Why the Thalmor HATE Talos - How Did the Empire Get Away With This!? - Elder Scrolls Lore

[@dandelionveins]

The way you've described the power of the Numidium really made it click for me how horrifically devastating its power is. Made me think of nuclear weaponry in our own world, the Brass God being a sci-fi/fantasy version of such weapons. Using the Numidium, you have time itself getting fucked up; nuclear bombs are fucking with atoms, one of the building blocks of our universe. Feeling like temporal distortions are the magical version of the 'ultimate weapon of humanity.' Makes it easier for me to understand the disdain the Aldmeri Dominion have towards Tiber Septim worship.

[@wheresmymuffins]

the nuke analogy is actually pretty prescient and possibly influenced by a lot of Japanese pop culture, as everything from Godzilla to Gigas from Skies of Arcadia (the giant, moon crystal-powered robotic superweapons) are exactly that

[@crystalbluepartain3434]

imagine liberty prime but in a magical fantasy world lol

[@HHLucifer666]

It’d be like forcing holoc**** survivors to worship the short mustache man. Only difference is those holoc**** happen to all still be alive. Every single one as fresh as the day they left those camp places

[@simontheblind8417]

As appreciative as I am of Starfield, I'm glad that ES content is still coming out.

[@petersutcliffe4927]

The Elder Scrolls universe captivated me completely when I first discovered it many years ago, I am 100% in agreement with your sentiment :)

[@rizen_89]

Exactly! 😊

[@ncrrangerrolandtembo4615]

Is star field a online game or what ?

[@twilightrodriguez5340]

​@ncrrangerrolandtembo4615 it's garbage

[@Vert_GreenHeart]

Nobody literally nobody cares for Starfield lore... It has none.

[@badluck5647]

*Sybille Stentor:* _"Because the Dominion is a sleeping beast that Skyrim cannot slay alone. Because many Nords are part of the Imperial army even now. Because the food and resources we get from the Empire are important to our people. Because even if we can't openly worship him, Talos the god was once Tiber Septim the man, and this is his Empire. And Torygg wasn't ready to let it fall apart."_

[@The_Young_Lion]

What Empire? It’s only three provinces: Cyrodiil, Skyrim, and High Rock. Morrowind was left to fend for themselves during the Oblivion Crisis. Black Marsh seceded with impunity. The Aldmeri Dominion formed right in front of the Empire with no repercussions. Hammerfell was removed from the Empire at the end of the Great War.

[@josephpercy1558]

@@The_Young_Lion It's about the _mythic image_ of imperium. This is mirrored in the real world in that the "rump" of imperium was "preserved" through Byzantium after the dissolution of the western Roman empire. In fact, the 'esoteric imperium' is still around in mostly its aesthetic vestiges throughout Catholic and Eastern Orthodoxy.

[@badluck5647]

@@The_Young_Lion They rule over almost a third of the continent, including multiple cultures and kingdoms. It's an Empire.

[@EpicPrawn]

It is entirely possible that Stentor was alive during Tiber's reign as well, or was born shortly after, given her... rejuvenescent condition.

[@EpicPrawn]

@@The_Young_Lion More like _which_ empire. The Septim Dynasty was the first and technically _only_ empire to unite "all" of Tamriel to some extent. All of the caveats to that are what make the Third Era so interesting.

[@YourWaywardDestiny]

If Tiber Septim was dragonborn (as I believe he was, though there is minor debate we we'll leave it at if) then he was inherently an Aedric entity, as a creation of Akatosh. I think this fact wouldn't be lost on the Altmer. Even if they tried to deny it to the general populous, even if it was largely agreed to be the case on the surface, the thought would be in the back of of some minds. If Tiber Septim was only a man, I think the hate for him would look very different. Could you imagine your whole culture telling you that you are the closest thing to the gods, and favored by them, only for a direct creation of the gods to raise a direct defilement of the god's supremacy to lay waste to your home? Could you imagine how devastating that would be to them emotionally and culturally? It'd be one thing if he was simply an evil human hell-bent on power by any means, but his status as god-crafted would be an insult to everything they thought they knew, and greater by magnitudes.

[@Laticia1990]

I think Dragonborn are more heroic in Nord culture than Altmer. Auri-el is a dragon, and every dragon is like a child of Auri-el, even Alduin. The Altmer see Nirn as a punishment they are living after being tricked by Lorkhan. They used to be eternal beings in Atherius, and now they can experience death on Nirn. Nirn just shouldn't exist to Altmer. Dragons, the children of Auri-el enslaved man at one time, until man learned to shout and steal the dragon's soul. So the dragonborn is like a hero to man. I think Akatosh is man's watered down version of Auri-el, just like Kynareth is the Imperial's watered down version of Kyne. Mashing up two completely opposite pantheons like the imperials did, will lose a lot of original meaning in order to make compromises. So, Akatosh sympathizes with man, but Auri-el has been left powerless after being tricked by Lorkhan. Thing is, after ya get a unified empire, more people are praying to Akatosh, than Auri-el, so during the oblivion crisis we get a manifestation of Akatosh.

