Which one is "good", which one is "evil"?

[RighthandofSithis]

C. I'm not sure if the Domminion would be able to maintain a presence on Morrowind. From what I've seen from screenshot of "Dragonborn" (the DLC), Red mountain still seems to be spewing ash, and I'd say that most of the province is still uninhabitable. And settling the Southern part of Morrowind would expose them to border raids by the Argonians (weather they control that part of Morrowind or not).

 

There are various individuals throughout Skyrim who refer to Mournhold as if it is still quite healthy, even refering to a desire to head back that way. This would imply that parts of Morrowind are still habitable, regardless of whether or not Red Mountain is still doing its thing. Furthermore, control of Morrowind, for the purposes of Ebony, wouldn't require a particularly powerful presence, even less so if the majority of the province is still uninhabitable. The Empire has already shown us that it's not particularly difficult to run mining opperations in hostile and inhospitable ash-wastes.

 

There are also a number of Dunmer that suggest that the ash is so thick, that it was (perhaps still is) impossible to breathe.

 

Also, any presence in southern Morrowind would very possibly provoke a guerrilla war from the Argonians, making things very difficult. Particularly for a small colony.

 

Also taking Cyrodiil may start to stretch their borders thin. I'm sure the population of Cyrodiil would not be happy with the Dominion taking them over, and they'd have to tie down significant forces simply to maintain order (or so I'd imagine). This would just get worse if they decided to invade Skyrim or Hammerfell, (similar to the issues facing Napoleon and Hitler in their invasions of Russia). At the same time, however, they seem to be, rather successfully, grasping the Empire under their thumb. they may be seeing the Empire as another Elsweyr, a puppet state, that will allow them to control much of TAmriel with little use of resources. Of course, this would change with any newfound resistance to the Thalmor the Empire may develop.

 

Control of Cyrodiil wouldn't be an instantaneous thing, of course. We know that even after the Thalmor coup in Valenwood there was resistance. However, they've shown themselves to be particularly good at rooting out dissidants, so we can assume there wouldn't be a functional resistance for long. At the same time, with control of the resource rich heartland of Tamriel (which again we have been told is the source of a great deal of Skyrim's foodstuffs) the recover of any expenses in maintaining control would be simple.

 

The Nazis where also quite adept at finding and punishing dissent. However, that didn't stop the various uprisings in Warsaw. The Soviet Partisans and the French Resistance continued to fight against Fascist rule/occupation.

 

And the Iron fist of Tsar Nicholas the Second only made the situation worse for him. The Bolskeviks where monitored and captured several times, but that didn't stop the revolutions of 1917.

[JanusForbeare]

Greatsword: Good.

 

Rabbits: Evil.

 

'Nuff said.

[AnimeOtaku102]

Stormcloaks as a whole aren't evil, but Ulfric is an opportunistic, self-serving bastard:

 

From the Thalmor report we learn that Ulfric was lead to believe information he gave up during his imprisonment played a role in the fall of the Empire. There's no evidence that he learned this was false, so for all Ulfric knows his impassioned cries about the weakness of the Empire is... about Ulfric himself.

 

We learn from the Jarl of Markarth that Ulfric asked for freedom to worship Talos, which was granted on the hopes that the Dominion would never learn, but the Thalmor report indicates Ulfric didn't break away from the Dominion until after the brutality against the natives (under orders from the Dominion, presumably to destabilize the source of Skyrim's wealth). So the religious persecutions and arrests that form the basis of Ulfric's rebellion were caused... by Ulfric.

 

By all accounts, Torygg respected Ulfric and likely would have declared independence if Ulfric asked him to. Assuming Ulfric knew this, then his motivation behind murdering Torygg was for the crown rather than for the sake of Skyrim's independence, on the other hand if he didn't know that means he murdered his king to prove a claim (Empire is weak) that he believes is built on a lie.

 

I would have loved to play a Stormcloak character if there was an option at the end to assassinate Ulfric to make him a martyr, then pull the Hero of the Stormcloaks, Dragonblooded Like Talos, and Savior of the World from Alduin on everyone to claim the crown. That would have been satisfyingly karmic.

Edited November 28, 2012 by Anime_Otaku102

[Lachdonin]

The Nazis where also quite adept at finding and punishing dissent. However, that didn't stop the various uprisings in Warsaw. The Soviet Partisans and the French Resistance continued to fight against Fascist rule/occupation.

 

Its of note, however, than in neither case did the revolutionary bodies cause sufficient instability to bring down the regime. It was largely the enepititude of Nazi command (or its leader specificly, since the various heads-of-division were some of the best generals in the war) which culminated in the allied victory. In a stable, well led power like the domminion, such revolutionary forces would be hard pressed to acomplish anything, particularly considering the pre-industrial nature of Tamriel. Their ability to destablise the Domminion would rely almost entirely on political assassination, something which even the Bosmer resistance had difficulty acomplishing.

 

My point is that the ability of resistances, like the French, wouldn't be able to contribute sufficiently to destablise the Domminion, both because of the nature of the Tamriel economy, and the fact that the domminion is so good at rooting out dissidents.

 

Under the Domminion, for instance, the Stormcloak revolt never would have happened, because rather than trying to negotiate with Ulfric (which was done at least up to his murder of Torygg) the Thalmor would have simply killed him. Without Ulfric, there would have been no rebellion, and the Domminions histroy with revolutionaries shows that they wouldn't have let it get to the point where Skyrim is now. As such, we can't assume that a similar movement in occupied Cyrodiil would have any more success than the resistance in Summurset or Valenwood.

[RaktoastTheSandwichTopper]

i see it as all humans being evil as they invaded tamriel from atmora so the way i see it is that the elves are simply retaking what was lost (took their sett time though)

[Lachdonin]

Not technicly true. Men were created on Tamriel, by Lorkhan (at the Skyforge acording to my own pet theory, but i digress). Then, following Lorkhan's fall, they were moved to other parts of the newly formed world. Some were relocated to Atmora, some to Yokuda, and some may have remained. Men are no more invaders of Tamriel than are the Mer, whose ancestors came to Tamriel from Aetherius and who participated in the creation of Nirn.

 

Because Nirn quite literally started with the formation of Tamriel (Highrock specificly) and all life began on Tamriel, you can't say one race 'invaded' or is the 'legitimate' owners of the contenant. Some races pre-date others, certianly, but thats no basis for a legitimate claim either.

[sajuukkhar9000]

Not technicly true. Men were created on Tamriel, by Lorkhan (at the Skyforge acording to my own pet theory, but i digress)

According to the Nords it was by Kyne at the top of the throat of the world.

[RighthandofSithis]

Not technicly true. Men were created on Tamriel, by Lorkhan (at the Skyforge acording to my own pet theory, but i digress)

According to the Nords it was by Kyne at the top of the throat of the world.

 

I personally think that was a metaphor for the victory over Alduin by the three Champions.

[sajuukkhar9000]

I personally think that was a metaphor for the victory over Alduin by the three Champions.

That was part of lore before the Dragon War even existed.

 

And Kirkbride's Shor son of Shor depicts Nordic armies retreating to High Hrothgar after losing a battle they fought alongside Shor at the very dawn of time.

[Lachdonin]

I personally think that was a metaphor for the victory over Alduin by the three Champions.

That was part of lore before the Dragon War even existed.

 

Which doesn't technicly mean that mythic cycles can't be changed to reflect the ever-evolving lore of the franchise.

 

Regardless of when and how Men actually came into existance, it is abundantly clear they they were created first on Tamriel, then spread or were moved to other contenants, later to return.

Edited December 2, 2012 by Lachdonin