The Longhouse Dynasty ruled over a period of relative stability: they clearly fostered learning, sponsoring the creation and distribution to the "Emperor's Guide to Tamriel." Varen Aquilarious himself was initially loyal to Emperor Leovic before he turned on him.

The worship of Daedra is not always an inherently evil act. People, especially those living in tough, unforgiving places such as The Reach and Morrowind, are bound to find value in reflection upon harsher, less gentle principles - survival, strength, self-actualisation, death, the new life that decay nurtures, predator-prey; thus we have The Old Ones, The Reclamations, The House of Troubles, all offering guidance to- and demanding a healthy respect from- those living in hard, marginal, elemental worlds where softness is a liability paid in quick, cold death.

One of the major threads throughout the series has been an evaluation of the altruism of colonialisation - we explore the impact on the peoples the Imperials subjugate. Its a play on the old story of the Roman Empire, with exploration of modern sensibilities regarding things like British Colonialism, and the rights and wrongs of it. We often see through the games the attitudes of the Imperials - their goals are noble and lofty, but they are often intolerant, or even ignorant of the cultures they are visiting their "freedoms" on. If the empire is too Cyro-centric, they are nothing but conquerors and oppressors.

There's little that's ever explicitly said about the wrongs of the Longhouse Emperors, but there is at least evidence that they contributed some good. Comparitively, Aquilarious turned on the emperor he was sworn to serve, murdered him and dumped his body in the sewers. Then, in his hubris, went on to be instrumental in perhaps the greatest catastrophe and loss of life that was every wrought on Tamriel.

In terms of writing, I want to say that I really appreciate a story-telling mode that is robust enough to support two competing points of view, neither of which is inherently right or wrong. Having perspectives to explore, and problems to turn over, and over again are always far more interesting than Disney evil, because it invites exploration and reflection, and engages us to search for and tackle nuance. Its also one of the halmarks, imv, of TES story writing. I really hope that the writers are in a position to embrace this sort of thing going forward!

P.S.; check out Blackdrake Villa 4-person dungeon. Its a hell of a lot of fun to play, and there's some genuinely interesting stuff to explore around the issue of the Longhouse Emperors.