[@Mecceldorf]

I wouldn't put it past the lore to grant Talos godhood entirely on account to a technicality. While I personally suspect each civilization wanting a figure like Talos, an apothesized figure to bend the world to their people's culture, similar to the tribunal and Mannimarco, there is no denying how esoteric and enigmatic the Aedra are. You know, the dominant religion of Tamriel which we know little to nothing about, and what little we know, mainly from the legend of convention, being contradicted again and again. I assume there are riddles yet to be solved, and Drewmora has gone on record advocating the legends of Akatosh's two heads. The altmer may be... just a _little_ prone to embellishment given their self appointed highborn status. The elves certainly aren't on the same page, though the Altmer love to speak on elven kind's behalf they bred many protestants across history who adhere to psijic or padomaic beliefs, and so I attribute many cultural beliefs on the Ada in the 3rd and 4th age to their creation, as the Cyrodiilics did their best to appease them. Then comes Tiber Septim as an affront to the dogma of the eight to potentially remind Tamriel that history was written from the perspective of the victors, and the Aldmeri aren't it. The only thing more insulting would be to find proof the Aldmer came from Yokuda...

[@Shinobi_Fox]

The Altmer have always treated humans (and other elves for that matter) as inferior to themselves. Their pride and arrogance has created a situation where there would be no faction or person, man or mer that wouldn't wound their pride unspeakably by defeating them in a war and forcing vassalisation on them, and I really doubt they'd even accept coexistence given their track record. Ultimately though their culture of ego is built on shaky ground, they were going to be conquered by the maomer if it wasn't for the Psijic orders intervention and the thought of them being slaves or vassals of fish elves has got to be infinitely worse than the empire (I got to wonder why the Psijic order didn't bother to intervene and stop Talos from taking Summerset now come to think of it)

[@YourWaywardDestiny]

@@Shinobi_Fox The Psijic order is less hateful than the rest of Altmer society as far as race goes as far as I've ever seen, given there have been members outside the Altmer race here and there. And they really are more invested in the happenings of Tamriel as a continent than the average Summerset Altmer might be. I wonder if they were less bothered by Talos because he was (over all) interested in having a more-or-less unified Tamriel rather than set on kicking the Altmer off the island, or displacing them in some way. That might look like a worse fate by far to the Psijic Order. A sort of "the devil you know" situation where the people at least keep their home instead of total relocation or being wiped out entirely. Also there's the fact that Psijics wouldn't be spared the Maomer in time, but good ol' Tiber didn't have any plans that included taking them out of the equation at any point.

[@povilzem]

Akatosh is an amalgamation of traits from Auriel and Shor. Created to unite the two opposing views, arguably an affront to both.

[@Makem12]

*•Points to holy book•* *•Looks Drew dead in the eyes•* Me: "It says you're a filthy heretic!"

[@MasayaShida]

This is just beautiful storytelling. Please also discuss about how Valenwood, Eylswyr, Black Marsh was incorporated into the empire

[@EpicPrawn]

Drew has opened a rabbit hole that nearly tricked Ysgramor into becoming of Elvenkind.

[@KiraSieni]

A literal rabbit hole

[@alec.mp4]

The Thalmor knows that Talos exists. The reason why they dont want people worshipping him is because many of them don’t remember him as Talos, but as Tiber Septim as he had lived and still remembers him for all the crimes he committed against the elves

[@American-knight-hawk]

It’s not unjustified after how the high elves treated man

[@VLarraechea]

@@American-knight-hawkThey deserve it. The Ayleids and the Direnni wreaked havok to Men Eras ago. Well deserved, Tiber’s Wars upon them.

[@indrickboreale7381]

Talos gives 10% shout cooldown reduction. Therefore he's a god. Checkmate, Altmer!

[@dutchpatriot17]

The Thalmor name Tiber Septim a 'heroic man', so the narrative that it is because of 'crimes' does not add up. It is more liley simply idealogical beliefs that man cannot be a god, combined with the fact that it'd piss off Skyrim.

[@vitormauch7367]

His only real crime is not wiping them out of the face of nirn tbh fr

[@miketoronto8308]

This guy is actually the best ES lore u tuber in the game rn, the voice, the words, the content, the references, and even the video footage is all awesome bro, keep it up

[@Dynamodog7]

For anyone who wants an accurate portrayal of the terrifying atrocity the Numidium did to the Altmer, go watch Evangelidium by AllinAll.

[@Patch2112]

Allinall is fuckin awesome. He’s such a great guy, I’ve spoken to him a few times and he’s always so appreciative and chill. His insta is pretty fun too, dude is very interesting.

[@Mary_Beth_Reimer]

Fudgemuppet did have him on a podcast.

[@void9399]

Accurate? Really? I don't think doing a crossover with Evangelion makes it "accurate".

[@wilhelmrk]

"I assure you Tiber Septim railing Barenziah is important to the plot"

[@east4246]

​@@wilhelmrkyeah I wasnt ready for that but for the plot I guess

[@Xolcm]

Since the Numidium is powered by the Mantella, which is a soul gem containing the soul of Wulfharth, who is a Shezarine, who is Lorkhan, then the Numidium is basically just another incarnation of Lorkhan. Basically, the Numidium is Lorkhan in the same way that Mechagodzilla is Ghidorah.

