The Countries & Politics of Tamriel - Introduction to Elder Scrolls Lore

Kept you waiting, huh? Well. Here it is, the second part of my introduction to the Elder Scrolls lore series. Now on the politics and countries we find on Tamriel. Enjoy!
Reccomended further watches:
Video on the An Xileel: • The Secretive Rulers o...
Video on the Great War: • The Great War Explaine...
Video on High King Emeric: • High King Emeric, Lead...
Video on Skald King Jorunn: • The Story of Jorunn th...
Video on Queen Ayrenn: • Queen Ayrenn - The Eld...
Video on the War of the Red Diamond: • The War of the Red Dia...
Video on the Pirate Queen: • The Story of the Pirat...
Video on Ranser’s War: • Ranser's War Explained...
Video on Knahaten Flu: • Tamriel's Worst Epidem...
Video on Elsweyr’s Mane: • The Mane of Elsweyr, T...
Video on Ocato: • High Chancellor Ocato ...
ESO Story recap: • A 2024 Recap of ESO's ...
TIMESTAMPS/CHAPTERS:
00:00:00 Introduction & Setup
00:01:09 Cinematic Intro
00:02:09 Second Era History
00:12:01 Second Era Politics
00:37:49 Third Era Politics
00:41:17 Fourth Era History
00:54:42 Fourth Era Politics
01:07:08 Recommended Videos
01:08:45 Outro
If you enjoy the content, check the channel for more lore & consider subscribing!
Patreon: / imperialknowledge
Join the discord group (Working Link): / discord
Instagram: Imperial_Zorkonov
Twitter: @NotFarengar
Music credit:
Rise of an Emperor - Scott Buckley
Great War Theme - Zennakku
Apparitions - Beyond Skyrim
Ode to a Dynasty - Beyond Skyrim
Further Credit:
Nirn 3D by Musicformed
Some of the footage in this video is from the KZbin channel HB-Productions, go check them out here: / @dafttake
#ElderScrolls #Bethesda #TESLore #ESO #Elderscrollsonline #Skyrim

[@ImperialKnowledge]

Kept you waiting, huh? Well here it is, the far too long introduction to Tamriellic politics and the many countries present during the games. Do enjoy! 00:00:00 Introduction & Setup 00:01:09 Cinematic Intro 00:02:09 Second Era History 00:12:01 Second Era Politics 00:37:49 Third Era Politics 00:41:17 Fourth Era History 00:54:42 Fourth Era Politics 01:07:08 Recommended Videos 01:08:45 Outro

[@rebeccalatty2293]

Murkmire & Vvardenfel are not part of the Ebonheart Pact

[@ImperialKnowledge]

@@rebeccalatty2293 Yes they are, as I say in the video Murkmire in name and vvardenfell only the western coast

[@channel_lurker]

the skip and lenght of the third era made me cry :( no mention of the Numidium, how tiber septim got it, how he used it too conquer the other provinces, the war with the underking exc exc. i know 1 hour is a long hecking video but dang, thats a big hole in the plot. still, i luckily found a good amount of lore in the wiki that i didnt know about. according too it, tiber septim got the Numidium from vivec as part of the Armistice. man, the dunmer realy got the worst deal out of that. no wonder the sixth house gained so many followers

[@ImperialKnowledge]

@@channel_lurker Trust me, the general outline for my “important people” introduction video is done (its a while off tho) and I plan to talk about Tiber Septim extensively there. Since its all part of the same introduction series and I talked about the numidium in a basic sense in the first part, I felt like it would be okay to save tiber septims story for the third part since this video was already way longer than it should be. So dont worry! Its coming!

[@channel_lurker]

@@ImperialKnowledge YAY

[@FrostBit3e]

At this point, thank you for taking us to Tamriel every week.

