Who would win: the Aldmeri Dominion or the Sovereignty of Skyrim?

[YuritZen]

The Civil War ends. The Stormcloaks drove out a weaken empire. Re-establishment of old Nordic ways and laws are placed. Titus Mede II dies at the hands of a Dark Brotherhood Assassin, causing political unrest in Cyrodiil weaking the Empire further.
Then the Dominion lauches a massive attack on Skyrim.
The Altmer-Nord War has begun.
Who is more willing to win this war?
Stubborn Nords who refuse to bow to Elven rule?
Or the Aldmeri who proclaim they are Mer and they are superior to Man?
You decide. State some valid reasons maybe some battle tactics and what not.
"This is what Tullius predicted before they slew him." --Norek Dragonslayer

[Boadicea]

...hmmm - I'd expect the Dragonborn to rather side with not the Empire but with the Imperial Forces in Skyrim instead of the ultranationalist Stormcloaks, to be able to renew the Empire from within with General Tullius' and the Jarls backing in order to stop the Dominion from taking down the remaining provinces one by one over time.

[DeathClaw]

Stormcloaks and the Dragonborn would drive out the Dominion.

[neilbert1]

Boadicea - depends on the Dragonborn (a Nord would be much more likely to join the Stormcloaks than an Argonian), and the player (some people are Imperial fans, some people are Stormcloak fans, and some people like me waver back and forth). I do like all of the Imperial Jarls (except Maven and Siddgeir - their counter-parts Laila and Dengeir aren't good either, but they aren't as bad as Maven or Siddgeir) better than their Stormcloak alternatives (the only really good Stormcloak Jarl is Vignar Gray-Mane, but he's not as good as Jarl Balgruuf). However, the Stormcloaks cause is righteous one, even though some of the Stormcloak leaders aren't righteous at all. For me it's a hard choice (I suppose if the Stormcloak leaders were paragons of virtue rather than the flawed people they are, no one would ever side with the Empire other than the biggest Imperial supporters from earlier games).

In the end, whichever side the Dragonborn supports will then fight the Dominion and win! (well, for sure the Stormcloaks - the Empire is weak and decadant, so if the Dominion is as weakened and battered as I surmise, there likely would be no war between the Empire and Dominion at all, unless the Dragonborn pushes the issue and personally leads an invasion of the Dominion him or herself).

[YuritZen]

While all of these are good valid points, logical and realistic as it may be, consider the following:
Now the game changes in the East and West of Skyrim.
Markarth, even though supplying enemy troops is near impossible because of the Forsworn, the Dominion holds a footing in the Reach because of the Thalmor placed there already.
Morthal, Dawnstar, Rorikstead, and Falkreath are all occupied by Aldmeri Soldiers.
Ancano (referring to the Eye of Magnus Quest) and his Aldmeri allies have established a hold on Winterhold.
Whiterun, Riften, Windhelm, and Solitude are now targets of the Dominion.
The East Regiment is commanded by Rudafin, and the West by Werder, and the campaign is operated from the Thalmor Embassy by Kalindor.
How could the Nords defeat them? Which forts or towers do the Dominion obtain? And what of the Orcs?

[Grimnir]

The Dominion has the advantage. No matter who wins the war, Skyrim will always be divided by the conflict, even the bards know this as the losing side's cities are home to the song "Age of Opression" so it's really only half of Skyrim against whatever Altmer, Khajiit, and Bosmer forces are sent to put them down.

On the flip side though, Hammerfell was in the exact same situation and managed to push Dominion forces out of their deserts, but they were in the Great War, not a civil war in which only Redguards died, the Dominion has had more time to recover than the Stormcloaks will have even when Skyrim is 'rebuilt.'

Finally to top it all off, Nords have no force of mages to speak of. The College of Winterhold is far from alligned with either the Empire or Skyrim, and a couple court wizards are far from an elite force that could be pitted against the Altmer, and the thu'um is far from unbeatable as we've seen in the case of Jurgen Windcaller vs. the Dwemer and Chimer.

[YuritZen]

How would the Nords be divided? They'll be united against the Dominion.
The Altmer-Nord is after the Civil War and Dragon Crises.

[BACC]

dominion.... becuse first of all the stormcloaks had lots of truble without the draginborns help. and the elves beat the empire. also i would help the elves....being a elf myself.....and tgm...

[neilbert1]

The Nords, like the ancient Greeks, do fight amongest themselves, but when faced with a common foe (like the ancient Greeks did when faced with the Persians), they would unite.

Also, the Thalmor did not beat the Empire - the Empire had won (it still mystifies me as to why Emperor Titus signed that treaty - likely he was pushed into it by frightened Cyrodiilian nobles or citizens). The lore indicates that the Thalmor army was totally annillated (as in few if any survivors), and the army that invaded Hammerfell was decimated as they retreated (not as badly as the army that invaded Cryodiil, but it was still an ugly experience for the elves). I doubt the Thalmor are in any shape to invade anyone - you can't fight a war without soldiers, and in order to form an army large enough to invade Skyrim, they would have to leave the Dominion almost undefended, since so many Thalmor soldiers got kiiled in the great war.

Also, how would they get there? Either they would have to march across Cyrodiil or Hammerfell to get there, or they would have to sail around Hammerfell and High Rock to land near Solitude. Either way is problematic (the way the ships of the East Empire company were able to pound away at Japhets folly makes me think that an invading fleet would not be able to land unchallenged and unscathed). The only forces of any size in Skyrim are the Embassy guards (at the Thalmor Embassy, of course), and the garrison at Northwatch Keep, which seems to be where the death squads are headquartered.