[@VLarraechea]

Heh, if we think of it that way, the Numidium is practically another Shezarrine. Nice.

[@RoniCarter12]

Makes you wonder if those untold horrors were ordered or if Lorkhan was getting a little revenge

[@dutchpatriot17]

The Mantella is the heart of Zurin Arctus, not Wulfharth, as the Underking himself tells us through his agents during TES II. Also, Wulfharth was not the Shezarrine.

[@VLarraechea]

@@dutchpatriot17 Wulfharth was the Shezarrine. Kirkbride himself names him along the list. Wulfharth, Hjalti, Ysmir, Talos, Arctus, Septim. All names associated with Tiber Septim.

[@dutchpatriot17]

@@VLarraechea Kirkbride has never said who the Shezarrine is. Outside of that, anything Kirkbride says after he left Bethesda isn't part of the lore.

[@Tom_Bombadillo]

I know it’s the Breton version, but Hjalti Earlybeard is the most Atmoran name I’ve ever heard.

[@kulrigalestout]

When I fired up ESO, my brother and I chose to be part of the Ebonheart Pact. While questing, we came across an Aldmeri Dominion plot to make the Argonian race extinct. Not simply eliminate combatants, not bring ruination to the lands of their enemies, but to completely wipe an entire race from the face of Nirn for the crime of being a wartime enemy. Later on, I rolled an Aldmeri Dominion character. In the very first zone, I had to deal with Thalmor extremists who were murdering non-Altmer within the organization in order to keep it "pure". The Altmer as a whole have shown time and again, both before and after the fall of Alinor, that they are wretched and contemptible monsters who are in their souls the filthy, lesser beasts they claim all other races to be. Whatever Septim did to the Sommerset Isles, whatever carnage he wrought with Numidium, he stopped too soon. It was not enough. And all of Tamriel continues to pay the price for his softness.

[@ZenithDragonKing]

This is straight up nazi shit

[@josephpercy1558]

Such superb storytelling. I will now and always feel a sense of anguish and remorse strutting around as the Dragonborn. However, I do not fully exonerate the actions of the current Thalmor regime.

[@VLarraechea]

There’s no need to sense anguish or remorse about being the Dragonborn. Have to be proud of it. The Aldmeri needed a good smack down anyway, always believing themselves the closest to the gods, when they’re just the same as everyone, descended from the Ehlnofey. Death to the Dominion!

[@josephpercy1558]

@@VLarraechea In my opinion, the Altmer have a much more subtle metaphysic about the Gods, and there is so much that is being missed and/or misunderstood about it all.

[@VLarraechea]

@@josephpercy1558 They do, but it is all severely stained by hundreds of years of disdain and hatred, unfortunately.

[@josephpercy1558]

@@VLarraechea The hatred and disdain -- that much is true, from certain perspectives. However, the motives and reasoning for this is much deeper than is commonly understood.

[@Xbalanque84]

The Thalmor committed purges upon the Altmer of the Summerset Isles long before they started purging everyone else and mobilizing to break the towers. *You would be doing all Altmer/the Summerset Isles a favor by wiping them out.*

[@realzachfluke1]

That was absolutely outstanding, Drew.

[@oakenshielb]

"By the end of the video, you may just be more sympathetic to the Aldmeri Dominion." nah I dont think so

[@dutchpatriot17]

8:37 - 8:59 'The Nords' did not follow him. Skyrim resisted Tiber Septim, most of their army just turned traitor at Sancre Tor. Skyrim still had to be invaded by Septim's Legions, it did not join willingly and the Jarls did not look favorably upon the Empire and expected that they would outlast its existance. The Nords would only join the Legion en masse after Skyrim was taken, as is stated in the ''First Pocket Guide to the Empire: Skyrim'', dialogue with Tobias in TESA: Redguard, ''The Arcturian Heresy'', and ''Battle of Sancre Tor''. Similarly 'the Bretons' did not switch sides either. Their army at Sancre Tor was also dealt with, but like Skyrim, High Rock still was invaded and conquered by force. I also do not know where the idea came from that the 'witch kings' sided with Septim, as the command of the Breton army at Sancre Tor was sold into slavery. Both the Nord and Breton forces at Sancre Tor were just armies, and those who switched sides were used in the conquest of Nibenay, not Skyrim or High Rock, as is stated in ''Battle of Sancre Tor'' and ''The Arcturian Heresy''. 11:31 - 12:00 I am unsure what this is based on. Morrowind suffered a fair bit to Imperial invasion before the Armistice was signed. Outside of Mournhold, battles were fought in the Redoran territory of Morrowind and along the Black Marsh border, as stated in ''On Morrowind'' and ''Biography of Barenziah, Volume 1''. 21:49 - 23:00 Yes, Tiber Septim did take it back, but he did not use it against High Rock. We are told he used it to place nobles more friendly to him in positions of power among Tamriel, as stated by the quote from the Daggerfall Letters you provided, but it is stated pretty clearly on S'rathra's Redguard character page that the Bretons came to approve Septim's rule, being noted as ''solidified''. Their governor also dealt with local issues with tact and skill, as stated by Krisandra in TESA: Redguard.

