Elder Scrolls Lore » Discussions


Altmer Part 5: Piecing Together the Thalmor

Back to Topics
  • Kynareth
     
    July 31, 2014

    Thanks for clarifying, Tom, and since Vix is no longer around, I feel honor bound to look out for him!    

    The Elder Scrolls likes to pretend it is a universe of black and white and it can be for some players.  But once a person starts digging, it is the Grey Maybe.  For a faction that is portrayed so unsympathetically, I believe Vix was trying to read between the lines and simply increase understanding of their actions and attitudes, instead of allowing them to be demonized, which they often are. Admittedly, Ancano and Elenwen do not give us much in the way of likability or sympathy for their cause.  Yet it seems the history of TES games to give us a more rounded viewpoint as the next one comes out.  I am simply hoping for more complexity with the Thalmor in the next game, instead of them being the "big baddie."

    I appreciate your comment, and I am glad you enjoy the lore group and are contributing!

  • Rylasasin
    Member
     
    August 1, 2014

    Because the thalmor can't be villainous unless they're trying to destroy the world...

    ... wut?

  • Rylasasin
    Member
     
    August 1, 2014

    Some of it does, but not the stuff about talos mentioned. If it does please point it out.

    "There is no 'canon'"? WTF?!

    Uh yes, there is a canon, and it was quite clearly defined by Todd Howard in the 3rd oblivion fan interview. 

    And I quote:

    30. How will the books and texts released after Morrowind (e.g. Vehk's Teachings) and the teasers and reports before Oblivion (e.g. Nu-Mantia Intercept, Love Letter from the Fifth Era, etc.) be folded into the official lore and will this lore appear in-game? Was the 'Trial of Vivec' RP (which culminated in the banishing of Azura from Mundus) a semi-official conclusion of the Morrowind storyline, or can we expect to learn more of its connection to recent events, along with the true fate of Vivec/Vehk?
    Remember that only things that have been published in Elder Scrolls games should be considered official lore.

    And there you have it. Clear cut definition of canon by the higher ups of Bethesda themselves. No ifs ands ors or buts about it.

    Kirkbride's towers and talos fanwank is not in the game. It is not canon. Just because some of Kirkbrides stuff is in the game does not mean every single thing he wrote everywhere is canon. Only the stuff that made it to the games are canon. END OF STORY.

  • Rylasasin
    Member
     
    August 1, 2014

    And then Galactus will come from the planet Vulcan as prophesied by Darth Vader and his Apple of Eden and will rise on the third day...

    ... and then he'll eat the whole world. The end.

  • Rylasasin
    Member
     
    August 1, 2014

    One is another throwaway line that's even more vague and less credible than the Ancano one, and the other.... has absolutely nothing to do with anything.

    Actually, it being too cartoony is another reason why the whole "Destroy the World ZOMGLAWLZ" theory grinds my gears.

    It basically turns the Thalmor from a complex faction with mysterious motives that you have to dig down into the lore to understand and even sympathize with if only slightly, into a bunch of bad comic book villains or "Not-Mythic Dawn"

  • Rylasasin
    Member
     
    August 1, 2014

    It's confirmed they exist...

    ... But not what exactly it is they do or what happens if they are destroyed, and certainly there's no evidence of the Thalmor "Deactivating" them or whatnot. 

  • Rylasasin
    Member
     
    August 1, 2014

    The time to believe something and is when there is evidence to believe it, not before.

    The time to take something as canon is when something appears in a game, not on ex-employee fan-ranting or speculation.

  • Chris
    Member
     
    August 1, 2014
    The two books The infernal City and the a lord of Sould are canon
  • Rylasasin
    Member
     
    August 1, 2014

    Those are the exception.

    They got the official licence of Bethesda, which means it's an official bethesda elder scrolls product, which means it counts as a "game" even though it's a novel.

    TL;DR: It's canon because bethesda said "this is canon" and gave it the stamp of approval.

    Kirkbride's musings do not have the stamp of approval.

  • RuneRed
     
    August 1, 2014

     'since Vix is no longer around, I feel honor bound to look out for him!'...

    +1 cool point


Back to Topics