Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-50.10.177.94-20130209065558/@comment-5227390-20130227025152

Aegon the Conquerer wrote: Aelnwyn wrote: Keep in mind, the Thalmor have been working toward their goals for several Eras ! Now that's patience... Yea thats a lot of plannng to get there butts kicked at the Battle of the Red Ring haha. Just kidding, I just think that the Thalmor arent as invincible as everybody says they are (theyve lost their last 2 major battles) but then again I am totaly biased agianst the Thalmor haha.

It's a bit myopic to focus on specific battles such as these when judging their prowess in clever planning. The Thalmor have successfully infiltrated/assimilated the largest portions of Mer in Summerset, Valenwood, and Elswyr. They have opportunistically strangleholded the Empire into submission not because they were good at winning battles, but good at choosing when to engage in them when the Empire was stretched thinnest and would be least likely to continue into war if an "ultimatem" was offered.

They may have lost full control in Hamerfell, but the Empire was their more immediate goal, and they achieved it. The White/Gold Concordat wasn't just to show the Empire's submission to them and gain access to their inner government, but also to divide them. It divided the people amongst themselves (see the civil war) but it also shone weakness through to the surrounding provinces, degrading the reputation and possible support system for the Empire. This was no happy coincidence, and was the intention before the Thalmor ever pursued the Empire in that conflict.

The Thalmor aren't the most powerful force when it comes to standing armies or military capability (but are still very formidable) .. that's not what makes them as successful as they've been thus far. It's their deviously clever and diabolical plotting and genius timing that unfortunately has allowed their influence to spread this far. They are good at using the wars, politics, and hard times of others to their advantage, as they have proven time and again.

Plus, I hate and hope to erradicate the Thalmor as well, but it's all the more reason not to under-estimate them by judging their military skirmishes alone. POLITICS are the framework wars operate within... and that is where the true power lies.