[@amyduncancinder]

Once again, Mr. Drew, you've enraptured me with your exquisite "telling". I'm proud to say I knew most of this material, thanks to you and your previous "tellings", but I always enjoy listening to your "tellings" (just in case I missed something). Thank you so much for all that you do. Sir.

[@user-c4b9b]

Only use quotes like that when you are refuting an actual quote. I.e. Drew told you these weren't "stories" they are "tellings", and you thought that was ridiculous, so you explain why, citing the quote as material for your argument. ... Look it up if needed, there is a reason that you don't see more people quoting single words like that. In general I agree that his tellings are superb.

[@thefoodisalive]

28 mins flown by with such great storytelling and writing, I love the idea of the Numidium cant wait for that video. great stuff as always Drew

[@josephpercy1558]

Profound to realize that this entire catastrophic event could not have happened in the manner it did without the intercession of Vivec. Such a pivotal moment.

[@Xbalanque84]

No wonder he's hiding.

[@dragonrykr]

25:45 not 900 years. Only a little over 433 years Plus considering the average lifespan of the Altmer is about 4 times longer than the average lifespan of men, it probably only felt like 100 years to them

[@mancitypj]

I listen to your videos in the evening so I can wind down after a day's work.

[@kataprax]

I am so glad you tackled this part of the ES lore. It has always bothered me how the portrayal of the conflicts between men and mer is so incredibly one sided.

[@ludovicdisson3668]

Can't wait for the upcoming video on the Numidium !!

[@AnonymousHomonid]

great...once again i watch a Drewmora vid and get tempted to fire up Skyrim one more time 🤦‍♂ awesome storytelling as usual 👍

[@evilpac2327]

Looking forward to the Numidian video. I wonder if it could be put back together. I don't think it will ever be, but still is an interesting tought.

[@adelysgutierrez9133]

omg Drew, that's bold, wasnt expecting any ES content anytime soon with Starfield still fresh out of the oven. Nice bro, just got what to see during dinner!

[@lukasp5892]

Video is incredible as always, but seeing those ESO shots of Summerset makes me sad.. they literally turned Alinor into Disneyland when it could’ve looked so much more impressive and alien given the descriptions we get in-lore

[@oshii3585]

The last time I celebrated being able to watch a Drewmora video, I jinxed myself and was only able to watch 3 minutes before the connection became horrible again. But I'm confident that won't happen this time and I just want to say how happy I am that I get to enjoy this content which I missed so so much. I know some people consider your videos just videos but honestly they mean so much more to me. There's a civil war going on in my country and it's been a horrible experience for me as you can imagine but I swear that one of the worst parts of it is that I can't watch my favourite KZbinrs' videos anymore (keep in mind that my family's house got robbed during this war and to me this is just as bad, if not worse) and you're definitely one of those KZbinrs whose content I missed. I love these videos more than most things. Please keep up the excellent work.

[@BaalFridge]

Summerset in Lore: 💎💎🏰☀ Summerset in ESO: 🏚

[@dutchpatriot17]

Summerset in ESO matches Summerset in lore. Dunno what you're talking about.

[@Vairyehil]

@@dutchpatriot17 Agreed.

[@waveculture9457]

I didn't know you have the ability to move freely the camera in TESO. It's so damn beautiful. How do you do it?

[@bait644]

How to make me further dislike the current Empire 101 😂 Fabulous as always Drew. Never give up! Never stop until you're too tired to go on. You know we'll be here!

[@oysterscrolls]

The Brass Tower walks.

[@benliddle9926]

This was awesome. Absolute favourite channel on YT ❤

[@gerbenvanegmond4007]

Loved every seconds of this Drew

[@DeanoBeano2077]

Thanks for the amazing content Drew!!

[@husk9835]

Im no expert on tes lore, but is it possible that cyrodil isnt a jungle anymore because of deforestation? It does house the imperial empire so i reckon its possible

[@SirAshford]

Much appreciated Drewmora! The Thalmor are likely the most interesting faction to me in the setting. Any video on them is always most welcome!

[@derskalde4973]

A weird request, but: could you do a video on resurrection and its Lore in the Elder Scrolls? Because, the concept, or whatever you'd call it, certainly exists. Most prominently shown in Skyrim, when Alduin brings the Dragons back to live. But since dragons are beings outside of time, we can't fully count them. Then, from what I've read, some of the Daedric Princes, especially Molag Bal, seem to love bringing people back from the dead, be it as undead or actual living beings. The Nerevarine was possibly reincarnated several times, before the one played in Morrowind succeeded. And Wulfharth was brought back several times as well. I also read somewhere, that apparently in either Arena or Daggerfall, it was either hinted at or stated, at during some holidays, you could bring your wounded, sick or dead to the temples to get healed or resurrected free of charge, which would imply, that you could do this any other day as well, they'd just charge you a fee for it. And there was apparently a canon story of a priest, that resurrected a boy. That is basically all I've found, but I'm also still a bit of a noob about TES Lore, so I don't know all the places to look for it. This topic would interest me very much, and it's a topic that somehow feels like it should be a thing, with all the weirdness happening in TES on a daily basis, but seemingly isn't, or at least something uncommon. And since I'm planning to run a Pathfinder campaign in the world of the Elder Scrolls, it'd be great to know, if, and how, my Players could bring their characters back if things go south.

