While we all know how Aldmeri Dominion and Empire are standing at this point, I wonder which side will now quite strong argonians take.
They emerged after Oblivion crisis strong and unifed, and attacked Morrowind and took control and its mainland, and have gone completly separated from Empire.With mer vs man war that is coming, both Thalamor and Empire will most likely try to ally with argonians, for they gain powerful ally who controls eastern Tamriel.
What will be argonians( in truth, Hist) decision?
1. Stand beside and watch.This seems very likely choice.
2. Siding with Empire could prove good for them because they hate mer( Dunmer).But at the same time they could once again become nothing more than another region of the Empire.
3. Thalamor, after years of being ruled by Cyrodiil, perhaps they want some sort of payback time against Empire?

Option number 1. The Saxhleel have an impregnable homeland. They don't need to side with anybody.

Not sure if you're aware of this, but the man vs. mer war http://uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Great_War I doubt there would be another full blown war. Maybe something isolated in Skyrim or Hammerfell, in which case I'd expect the Argonians to stay out of it.

Thats a pretty narrow minded view, if you don't mind me saying so. Considering the majority of the fighting in the great war was isolated in Cyrodiil and Hammerfell(two provinces). Tensions are building towards another war of the same magnitude, IMO.

And if you played Skyrim, it is quite obvious that there will be another mer vs men war.Do you really think situation is going to stay like this forever and Thalamor will not again attack empire?

4. Alliance with Sload and Maomer, cemented in a blood-pact overseen by Molag Bal.

Meh I doubt the Argonians could really tip the scales of this war significantly, though who knows. There strength is in their homeland, beyond it there strength is far less, on top of that they seem more the cautious type, it took the crashing of a moon and eruption of a super volcano first beating down the Dunmer for them to attack Morrowind after how ever many centuries of past slavery. I can't see them wanting to get involved in the massive conflict between the empire and Thalmor.

The Argonians generally seem the cautious type so chances are good they'll stay out of the conflict unless an event forces them to take sides. I could see them being very useful in aquatic offensives such as surronding the Imperial City or various islands of Alinor depending on which side they would take. Their skirmisher tactics would be a huge boon in weakening and perhaps even demoralizing the enemy, thinking enemies are in the shadow waiting to strike wears people will down. They could easily secure waterways making supply lines difficult to maintain or establish as many roads pass near or over rivers and lakes. Don't doubt the skill of an Argonian.

I very strongly believe the Thalmor will be defeated (at least for the time being) in a Skyrim DLC. By the Dovahkiin (for the most part). So, no, they won't be involved. If every TES installment was a novel instead of a game, perhaps, it's an interesting concept.

As it is, the Argonians have absolutely no reason to get involved in this conflict. As everyone else has already mentioned, they are isolationists by nature and they've already had their revenge on the elves in Morrowind.

But there is another possibility to consider. If Imperial or Thalmor troops begin passing through neutral Black Marsh without permission, there is a chance that the Argonians will be incited to expel their unwanted guests. If this happens, they may temporarily take a side in the greater conflict to achieve this goal, and this decision could lead to unforeseen consequences.

this

Due to their isolationist nature, they may very well expel any military presence passing through their territory, I doubt they would then be compelled to launch an invasion of another province even after such an event though. Even that scenario is assuming that for some reason Imperial or Thalmor forces take a, lets face it, pretty indirect route through Black Marsh. It's barely a tactically significant province anyway. Unless the Thalmor wanted to open up a forth front on the empire, or the empire wanted to use soulrest as a base to re-take Elsweyr from a different direction.

The Argonians usually don't make their own decisions. Black Marsh is ruled by the Hist, not the lizards. It's the Hist's decision and whatever the Hist decide, the Argonians will follow.

Both the Empire and the Thalmor should realize that marching through the Black Marsh could anger the Argonians, and in wars of this magnitude it's probably a good idea to stop yourself from making even more enemies. Besides there is a relatively large chance of mass deaths if they should do that and I don't think either side is stupid enough to risk that either.

