it's been 4 fucking years so I'm revising this list. rating the Thalmor:
Elenwen: 7/10. gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss. pure poise and very smart compared to the rest of the cast. the only one in the game who understands how military intelligence and espionage work, and the only Thalmor to understand tact. absolute genocidal racist war criminal of course, but that goes without saying.
Ancano: 2/10. It's been 11 years and I still don't know what Ancano was actually trying to accomplish aside from being Evil. only second to Elenwen regarding tact but the bar is low. also his voice is annoying and he's ugly unless you mod the shit out of him. why is he a tesblr sexyman I don't understand.
Ondolemar: 10/10. Actual tesblr sexyman for that single line of dialogue that 90% of players won't even hear. evil himbo. still a charming, amusing, lazy dumbass. between doing Literally Nothing to Talos-worshippers in Markarth (the temple of Talos is still open?????) and being willing to make a distraction so you can break into his own embassy (after he ruins any diplomatic rapport Elenwen has built of course) Ondolemar is not only useless to the Thalmor but actively harmful to them. best Thalmor hands down.
Rulindil: 5/10. Middle of the road. not very smart but at least he does his job, unlike the previous two on this list. not very well of course but he does do it. mildly amusing watching him taunt and threaten Gissur though I guess.
Ancarion: 9/10. he's nice and is the most reasonable npc in the game, abduction and torture aside. though he is willing to try methods other than torture and force - like, you know, paying the LDB like a normal person or even just giving up and leaving without complaint - which means he has better judgement and conflict resolution skills than most of the population of Skyrim.
Captain Valmir: 15/10 I would never change his rating except to make it higher. love this stupid fucker.
Estormo: 1/10. why did they even bother to name this guy?
J'datharr: 4/10. I love that the other Khajiit instantly sell him out bc he makes no attempt whatsoever to put effort into this whole infiltration thing. that they also leave him behind is just a bonus. otherwise he is nothing to speak of.
Agent Sanyon: 6/10. he gets a posthumous honorable mention for 1) being 100% right and smarter than his peers, 2) hey he may have died but he was outnumbered and still took out multiple people so kudos to him.
Shavari: 1/10. I don't think I've ever encountered this character alive. either the Riften guards or my followers always take her the fuck out first. RIP.
Malborn: 0/10 I literally find the actual Thalmor more tolerable to him. he fucked around and won't stop crying about finding out. Please shut up and refrain from running headlong into the frost troll.