A few Skyrim/Steam related questions

[StarSword]

Let's not forget that the Thalmor doesn't want Ulfric dead, as a continued struggle with the Empire will weaken it only further

My guess is that the Imps put their collective foot down and said, "Sorry, you don't have jurisdiction over how we put down rebellions," and the Thalmor couldn't come up with a workable excuse for them to keep him alive. I'm also fairly certain they don't give a fuck about the average Altmer.

[Lord Revan]

Let's not forget that the Thalmor doesn't want Ulfric dead, as a continued struggle with the Empire will weaken it only further

My guess is that the Imps put their collective foot down and said, "Sorry, you don't have jurisdiction over how we put down rebellions," and the Thalmor couldn't come up with a workable excuse for them to keep him alive. I'm also fairly certain they don't give a fuck about the average Altmer.

well the thing is that the Thalmor aren't all that stupid (fanatical sure but that that stupid) and they've cast themselves as the saviors of Summerset Isles (and by extension the Aldemeri Dominion, so while normally they would give a rats as about what happens to an average Altmer, but when you got a female Altmer in a group of mostly male Nords (there's few women in the mix but the majority is men), it wouldn't be much of an effort for them to say "General Tullius what is that elf accused of?" and then request your release when it's found that you're not really accused of anything and you'd be in debt to the Thalmor for getting you out.

As for Ulfric you seem to forget that it's a "win-win" situation for the Thalmor if he is not executed he will keep rebelling against the Empire and if he is executed without a trial it's likely that the remaining Stormcloak Jarls will see him as a martyr.

[Wing Commander MAD]

For what it's worth the general consensus is that the Thalmor at Helgen were there to try to prevent Ulfric from being executed by Tullius on the spot, most likely by insisting that his execution take place in the Imperial City or in Solitude. Mind you a convenient "escape" is almost sure to happen in that case. IIRC that's actually Elenwen herself at Helgen. Keep in mind this all also fits in nicely with Tullius not even paying any attention to the PC, as he has far larger and more urgent fish to fry than some unlucky sap caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Heck, Tullius even encourages the PC to flee if you stand around by him before heading into the keep. I have a feeling he wouldn't be doing the same to Ulfric or a known lieutenant of Ulfric's. And no the Thalmor are anything but stupid. These are the guys who basically out cloak-and-daggered the Blades.

As for the player being Altmer, the Thalmor could care less unless the PC was an Thalmor agent, asset or potential asset to the Dominion, or perhaps related to someone of import in the Empire who would care that the PC was saved. This of course relies on the player's identity being known beforehand and their past, which goes against the trend in the series for the PC's past to be largely irrelevant compared to what they'll achieve during the game. I really doubt they'd attempt to utilize the PC given such short notice. Elenwen only spared Ulfric after learning he was a Jarl's son during interrogation when he was captured during the Great War. My guess is that Elenwen is going to go for a known high value asset that has been cultivated versus an unknown potential asset. Trying to go for both is likely going to be too ambitious.

[Lord Revan]

the thing about assets is that they can be many things at once and the Altmer PC may not be all that useful as a potential agent as far as the Thalmor know, but he/she would useful as symbol of imperial cruelty and thalmor benevolence if saved. Granted that would mean a different start for the Altmer PC which would break Elder Scrolls tradition so I'm not disappointed but it provides a nice irony to the start.

EDIT:I mentioned the that Thalmor aren't stupid cause here in SDN there's a tendency (possibly due to GOP) to assume that fanatics are always as dumb as a rock.