Last i heard the argonians are incredibly paranoid, have fortified the hell out of their borders and are all around isolationists with several smaller factions plotting against the head one.

Argonians.

I don't see why they could achieve anything.

I'd say no.

The last war with the Ehlnofey left the Hist completely decimated. They'd be idiots to just sit idly by again (or with their thing for non-linear time, maybe it's the first war of the Ehlnofey all over again, just putting it out there).

The Argonians would probably not interfere unless provoked. I'd imagine, because of their relationship with The Hist, that they wouldn't do anything unless their homeland and The Hist were threatened. If that were to happen, The Hist would probably ask The Argonians to defend their homeland, and they would do so gladly. We are after all talking about the race that singlehandedly kicked the ass of Mehrunes Dagon's army, to the point that they had to shut the gates in Black Marsh and stop the invasion there.

Go Argonians!

Right. Keep in mind, the Hist likely have more meta-knowledge than anybody. Basically, I see their decision as coming down to whether or not they want the Thalmor to succeed in eliminating Lorkhan-and-thus-man/man-and-thus-Lorkhan from the next kalpa. I would be willing to bet they do not agree with this plan. They benefit more from an Ehlnofey which divide into men and mer, and they certainly seem to skew towards the Padomaic end of the scale.

Ultimately, I don't think we'll be left with any PC race looking like the big bad guys here. I think once the expansion (not just a DLC imo) takes us to Summerset, we'll find out the Sload have been behind the Thalmor the whole time, and have planning this since the fall of Thraas.

Personally, I think Summerset would be large enough to be its own installment, rather then a expansion. The only place small enough that would fit neatly for a expansion would be Orsium.

What exactly is it that you want them to achieve?


Perhaps, but in the past it seems most people haven't cared to think about the repercussions of angering the Argonians. I personally wouldn't be surprised to see Imperial or Thalmor troops attempting to march across Black Marsh at least once.

There is one other thing, whoever wins in incoming second great war will become most powerful force on Tamriel.Thalamor or Empire will in the end need to decide what to do with Black Marsh and argonian controled part of Morrowind.But if Hist are wise, what they surely are, perhaps they could make a deal with either of these two factions.We help you beat Empire or Thalamor and in return we are given freedom to rule on our own.

I think its a mistake to talk about this as a choice of the Argonians.
The Argonians are of the Hist. While not a great deal is known about their symbiotic relationship, there is evidence to support that it is the Hist who make the decisions, not the Argonians and that an individual Argonian may have very little free will, at least when it comes to the plans and interests of the Hist.
In Oblivion many Argonians received 'the Calling' and returned to Black Marsh. Its safe to assume this 'Calling' came from the Hist.
After Oblivion we learned that the Hist somehow changed the physical appearance and nature of Argonian warriors, until they were such fierce killing machines that Black Marsh is the only province Dagon retreated from. It is said he himself closed the gates in the province, rather than let more of these 'super-mutant' Argonians through.


I would say option one simply because of the nature of the Hist.
They are immobile and unchanging but very little else is known about them.
Seeing as the only time I can find that the Argonians actively pursued war outside their territory is in Morrowind, and seeing that was 'justified' by centuries of slavery I think its logical to extrapolate that the Hist have very little interest in outside politics, or conquest for that matter.

An interesting thing to consider is that not even the general Argonian population is fully aware of the Hist's influence over them as a people; in the Infernal City, it is mentioned that not even Mere-Glim really understands the life-and-death cycle of the Argonians. Whether the soul of an Argonian returns to the Hist after it dies is anyone's best guess.

Therefore, no one can really say whether the Argonians are simply the agents of the Hist or not. It's clear that the Hist can have a serious influence over them, but it's not clear whether the Hist can do this whenever they want, and it's even less clear whether the Hist have an active role in Argonian politics, both internal and external.

This all the way.