Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-96.252.245.207-20130116060134/@comment-174.5.73.252-20140823084957

I think Hammerfell is the right choice. It's a province already divided in the wake of the great war, and could serve as the last available ally of the whaning empire. I think the developers will choose to end the civil war in Skyrim with a Stormcloak victory, both to show the intellectual prowess of the Thalmor in puppeting both the Nords and Imperials, and to give them a reason to break the concordat by invading Skyrim in its weakened state. ES 6 won't be a direct sequel, but will happen decades after the events of ES 5, where the Thalmor now have control over the majority of Tamriel, perhaps even retaking Cyrhodill to begin the fifth era. Hammerfell could be the last free province, where other suggestions for locations like Valenwood, and Elsweyr are already under Thalmor control, and would require very odd plot development to create 2 distinct sides (unless another civil uprising appeals to you). Also, in a book I read in ES 5, it stated that the original target of the invasion in Cyrhodil was actually Hammerfell, and that the Thalmor were persuaded to invade the capital due to huge losses in Hammerfel, along with other tactical reasons that led them to believe Mede II could be easily conquered (of which they were clearly wrong.... Jonna and her Nord army were critical in this upset, along with Mede II and his tactical genious). Hammerfel is also very coastal, and could welcome the arrival of new, or long lost races such as the Dwemer (i sincerely hope this happens, and that they look down on the Altmer and their hubris, and reinforce the empire to balance the odds), and is also in close proximity to High Rock, a province of mysticism containing the oldest structure in all of Tamriel (the Adamantine Tower), which is small enough to perhaps be included in the game.

Something along these lines seems very likely, but is also very predictable. I hope they surprise us :)