December 31, 2011 2:53 AM EST
I haven't had much contact with the Thalmor in-game aside from Ondolemar in Markarth, but one thing he says has made me scratch my head:
"The Empire has agreed to accept our beliefs, and it is the responsibility of its citizens to cease their heretical worship."
How does acceptance of another nation's religious beliefs translate to granting that nation the ability to rove the country freely and arrest anyone they deem breaking their laws and taking them away to torture and kill them? To me, acceptance would indicate that the Empire and the Dominion agreed to leave each other alone. That Talos shrines in Summerset Isle, Valenwood and Elseweyr would be dismantled and the Thalmor would ignore the worship in the Empire, but that's not what's happened at all. The Thalmor have imposed their beliefs on the Empire, effectively conquering the Empire without conquering it, since the Imperial laws don't apply to the Thalmor, while the Thalmor's laws apply to the Empire.
I know that part of this is to make us really hate the Thalmor, no matter race or faction, but it seems like a poor choice of words on Ondolemar's part. The Thalmor don't need to hide their intentions behind false civility, they barely use civility themselves the way they talk down to even other High Elves.
I honestly wish Bethesda had put an option in to debate that:
"The Empire "accepts" your beliefs? Since when does the Empire have to enforce another nation's laws? You don't see the Legion marching into the Dominion to enforce our laws on your people! Who are mortals to decide who's a god and who isn't?" That kind of thing. Ondolemar would probably brush it off at best or attack you at worst, but as it stands it sounds like the Dragonborn blithely accepts that garbage.