[@abdalln8554]

Eh maybe the Daggerfall example shouldn't be seen so seriously. It could just be a nod to dnd and spells like Raise Dead, since the first two TES games lean into DnD a lot. (Arena's tagline was practically "what if we stuffed your dm into a computer"). Still though, things like Molag Bal casually resurrecting that priest in his Skyrim quest (and the player in oblivion), are really interesting. Definitely would love a video on it and why so many necromancers prefer trying to raise loved ones themselves rather than just asking Molag Bal to do it. If you're gonna meddle with dark forces may as well get all in. Maybe Bal can only revive folks he "catches", like if they die in his temples or areas of influence, he can't snag someone out of Sovngarde, even if they'd want to.

[@Ho0pxr]

I want to push back about retconning the cyrodil jungle theory. "I breathe now in royalty and reshape this land" When vivec learned the word of royalty from bal it was him learning chim. I believe this is a direct nod to these concepts.

[@dutchpatriot17]

Vivec learning CHIM in the first place is not canon.

[@Ho0pxr]

@@dutchpatriot17 the 36 lessons of vivec are canon texts

[@dutchpatriot17]

@@Ho0pxr It's canon that they exist. That doesn't make everything they say canon. If Vivec truly had CHIM, he'd have CHIM'd Dagoth Ur out of existence so he'd never lose his divinity.

[@Ho0pxr]

@@dutchpatriot17 the concept of chim is canon. Whether or not Vivek achieved chim is up for debate due to everything in elder scrolls being written under the unreliable narrator. But regardless, the point is that chim is canon. Your explanation of chim being basically neo in the matrix isn't accurate also. Chim is simply one of the 6 walking ways. And even in the Michael Kirkbride lore subdivision it's basically agreed upon that in order to achieve talos level divinity requires multiple walking ways. Not simply chim. And talos arguably did all 6.

[@Ho0pxr]

@@dutchpatriot17 this also doesn't change that they're using "royalty" in the same way from the 36 lesson. They also haven't changed any of topal the pilots texts as far as I'm aware of. If they wanted to retcon the cyrodil jungle theory they'd start with that text.

[@helkdona226]

see as a human supremist I'm torn both pelinal and talos did nothing wrong but which man was better

[@TheFeltmeister]

Drew really carried the writing for fudge Muppet 😂

[@TheRealMycanthrope]

Nah

[@Avrenac]

Indeed

[@nicholasdaniel2778]

I'm still waiting on that Sanguine video, but it's nice to see new videos as always, Drew.

[@Mary_Beth_Reimer]

Thank you for this enlightening video! 😊💙

[@varamyr_]

drew you have this supernatural ability where you always cover the exact topics that I wish you would cover. ❤

[@KyuuKyuubi]

Babe, wake up! Drewmora just uploaded!

[@KyuuKyuubi]

What up with drew and knife ear propaganda?

[@RedexTwo]

Thank you for continuing to produce content!

[@jorndebello7317]

Little off subject, but how did the original spirits not know nirn would take their power. It was magnes who made the blueprints. How did he not know?

[@mark5222]

Could it be that Lorkhan himself revived Dagoth Ur so that the Tribunal would be left with no choice but to turn over Numidium?

[@abdalln8554]

I just love the irony of Dagoth Ur unknowingly helping the mongrel dogs of the empire get a giant robot and "conquer" Morrowind.

[@vinniedurrant]

Whats the connection between the natives of Cyrdil and the imperial faction if Talos is a Nord?

[@izkaii2755]

beautiful storytelling but like personally i wouldn’t interpret the numidian as godlike in septims conquest, the god like power was to come from the heart of lorkhan which was unsurprisingly absent from when talos used it, but it’s obviously incredibly powerful but not mundus quakingly so imo

[@maiqtheliar789]

The sad part is I think Morrowind would have been able to hold off the Empire even with the Tribunal power waning, but to do so would have exposed the weakening of them to the public so they literally sold out their own people and all of Tamriel to The Empire. An Imperial invasion would have made all of the Great Houses to stop their infighting until it was over. Redoran warriors, and Telvanni mages would have been a good combo. Then throw in the Ordinators and you have a good Army with some of the best warriors, best mages, and best fanatic shock troops in the world. But that isn't all. As much as the Ashlanders hate the settled Great House Dunmer they would hate the Imperial invaders even more. They would make Imperial supply lines vulnerable to guerilla attacks at any time. Morrowind also has access to the best Assassin's guild on the Continent. Imagine what a force of assassins killing off as many leaders of the Army as they could. The higher ranking assassins masters of stealth that anyone would be hard pressed to defend against. They make the Dark Brotherhood look like amateurs. But to mobilize all of that Vivec and the others would have needed to admit they needed the help.

