So really there's nothing that convinces me that they won't go with Kirkbride's ideas for the Thalmor, since most are already confirmed unless they retcon these things in ES VI.
Gotta be honest, only responding because you posted twice in response to my mostly throwaway comment. At this point I don't feel well-equipped to have a TES lore argument anyway, haven't played the series since Skyrim release and unsubbed from lore forums after TESO launch.
Anyway, the point was mostly that they aren't going to do
Kirkbride's Thalmor, which is to say they'll still probably continue the "meta" plot of barriers weakening and doomsday devices in every province, for which they probably had a general vector even before Morrowind. But it's going to be neutered as usual, e.g. a bland fantasy elf province But It Has An Extremist Sect. The key to MK is that he's really writing sci-fi, not fantasy - and that's the exact opposite of Bethesda's MO.
[edit] I'm aware of his post-MW contributions, of course, but you'll notice that the quote I posted is 2012, i.e. post-Skyrim, so that might give us a hint of a schism between his and Beth's view on the matter.
Of course they aren't going to do Kirkbride's Thalmor, and Kirkbride himself burned that bridge pre-TESO already. It's Bethesda, they're literally incapable of a single interesting thought.
