Does anyone LIKE the thalmor?

[Sloady]

Bethesda portrayed them as way too one-sided, which is why I reserve judgement.

[Tiber-Septim]

I think the Thalmor are d*** heads. I hate the way they raged war against the empire just because they declined some stupid ultimatum demanding the banning of Talos worship. The empire worships some Aldmeri deities so why can't the Thalmor respect the empires beleifs?

[OblivionDuruza]

Actually, the only gods they share are Mara and Stendarr, and there is much more to the Great War than the banning of Talos. You don't honestly believe that the Thalmor have waged war at such cost for a purely theological reason do you? The affront Talos is to the Altmer is an aspect of the tension, but the conflict is over more than simply an allegedlyfalse god.

[Cuddle_Fish]

And the fact that the Thalmor aren't the enemy, per se, the Dragons are. Sure the Blades are being hunted by the Thalmor, but in the words of Delphine:

We've hurt them in the past and they have long memories

. The Blades deserve it in a way, and they know it.

I think the Blades have longer memories :b

I don't know if it was mentioned ( I skimmed the thread) but the fact that they are killing off the Bosmer says to me that the Thalmor are only for mer as long as those mer are Aldmer. The Nords may be racist jerks, but they're not purging Skyrim like the Thalmor are Valenwood.

[OblivionDuruza]

But the Thalmor did not kill off the Bosmer, and in fact had Bosmeri allies, who overthrew the Imperial back government, which was likely a puppet administration as we have seen in Morrowind and Skyrim.

[Iaius Amaius Heron]

Their only plus in my book is that they're finally somebody who took on the Empire on its own terms and won (or at least fought to a truce, which is the same thing to one's pride, really).

Death to Cyrodiil.

[ArotosMarkos]

You aren't SUPPOSED to like the Thalmor.... they're supposed to be paralleled to the Mythic Dawn in Oblivion.

They're more like the Enclave in FO3 if anything. Far reaching political and military program, advanced technologies and tactics (in the Thalmor's case, coordinated magic use), superiority complex combined with a lust to dominate, etc. Contrast that with the Mythic Dawn, which was just an eschatological assassin's cult that wanted eternal bliss for its members through making a literal deal with the devil.

All I had meant is that the Mythic Dawn was established as inarguably evil, and a veritably antagonist force in Oblivion, similarly to the Thalmor in Skyrim.

[Check-Nate]

The thalmor make the altmer more arrogant than the dunmer.....

[strobacaxi]

They are absolutely awesome. They rule the Empire. They control everything. Their fingers are everywhere.

They are far more powerful than any other race (the altmers) and they deserve to get some power.

At least that's my High Elf character's opinion

[MasterRokon]

Ekado Laryaeil, my thalmor Warlock is part of the Aldmeri Dominion. The insults from other thalmor are used as a decoy, these stupid Nords will have no idea that im with the Aldmeri Dominion if even they insilt and hate on me. Is how i go at the dislike towards my thalmor RP character.

Sorry that was off topic, but i dont dislike any faction, until im roleplaying certain character, so yes i like the Thalmor, when im Rping Ekado, and Fëanánaro Silimaurë even though hes a dunmer, him and Ekado are working together.

[azuarc]

I like the Thalmor. They made a fine source for my first set of Elven Armor when I told the one member of the wandering group (who let his allies wander off) that I'm free to worship whomever I want. And I worshipped having his armor on me after I killed him in defense.

[Da_BossMaN69]

The thing I wonder about the Thalmor is, are they really a more powerful nation than the Empire, because from reading the great war, it made it seem like they launched a surprise attack, and it worked until the Empire got their armies together and then took back their lands (not easily though). So are they strong, or more so just schemers (albeit with a large army) that are using surprise attacks and cunning diplomacy to weaken the Empire.

Another question i have is in the lore are warriors and mages balanced or are the latter clearly the stronger of two (excluding great warriors like Reman,Ysgramor, Tiber, etc) because if this true than it makes sense somewhat for them to be able to fight off the empire, or are their warriors better trained because i've had a harder time killing guards, and legionaries than thalmor agents.