As far as mages are concerned, Skyrim has been able to do fine without them - in 3E 397 (237 years before the events of Skyrim), the Nords managed to defeat the combined armies of Hammerfell and High Rock in the War of Bend'r-mahk. The Bretons, of course, are known as talented mages, and the Redguards are fairly talented in magic too - the Nords still beat them both anyhow!

Finally, IF the Thalmor invaded (somehow managing to survive the journey there, and somehow scraping together enough soldiers to accomplish anything, they would be fighting a powerful, UNITED force on it's home territory, whose warriors would be the Nords - the best warriors in Tamriel (except perhaps for the Orcs). It would be Cyrodiil and Hammerfell all over again! Not to mention, I wouldn't be surprised if Hammerfell sent troops to Skyrims aid just because they would love the chance to thwart the Thalmor once again (and they have mages!)

[YuritZen]

This isn't about the Thalmor. This is about the Dominion. The Great War ended in 4E 175, and that's just about 30 years. A lot can happen in 30 years, like mustering up an attack to gain some ground when the Empire gets defeated during a Civil War, one the Thalmor could've started just to crumble the Empire further.
The Dominion Soldiers can pose as Thalmor guards, since Thalmor were given free reign in the provinces of the Empire. And many of the Dominion are magic users, and like the Psijic Order, could possibly teleport in and out of random locations in Skyrim.
After the Civil War, the tired Nords are going to have to ask the Mages to help them, as well as the Orcs.
Besides, the Nords are based off the Scandinavians, Norse, Breton, and Germanic tribes of the barbarian vikings of the North, not the Greeks. They would have to be more sophisticated than that.

[JawlessStone]

the Stormcloaks they have dragonborn that blow away entire legions of The dominion with 3 simple words

[Saint Grief]

The Dominion would win, because the nords are weak... why else do the nords get captured so easily throughout the game!? besides, if the Dominion can nearly destroy the empire they can easily take out some stubborn racist fools...

[neilbert1]

The Thalmor are the Dominion - they founded the Dominion, they brought Valenwood and Elswyre under Dominion rule, and they're still the "ruling party" of the Dominion. Saying that the Thalmor don't have anything to do with the Dominion is like saying the N@zis had nothing to do with the German 3rd Reich, or that the Communists had nothing to do with the Soviet Union.

The reason Nords get captured so easily by the Thalmor is because how hard can it be for a squad of trained Thalmor death-squad soldiers to capture sleeping civilian Nords in the middle of the night, epecially with the Imperial Legion backing them up. Stormcloaks racist? - a few (3 named ones - Elda Early-Dawn, Rolff Stone-Fist, and Angrenar Once-Honored - although if a Dunmer Dragonborn gives Angrenar a Septim, and is wearing an amulet of Mara, he has no trouble marrying one!)) Nord citizens of Windhelm are anti-Dunmer (and not one of those three currently is a Stormcloak, although Angrenar once was), and according to Brunwulf Free-Winter Ulfric (who's likely an Imperial Agent) says the Ulfric won't lift a finger to help the Dunmer. Meanwhile the Dominion, run by arrogant Altmeri Thalmor who think that any person who isn't a Altmer is subhuman (subelven?) and are Tamriel's version of the third Reich, aren't?

Finally, it's only been 30 years since the Great War - the Dominion army that invaded Cryodiil was nearly wiped out, and the Hammerfell army didn't fare much better. Given the nature of Elven physilology, the fact that multiple generations worth of Altmer soldiers were killed in the War (given the Altmeris' long lifespans), and that half of those soldiers killed were women (potential mothers of future soldiers), it's highly doubtful that 30 years would be sufficient to replace those losses. By the way, the Legions that saved the Empire and retook the Imperial capital - those were the legions of Skyrim - NORD legions. Yes, while man-for-man (or woman-for-woman) the Thalmor are by far the best soldiers in Tamriel in training, equipment quality, and magic using ability, if they invaded Skyrim they would be heavily outnumbered, at the end of a long supply line, and in hostile territory, and while the Nords might not be the best soldiers, other than the Orcs they are the best warriors in Tamriel (a soldier is trained to fight, while a warrior is born to fight - training versus culture and mindset). The Dominion invasion would be crushed.

[neilbert1]

Not to mention the Dragonborn, and the power of save and load - er, I mean the power of the voice.

[YuritZen]

Okay. Aside from physiology, you're quite right in that regard. Perhaps you read too deeply into the Lore.
Any who, lets now say that Markarth is liberated, Dawnstar and Morthal are fought over, Solitude, through ingeuity and tactical greatness, withstands against the Dominion, while Windhelm is besieged by on coming waves of Aldmeri troops.
Whiterun wins against the Dominion, and the Elves lose. Badly. This liberates Rorikstead.
The Dominion in Falkreath are forced out and go insane after a large quantity of Werewolves and Dremora fight and crush the Aldmeri Soldiers.
Riften is still a target, but here are some battles to consider:
Battle at Gjukar's Monument: A legion of Nord troops vs an Army of the Dominion.
Battle for Gallows Rock: A combined force of Orc and Nord vs a Commanding post of Aldmeri Troops.
Battle In Kynesgrove: A large force of Orcs and Nords vs a large force of Aldmeri Wizards, Battlemages, and Soldiers.
Who will dominate the Battlefield?

[Maloy20]

Wait for the DLC :3. Of course whoever we choose to win the Civil War will defeat the Thalmor! The Dovahkiin's favored army can never be destroyed! Also the Walruses made a pack with Dovahkiin!