This may be an incredibly stupid idea. Even I'm not sure about it. But I figured I'd throw it out there anyway. Just thought of it, haven't refined it, but here it is.
A long time ago, before the Dwemer vanished, a big Dwemer city ends up in an outer realm of some kind. I'm thinking it happens accidentally as a result of an experiment gone wrong. The Dwemer in the city can't find a way back for whatever reason, but keep working on it. Eventually the Dwemer in the city slowly die out over the generations as a result of having too shallow of a gene pool to sustain the population. Or as a result of something about this outer realm having a gradual negative affect on life. Or a combination of the two. Before they die out their culture and technology develops and changes from what is seen in the other games as a result of isolation, the passage of time, and anolyzing and utilizing exotic properties and materials from this outer realm. As a result of their slow decline they must rely more and more upon their machines to pick up the slack, and they create more and more sofisticated and intelligent machines to aid them in more complex tasks as their technology develops. Such as finding a way back to where they came from. As a result of the need for more intelligent machines, and perhaps as recognition of the fact that they are going to die out, the Dwemer eventually create sentient machines in their own image as their technology develops, out of a desire to preserve their civilization even after they are gone.
Eventually, long after the Dwemer are gone, this machine civilization, which has continued to advance and develop, finds a way back to Mundus. And that is when the player meets them.
So, does it svck? Or is there anything worth while here?