[@ImperialKnowledge]

My pleasure to share my nerd tendencies

[@-NINE-THREE-]

​@@ImperialKnowledge Hey, quick question How are new greybeards recruited? Like, does Parthy fly down and choose people lol or are those who come to train given an offer? Like how Ulfric Stormcloak and Balgruuf went and trained in their youths, were they given offers? And, how self-sufficient are the greybeards? Like if it snows heavily one winter and they can't have ye olde DoorDash deliver, aren't they kinda screwed lol

[@ImperialKnowledge]

@@-NINE-THREE- Great question. I have no idea, I'd have to look into it. But only ulfric trained with them and was "selected at a young age", Balgruuf just walked the steps in pilgrimage. So from what I know from the top of my head people are either selected, or are brought to them at a young age but as to the precise process? No idea. Also I believe I read somewhere they farm crops inside high hrothgar, almost like a greenhouse inside the fort, one of those things we dont see in the games but do exist in lore. But idk where I read that, could have been a reddit post or something. But it works as a headcanon.

[@GorlockTheDestroyer]

@@-NINE-THREE- "Ye olde DoorDash" made me laugh out loud, thank you for that

[@ASNS117Zero]

Agreed. It's kind of a shame we've been away from her for so long, given that ESO barely really counts. Bethesda making us wait this long for a new single player title in the series is damn near criminal.

[@kaizer4506]

You forgot the part where the Third Aldmeri Dominion almost restarted the war because the last Dragonborn went around killing all the Thalmor he could find because they were annoying

[@windowsnt4workstaion]

I did that :)

[@clutrike7956]

That one general allowing Talos worship without orders from higher up, causing a massive international diplomatic incident is such a realistic scenario. It's very rare for lore writers to integrate incompetency in to their characters

[@TruekingoftheLeinstermen]

Man was a legend I hope we get his name in the es6 if it takes place near the time of skyrim he deserves a medal

[@Jiub_SN]

Incompetence or intelligence, would you rather have your men desert on mass and lose your position or risk the thalmor finding out and having to reban it? It is religion after all, I imagine if Saudi Arabia had to ban Islam not everyone would follow that lmao

[@f.b.l.9813]

I like how the Orcs in Tamriel are civilized and is an important part of the Empire, Orcs in most other fantasies are usually in an almost constant war with that world's Empire.

[@Lupinemancer87]

That's actually why I like the Orcs of Warcraft, maybe more then the Orcs of TES.

[@Littlemilkjug533]

They aren’t orcs. They are a type of mer

[@fist-of-doom487]

Orcs still have warrior culture and traditions but their culture isn’t as bloodthirsty as they commonly are in fantasy

[@CoffeeSuccubus]

​@@Littlemilkjug533 Tolkiens orcs were corrupt elves So idk wtf you yapping about

[@CoffeeSuccubus]

​​@@fist-of-doom487Yeah. They keep to themselves or go to cities or become bandit or mercenaries Some even do magic and are wizards!

[@Es0terick]

It’s honestly crazy to me how natural this lore feels in such a supernatural setting, and you do a great job in telling it. Thank you!

[@tyleryoung9150]

"Im gonna avoid spoilers" me"well that's gonna fall apart immediately when we reach the 4th era" "martin septim sacrifices himself to stop the oblivion crisis" "called it"

[@ReformedSauron]

I love that there is an Elder Scrolls creator that goes into the fantasy political side. Thanks Zork!

[@tlaloqq]

lol funny seeing failed former president trump's mugshot as your pfp. Love to see his goofy ahh mug

[@toytacambery9427]

​@@tlaloqqcan't believe you have to go 'TDS' in a freaking ES lore video. Are you even a US citizen? Are you a grown adult? If the answer to these questions is 'yes,' then you either enjoy watching your country fall into division,..... Or you just ignore the fact that Trump was the only President (in my 28 years of life) that didn't start a new war, implemented policies that actually incentivized small business owners instead of slapping regulation after regulation, and black unemployment was at a decades-long low under Trump. You must ignore these issues to justify your metropolitan, bourgeois, arrogant hatred of any rural Americans who don't live within a 1 mile radius of a Whole Foods, Starbucks, or Panera Bread.

