Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-25343239-20150319182007/@comment-260563-20180321024459

That's exactly my point. The Stormcloaks aren't good enough to fight the Thalmor. Barbarians with little armor and even less magic are no match for dudes covered in gilded plate or crystalline glass firing off spells and summoning Daedra.

The Stormcloaks think they are good enough to fight the Dominion, but they aren't. They pretend to be defenders of Nord Culture, but one look at a Nordic tomb and it's clear that real Nordic culture is something the Stormcloaks ignore, considering that ancient Nords had dragon-worshiping mages as their lords. Now THAT culture could be a real threat to the Thalmor, especially if they kiss Alduin's ass long enough to get him and his dragon minions to join the war on their side. After all, the dragons are fiercely protective of their belongings, and that includes human slaves. If the Elves touch their human slaves, it'll be war.

If the Stormcloaks really did adapt old Nordic culture, as in, training mage-lords who worship dragons to have as leaders and using the Voice as a common weapon of war the way the Draugr do, as well as venerating the dragons enough so that the dragons side with the Nords, then that could be a real pain in the ass for the Dominion. Nords breathing magic words, led by magic-chucking dragon priests, and backed up by dragons breathing fire in the sky, that could pose a serious threat to the Dominion.

Thankfully, for both the Dominion and the Empire, the Stormcloaks are just a ghetto version of the Imperial Legion, whining about not being able to worship an Imperial god, while ignoring things like magic and dragons and other parts of Nord culture not touched by the White-Gold Concordat. Heck, they could have just thrown out the Nine Divines in favor of the All-Maker and gotten some real Nordic culture untouched by Cyrodiil or the Concordat. Instead, Ulfric and his fellow Talos-worshipers are dumb enough to A) kill a Talos-worshiping king, and B) wage war on those that could be allies against the Dominion in a future war. They'd be easy prey for the Elves, their magic, and their plans.

Well, yes, it is easy to be mesmerized by Elven culture, be they Altmer, Dwemer, Ayleid, or Dunmer. Hence why my Imperial Dragonborn has at least a modicum of respect for the Elves, despite her animosity towards the Thalmor. She even wears a set of Glass Armor along with a Dwemer Aetherial Crown. She at least considers the Thalmor to be a worthy foe, while she sees the Stormcloaks as a nuisance, at best, and barbarian renegades, at worst. Both the Stormcloaks and the Thalmor did nasty things, and both are racial supremacists, but at least the Thalmor have brains and style, while the Stormcloaks think bashing their way through all problems works every time.

I mean, compare how the Thalmor conducted the Great War and how Ulfric Stormcloak and his men conducted their campaign in the Reach. The Thalmor used trickery, deceit, and force of arms to take the Imperial capital, while at the same time, they used gladiator games to keep the people of the capital city sated. They were driven out only through extreme numbers and force of arms. Whereareas with Ulfric, his victory over the Forsworn was due to his abuse of the Thu'um, and his actions after taking control of the Reach was horrible. Ulfric had no mind for politics, and used barbarism and brutality to root the Forsworn out:

"Every official who worked for the Forsworn was put to the sword, even after they had surrendered. Native women were tortured to give up the names of Forsworn fighters who had fled the city or were in the hills of the Reach. Anyone who lived in the city, Forsworn and Nord alike, were executed if they had not fought with Ulfric and his men when they breached the gates. 'You are with us, or you are against Skyrim' was the message on Ulfric's lips as he ordered the deaths of shopkeepers, farmers, the elderly, and any child old enough to lift a sword that had failed in the call to fight with him."

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/The_Bear_of_Markarth

Yikes. That's the kind of brutality that even the Thalmor were incapable of matching. While the Thalmor are the kind to cozy up to provincial elites so long as there's no Talos worship, Ulfric went ahead and went to town, torturing and killing people in the name of Skyrim. Torture of women, slaughter of officials, and unrelenting brutality to those who remained ambivalent in the fight against the Forsworn. The Thalmor might be Elven fascists, but at least they had manners. Ulfric had none. And the funny thing is, he's doing this to a HUMAN race. Not Elves or any other race. Just humans who wound up on the wrong side of a war. Can we really expect such a leader to lead humanity to a new future? At least the Thalmor Justiciars spare people so long as they keep Talos worship to a minimum.

And another thing: it peeves me that Saint Alessia was just a saint, while Talos was a god. I mean, yes, he unified Tamriel and achieved CHIM, but he treated the Second Aldmeri Dominion brutally. Originally, he wanted peace with them, but once he got the Numidium, he went full-aggro and subjugated the High Elves. No wonder the Thalmor hate his guts so much. Some of the leading Thalmor mages might be even survivors from the time when Tiber Septim subjugated the Second Aldmeri Dominion. After all, it was only 600 years ago, and some elves live to be over a thousand.

Whereareas Alessia, the person who led a very risky slave revolt against the Daedra-worshiping Ayleids, the one who freed the humans of Cyrodiil and created the basis for the Empire, the one who received the Amulet of Kings. I'd say that puts her far above some dude who abused the Numidium but achieved CHIM. Talos' actions guaranteed that the High Elves would one day counterattack once the Empire grows weak enough. He could have brought them in peacefully like he did with the Argonians, or arranged a marriage alliance, but his brutal actions were unwarranted and unjustified.