Lastly, where are the Argonians in all this, After the novel I came to believe that they were the real top dogs of tamriel, after kicking the dunmer's ass who were one of the hardiest races to conquer.

[Mithrandir]

I think that the Thalmor are schemers that like you said, used surprise attacks and are cunning diplomats

[Da_BossMaN69]

i kinda thought so it just seemed too out of the blue, that the altmers who although were described as powerful never really was shown it in the games until now and smei-conquering literally all the man races, seemed really just out of left field

[FrostyInferno016]

They plotted and trained for a few centuries. It was a matter of incredibly deep and patient study. When it comes to actual combat though..the Empire has the edge.

I don't like the Thalmor for multiple reasons but mostly because they remind me of a more evil version of the Ayleids.

[dtmwerks]

I like the Thalmor. They made a fine source for my first set of Elven Armor when I told the one member of the wandering group (who let his allies wander off) that I'm free to worship whomever I want. And I worshipped having his armor on me after I killed him in defense.

Truth. Too bad Imperials and Stormcloaks have TERRIBLE armor. Do stormcloaks even have a heavy armor version of their stuff? They all look the same to me. I feel like the legion's armor in oblivion had better stats, anyone know for sure?

[Frost Mage]

@Duruza: Like you said, their actions are more important than their attitudes or beliefs. The Thalmor IIRC have never killed Elves for illegitimate reasons, and therefore are very faithful to their beliefs.

[OblivionDuruza]

The strength of the Thalmor does not lie in numbers, that is the Empire's strength, what it lies in, as you guys have alluded to, is their insatiable attitude and patience, and their ability to plan, form strategies and to scheme.

@Frosty, A more evil version of the Ayleids? The Ayleids are almost the root of all evil, they enslaved, everyone, they subjugated them, and the Thalmor are worse? The Thalmor have not enslaved anyone, and they are reclaiming what was once there's and what was stolen by Tiber through the use of a super weapon.

[Frost Mage]

You're agreeing with me, right ?

[OblivionDuruza]

You ninja'd me I meant FrostyInferno (awesome username jsut while we're on the subject ).

Yeah, I agree, it is important to understand their motivation and MO, but their actions are what has earned them a degree of my respect, but which also have the capability to make them appear to be pure evil.

[FrostyInferno016]

The strength of the Thalmor does not lie in numbers, that is the Empire's strength, what it lies in, as you guys have alluded to, is their insatiable attitude and patience, and their ability to plan, form strategies and to scheme.

@Frosty, A more evil version of the Ayleids? The Ayleids are almost the root of all evil, they enslaved, everyone, they subjugated them, and the Thalmor are worse? The Thalmor have not enslaved anyone, and they are reclaiming what was once there's and what was stolen by Tiber through the use of a super weapon.

They never held Cyrodiil nor Hammerfell.. and they simply torture and kill their opposition rather than enslave them.

[Frost Mage]

They do what they believe is right, and they don't go out of that. They don't enslave most Mer, since they rarely worship Talos, and besides that, their very benevolent and don't start wars that are uncalled for.

[OblivionDuruza]

Evidence of mast torture if you please? I'm yet to see anything that supports your claim, and if if you do present it, is it worse than what the Empire do, as evidenced by their torture chamber in Helgen?

Additionally, conquering Hammerfell and Cyrodiil is not wrong, because they didn't enslave the people, they either killed them, or they fled. Such is the nature of war and conquest, the Ayleids actually enslaved entire races or men.

[Frost Mage]

Considering the Thalmor isn't nearly as big and as Cyrodiil or Hammerfell, that's saying something when they have the guts to take them on. Sure, they didn't take over even half of the provinces, but they definitely made their point that they won't back down, and that they're a perfectly legitimate group of restoring the diversity of all provinces.

[OblivionDuruza]

Exactly, for the Altmer, and the Bosmer too to an extent, they've done a great thing as far as the enormity of it. They've restored the Aldmeri Dominion, and they've returned the Altmer to a state where they are both feared and respected by others (Khajiit respect them, Men fear and, as a result, hate them).