Best Faction Leader in your eyes

Blobsky

Big Boss is a god

Vietfox

Queen Ayrenn

Came here to see the results, not disappointed at all. Aldmeri Dominion ftw

JKorr

None of them are. They are all bad leaders.

BigHornedBeast wrote: »

Even though I am a big Aldmeri Dominion fan, I do believe King Emeric is the best leader. Jorunn just isn't as passionate it seems as Emeric and Ayrenn and the Ebonheart Pact regions do still have racism towards beasts. Queen Ayrenn isn't the biggest fan of humans and just came in after being away for years. She took the throne away from her brother which wasn't the nicest way of returning to your family after being away. Emeric's alliance seems open and understanding to all of the races (probably due to Bretons being disowned as a race having both elven and human blood unlike Ayrenn and Jorunn) and he has earned his position of power. Honor to Queen Ayrenn, but Emeric is still a better leader in my opinion.

Racism in the Pact....yes. You can find a few real gems in the Covenant as well. In-game books...Orcs, the Vermin Among Us
They lair in holes. They breed in huge numbers, and smell of rotted meat. I speak not of skeevers, gentle reader, but of Orcs. The threat on the horizon, the unrelenting horde. "But Sorick," I hear you saying, "are they not our allies now?" It's good that you want to believe in the leadership of King Emeric. It's good that you want to believe in this Covenant that now binds us to the beastmen of Orsinium.

But in truth, your belief is foolish. Your trust in the king is misplaced. For these subhumans have a cruel and vicious cunning. Like a hunting wolf pack, the Orcs lie still in the tall grass. They wait for us to let down our guard. Even great men like His Majesty can be misled by this simple tactic.

They now walk among us. They serve in the honored Lion Guard. They take work as sellswords, protecting our wealthiest merchants. They infiltrate our temples as bodyguards for holy men. Gentle reader, do you not see? Can't you see how every luxury we give these animals only encourages them? Every opportunity is just another opening in our armor for their rough-hewn blades to pierce!

With their unnatural strength, they take up work that should be borne by Breton shoulders. The thickness of their stinking hides gives them a defense that no Redguard man can stand against. In cities across Covenant lands, stories grow of Orcs defiling our women and siring unnatural half-breeds!

How long will you let this stand, reader? How long will you bend a knee to these filthy animals? I say, no more! Join with like-minded people in your village today, and rise up against these beasts. These scum. These … Orcs.

there's another book/pamphlet somewhere in Stormhaven about the orcs getting even with the Bretons.... None of the factions is going to last in the long term.

Enslaved

Wintergreen wrote: »

Ayrenn, hands-down. She is right when she says men are a "young" race and are driven by emotion. She doesn't seek domination, but peace, which is not possible with men leading. This has nothing to do with nerd hotness, though I only speak for myself.

We saw thalmor peace. Spare us bs.

JWKe

None of them are. They are all bad leaders.

Molag Bal; no joke. The reason i say Molag Bal is better than the other 3 is because Molag Bal does what he says. MB doesn't sugar coat or justify his actions, he just says he is going to do it and he does it.

Jura23

Queen Ayrenn

I'd vote for Clivia Tharn

iannotinbjing

Queen Ayrenn

They're all awful, but Ayrenn is sorta kinda a little bit hot, so she wins.

Goshua

Queen Ayrenn

Liked them all but I pledged to the Queen.

Interesting write up above. @VaranisArano

I wasn't paying much attention during Cadwell's gold tbh but I prefer reading stories rather than playing my way through them (..just hurry up and end this dribble already )

SatanicSister

None of them are. They are all bad leaders.

None of those leaders are great leaders. I think enough has been said about Jorrund and Emeric but as for Ayrenn... Players drool over her like schoolboys who have had their first wet dreams about the hottest girl around. I can't stand her though. She reminds me more of some military character not a leader.

M_Volsung

None of them are. They are all bad leaders.

They are all equally worthless.

