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yOUR ACTUALLY RIGHT
Please don't use all caps.
The Elder Council isn't some mysterious group that rules from the shadows; and the "old, wealthy family" bit is a reference to Oblivion, where Francois Motierre asks the Dark Brotherhood to help him fake his death, so he doesn't have to pay a debt (or debts).
Asking for the help of the DB is suspicious, as well as meeting in a dungeon full of draugrs and elaborate many murders to get to your main target. I also call that a mysterious group ruling in the shadows because we don't know anything about their motivations in Skyrim, we don't learn a learn about them in this period (Skyrim) and we know that some basically call the emperor a puppet (about the Thalmor problem, for exemple).
There is a theory that the Emporer ordered Motierre to hire an assassin on him. There are many points to suggest this, including the fact he still went to Skyrim, despite the Oculatus' warnings.
Quote: There is a theory that the Emporer ordered Motierre to hire an assassin on him. There are many points to suggest this, including the fact he still went to Skyrim, despite the Oculatus' warnings.
if this were the case, why wouldn't the emperor just kill himself?
By killing himself he looks weak and thus probably increase the hatred for his person.
If he gets killed on the other hand there can be a new Emperor to fight the Thalmor and so on. The reason he asks you to kill Motierre could then be to cut off all lose ends.
Why would Mede tell you to kill Motierre afterwards?
2601:152:4500:27E0:60CD:266E:E93F:F700 wrote: Why would Mede tell you to kill Motierre afterwards?
It's the classic reason to kill someone. He knew too much...
That's it, if that theory is true. If not, he simply ordered his death because he wanted to make sure Motierre didn't get to obtain any power from the assassination/didn't benefit from it.
Psycho Pebbles wrote: Given that we know Amaund is a member of the Elder Council, here's my guess: There's a faction within the Elder Council (maybe the whole council) who sees present day as the ripe moment to destroy the Aldmeri Dominion. The Thalmor have made too many enemies. Hammerfell and Skyrim both have a bone to pick with the elves, and while those regions are no longer part of the empire, both of those countries would likely go to war as allies to fight against the common enemy. The Imperials and Bretons obviously would, since they're still part of the empire ravenged by the Dominion.
And the Thalmor might not be in such a strong position as we all think, when you consider that they had a massive advantage in the first war by assembling their armies in a surprise attack, and they then chose to make a truce to weaken The Empire further, rather than conquering outright. If the human states attacked now, they might stand a chance, albeit a possibly small one.
But an attack will never happen with Titus Mede. He's too afraid of complete and utter defeat and enslavement that he won't risk it. And to Amaund and his allies, that means he has to go.
There's a hint for this in a quote by Amaund. When he talks about the assassination of Pelagius III, he says: "His death brought about, shall we say, a certain change in Imperial policy. There are those today who wish to see a similar change. I'm sorry, but that's all I'm at liberty to say."
After Pelagius' death, the Elder Council elected his late wife, Kateriah, a wood elf. We don't know much about her except that she was extremely popular amongst the smallfolk, because she mended a lot of the wounds done in the previous reign. That sounds like, imo, the perfect comparison to a new emperor fixing the biggest threat it's ever faced, ie The Thalmor.
with a civil war going on in Skyrim, now is definitely not the time to wage war on the dominion
Motierre doesn't talk about the assasination of Pelagius III, he talks about the assasination of Pelagius I. he was succeeded by Kintyra I, whose policies we know nothing about. also, Katariah was Dunmer, not Bosmer.