[@HandleDisliker]

Actually, there's a book that explains the politics of what happened that made Morrowind fold the war. Vivec/Tribunal in House politics was really more of a figurehead than a political leader. And for the five houses, the Telvanni didn't care about any of the war, and the Hlaalu wanted cooperation with the Empire. Meanwhile while the other three houses wanted war, in practice it was only House Redoran that was doing any fighting. The war was devastating enough that the Redoran actually had to later rebuild their entire House on Vvardenfell, so when Vivec suggested peace talks with the Empire Redoran was quick to join Hlaalu in cooperation with the Empire. The Telvanni broke the stalemate on the side of cooperation with the Empire, and so it was decided and the peace talks began. So the tribunal didn't exactly "sell the dunmer out to preserve their reputation" as the video suggests. Nevertheless the Numidium is a pretty powerful piece of equipment.

[@maiqtheliar789]

Makes sense. I guess without a strong leader like Nerevar to lead them the Dunmer are to susceptible to infighting between the great houses and other factions to take advantage of all of the strengths Morrowind has on paper. A unified Morrowind should be able to repel any invader. Redoran alone without the back up of the rest of the houses is strong but not strong enough to hold back an invasion. Especially without Telvanni to provide magical support. The way you describe it makes perfect sense why they went to a negotiation table instead of a battlefield. Because they knew they were losing but still on paper had enough leverage to negotiate a good treaty like they did. Still surprising there wasn't a Stab in the back myth like Germany post WW1 though but the houses going back to infighting like always probably limited that. So makes sense why there wasn't even though a lot of dunmer hated the treaty and the Empire. Which Dagoth Ur undoubtedly exploited.

[@ІлляВетров-й2д]

Don't Asslanders live only on Vvardenfell, not Morrowind proper?

[@Whiskin87]

Great storytelling!

[@stevensines7026]

Something you said about the Numidium interested me, "the pieces scattered". That implies that it can be reassembled. Are the pieces of "Dwemer metal" found in Dwemer ruins a part of the Numidium that were scattered? Can we bring them together once more and awaken the Numidium to walk Tamriel once more?

[@harringtonmartin]

Excellent vid. Keep up the good work, Drew. You're my ES feed for the foreseeable future, with so many transitioning to Starfield of late.

[@AurmazlZudeh]

Yes this is what I'm saying!! 🙏

[@justinholoviak5357]

I should be studying Luther’s theology as a recent seminary grad lol. I love this universe. Thank you for the education. It really helps understand the Elder Scrolls series a ton better.

[@Troglodude05]

Binge watched all of your videos. Fudge muppet is going to have to step up his game 😅

[@General12th]

Hi Drew! This is so cool.

[@Seer_Of_The_Woodlands]

Great Video!

[@cadencumming7795]

Anyone else find the visual of the Numidium wading through the sea to besiege Alinor is rather similar to Pacific Rim..? 😭😭🤣🤣🤣

[@BigBlackChevy03]

it would be awesome to have a follower mod that was voiced by you or one of the other great elder scrolls lore channels that follows the player character and just proceeds to dump huge amounts of lore pertaining to what/ when/ where you are and all the rest. i know that there are lore books in game but having a traveling bud in game who doubles as a history pod cast would be the bees knees

[@luciestirk-wasley7146]

As much as the Imperials are invading scum, the Altmer aren't particularly very likeable either. TES is interesting because it mirrors our own world; every person in power hungers for more.

[@MikefromTexas1]

Damn, great vid man.

[@huntergalloway7057]

All this is true but i still cant wrap my head around being a thalmor apologist...

[@havanadog7987]

Hey drew! Another great video. To your point about the jungles of Cyrodiil, I remember there’s a book in ESO that makes theories as to why the ayleids refer to the land as a jungle but the empire refer to it as plains. Perhaps worth investigating?

[@dutchpatriot17]

It has been said that it's been a mistranslation, but it is far more likely that the White-Gold Tower altered Cyrodiil's climate.

[@defaultytuser]

I don't think I've ever seen a video about ESO lore from Drew. Maybe he is like me and treats it like THE PLAGUE (no offense, lol!).

[@lsargent0751]

Never clicked so fast on a video before 😂, already know this is gonna be a banger.

[@josesolis5257]

One can cry all they want over the harshness the Thalmor has inflicted on the restoration of the Aldmeri Dominion. However, one thing they cannot deny: It is the strategic coldness of the Thalmor and its great intelligence that has been able to achieve what the infant Ayrenn and the deluded Andel Crodo could not: Form an alliance that actually has the capacity to confront the Empire. of Man and free the Mer from human tyranny once and for all. Not only have they managed to found a successful alliance that has lasted 160 years (the Dominion of Ayrenn is logically ephemeral, and the Second Dominion was brutally destroyed in a few decades), but they have managed to successfully attack the very heart of the Dragon. And this they achieved, completely destroying the heritage of the Empire of Man in the lands of the elves. With brutality and certainty. The Thalmor has learned from his past mistakes. Of Ayrenn's naivety, of the danger of the neutrality of the second Thalmor Inner Council, and of the threat that the Imperium of Man represents to all elder races. The Thalmor is the future! The era of man's tyranny is coming to an end. Tam-Riel will be freed from the LKHN taint. Advance Eagles!

[@Sverd_Ok_Skjoldr]

I still say those knife-ear smarmy altmer fops got what was coming to them. It's time we fire Numidium back up for round two.

[@josephpercy1558]

Good to see that this is a mere aesthetic prejudice. 😆

[@zakinnamis5577]

@@josephpercy1558 nah they gotta go extinct for everyone's good

[@rustyk4645]

When you skip ahead in your Civilization tech tree and unlock Giant Death Robot, whilst your opponents are still using catapults, bows and missionaries...

[@ShadowWarrior881]

This video got me thinking. Back when ES6 was announced they said that an old enemy (character??) Will return. And the community instantly thought of Dagoth Ur, but what if it's the Underking?

[@Laff700]

The Underking was never really an enemy though. If they did somehow return, they'd probably be pretty chill.

[@abdalln8554]

Underking just wanted the mantela back and tbh he's got the best claim to it. (It's his soul and he just wants to die properly.) And his is the "best" ending in that he shatters the mantela and the numidium, instead of using it as a weapon of mass destruction.

[@Sinnixk]

Who said anything about that? Bethesda has been very quiet about the story of es6

[@highlandoutsider]

This is a great example of what makes TES lore so intriguing, like with ASOIAF, its not clean cut, good vs evil, is Tiber Septim a 2 faced murderer? Probably yes, does that make the Mer the good guys? Definitely not. Everyone is dirty, everyone is grey, everything is justifiable from a particular factions point of view. To quote The Armageddon Rag "The ultimate confrontation between good and evil ... Which side are we? Which side are we?” “That's one you got to work out yourself, friend. This ain't like in Tolkien, is it? 🔥

[@HappyBuffalo347]

Excited for the next one!!!!

[@toramasatakezo2929]

I feel like the arcturian heresy is a heresy. 1. Wulf is confirmed an avatar of Tiber septim. 2. The amulet of talos actually works on my character 3. I love talos and hate the altmer

[@dutchpatriot17]

How do any of those three relate to the Arcturian Heresy?

[@toramasatakezo2929]

@@dutchpatriot17 they don't.

[@dutchpatriot17]

@@toramasatakezo2929 Then why mention the heresy?

[@kevingrove1600]

Lovin the new starfield content but glad you gonna sprinkle some TES vids in between too

[@jamesfitzpatrick6968]

Amazing video, great work, keep it up. Love this kind of videos.

[@bcfb21]

The numidium be like: “death is preferable to elven rule!”

[@thalmoragent9344]

The 3rd Aldmeri Dominion is the most aggressive iteration of its kind, and this is why. Doesn't justify all the Thalmor's doings, but when you consider how the likes of Pelinal and Ysgramor treated even the Elves not responsible for any wrongdoings against them... well, the Aldmeri Dominion seems rather reasonable in comparison. Whether you believe the Nords or that the Snow Elves were the ones who attacked first or destroyed Saarthal, the Siege of Alinor makes the Night of Tears pale in comparison. Yet, the Thalmor didn't butcher every man, woman and child in Cyrodil. Tiber Septim is hailed as a hero, but when those same Altmer, who experienced the devastating of a walking Tower of Nirn decimated their Isles, suddenly come back and wage war in the hopes of sundering the Empire... they're the villains? The Bosmer who were taken over and had their forests annexed, are evil? The Khajit who were massacred in the Imperial pursuit of subjugation of all opposition to their own rule? What about what happened to them? Two wrongs don't make a right, but for those of you who support and attempt to "justify" the annihilation of all the Ayleids over a century after the Allesian Rebellion, or the Mass Genocidal campaign across an entire province and multiple generations worth of time committed by Ysgramor and the Ancient Nords upon the Ancient Falmer... you surely cannot say the Altmer would've had more than enough "justification" for razing Cyrodil to the ground.

[@Laticia1990]

It's also why I feel like banning Talos worship is justified. In elder scrolls the gods are real and have real power. Talos is basically the God of elf genocide. Worship of that God gives him real power. No, I dont want you to worship the God of killing everyone I know and love. Altmer also have perfect memories. They can remember the day they turned 18 with perfect clarity when they're 100. Combine that with their long lifespans and you have a recipe for generational trauma that can last a millenia.

[@thalmoragent9344]

​@animesoul167 Precisely. Altmer remembering all this is something not many think about. It sucks either way, cause little Imperials and Nords will grow up seeing Tiber as a hero, and weren't responsible for supporting the Tiber Wars directly. But, the Thalmor are hell bent on banning his worship for all. So, yeah, this is a situation all causing everyone trauma and sadness....

[@ronkledonkanusmoncher564]

If they were reasonable they would have seen that they are the issue and promptly killed themselves, reasonable beings would realize that Mer have no place amongst such magnificent beings as those of Men.

[@thalmoragent9344]

@ronkledonkanusmoncher564 Lmao, what? Nah man, the histories prove that it is Lorkhan who took his "little trick" too far. The Mer are the ones who've made and are the forebears of most of Tamriel's Civilizations. The Nords wouldn't even know how to read and write if it wasn't for Ysgramor, who learned it from, you guessed it, the Snow Elves

[@doronaznible7298]

@@Laticia1990that’s incredibly childish. By that logic Judaism should be outlawed because some people’s ancient ancestors were massacred by ancient Jews.

[@harveysidhu7030]

The younger races of man will learn to kneel before the Elder race and Mer. They will learn to fear the Eagle's cry and the Dominion will be victorious. By the light of Auriel, by the blade of Trinimac, and by the wisdom of Xarxes we shall prevail! (translation: High elves are my favourite race and are clearly superior to everyone else)

[@georgedickson1410]

This is a classic example of don’t punish the children for the parents mistake.

[@varamyr_]

all the Numidium did was say "NO". how bad could it actually be

[@masonthaxton2282]

Thank you for still doing elder scrolls content ❤️. I feared you would stop with Starfields release

[@jam34786]

11:09 That awkward moment when the god who wants to drive the mongrel dogs from Morrowind is the reason the mongrel dogs are in Morrowind...😮

[@ddewcifer]

Nothing can ever really make my sympathetic towards the Altmer but it’s nice of you to try.

[@15DEAN1995]

I would love to see the numidium walk in a cutscene or in game. Just to see the scale and fear it would induce, at 100ft tall it dwarfed even the monsterverse Godzilla which was only 390ft tall.

[@Xbalanque84]

Wait... I think you have the numbers mixed up...

[@FirstNameLastName-okayyoutube]

Did i hear correctly... that there is a a giant robot ghost, roaming around heaven with the soul of a pissed of wizard riding it?

[@Seer_Of_The_Woodlands]

"Talos is not the god of men. He's just a guard of men. the true God of men is Shezarr. oh Shezarr you who were betrayed by your own. stabbed in the back when the world was created through your own. oh Shezarr why do they call you Lorkhan? oh where is your heart Lorkhan? oh what did they do to it? oh they threw it into the depths of the sea." "but don't cry Shezarr they will pay for their actions. For as a kingdom without its king cannot endure. Not even Tampriel can survive without its king. for may Tampriel be an eternal arena of chaos until your death is avenged ! for your heart beats like a drum of war."

[@shawnberry760]

You are the absolute best, Mr. Mora

[@charlieboone1298]

Another fact that makes being as massive a Vekh simp as I am rather uncomfortable lol

[@Xylophytae]

Id rather suffer a thousand and a thousand more dremora than ever love an elf

[@aleksanderk99]

Maybe some video about gnostic themes in TES? Kirkbirde confirmed that he was (and still is) gnostic when writing lore for the games and that it was one of main inspirations for cosmology. Godhead, Lorkhan as Demiurge, aedra and deadra are just reskined aeons and archons with some tweaks. Its just tip of this iceberg.

[@Dr_Bille]

Greatness does not imply goodness. Think Alexander the Great was kind? Think those people wanted to be conquered?

[@Vinyls77]

Great vid. Awesome storytelling as always. Does anyone know what mod was used to show the desert & oasis with the massive dragon?

[@editorrbr2107]

This mod LO is absolutely outstanding

[@testingdpatience9203]

All i know is in oblivion you needed the blood of a divine for martins spell and the blood of talos worked. End the thalmor for their heresy

[@theweirdofengland]

To expect the High Elves to worship Talos would be like expecting the Japanese to worship Harry S Truman. The Imperial pantheon was created by Alessia with human-elf harmony in mind; the inclusion of Talos ruins that.

[@enxman7697]

Waiting for a full numidium video

[@Grombrindal]

I would like you to investigate why the Dwarfs are actually Elfs. This is offensive to the Dawi and we may attack Nirn to avenge this grudge.

[@JoyOfSnarks]

As soon as I get to Whiterun, the first thing i do is to silence that idiotic priest of Talos and mod in a different statue. We'll have no Talos worship here!

[@MCPunk55]

I understand them, which does not mean I condone them. They want to erase the world.

[@dutchpatriot17]

They do not.

[@MCPunk55]

@@dutchpatriot17 They do. They want to deactivate all of mundus' towers and return to their state as Immortal spirits.

[@dutchpatriot17]

@@MCPunk55 That's little more than an overglorified unofficial work of Kirkbride's, which contradicts their actual stated goal in-universe.

[@MCPunk55]

"The power to unmake the world at my fingertips and you think you can do anything about it?" - Ancano, high ranking Thalmor agent. Sure they have a bit of a racial supremacy vibe but we know what they're up to. Especially because it does show in-game. @@dutchpatriot17

[@dutchpatriot17]

@@MCPunk55 Ancano is literally coded as part of a Thalmor splinter faction... His beliefs do not represent the Thalmor.

[@Saint_Ixtab]

Those 3 Starfield videos will be a constant reminder of a stain in your feed.