Banana

Queen Ayrenn

I like ladies

lardvader

Jorunn Skald-King

djyrb

Queen Ayrenn

AD is my least favorite faction overall, but I have to admit that Ayrenn is the "best" leader in the sense that the story surrounding her establishes a far stronger link to you, the player. Once you get to Vukhel Guard, the main town for all AD lowbies, she is present and you are in the mix helping her immediately, getting to know her and go on an early duo mission into the Aeyleid ruins with her. She endears herself to you early on with these plotlines, and there is a sense throughout the entire AD faction quests that she is involved in one way or another and you are working on her behalf the whole time. You are also immersed in the other AD racial leaders quests, like the Silvenar and the Khajiit sisters, far more than the other factions.

Emeric doesn't appear until the 2nd DC zone, and I find him to be a very generic character. I can't remember him being particularly wise, bold, witty or any of the other characteristics you might expect from a memorable leader. The Redguard king is really only present in Alik'r, and Kurog doesn't show up until Orsinium as far as I can remember (although he does make a strong impression there).

Jorunn is even worse off, only appearing in the second to last zone, and is in a coma for most of it. He appears more in the Rift storyline and is on the front lines with you, but I feel it's too late for him to have made a strong impression. And although you meet memorable Dunmer and Argonian leaders, it not strongly established which one of them is really the racial representatives until towards the end, and you sort of assume that's who they must be since they are a) alive and b) there at the final battle with the giant and Thalik.

It seems like ZOS pulled out the "A-team" for the AD storyline during development, and the other factions sort of got the leftovers, perhaps because the star power behind Kate Beckinsale overshadows the voice actors for DC and EP, and they needed to present her with a stronger character.

HidesFromSun

Well, I know we see a lot more of Ayrenn than we do Jorunn. Even though I main Ebonheart Pact and have done since beta, I've got to admit, Ayrenn seems like a very strong leader who genuinely cares for her alliance and will do anything for it.

Funny to admit that considering I used to hate the AD with a fiery passion. Oh how times change

Doctordarkspawn

King Emeric

Emeric is by far the leader with the best plan. The old empire template wasn't bad. And while Emeric may be shrewd and while he may come from the more traditional school of rulership (IE, march a army into it and smash it to bits then claim what's left) he is certainly not doing this out of only a want for conquest. He does care. To the point where the Covenant issued a outright -plead for a cease fire- with the Bosmer and Khajiit, saying they'd love to re-establish trade and that they do not want war. It was ultimately refused, and the covenant was begrudgingly made because people are rightfully afraid of elven enslaving, which is historically prominant in the elder scrolls.

Ayrenn on the other hand does not. She's there to save people from themselves as she see's it. What's worse, is she's dragged an unwanting populace into a war which has caused her to be betrayed by her own people more times than I can count. She is the worst of the possible three, she isn't even effective. Her own people, hate her, and rightly so. They have been dragged into a war they dont want, and have been forced to make numerous seperationist attempts to get out of it, going to Oblivion more than once. Ayrenn does not care. Ayrenn will drag them into what she see's as an enlightened age, by hook or by crook, and isn't even good at it.

Jorrund is the classic case of a good man in a bad time. A man given an impossible situation to deal with. The pact is ineffective, plain and simple. If it actually managed to sieze the ruby throne none of it's respective races would want to govern. The second it succeeds, it fails. It does not have the culture to hold things together, it does not reguard everyone else as *people*, and is thus ultimately doomed to fail.

Emeric has the only chance of succeeding, because he is actually a decent ruler with a good track record of forging alliances and trade agreements, and the ideal his alliance is based off is actually sustainable. The others, are not. Ayrenn is ineffective at keeping her own people in line and has to rule through fear and secret policing, and the pact is ultimately too wrapped up in itself.

Emeric, is the only smart option.

Shardan4968

Jorunn Skald-King

I like Jorunn, but it's a bit biased cuz I fight for him. Actually I think that Alliance war is proof that only Imperials are born leaders and diplomats. They are cosmopolitic which makes it easier to respect other races and their cultures. I know that some people say that humans are agressive and too young to rule as good as Altmers, but let's face it, mers always felt better than others and don't hide it. They are too proud to rule whole Tamriel without tyranny. When Imperials can't win by force, they use diplomacy and trade contracts.They are not flawless, but they have less flaws than other races to rule Empire, unless we want every province separated.

vestahls

Jorunn Skald-King

Kendaric wrote: »

Jorunn, despite the fact that he allowed the filthy Argonians into the Pact.

