Since the leaked informations about the next DLC suggest there'll be some stuff related to Herma-Mora and the Dragonborn, I looked into the UESP to find some pieces of information. I found http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Varieties_of_Faith... :


Whence my question : instead of killing all Men, could the Thalmor aim at transforming them back into Mers, through the help of Herma-Mora?

I find this a fascinating idea and one that does not have to conflict with the 'to kill man is to reach heaven' text.
It could be the Thalmor's way of achieving their goals, killing Lorkhan through subverting his children.
Without man Tamriel would become much more Auri-El orientated, it would be a new Merethic Age, the comeback of Aldmeris.

And, should such a project succeed, it would still fit with a large amount of 5th era and thereafter Apocrypha. In fact, it would give the associated philosophy and metaphysics a deliciously sinister side.

More... If Pelinal comes from the future, then a success of the Thalmor could account for both his lacking the blessing of Talos AND his Elven name...

(But it wouldn't account for the reason why it would be sent back)

For sure. Discerning the Transmundane was a pretty good quest. And of all the Daedra in Skyrim Herma seemed the most interested in the new Ysmir. I was almost expecting old rivalries to reignite at the end of that one. Finally, an opponent worthy of the Dovahkiin. I was hoping for an epic battle with Orkey/Triminac/Malacath. That's one of my favorite pieces of lore-myth; Shor and Ysmir in one corner and Alduin and Orkey in the other. But this could shape up to be just as good, especially if the Thalmor are involved.

[img]http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/218/8/e/tes___ysmir_and_the_old_knocker_by_vixen_sama-d5a0bp7.jpg[/img]

This is an interesting theory, I could certainly see the Thalmor doing something like this, but would they see the men-turned-mer as inferior, since they were once humans?

Maybe the Numer can bunk with the Goblins.