[@_NightSaber_]

@@tlaloqq I mean he hardly failed but ok

[@Matchaddict82]

He succeeded in playing his role in the worlds stage and ushering in clot shots. He did is best job as all selected puppets do

[@spencermannan6075]

I can tell this reply section is gonna go down hill so fast

[@CoffeeSuccubus]

Thalmor in second Era: tolerant and accepts khajiit and bosmer and loyal to the best queen Thalmor in fourth era: ELVEN SUPREMACY

[@ravenwhiteduck6460]

Aldmeri dominion, not thalmor

[@cy8ercat771]

Ayrenn is a monster despite her fluffy, lovey platitudes

[@TheJoseGarcia325]

​​@@ravenwhiteduck6460he/she is right tho the thalmor and aldmeri dominion are the same thing the thalmor are the eso elven version of the gestapo or secret government agents while the aldmeri dominion are the political leaders both organizations exist in both ESO and skyrim theyre just more extremely racist during skyrim

[@monosophy691]

Khajiit and bosmer are both categorized under mer by at least a large number of imperial scholars. I don't know what high elves think, though.

[@fraskf6765]

​@@ravenwhiteduck6460and who controls everything? The thalmor

[@Lupinemancer87]

Is it wierd that I can watch an hour-long video of Elder Scrolls Lore and be thinking, "Why is it so short?"

[@elmine7707]

Wow, last time I was this early Lorkan was still planning the ultimate prank

[@ciaranmck4469]

fr the aedra must not of heard lorkhan say "its just a prank bro"

[@UlfhednarAxe]

Man, your so dedicated to Elder scrolls lore, let me tell you it’s much appreciated!

[@rosereviews2492]

High Rock is the only province left relatively untouched because Bethesda couldn't be assed to write Breton lore 😅

[@user-gf1zg5yc7r]

Insane how much lore there is in elder scrolls, really makes its universe feel alive

[@toytacambery9427]

Great to see your input on the eso dlc that has released since your first "Intro to ES lore" video. With all the videos you've made, going into specific events, characters, etc., I picture my Skyrim character picking a tome out of his bookcase every time I watch your channel. You've compiled quite the library over these years.

[@derskalde4973]

Maybe a weird request: could you maybe do a Video about resurrection in the Elder Scrolls? Because it feels like something that works in TES, but seamingly isn't a part of it. Most prominently, Alduin brings the dead Dragons back to live, and while I previously thought, that it makes sense, since TES Dragons are beings outside of time, I recently watched a Video on the shout He uses, that apparently just turns time back, so it _could_ work on other species (provided you have a perfect understanding of time and death, like Alduin has)? Some of the daedra, especially Molag Bal, seem to love bringing people back, either as living or undead. Individuals like Wulfharth and the Nerevarine apparently were brought back several times. In early Lore, priests in temples could apparently resurrect dead people, and it seems there is at least one case in the current Lore, where a priest resurrected a dead Boy. And hagravens can apparently also resurrect the reachfolk, though I read somewhere, that their resurrection spell is an instant version of the briarheart ritual? And then I recently found the Song "Pray to the Hunter", where in its music video, it seems like the man is resurrected at the end. And from what little I was able to find, it seems like the Song is canon?

[@ImperialKnowledge]

Its on my “to look into” list!

[@TheMostHated]

I forget sometimes how much TES has shaped my entire worldview I'm glad to be back in this universe

[@faulsity]

30:06 how could they have burned Windhelm to the ground if in Skyrim it says it was built by ysgramor? Prolly it was actually just raided and occupied, my guess is that a lot of stuff had to be rebuilt between eso and Skyrim, but the castle is untouched, wasn’t entirely burned is my point lol.

[@loganswalk8621]

A fantasy game of mine is a Elder Scrolls RTS game with each of the player races serving as a playable faction and set it during one of the many great wars it could be great way of showing the world in a bigger scale since we only see the world from a limited perspective in the games.

[@datboi3106]

I love how in depth your videos are. I've listened to this video a few times while I'm at work.