Unironically this. Aside from the dreaming nonsense, everything about him was straight and to the point. He looks to be the most serious of all the faction leaders.

Emeric is a close second, I really liked him as a character, he was funny. But most of the time I got the impression he'd rather be doing something else. Like he was weary of ruling. Doesn't make for a good leader.

And Ayrenn, let's not even start. She shouldn't be queen in the first place.

yiasemi

None of them are. They are all bad leaders.

Camoran Aeradan. The Bosmer who oozes common sense and manages to delegate a chaotic kingdom to a better bunch of bananas than even Selfridges can boast, while ruling them all, through the divine consent of Yffre and the far less divine machinations of a secret service better than the Blades. And he has compassion, he has kept his rival for the throne alive, and thanks to me, maybe you too, captures the rest of them now. And why does Ayrenn come to him? Because he is the secret power behind her throne too. You can hide a lot in a beard. And he has the biggest trees.
Queen Ayrenn works the charm, Aeradan and Raz work the strings. Maybe in time the new Mane may come into their own, but for now, the youngsters need the Camoran.

Doctordarkspawn

King Emeric

yiasemi wrote: »

Camoran Aeradan. The Bosmer who oozes common sense and manages to delegate a chaotic kingdom to a better bunch of bananas than even Selfridges can boast, while ruling them all, through the divine consent of Yffre and the far less divine machinations of a secret service better than the Blades. And he has compassion, he has kept his rival for the throne alive, and thanks to me, maybe you too, captures the rest of them now. And why does Ayrenn come to him? Because he is the secret power behind her throne too. You can hide a lot in a beard. And he has the biggest trees.
Queen Ayrenn works the charm, Aeradan and Raz work the strings. Maybe in time the new Mane may come into their own, but for now, the youngsters need the Camoran.

I believe what sources we know of from when the second era ends essentially says the Dominion effectively collapses after Camoran dies. His sons fight over the throne and the dominion erodes from within.

Mgghool

None of them are. They are all bad leaders.

I don’t like anyone of the three. And honestly I do not understand how can be Ayrenn so popular.

yiasemi

None of them are. They are all bad leaders.

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

yiasemi wrote: »

Camoran Aeradan. The Bosmer who oozes common sense and manages to delegate a chaotic kingdom to a better bunch of bananas than even Selfridges can boast, while ruling them all, through the divine consent of Yffre and the far less divine machinations of a secret service better than the Blades. And he has compassion, he has kept his rival for the throne alive, and thanks to me, maybe you too, captures the rest of them now. And why does Ayrenn come to him? Because he is the secret power behind her throne too. You can hide a lot in a beard. And he has the biggest trees.
Queen Ayrenn works the charm, Aeradan and Raz work the strings. Maybe in time the new Mane may come into their own, but for now, the youngsters need the Camoran.

I believe what sources we know of from when the second era ends essentially says the Dominion effectively collapses after Camoran dies. His sons fight over the throne and the dominion erodes from within.

The glue that kept the branches up, and the leaves on the tree. And yeah, the problem with divine right rule and progeny.

Schemering

Queen Ayrenn

Ayrenn is the most accessible and i loved see her live in a small house in Greenshade. Her shady history wandering through Tamriel in the past and having no interrest in being a Queen at first adds to her down to earthness. It is usually the ones that are reluctant to lead that are the best leaders

Enslaved

Lets see for real what all of these faction leaders face.

