How sad would that be.

A better answer is "Did the Dwemer fail or succeed in what they set out to accomplish?"

At first glance, failure. At a second glance, maybe not.

At third glance, maybe "not yet."

Amazing, the ability to infer significance in something devoid of detail!

Ha, we have more detail about this singular event than any other one thing in all TES.

The Dwemer were the skin of the Numidium. They wanted to go back to the state before time. Numidium is known to screw up the timestream.
They didn't eradicate themselves or travelled back before the universe had form or any of those things. They are in all times at once. They both exist and yet don't.

At least, this is my interpretation.

The Numidium is currently lost in time and space as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjK9GJMBpt0

Exactly my opinion! Just because they became the golden skin of Numidium does not mean they failed; they may have intended this to happen in the first place; furthermore, stating that they are dead may not be entirely accurate either, perhaps? It is possible that they 'died', just as Lorkhan 'died' when he was separated from his Divine Spark - and he still goes around telling Nords what to do in Sovngarde.
Off topic slightly: Can anyone tell me why the Dwemer (masters at using their own machinery) used the Tools on the Heart and [NUMMINIIT] whereas Vehk, Seht and Ayem used them and achieved a different apotheosis?

Different frequencies, and different intents. The dwemer sought to make themselves all gods as the Numidium, and tried to hone in on the correct frequency the heart emitted, while being invaded. The Tribunal had time to research the heart, the tones, and their intent.

Thankyou! Is there a source you could direct me to so that I may enlighten myself on this frequencies business? Merci beacoup...

Just inference on what was read in books, and the MQ of MW. Also Tonal Architects who researched the heart, and Sunder being used to create a cast wave of "tones" with Keening used to narrow down the frequencies emitted are a good indicator.

I prefer the idea that yes, we (the audience) know what became of the Dwemer, and that they became the golden skin of Numidium. There's plenty of mystery in trying to understand the minds of beings who would make that choice, and the ultimate meaning of it.

To my mind, the appeal of fantasy (and some mythology) is that internal conflicts become external conflicts, and take a form that we can imagine confronting. Classically, dragons are embodiments of powerful forces that are beyond human control; to defeat a dragon is to claim mastery of the world. The appeal of role-playing games is to the desire to emulate the fantasy, and imagine more vividly the experience of dragon-slaying. The problem is that one often finds that the experience feels like getting some lucky dice rolls while fighting a 16 HD monster, or if it's really a good experience, that you successfully fought a smart, fire-breathing, flying giant lizard. But the meaning can be lost -- it's hard to get that feeling that you've mastered the inchoate dangers of the world by simulating a fight. The challenge is to somehow maintain the dialectical contradiction, to have that dragon be both the tangible entity that can be confronted and defeated, and the symbol of powerful forces beyond one's control.

In general, in the Elder Scrolls series, I believe they've done an admirable job of maintaining this. Numidium is both a representation of the desire to create a spiritual anchor, which one feels ought to exist somehow, but doesn't. And, the Numidium is a big stompy robot. The former aspect remains mysterious, but the latter isn't mysterious; but the trick is to bear both in mind at once.

ask the devs?

The devs wouldn't tell us. The guys at Bethesda have always kept their lore in-game with many alternative views, rather than telling us out-right. Adds to the mystique, I feel.

The most accepted theory is that the Dwemer became the skin of the Numidium when Kagrenac (stupidly?) tried ascend his entire race to godhood using ol' Lorkhan's heart. I think MK confirmed this.

You could probably pull up the dialogue of Baladas Demnivanni's (the npc in Morrowind). Also "Kagrenac's Tools." A lot of the "revealer" documents toward the end of the Main Quest point to Dwarves having a thing about Sound.

Wear the hands of Wraithguard to protect yourself from the godpower.
Strike the Heart with Sunder to initiate the proper mythic frequencies
Flay the vibrations with Keening into nonfatal decibels.
????? [Vivec refuses to tell us this step]
Profit!

MK did when he was still with Beth

Not stupidly but desperation. The Dwemers got Chimers knocking on their door ready to kill the Dwemers off.

The Chimer couldn't possibly have killed every single Dwemer, though. Although uncle Kagrenac wasn't to know he'd turn his entire race into the ass of a brass-thing, so he can't really be blamed.

The Chimer sound like a harsh lot.



On another note, I remember reading somewhere that "Chimer" and "CHIM" are pronounced "Kimer" and "KIM". Turth?

He means, if they had truly written themselves out of existence, we wouldn't know it, because they never would have existed. I agree with that to some extent. I think they failed because of bias; most of my characters would consider them prodding heretics, always poking their noses where they don't belong. Would be too upsetting for any of them to accept that they got what they wanted.

I believe he just meant that it was out of desperation, not stupidity, that Kagrenac struck the Heart prematurely, due to having the Chimer banging on the door trying to kill him.

Snap, you're right, sorry. O:

Poor Dwemer, eh?

Indeed.

Gah, seems my limited knowledge on the Dwemer is showing.

But surely they didn't deserve to have their entire race wiped out? Surely not every single Dwemer deserved it? What about the Dwemer in Hammerfell?

I would agree with your first sentence, but not your second.

I think it's a little too dismissive to assume that "the dwarves killed themselves because Kagrenac was too proud to bother letting an intern check his math." It's not like he came up with this plan overnight, this was the long-term goal of their entire society and philosophy, and what their whole history as a people were leading up to doing.

If there was any flaw in their actions, it was in the whole of their philosophy to start with, but there is, again, no evidence that they actually failed at anything, and actually achieved their own form of transcendence (or should I use a different term... "Unnascendence?") The Dwemer are, functionally speaking, the Thalmor, but actually intelligent enough to know what they were doing, and having a proper chance of achieving it. They just didn't take the rest of the world with them.

If anyone did too little research, it's the Tribunal. They either set their sights too low or did think things far enough through, and only achieved a demi-godhood. For all Vivec's desperate posturing as some sort of philosopher king to gain some fragment of respect, he didn't even achieve as much as Tiber Septim did.

Oh, don't mind me. I roleplay Dunmer for the most part, and therefore have a sort of pre-programmed hatred for the Dwemer, no matter how irrational it may be.