So after Red Mountain exploding and whatnot and the Nords supposedly helping Dunmer refugees along with the increasing threat of the Thalmor, I was just wondering where the Dunmer may fall in all of this. Personally the Dunmer seem like a people that wish to stay out of others peoples business and people stay out of theirs. But with what seems like potential relationship between the Dunmer and Nords, along with the Dunmer not really being on the same page as the Thalmor on religious beliefs makes me wonder if the Thalmor will become a problem for the Dunmer. Unfortunately my PC can barely run Skyrim, so I was just wondering if there is anything in-game that might shed more light on this subject or your opinions on what you think would most likely happen.

The Nords hate the Dunmer, so the Dunmer have some resentment right back.

The Dunmer hate the Thalmor more than they hate the Nords, though, and without a Tribunal, they pretty much have no real direction as a people.

The Argonians hate their guts for centuries of slavery and aggression, while the Nords are more casually racist, so I'm guessing they'll have to go for the Empire, just because they've got their backs up against the wall, and have little other place to turn.

Why do the Dunmer hate the Thalmor? I could understand resentment for being shunned by the High Elves, but hate? Did the Thalmor do something to them?

Religious suppression and the general attitude that you are little more than filth tends to be a major relationship breaker between them. They weren't just shunned, they are no better than man to the Thalmor, and thus only fit for killing.

The Dunmer were Altmer before following Boethiah and Veloth away and becoming Chimer. Hatred or not, the Dunmer don't like anyone. The "largesse" or the Nords, as MK calls is it, is unexpected, but certainly a good thing for the Dunmer. I'm sure a slight change in consideration on the Dunmer will come.

It's assumed, based on their long history together.

Really, I think it's more the case that the Thalmor dislike the Dunmer. Though we can be sure that they wouldn't be above supporting them as an irregular force against the Empire or an independent Skyrim.

I see. That makes sense then.

The Thalmor hate the daedra with even more zealotry than the old Alessian order. The Thalmor believe in the aedra being not just ancestor gods from which they descended, but want to go back to a time before the aedra were tricked into creating physical reality. They view physical reality as "corrupting" of their pure aedra heritage, and as such want to destroy physical reality so that they can go back to that aedra point, and if that requires eliminating humanity, so be it, they are corruptions of their purity, anyway.

The dunmer and orsimer are both "corrupted" peoples thanks to the meddling of the daedra (even if it really wasn't the orsimer's fault at all), and as such, are not considered pure enough to be a part of their grand plan. The fact that dunmer have completely turned their back on the aedra for daedra/living god worship doesn't help at all.

Again, without a Tribunal or proper home of their own, the Empire is basically the only place left for the dunmer, since they are the most tolerant of different cultures and races, even if it's not all that tolerant. Of course, the Empire hardly has the resources to go around oppressing people that aren't an existential threat to them at the moment.

This was my biggest thing, the Dunmer just seem to want to be left alone but in current Tamriel that doesn't really seem possible. I'm a huge Dunmer fan and I found it interesting that a Dunmer/Nord relationship might actually happen. To me it seems like it makes the most sense since both races could really benefit from each others help, or maybe it's just some wishful thinking

The Dunmer, although stoic and grim.. will rise to the occassion if pushed. Yes they [censored] and complain about life in skyrim but they [censored] an complain about everything not Dunmer . I do believe they will aid the Nords when the time comes cause i think they will prefer to [censored] and complain bout something than end up not being able too . no seriously now, when it comes down to it, they will most likely side with the Nords even though they, as a people would prefer to remain neutral and left alone, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend.And i doubt Azura, or the Nerevarine will remain silent on this Thalmor threat for long.Dont underestimate the Dunmer, they have gone through far worse than losing Morrowind before.

It'd be cool to see them carve out a little hold or something for themselves up in Skyrim. That was the general tone of that book announcing Dunmer supremacy over the men of Skyrim. The dunmer are here to stay and all that. Or they can be a more pronounced and continually [censored] upon immigrant population with little speratist terrorist groups and stuff. So many possibilities!

Not so fast.

First of all, even with the Tribunal gone, Dunmer still have their basic Velothi cultures of ancestral/Daedra worship with them. The fact they built shrines of Azura and Boethiah in eastren Skyrim pretty much confirms they are still a vital culture, even if more nomadic now (one of the Dunmer in the game will tell you something like: "We are all Ashlanders now."). Second, the relations betwen Dunmer and Nords seem in fact to be far more cordial than the surface-level racism of Windhelm seems to suggest. In Riften Dunmer seem to accomodate quite well, in Winterhold, dark elf was an archimage of the College (and, before the collapse, it has been stated the city experienced a cultural renessaince due to the influx of Dunmer refugees from the east). And in the current situation, after the Great War, the Dunmer and the Nords in fact have a lot more in common than is divding them. Dunmer traditionaly hate the Empire, and now the Nords have every reason to dislike it as well. The Dunmer trace their history from their initial conflicts and split with Altmer and other elves, and the Nords also see their history begining with the wars against the elves, so they can sort of agree on that issue as well. Third and most important, a lot of the Dunmer culture and Tribunal mythology is based on the myth of mortals-becoming gods, which is, in theory, very much alike the Nordic concept of Talos (not to mention that the ultimate source of the divinity of both the Tribunal and the Talos is the same - Lorkhan!). So, Dunmer and Nords agree on three fairly important points: 1) dislike of the Empire (in its current form, at least); 2) dislike of Altmer/Thalmor; 3) Lorkhanic/Pandomaic mythical outlook where the mortal world is a trial, rather than a prison. All in all, I think therefore Dunmer would be far more likely to align with the Nords/Stormcloaks against the Empire and Dominion, than even staying neutral in the conflict, let alone going against the Nords.

Why would the Thalmor hate the Daedra? They didnt do anything. At all.

You mean, except that they sat around with their back against Padomay and laughed when the ancestors of Thalmor were dying to make the mortal-prison of Lorkhan, only to have them later interfer amongst their crippled spiritual remains and pick out the best parts for themselves? This is like asking why would a zealous fundamentalist monotheist have a problem with other religions worshiping their own gods.

We can't really talk about the Dunmer in general terms. Dunmer in Windhelm will have an entirely different story than Dunmer in Cheydinhal or Rimmen or Sentinel or wherever they ended up.

I think there's now reason to believe that it was actually the Velothi exodus which began the Altmeri hatred of Daedra. Herma-Mora seems to have historically been a great ally to the Aldmer, and the patron of the god-hero Xarxes (meaning that Aldmer and Daedra were on good terms near the dawn). When Boethiah ate Trinimac, who was tied for most popular Adlmeri diety, that probably gave them more than enough reason to hate the daedra. As for what the Velothi exodus was actually about then, I think it may have been about the exclusive worship of Daedra (instead of Aedra). Of course, all of this is just speculation on my part.

What we do know, is that the Thalmor purged Alinor of daedra worship.


The Altmer have no problem worshiping other entities who are not Aedra (their definition of Daedra), namely, Magnus and the Magna-ge.