First of all, Jorunn. Let's face it, he is not true leader of EP. Pact is lead by Tribunal, mostly Almalexia. She is pulling all strings and Vivec and Sotha Sil don't mind that. Reasons why ALMSIVI are not formaly leading EP are numerous.
First, if EP fails they can retreat from the alliance easy and blame all on Jorunn or Saxhleel.
Second, they don't really care about Saxhleel at all but many of now free lizzard folk would not stand for their former slaver's Gods to be in charge of Alliance.
Third, ALMSIVI do not care about EP, only about saving Dunmer folk, and they can accomplish that by sending Nords and Saxhleel to die in war, thus reduce the number of Dunmer soldiers that would die in this war.
Fourth, there is hidden agenda behind all related to this war, and Tribunal in playing their own game with some of the restless forces among EP's enemies. In DC zones u can find Dunmer slavers that were sent here to keep their business and agricultural system of Morrowind going strong after liberation of Saxhleel. They were sent here with blessings of Almalexia, surely Jorunn didn't send Dunmer slavers in DC zone. In AD zones we find out EP forces are backing up Veiled Heritance, and only reasonable reason for this would be that Almalexia once again collaborated with enemies of her enemy, trying to stall the process of unification of AD. Surely it was not Jorunn who sent necromancers to help altmer racists.
From what is written here, one can see that Jorunn is just a mask on Almalexia's face, there to simply give EP different look in the eyes of its people and its enemies as well.
What can we say about Jorunn that was not written in above posts? He is a Nord, progressive compared to some of his kin, merciful to his enemies unlike nordic traditions. What he has in common with Tribunal and leaders of Saxhleel is that all he does is done to save his own people, even if that leads to diminishing his own role as a King of the Nords. Reason why he spared his brother are not only matter of family but in hope to prevent civil war between West and East Skyrim at some point. Also, he acts toward Dunmer and Saxhleel as important allies, understanding that role of EP is survival of all 3 nations. He might not be very impressive figure in this Era, but still, he shows some qualities of a real diplomat, unlike many Nords.

Now, lets see the 9th era spaceship, queen Ayrenn.
Pretty much every member of her family wanted her dead. She is blind to all that surrounds her, has more than one similarity to Jorunn ( beside the name ending in nn, lol), she was traveling the world being spoiled child before the death of a family member made her leader of a nation and later, alliance. Razum Dar is pretty much the only being in AD that is not trying to stab the b.. I mean, queen in the back. While her speeches are nice and dandy and totally 21th century irl media friendly, she sends her cannibal minions to devour children of other nations. Why is she not paranoid enough after everybody even my mom tried to kill her during main AD questline? Because their attempts would fail anyways, since she is not a living being anyways. Why is she heartless when it comes to ways their minions deal with children of other nations? Because machines have no real empathy anyways. Real Ayrenn was captured and killed and this abomination was sent in her place to complete its programming. And that is destruction of Nirn.

Last but not least, the filthy breton merchant wannabe king, Emeric.
Pathetic slimy coward, willing to send everybody to die so he can have one more coin in his treasury. A true monarch to some here, as I see. I pity all under his rule. No wonder almost every of DC states had civil war in it.

Violynne

Queen Aryenn
Pros: Open minded
Cons: Impulsive

Walking away to explore the ways of the people is great in theory, but extremely poor in practice. People look up to a leader, but they can't do that when they're not around. Aryenn's departure left a gaping hole for the people, without so much as a word to them why she left.

Returning, it's clear the experience has helped her as she decides the best course of action for working with the Khajiit and Wood Elves, allowing them to become part of the Dominion without having to sacrifice their cultural beliefs or "give up" anything for the alliance.

King Emeric
Pros: Experienced
Cons: Indecisive

Emeric should, due to his age, have a better understanding for both his people, his army, and the alliances he wishes to form. However, he seems to express more doubt than conviction. Cautious would be a word to use here, but as a ruler, sometimes it's necessary to make decisions without over thinking them to the point any decision becomes useless.

His goal is clear: bring together the alliances to protect the people and lands. Let's just hope he can make a decision before he loses both.

Joruun Skald King
Pros: {none}
Cons: Inflexible

Before I get a ton of hate for this, hear me out. The story for Joruun wasn't well told, and it's difficult to get an assessment from his side because he's practically in a coma for most of it. Once healed, his immediate response is to a local threat which we partake and help him out with.

There's very little to go on to judge is capabilities, and his lack of compromise (does he even understand this is an option) makes it too easy to state he's a typical Nord. This wouldn't be fair, so my assessment for Joruun is "undecided". Clearly he's been doing something well as the Rift and Eastmarch seem to appreciate his rule. However, I don't have enough about the alliance he's trying to form.

***

From personal experience in playing in all three factions, I would have to say my favorite is Queen Ayrenn. The way she looks at a situation isn't in the short term. She literally considers the Khajiit and Elves role in the formation of the alliance and makes statements everyone is remembered for bringing the Aldmeri Dominion together, not just a single person.

I also liked Emeric because he shows what age does to a person. He's seen enough to know rash decisions can be bad decisions, but this has unfortunately made it difficult for him to make any decision. He seems more focused on being remembered for doing good, rather than doing what's right.