[@xIAMKARMAx]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do all this work & bring us all this lore!! Love it! ❤

[@EpicPrawn]

This is absolutely fantastic. As someone who loves to talk about Tamrielic lore, it is SO nice to have topics like this condensed into one place. Now I can point to branching/webbing events in history like how the goings on of the Tharn family in 2E eventually tie into the Imperial Simulacrum committed by Jagar Tharn in the Third Era, or how King Aeradan Camoran is one of the dominoes that eventually leads to The Camoran Usurper who may or may not have fathered Mankar Camoran, leader of the Mythic Dawn that ended the Third Era.

[@torrent6181]

Really thrilled that you made this. Will be sharing this with my friends who are getting into TES!

[@leorigaudy1829]

Thank you for this/those summaries of the extensive universe. SO complicated and I understood most of you tell. But you summarize it so good that I must give you a like a share your videos to friends and fans of the series that I know. Truly, thanks....

[@anthonyabate2248]

These videos are awesome dude, I’m the typa guy who is more into Fallout but always played ES, just with less knowledge and kinda ran thru it whilst understanding nothing, These videos make the game just as or maybe even better than Fallout for me. I couldn’t find any other ES lore vids that are this beginner friendly.

[@NovoCognition]

A delightful video. It is great to see such detail into the geopolitics of various major Tamriel in one video. As much as Bethesda seems to be unable to do too well at the moment with this series, the lore is indeed enjoyably in-depth.

[@DjisiTheonian]

Thank you for this video! It absolutely helps beginners like me who really only have a basic perspective and understanding of the lore.

[@Olorin884]

Just rewatched part 1 today, so pumped to see a part 2 dropped today!! 🤩

[@ComesPerpetvs]

Beautiful video! You made my house painting much less painful and for that, I thank you.

[@ImperialKnowledge]

🫡

[@deadend494]

The an-xileel were also responsible for summoning umbriel. They really wanted to drive out all imperials and Lukiul from black marsh.

[@jimejohns4988]

My favorite part of the elder scrolls is the politics .so hearing about the politics of ESO an ES game I’ve never played is very cool to me.

[@leonardo-benetti]

I'm playing skyrim for the first time and this type of videos is exactly what i was looking for. Thanks for the great work, keep it up please! ❤

[@TruekingoftheLeinstermen]

How's it going

[@E_S_K]

Has your build turned into a stealth archer yet?

[@tumortomatehd9122]

Finally, the first video was what brought me to your channel. Thank you!

[@fettfan91]

Great job with the maps! Much appreciated.

[@GlobTheDabGlob]

Thanks IMP. Never disappointed with any of your videos.

[@noahtylerpritchett2682]

The third era empire is a history of autonomous regions waging war against other autonomous regions within or beyond the province or several regions within a province having a insurrection within against the empire. With the empire either sending a peace keeping force and diplomats looking for a peaceful solution or helping loyalists put down the insurrection. The third empire may of well not exist given how autonomous the regions In a province is let alone the province itself. An equivalent is if the American states constantly waged war against other states while all belonging to the US with counties within a state also rebelling against the country or the state or counties attacking other counties.

[@rebleo4191]

i have been waiting for this for a bit and it did not disappoint

[@carlgp7174]

It was gorgeous work, thank you for covering such a giant and interesting topick about TES

[@Zl0N]

I Love you bro, this is EXACTLY what I needed to get back into elder scrolls

[@ellis5058]

I cannot believe it’s finally here, thank you!

[@ygrezzie]

You and ESO Danny are my favorite Elder Scrolls KZbinrs. I rarely click the bell 🔔 But for you two I will always support.

[@oldmanodin3521]

This looks amazing. Thank you!!

[@pacosalvs13]

So glad I found your channel, great video!!

[@jourcontre-jour1286]

Great video, can't wait for the next part

[@AthenaHiotis]

one of my favorite videos to come back to.

[@MrMarinus18]

1:01:00 I don't think the fascist Thalmor rule will be stable for long. Usually fascist regimes get very unstable if they try to expand.

