On the Dominion

[AKB]

Right, this is a quick question to possibly receive an answer to one lingering question I have on the Dominion, who is leading the Dominion? The obvious answer is "The Thalmor", but that isn't who the head of state is. I'm asking because of a statement made by Lady N that I think I may have fault with:

Naarifin is only one of the generals, he isn't the leader of the military. He doesn't have the power to mobilize a continental attack.

My problem with this is that the closest similarity to any real world government that I can pull for The Aldmeri Dominion, in its present state, is a military junta. The head of state is literally "The Thalmor". If that were the case, then it is more reasonably possible for an overly ambitious general to "borrow" the army and go on a rampage, and get completely destroyed, as is the case with Naarifin. Which means that if Naarifin was in fact a Daedric cultist, his every action makes a lot more sense. And this also ties into Boethiah's sphere perfectly. Boethiah would have a field day playing around with such an organization.

So, accepting the notion that Naarifin, while not a head of state per se, was in a position similar to one (near the top of the Thalmor hierarchy, with nearly unbounded powers), he moved out of position in the war to pursue the goals of his Prince. Boethiah, meanwhile, is playing both sides. He knows that the Thalmor stand a legitimate chance of completely overrunning the Imperial forces, so he has Naarifin sit in the White Gold Tower, trying to perform some ritual which is literally impossible. Boethiah wasn't trying to start a Daedric Invasion, that's impossible. He was trying to sacrifice Naarifin's entire army to him, which worked like a charm.

So Naarifin, having made some strategically insane moves, ruined the Thalmor's campaign. And thus you get the White Gold Concordant, which was always just a provocation for a war of conquest. The Thalmor waited until the moment was ideal for them to annihilate the Empire in one fell swoop, but the Daedra, prime opponents for the Thalmor, manipulated one of their generals into throwing away the campaign. With the Thalmor reeling, they offered the original terms, which Mede accepted (still being a [&@%!] ruler, regardless).

And now this is where its important to remember that the Thalmor came to power on an Anti-Daedra/Empire platform, which make the Daedric powers and the Empire allies of opportunity during this war. The Empire losing isn't just a loss for Mankind, its a loss for Daedra.

[legoless]

The Thalmor are staunch traditionalists, meaning they likely follow ancient Altmeri governing rituals to the letter. I'd therefore probably see the third Thalmor as an inner council of xenophobic elders rather than a military junta, perhaps something akin to a Communist Party where the ruling organisation is above the state.

I think it's heavily implied that Naarifin essentially turned into a rogue warlord. Obviously field commanders have huge power and autonomy, but he clearly overreached. All due to being a literal Daedra worshipper of course. Lady N's criticism is fair, but if you speak to some of the Grand Warlords in ESO it really feels like they're the ones running the show. I doubt Ayrenn directly ordered soldiers into the Imperial City sewers mid-Planemeld, and I doubt the mysterious driving forces behind the Fourth Era Thalmor had very much say in Naarifin's attack.

It'd be interesting for the Daedra to actually be the reason for the peace treaty, but I think it's a little too convoluted. The "Culling" prophecy is a garbage goal though so maybe I'll stick with it.

[The SheoDovah]

I dislike the entire notion of lord Naarifin being a Daedra cultist and Boethiah's to be exact. Wasn't it done before as a plot device in the franchise? If so, they shouldn't have done it with Naarifin. However, that could just be one off in the Aldmeri Dominion and they don't like Daedra. It would be a very risky plan for them to reveal themselves as a massive organisation that acts on the behalf of a Daedric Prince. The Mythic Dawn were slaughtered by the Legion(Assuming that Oblivion showed a mere portion of them and the Legion helped to hunt down the rest after the COC's slaughter of them). This? This would turn all of Tamriel against the Dominion and cause infighting.

However, Boetiah trying to do that is a very neat touch and it throws in a potential third angle into the current state of Tamriel and could be Bethesda toying with the idea of making TESVI's plot revolve around that. As Legoless said, it could just be Naarifin going rogue and the Dominion was rather surprised by how successful their invasion was.

I like to think the Dominion have a high council back in Alinor and have no true ruler. Just representatives for a common cause and so far, achieving their aims. I have heard the destroying the world because they view it as mortal prisons theory but I do hope it's not that.


But if it is a Daedra sponsered invasion or hijacked by one of them, we could see a war brewing between the princes. Molag Bal, Mehrunes Dagon if he has recovered from the Oblivion crisis, Sheogorath just because he likes messing with people for no reason or reasons that are rather mad and so forth. The Dominion could just be a plot device to justify the empire's status but i think TES VI will reveal a lot about their goals and it is the most probable focus.

[legoless]

But if it is a Daedra sponsered invasion or hijacked by one of them, we could see a war brewing between the princes. Molag Bal, Mehrunes Dagon if he has recovered from the Oblivion crisis, Sheogorath just because he likes messing with people for no reason or reasons that are rather mad and so forth.

You might want to keep an eye on a certain other Elder Scrolls game if you wanna see a Daedric war.