Sometimes I wonder if my game is glitched as far as the Thalmor officers and all of that. I can't recall once ever witnessing a group of Thalmor with a prisoner after I finished the Imperial side of the questline.
I know I certainly did
before I formally took a side. But not after. I realize this makes no real sense nor am I claiming that it
should, and it's probably just the luck of the randomized events in the game. But it is quite curious. I, like many others, would love to find them so I can dispense justice on behalf of the Legion.
While the Thalmor disappearing from Skyrim would of course be a most welcome thing and goal realized after playing the other questline, part of me has to wonder to myself what they've got up their sleeve with that story-wise. Unless it's a coding oversight/anomaly, which is considerably unlikely. Though I
do still wonder what the point is of invincible officers of the Imperial/Stormcloak camps... In any event, no, my paranoid mind envisions something from the Thalmor along the lines of, "Well, that went well - on to the next! Your move, Empire!" and then proceed to start stirring up some nonsense in High Rock or maybe even in Cyrodiil itself. Though I know that exceeds the immediate scope and context of the present game, it seems to me that it doesn't at the same time. Blame my eagerness to RP this thing out to great lengths, but it's a concern I have. For that reason, it'll be very interesting to see where it all goes next.
Regarding the racist angle, it's certainly true that there's more going on besides the Dunmer segregation in Windhelm. There's more to side with the Empire for than that. In fact, I think relegating support to merely that point alone or as the most significant focus is doing the Empire a disservice. Ulfric is clearly a polarizing figure and he's got quite a bit to answer for. I agree that the situation in his city is meant to cast him in a less clear-cut light. I think it's obvious both sides are characterized in such a way, with an effort on the part of Bethesda to bestow the process of player alliance with that much more complexity - and it's brilliant. All of these threads (which I enjoy) have continued to demonstrate as much with their interminable and often very circular debate structures. I'll readily admit that the racism, mild as it may well be, leaves me with a resounding emotional impression. I also readily acknowledge it could be much, much worse in terms of associated violence. And at the end of the day, it's but a bullet point in the overall case against Ulfric.
As I posted a few pages back, characters like Ralof emerge as far more ideal representatives of the Stormcloak side, merely for the fact they don't appear racially hostile or vainglorious, and seem to be most focused on doing what they believe is immediately best for their people. If a man like Ralof was at the forefront of the campaign, I do think we would have seen a very different set of player attitudes (from those who side Imperial and even among those who side Stormcloak). I think Hadvar and Ralof were created and placed to do what perhaps the higher-ups, the brass, couldn't necessarily do
completely - and that is to further humanize the conflict, from an "everyman" perspective. The statements you hear from both of them on their respective sides offer a window into some of the most basic reasoning for joining either side, particularly as Nords. And in that way, Hadvar and Ralof represent two sides of the same coin, not unlike many aspects of the Empire and the Rebellion.
I do believe it does come down to the manner of which many of us choose to RP our characters and while facts are and will remain stubborn things, it's fascinating to see what people do with it all. I'm writing a lengthy work of fanfiction detailing certain aspects of the Skyrim experience from the point of view of a devoted Legionnaire. And even though the classic reasons for such allegiance are conveyed, the complexities that are a part of the overall conflict and the undercurrents of the broader struggle with the Dominion and all of the implications thereof are things that have given me an expanded perspective. No one character or faction is totally cut and dry - not even all members of the Thalmor are created equally, in my eccentric
authorial opinion
- and there's nothing like complications and troubling details for both sides to drive that point home.
Of course the Empire and Skyrim have had different experiences with Dominion confrontations, with Cyrodiil's endured hell of the Great War, and now Skyrim's subjection to Thalmor activity. Such experiences obviously inform the philosophical and perhaps even moral contexts each side is operating within circa 4E 201. The common realization that the present course is unsustainable for an indeterminate amount of time is in turn a simultaneous call to action, ie. the Stormcloaks rejecting the Imperials to expel the Thalmor and the Empire reining in rebels and stopping an undesirable reallocation of resources assumed for future conflict. I would hope that we will see some sort of content to bridge the gap between ES V and the next specifically relating to the Thalmor/Dominion and their continued belligerent presence.
Hell, even
if the Empire is canonically dissolved at some point in the overall story, there's nothing to stop it (if Beth wills) from having a, "'The line was broken!' ... 'It has been remade!'" type of Aragorn moment with a player character. And a fractured former Empire is slowly re-rallied (and perhaps even roughly reforged?) to a common cause. To me, it's definitely a possibility.
...Hmm, don't wanna stray too much from the specific topic, so I'll stop here.
