LogFAQs > #903827073

MarqueeSeries posted...

Can anyone give a detailed explanation on how either side winning could ultimately lead to the fall of the Thalmor?

Cause it seems like they're coming out on top either way

The peace between the Empire and the Dominion is essentially based on both sides being weakened from the war to the point that they don't want to fight on. The Empire got the worst of the deal because they didn't realize at the time that the Thalmor were also desperate, having committed basically their entire army to the initial invasion that just got pushed back.

The important thing is that the Aldmeri Dominion, as strong as it is, doesn't really have good odds of winning a war outright against the entire Empire. They need to divide and conquer, and even in their previous invasion they relied on surprise more than anything else, which won't work again. And Skyrim is very important to the Empire's chances in war, because its northern location kept it more or less untouched by the war. While it obviously lost a lot of people, it's in better shape than most of Tamriel and would be the biggest source of soldiers and supplies for the Empire. So Skyrim staying under Imperial control goes a long way to ensuring the Empire can be strong enough to not be defeated by the Thalmor, while Skyrim splitting off runs the risk of turning one entity the Dominion can't beat into two entities it can take one at a time.

The ideal outcome for the Thalmor is stalemate, as the longer the civil war goes the more it weakens everyone involved, but after that a Stormcloak win is their next preferred outcome, since it creates a divide they can try to exploit to help them take their enemies down in manageable chunks.
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Meow!