The Great War
The Empire's war with the Aldmeri Dominion that set the stage for Skyrim.
The Great War is the conflict between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion fought before the events of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It ended in a military stalemate after a hard-fought battle at the imperial capital, and the greatly weakened Empire was forced to sign a humiliating peace treaty, the White-Gold Concordat.
Lore & Background
The war's aftermath drives Skyrim's story: the Argonians of Black Marsh, having lost faith in the Empire, seceded, and Ulfric Stormcloak's rebellion is motivated in part by the Concordat. The Elder Scrolls: Blades is set in the Fourth Era some time after the Great War, by which point the Blades have been outlawed, disbanded, slaughtered and forced into exile as a result of it.
More in Story & Timeline
Elsewhere in The Elder Scrolls
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