betray their own people by accepting the peace. It's one or the other. Ah good, I thought that was what was being said.

That's what bugs me about the treaty: it was a bluff. Mede II accepted thinking that if he didn't the war would continue, not knowing the Dominion was in no better shape to continue the war than the Empire was. Had he just said "We want the fighting to stop, but we're not accepting these terms", the Dominion couldn't have done a thing.

The Dominion would have still been driven out Hammerfell, Hammerfell would have stayed in the Empire, Skyrim would have no reason to rebel, and the Empire would be in a much better position. But Mede flipped the coin and lost.