[@bigboiganiga8356]

If the regime dont experience any lost during expansion, you bet there wont be instability raising.

[@cheylikespie]

incredible videos as always my dude!!

[@nice_spear530]

Thank god you still make video !

[@rdeathangel1250]

I can't wait for the next episdoe!!

[@andrewcody2181]

You're voice is soothing so im going to sleep to the video be ill watch all of it tomorrow

[@ChristmasLore]

Exactly what I do with most videos on YT I do "watch" :)

[@MonkehMike]

Love these videos mate!

[@oldmanodin3521]

Thanks!

[@StarBust-xq6mk]

Not joking when you say "long awaited". Am I going to get old and die before this series is completed?

[@CorvoFG]

Excellent work.

[@justsaying9456]

Perfect timing…good night!

[@dadshirt6681]

such good videos man

[@Deronimo4]

Great video thank you for what you do

[@Battle-Brother-Ixaris]

I'd love to play an elder scrolls game that explores specific parts of the ancient past. Imagine being there for the night of tears or playing as the legendary Talos or the being present during the events leading up to the war between the dwemer and the chimer.

[@liammac3778]

as a political science master student this content exactly what i want to see!

[@liammac3778]

in a different world i’d be writing my thesis on a constructivist analysis of tamriel international relations

[@ImperialKnowledge]

You are giving me ‘nam flashbacks to my first bachelor. Just dont make me apply Roussau to the people of Tamriel

[@mementomori8791]

Yes. That’s the content! 🙏

[@dovahfett5919]

I just love how Ulfric basically created his own problems

[@fLaMe427]

Skyrim belongs to the nords!

[@AsymmetricalCrimes]

Literally. Like how Talos worship doesn't get banned in Whiterun until Ulfric attacks it, forcing Balgruuf to take in an Imperial garrison.

[@TruekingoftheLeinstermen]

​@@AsymmetricalCrimeseven then heimsker still preaches and balgruuf still worships talos so does legate rikke and most of legion

[@parkmallbaby]

@@AsymmetricalCrimes Sounds like Thalmor cope to me.

[@dagon99]

Great work

[@qiaonasen3559]

Thank you for your great service too Tamriel

[@Seer_Of_The_Woodlands]

Great Video !

[@logangustavson]

Thought this day would never come !

[@DieLuftwaffel]

Good video! Thanks!

[@user-em9su3dd9y]

Great video! Gonna watch this a bunch of times.

[@f.b.l.9813]

woah! a 1 hour Imperial Knowledge video!

[@fklinny]

man I love elder scrolls lore so much, its peak fantasy for sure

[@AntiKira20]

Trazyn: Hmmm....I wonder if I should add a new exhibit to my museum for this 'Elder Scrolls Dream'....

[@nekokey]

Love ur content dude

[@SteeliestMON]

Love it!

[@andreekusuma8779]

Enhanced my knowledge about TES lore

[@younggrasshopper3531]

Thank you

[@Rehn98]

Thanks the maps and well done narration, TES lore scratches my high fantasy itch

[@peteyskopez2266]

Where do you get some of the cinematic scenes from? The graphics look way too good to be from Morrowind or Oblivion which is why I ask, and if there's a series or movie I need to see it!

[@aidanbranch7477]

Yaaaay love it!

[@aidanbranch7477]

Diving in now

[@Raphentei]

0:00 It's my sleepover and I get to choose the movie

[@williammason495]

So the first Aldmeri Dominion was actually good, but then the Third just came out as pure evil. Good to have a historical perspective there

[@kirksmigael]

AND they have INSANE drip.

[@angryvaultguy]

It's pretty much the same just the third one wants genocide of humans but the first one patronised them

[@johnsmith12345]

GOAT

[@Ninja1Ninja2]

the aldmeri dominion, argonia, and the split hammerfell seem to be the first modern ‘countries’ as we would define them politically irl kind of cool that tamriel is going into the 1700s effectively

[@xxflamelord12xx74]

I don't know if we have enough evidence for a whole video on this, but I've always been intrigued on how fast species/races evolve in TES (only taking a few hundred-thousand years) Any ideas?

