February 8, 2013 9:38 PM EST
Except, point 2 doesn't make sense. Hammerfell left the Empire and opposed the Dominion. They are an independent state, so why would anyone in Hammerfell possibly care if she was a critic of the Dominion! No one would be after her, in fact, they'd applaud her outspoken opinions and agree with her!
Furthermore, the Aldmeri Dominion captured the city of Taneth (the one Saadia supposedly sold out) over 28 years ago, with the resistance against the Dominion presence . Now, pardon me, but Saadia looks to be about 40 at most, which means even if she did "sell out" the city, she would have been 12 years old! Why on earth would the Dominion hire mercenaries to pursue a woman who spoke out against them as a child? And, why would they possibly waste the man-power in tracking her down for twenty-eight years. That's just ludicrous. If she had been causing problems at the time, she would have been arrested or her parents arrested right then and there. The Dominion wouldn't have waited around forever to come after her.
If she had been causing problems, it would have occurred after the Second Treaty of Stros M'kai some 8 years after the war started, putting her at the age of 20 at least. Hammerfell was granted independence and the Dominion pulled out of the land, but it is possible that during that process, someone could have attempted to smuggle armaments, money, information, items, to the Dominion to further their underground foothold in Hammerfell or the surrounding provinces. This would be an act directly against Hammerfell's best interests in remaining an independent nation, ergo she would be counted for treasonous activities.
Then if we look at Kematu's whole deal, he doesn't kill her if you allow him to arrest her. He paralyzes her and takes her into custody. Does that look like the kind of behavior used by an assassin? No. A bounty hunter, perhaps, but not the assassin Saadia claims the Alik'r are. When you ask him what he's doing and means to do, he tells you upfront. While it all might be a lie, it seems mighty dubious for an assassin or anyone hired to kill anyone to potentially alert their target. At best, they would use you for information, kill you, then take down Saadia in the Bannered Mare. They wouldn't use you to lure her out. Plus, if they truly were out to mean her harm, why would they obey the Whiterun Guards and stay away from the city? They could have snuck over the walls, waited for her to leave the city, anything. Instead they post themselves in Rorikstead.
Plus, though they are staying with bandits, Kematu and his men don't just jump on you and attack you. If you were a threat to their operation, half a dozen well-trained Alik'r warriors could easily take down anyone including any so-called Dragonborn, who is, by the way, trapped in a very tight and enclosed space with little room to be doing a whole lot of shouting. Instead, he tells his men to stand down and doesn't even accuse you of doing any wrong by aiding her. He assumes you've been duped just as everyone else has and seems quite sympathetic to her potential manipulation of you. He quite readily asks for your help. Had he really been out to exact anything other than justice, he would have behaved quite differently.
Of course, when you alert Saadia to the fact that's she's being pursued, instead of thanking you, she leads you to a back room, draws a dagger on you, threatens to kill you (without so much as a by your leave), and gives vague and uncertain explanations. When you ask her why someone might be chasing her over hill and dale, she responds with "I don't know... I guess I spoke out against the Aldmeri Dominion." What?! Uh, excuse me, but if someone were chasing me for months and years, I'd damn sure want to know why! Plus, if she's running from the Thalmor, why isn't she still in Hammerfell? Hammerfell is probably the best place to be hiding if you don't want the Thalmor sniffing around. They're an independent state, half the province is empty desert, and there are no major Thalmor forces to be found.
That said, I've thus far sided with Saadia, because I feel bad for her, criminal or no, I thought she deserved to go back to having a normal life. That doesn't mean I believe her story for a minute, though. ;)
I am happy you can see through her lies though.
