The Aldmeri Dominion are major antagonists in the action role-playing high fantasy video game franchise The Elder Scrolls, serving as the overarching antagonists of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It is a xenophobic Altmer empire that formed in the aftermath of the Oblivion Crisis and seeks to establish Altmer supremacy on Tamriel, having become the most dominant power on the continent after fighting the Third Empire to a military stalemate during the Great War and forcing it to agree to the heavily unfavourable terms of the White-Gold Concordat. Through their actions, the Dominion is also indirectly responsible for causing the Stormcloak Rebellion and the Skyrim Civil War.
History[]
After the signing of the White Gold Concordat and banning of Talos worship, the Aldmeri Dominion kept an eye on the Empire to ensure it maintained their part of the agreement. However, when Ulfric Stormcloak and his militia recaptured Markarth and The Reach and agreed to stay in the city as long as Talos worship was restored, the Dominion found out and was forced to make sure the Empire held up their end of the Concordat with sending their Thalmor Justiciars to capture any Talos worshippers or suspected of worshipping Talos to incarcerate for violating the Concordat. In reality, this was allowing the Dominion a chance to rebuild their army for a Second Great War with the Empire so they could crush it once and for all. Unfortunately, Ulfric being forced to hand Markarth back to the Empire because of the Dominion served as the catalyst for his Stormcloak Rebellion, believing the Empire to be only a pawn to the Dominion because of the Concordat. For the Dominion, the Skyrim Civil War serves them both ways in that, the longer the war drags on, the more time they have to rebuild their forces to crush the Empire, but they know this is a double-edged sword as, no matter who wins the Civil War, the Dominion will be forced to fight one or the other, and possibly be overwhelmed as a result: Either an Empire with its forces bolstered by the keeping of Skyrim in its control, or an independent Skyrim under the Stormcloak rebels with a powerful leader in Ulfric because of his knowledge of the Thu'um, the Dragon Language.
To that end, the Dominion assigns Elenwen, who had tortured Ulfric while he was in Dominion custody, to oversee Thalmor activities in Skyrim. Several attempts by the Thalmor to gain control of things that would benefit the Dominion, such as Ancano with the Eye of Magnus, are foiled by the Dragonborn. Even more so, the Dragonborn infiltrates the Thalmor Embassy to gather intel the Thalmor had on Ulfric and members of the Blades who survived the Concordat's agreement to have the Blades turned over to the Dominion to be eliminated, revealing that the Dominion knew of the whereabouts of Esbern, a surviving Blade with knowledge regarding Alduin the World-Eater, as it just so happened that Elenwen was in Helgen when Alduin attacked and burned the town to the ground, barely escaping with her life, thus causing the Thalmor to investigate the return of dragons themselves, just as confused as to why they are coming back as everyone else is.
Later, when Elenwen learns of a peace summit in High Hrothgar between the Imperial Legion and Stormcloaks being overseen by the Dragonborn and Greybeards, she joins the Imperial congregation under the surmise to ensure the Concordat is maintained, though both Tullius and Ulfric are none too pleased to have the Thalmor butting in to something they do not need to stick their noses into. Nevertheless, even with Alduin's demise, the Thalmor and the Dominion still prove a grave threat to Skyrim, even after the Civil War is resolved as well.