While he does discuss the relations with other factions, it seemed to me it was more a nuance than an actual goal. This was disappointing, but understandable. He's got a war to think about and can't really waste too much time dealing with politics to form an alliance.

Joruun needs a sequel in an upcoming DLC so we can get a better view of his capabilities. I'm not judging him in the current story arc. There isn't one!

***

So that's my take from a personal viewpoint.

Azurya

Queen Ayrenn

she is the hottest of all 3
Emeric is the most straight forward
yorun has his bright sides buried somewhere in a dragonmount.

VaranisArano

Compared to the Nordic Jarls of TES IV: Skyrim, I'd say Jorunn comes off pretty well. He cares for his people and is active in their defense, sort of like a combination of a less-racist Ulfric Stormcloak and a more-active Balgruuf the Greater.

The biggest issue I have with him is that his son, Irnskar, is shaping up to be an incompetent, arrogant, aggressively racist version of Ulfric Stormcloak who can't even manage to respect the people who are helping him save his father. Whatever good qualities Jorunn has, they've clearly not been taught to his son.

Nemeliom

Queen Ayrenn

Kate Beckinsale

LonePirate

Queen Ayrenn

Jorunn does not make an appearance in the Pact storyline until the fourth full zone (Eastmarch). When I was first questing through the Pact zones, I thought the faction was leaderless. I still think that now which is a testament to how awful and incompetent he is as a leader.

starlizard70ub17_ESO

None of them are. They are all bad leaders.

If I had to pick one of the three then it would be Queen Ayrenn. But they all are flawed as leaders, some more that others, and a lot of seconds in command would make better leaders. As an example, Emeric's sister would make better leader then any of them.

JKorr

None of them are. They are all bad leaders.

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

Emeric is by far the leader with the best plan. The old empire template wasn't bad. And while Emeric may be shrewd and while he may come from the more traditional school of rulership (IE, march a army into it and smash it to bits then claim what's left) he is certainly not doing this out of only a want for conquest. He does care. To the point where the Covenant issued a outright -plead for a cease fire- with the Bosmer and Khajiit, saying they'd love to re-establish trade and that they do not want war. It was ultimately refused, and the covenant was begrudgingly made because people are rightfully afraid of elven enslaving, which is historically prominant in the elder scrolls.

Ayrenn on the other hand does not. She's there to save people from themselves as she see's it. What's worse, is she's dragged an unwanting populace into a war which has caused her to be betrayed by her own people more times than I can count. She is the worst of the possible three, she isn't even effective. Her own people, hate her, and rightly so. They have been dragged into a war they dont want, and have been forced to make numerous seperationist attempts to get out of it, going to Oblivion more than once. Ayrenn does not care. Ayrenn will drag them into what she see's as an enlightened age, by hook or by crook, and isn't even good at it.

Jorrund is the classic case of a good man in a bad time. A man given an impossible situation to deal with. The pact is ineffective, plain and simple. If it actually managed to sieze the ruby throne none of it's respective races would want to govern. The second it succeeds, it fails. It does not have the culture to hold things together, it does not reguard everyone else as *people*, and is thus ultimately doomed to fail.

Emeric has the only chance of succeeding, because he is actually a decent ruler with a good track record of forging alliances and trade agreements, and the ideal his alliance is based off is actually sustainable. The others, are not. Ayrenn is ineffective at keeping her own people in line and has to rule through fear and secret policing, and the pact is ultimately too wrapped up in itself.

Emeric, is the only smart option.

Emeric, who won't govern his own people? Emeric, whose lack of leadership allows a civil war/vampire uprising and wipes out how many towns and people? Emeric, whose only definite decision gets his entire bodyguard wiped out by Clivia, and ends up dead himself because of it? Emeric, who depends on the first random stranger who wanders through to clean up all his messes, wipe out the vampire uprising, and resurrect him to boot? Although the entity in charge of the Redguard afterlife is pretty clear about his not belonging or deserving to be there...... If it isn't about freeing the trade routes to keep the gold flowing, Emeric hasn't got a clue. Especially about the viability of the alliance with the orcs. Unlike some politicians, the orcs remember who keeps wandering by to destroy Orsinium...