[@ciaranmck4469]

Well the timeline doesn't seem to be that long. Most of the history of nirn happend within a span of over 7 ish thousand years (not including the dawn era) our own history spans like a hundred thousand years. Or at least other humans I can't really remember tbh. But in the elder scrolls it seems to be quite quick look how the bretons went from their nedic routes to becoming bretons

[@Battle-Brother-Ixaris]

I just realized that the amulet of kings is just the elder scrolls holy grail

[@easypete4826]

Great video, i dont really see eso as cannon but quality content regardless.

[@ImperialKnowledge]

Im afraid Bethesda regards it as canon and TES6 will likely be based on ESO’s lore so its worth covering in a video like this at least

[@easypete4826]

@@ImperialKnowledge Oh i dont disagree its just got a lot of stuff that kind of clashes with previously established lore, but no issues besides that. Bethesda retcons a lot tho, especially with the fallout games.

[@ChristmasLore]

No one cares what "you" consider as Canon or not... Also, even Tolkien retconned his own Lore, this is a natural process that happens when stories/universes grow and expand with time.

[@StripsMcKinsey]

Based

[@777_Luke]

f great video, well thought out, informative 1 thing tho why the intro is a minute long XDD

[@CJ00014]

Yeeeeeeeeees, new video less fucking goooooo

[@randomnetsurfer]

Huh. Septima Tharn? I think I need to redo the Bangkorai quest line. I've forgotten it all.

[@vexile1239]

Oh... her...

[@randomperson2797]

Here when the time since upload is shorter than the runtime? Cool

[@eeebee6166]

Elder Scrolls is really a universe that could be telling Warcraft style stories in RTS games. Imagine what could be done with all that time and lore

[@alexandrub8786]

There are mods in EU4 and CK3. But yes an RTS would be interesting.

[@eeebee6166]

@@alexandrub8786 I didn't know that so thank you for pointing it out. I don't have either game but I'll definitely be looking now haha

[@rodricksage5963]

26:00 i can only imagen the people of the place praying for good days to come, and there they are, the legion at their gates. first a moment of fear, later tears cuz their prayers were answered,

[@gd_xl]

what’s the source for the imperial commander breaking the WGC in the reach? a book in skyrim?

[@K_1_T_S_U_N_E]

Jarl Igmund of Markarth

[@saalok]

"The Countries & Politics of Tamriel" Damn the Dunmer section will last hours.

[@ImperialKnowledge]

The original (almost 3 hour long script) had a far larger dunmer section. But I ended up cutting a lot because I figured a lot of it wasn’t needed for beginners, although looking back now I feel like I should have gone deeper into the dunmer houses in the third era section instead of cutting it from the second era section. Oh well, too late now

[@Mr_Maiq_The_Liar]

Was hoping to get way more information on the third Era. Oh well

[@ImperialKnowledge]

Don’t worry! Next video on most important characters will contain all of Tiber Septim’s story basically (which I had to scrap from this video bc it was already super long and that story isnt super important to understand the political workings during our playtimes) which would have added 20 extra minutes all on its own. So its coming!

[@Mr_Maiq_The_Liar]

@ImperialKnowledge yes but what of the countries and politics in the time that the first 4 games take place in?

[@ibrahimalghamdi5623]

انت افضل شخص يحلل قصص العالم هذا

[@RaGiAn87]

Ok but whats the first episode? How am i supposed to find it lmao

[@bluedemion7207]

nice

[@abchn9]

What’s the fine for necrophilia in these parts of tamriel?

[@stevenseelig945]

Is it the first offense

[@vexile1239]

300 gold I believe

[@marekotec2540]

Are you from Finland by any chance? ;)

[@ledanoir1239]

Ok, I'll get some pop corn

[@stormcloakknowledge8610]

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO