The dragonborn: "I can worship anyone I want." random thalmor agent: "and so you will die a traitors death!" *elven armor (3) added*

For the 100% of players who just attack thalmor soliders when you see them walking Don't worry you’re perfectly normal

Esbern in-game says something along the lines of "The Thalmor don't want the world to end anymore than we do....or at least they prefer to end it on their terms..." which is pretty creepy.

Rest in peace to Esbern's voice actor Max von Sydow.

“Summerset Supremacist” sounds like if a high elf was also a WWE star

"Desbern and Eelphine" 17:48 Eat your cereal

"We see the penitus occulatus as antagonists through the lens of the dark brotherhood" gee I wonder why assassins that serve a satan-death angel of the void would be against heroes who try to keep people alive at all costs.

I find it funny how the Thalmor had the sacrifice to get Daedra plan, because it kinda proves how insufficient their forces were, considering not only would they need the help of Oblivion , but they also used a Daedric Artifact to do so well in the first place, considering their usage of the Orb of Vaermina, which basically allowed them to know all imperial troop movements

Dragonborn: Defeats entire armies with their thu'um, a civil war champion, the person who KILLED Alduin. Bandits: Yo let's go get this guy.

Last time i was this early Uriel Septim was still the Emperor.

Wow! I'm playing as a high elf, I wish I had known about wearing the Thalmor outfit during that quest. That was a huge battle. I hate the Thalmor, whenever I see them on the roads with a prisoner I start an argument with them so they attack me. Then I kill them all and then let the prisoner go free. The Thalmor also send assignation squads after me. I kill them too.

During that embassy mission. I was a High elf and my whole gimmick was I was a Thalmor Dragonborn who sided with Ulric just to cause instability in Skyrim. And I walked around most of the game in Thalmor robes. I didn't realize it was because of the robes I got the guard to Leave his post outside the Solar; That's kind of cool.

In TES6, I want the bards to sing songs about the Dovahkiin

"In Skyrim we see Penitus Oculatus as antagonists, but are actually the good guys" Yes, because someone who oppose a guild of assassin should be perceived as bad xD

The Thamor remind me of the Enclave from FO2. They both want to wipe out a certain people to replace them. Both have armies who look very evil. And both wants to take over a large amount of land. The only thing the Thamor is missing is the charm the Enclave has.

5:42 "So they ultimately suffered a grave defeat" *meanwhile a thalmor soldier ascends to sovngarde in the background*

I would’ve never gotten rich in skyrim if it weren’t for all those Thalmor I killed. Best XP and septim farms in the game

"Desbern and Elphine." Nice, Nate.

To note: The Dominion army in Hammerfell was, at the same time the host in Cyrodiil was being annihilated, being driven back and suffering defeat after defeat by the Legion and redguards there. These two armies were the largest the Dominion had at the time, and the defeat of both was very crippling to the group as a whole. Had the Empire continued the war, it would have ended in either the Dominion's defeat entirely, or at least a retreat back to and being held within the Summerset Isle by the Imperial navy.

Item #2: While the games never really spell out what the Thalmor are after, there are a lot of in-game books that offer some interesting hints. In particular, books on religion and the Divines have lots of information about the differences between Men and Mer outlooks. Basically, in the time before the Elder Scrolls world (Nirn) existed, all the mortal races were free spirits that danced and flew around Aetherius. When Nirn was created, the spirits were tied to mortal bodies and thrown into the world. The races of Men think this was a blessing and want to protect Nirn, while the races of Mer think this was a horrible joke and want to return to the spirit-existence they used to have. Long story short, the Thalmor are religious extremists who want to literally end Nirn and return all of existence to the spirit world that once was. And that statement about how they will win in the end is actually well-supported. The end of the main quest lines in both E.S. 2 Daggerfall and E.S. 3 Morowind each involved one of the pillars holding the mortal world in place: Numidium and the Heart of Lorkahn respectively. And in Morowind, the Heart of Lorkahn was actually destroyed. One of the pillars holding the mortal realm in place was *actually destroyed*. And then there's Parthunaax, the leader of the Greybeards, oldest living dragon, Avatar of Akatosh himself, etc. When you meet him for the first time in Skyrim, he sort of halfway scolds you about trying to prevent the end of the world. He lectures you about how some day, Nirn will have to die to make way for the next world that will be born. And if there's one thing you can count on from an immortal child of the God of Time himself, it's understanding about how the world will end. In the end, it seems that even if the Thalmor themselves are smashed and stamped out, eventually the end of the world will come anyway. They will get what they want, even if they themselves aren't the architects of it.

"When empire struck back" "Things *THEY* wouldn't tell you about Thalmor" Coincidence? Oh, I don't think so.

“Normally you’d have to fight your way through said courtyard” *EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE OF A STREAKING DRAGONBORN*

As a High Elf myself, I would like to clarify that not all of us support the Thalmor

"In the end, they're going to win" Me with all the best items and level 150: Oh I don't think so.

Nate: “The struggle could’ve gone much worse for the empire if the thalmor exécuted a certain plan.” Me: Order 66?👀

I remain pretty convinced that the final dragon mask, whose name translates to "warlord" was intended as the prize for a dragonborn recruited into the ranks of the dragon cult. Since that scenario would mean that the only being capable of truly killing a dragon would be fighting with them, the world would have been forced to bow the knee to the dragon cult. However, the dragon cult never got a chance to reward said mask and crumbled in absence of a dragonborn.

first time i saw valmir i took one look at him, said "no elf is gonna be wearing that (stormcloak) armor" and then immediately killed him. i suppose they didnt count on a lunatic cat with the soul of a dragon being puppeted by someone who really dosnt need an excuse to stab an elf

I tried that disguise thing in the embassy on my first playthrough as a dark elf. They immediately caught me even from across an entire hallway. So unless you are specifically an altmer, that strategy is effectively useless. I honestly doubt the idea has any effect at all aside from that.

What happened: Me: *kills dragon* Me *gets attacked by thalmor* Me: *shouts them* Thalmor: *still fights me*

I was kinda pissed that you cant actively fight and defeat them in Skyrim. So I snuck into their headquarter in Solitude, emptyed all my garbage out of my inventory and unrelenting forced the pile for them to clean up. Also killed every thalmor I saw on the road.

The interesting thing to me about the Great War and the time Skyrim takes place is that since mer live so much longer than men most of the men who fought on the imperial side of the war are older and likely retired from soldiering but there’s a good chance any Thalmor agent you encounter in Skyrim took part in the war and killed many of the relatives of the people of Skyrim. 30 years ain’t nothin for an Altmer

"What [Michael Kirkbride] said may not be 100% canon." Or 50%. Or 20%. Or 10%. Kirkbride's post-Bethesda TES writing is the Elder Scrolls equivalent of theorizing about Roswell UFOs. Incidentally, it actually does contain UFOs. And genocidal cyborgs, and space warfare, and time travel technology. No, I'm not kidding. It actually is _that_ nutty.

First time I played Skyrim, I didn't realize the Thalmor and the Empire were different entities altogether because they always seemed so connected and i took my sweet time getting to the main questline I of course realize now that the Thalmor really just wanted to extend the Civil War as long as possible and they had a shaky truce with the Imperial Legion, but at the time it seemed like they were a close ally and this misunderstanding made me really dislike the Imperials at first.

Nate: *Appears in my notifications* Me: "A surprise to be sure but a welcome one."

Nate: "I'm pretty sure I'm towards my final days now, though--" Damn that got dark

As a breton, I tried to wear thalmor robes and failed miserably, they recognized that I wasnt one of them instantly.

Altmer may be High Elves, but Dunmer have the red eyes. Just sayin'

3:00 Elder Scrolls Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

The Epic Nate: The elves are secondary antagonists, though the main questline Me who already killed alduin: *L I A R* !

Already knew about the courtyard bit as a high elf, but I managed it as a dark elf character once too - when they saw me they said something like "wait, you there, show me your face" but I was quick enough to not get stopped by them and they didn't give chase or turn hostile or anything. Thought it was pretty neat.

“However, The Elder Scrolls: Legends seems to have revealed the truth:” [dramatic pause] T.J.Maxx ad.

"While we in skyrim largely view the Penitus Oculatus as antagonists" Stop! You violated the law and joined the dark brotherhood for "loot" and "quests". Pay the court a fine or serve your sentence! Your stolen goods are now forfeit!

"My mother told me, one day I would buy. Galley's with good oars, sail to distant shores. Sail to distant shores." - Me getting the mighty Stormcloak Army ready to march on Alinor.

The Thalmor should be scared. The first leader of every "human" Empire has always been a dragonborn, Saint Alessia, Reman Cyridiil, Tiber Septim, things didn't end well last time the high elves fought a dragon born led empire. I also find it convinient that Titus mede just so happens to die at the same time a dragon born appears.

"Thalmor" is a pretty interesting way to misspell "dead" and "trash".

6th Thing they dont tell ya: Thalmor make great XP farms

11:21 I heard that wearing Thalmor rob red s during Diplomatic Immunity only works if your character is high elf or wood elf. My Nord got attacked while wearing the robes.

In the Thalmor’s defense, Talos (and many other Nord cultural heroes) did many wrongs to the elves. (Think of the Numidium in Summerset, for example.) It makes sense for them to resent Talos, and thus believe he doesn’t deserve worship. Also the Thalmor aren’t a justification for hating Altmer in general. They are Elven Supremacists and do not reflect the opinions of the Altmer at large.

That's how you say it? I've been saying Justiciar, "Just a car" this whole time.

Listening to this video, something that we do in Skyrim now makes sense. I doubt Motierre was smart enough on his own to set into motion the assassination of the emperor. Someone must have put the idea into his head somehow. Maybe the Thalmor. Because as part of the build-up to his assassination we have to murder the son of the head of the Penitus Oculatus. Then at the end, we kill said head in revenge for his messing with the player character. The Thalmor is the only group that benefits from dismantling the P.O. Thalmor gives Motierrer the idea, sits back and watches as he sets everything in motion, they don't really get their hands dirty in the whole mess.

"And they're going to win in the end" Huh. I just don't see that. 'Cause I, as the Dragonborn, pretty much slaughter every living Thalmor in Skyrim while they prance about looking haughty and there's not even a bounty on me for doing it.

The Thalmor were actively looking for any powerful magical items, spells, or knowledge they could use for the upcoming 2nd Great War. The Empire isn’t shy about it either. One putts threatened my College after I fixed a dwemer map device.

When my Dunmer Dragonborn dressed up as a Thalmor, first of all, he looked like an idiot, second of all, all the soldiers and justiciars were like "Come here, let me see your face!", flexing their weapons and all. It only held until the middle of the courtyard. I guess I was kind of short.

"I always thought The Thalmor were just a bunch of intolerant snappy dressers."- Inigo The Brave

It’s simply amazing how far Nate has come on yt it’s crazy to think I remember watching when he had 10k subs, proof that hard work and dedication does pay off

Tiny details: if you skip the diamond city intro with piper and enter through the hidden upper stands, piper won’t talk to you, nor the mayor, but instead the pastor will be outside and greet you and tell you about the paper

Anyone else hear him say "Desbern and Elphine"😂😂😂

HOW IS THERE STILL THINGS I DIDNT KNOW ABOUT SKYRIM??? I learn something new every time I watch your videos m8.

"The Thalmor just kinda forgot that the Empire was a threat"

Hi Nate. In another one of your videos you talk about a series of corpses we can find in Falkreath that appear to have died without a struggle, as well as the Breton called Woodcutter where you mention he died without struggle and had a mug of mead on a stump nearby. I recently encountered Zaria, the owner of Grave Concoctions in Falkreath, who says her family don't approve of her "interest in lethal poisons and death in general". I suspect she may be a serial killer poisoning people out in the wilderness. I haven't investigated her further, breaking into her house etc, but I think it might be cool to do a segment in one of your Mysteries episodes based around her!

this is classified info you're sharing, nate

Nate: "*the emperor strikes back"* *_George Lucas wants to know your location_*

when he said "I shoud be in my final days now" I thought "oh no, pls don´t die on us". Poor choice of words, Nate

So, "The Empire Struck Back" Great video Nate, Always love tuning in for that fill of lore and wonder you present for us. Thank you for everything ya' do. 🎉🎊

Dominion: We took the capital! The Empire won’t think to come back! [gets murdered to death] High Elves to the player: Stay away from our glory and intellect, peasent!

I don’t see how a Thalmor victory is inevitable when they have a huge disadvantage: Elves have a low birthrate. The Empire is able to replenish it’s ranks much easier than the Dominion, so in the long run, it doesn’t look good for them.

Elder Scrolls lore: "hundreds of thousands of Thalmor soldiers occupied the Imperial City" Oblivion Imperial City population count (excluding guards): 194 I wish these games didn't seem to depopulated.

Thalmor hit squad: "You can't hide from me!" Me: Silently whispering "Keep telling yourself that " as I slowly draw The Blade of Woe across their necks.

"Desbern and Eelphine"

Nate "so when the empire striked back" Me "hmm the empire strikes back you say.......seems familiar..."

I would love to see Nate play a modded skyrim playthrough with all of his favorite mods.

Played this game for several years, I'm still discovering new stuff.

I just started another playthrough as a high-elf, I'm so going to do that at the Thalmor Embassy.

Just a curious question... Has anyone tried approaching Captain Valmir in Thalmor Robes?

Somehow, I've only just come across your channel and I am having a blast watching heaps of your Skyrim stuff. I feel like installing and playing it again now too!

I like how the very thing that made Esbern and Delphine such a pain to the Thalmor, their relentless attitude and stubbornness, is the same thing that means we end up hating them later on, when they refuse to let Paarthurnax live.

"...I'm towards my final days..." sounds very ominous, bud. You sure you're ok?

The day Nate runs out of things to talk about, will be a sad day indeed.

me: no fear michael kirkbride: they're going to win in the end. me: one (1) fear

Supporting you all the way to 1 million,great content

Wait, the thalmor told this agent that know one in Skyrim would be smart enough for them to know that he was a agent and act like a officer in a army... wouldn’t he be screwed if we were from the stromcloaks an saw a high elf as a commanding officer?

WELL! ABOUT TIME! I've been checking all day to see it there was a new vid! I was getting withdrawal symptoms. I'll just watch it two or three times to really get my fix.

Dude, watching your videos really mack me hesitate to play skyrim more and more. Thanks

Hey dude, great video. Really enjoy the last string of top 5's featuring towns and factions...also you should see if Amazon will hire you to do audio book readings of those Elder Scrolls novels

The last time I was this early these jokes weren’t popular.

17:48 Desbern and Elphine 😂😂

I’ve been watching your videos for a good minute and your voice is relaxing you should start doing audio books for me 😂

Surprised he didn't mention the Oblivion DLC (knights of the nine) having to do with Umaril the Unfeathered - which is one of the only times Talos has played a pivotal role, post-ascension.

Question ... Is there a "Mod" available, which allows more thalmore to wonder around Skyrim? I would greatly enjoy this simply to hunt them down.

5:34 Wait. Why is everyone just... rolling down the street... like a turd... in the wind?

Dragonborn: The Thane of every hold, slain Miraak, Harkon, and Alduin. Literally the most powerful person in Skyrim. Random thief on road: HAND OVER YOUR VALUABLES OR I'LL GUT YOU LIKE A FISH.

Nate: When the Empire stroke back... Ooo looks like a missed opportunity

Woah I'm early for once, also hi person scrolling through!

I love this video 10 times more because he keeps saying “Empire strikes back” (Star wars)

So glad to see you're in good spirits

I love the fact that the world is so big that regardless of how much one knows, one has no clue as to some of the most basic questions

This was one of your better videos, I would like to see you create more general lore videos.

"The Imperials think we need their laws. Pfft!"

"I'm pretty sure I'm towards my final days now" out of context but with the same cheery tone is so ominous

after you kill Alduin if you have a follower with you bandits will usually say ''You can't live for the good of the Drgonborn'' and things like that it's a nice detail