cartersj

This is a scapegoat argument. It is accusing your neighbors of all your problems. Why should the people of Skyrim have to keep the Empire strong? It's like Iraq blaming it's problems of Kuwait since Kuwait wants to be an independant nation. If Iraq lost a war, woiuld you say, "It's because Kuwait would not stay a part of Iraq, so it's their fault." No. Skyrim doesn't have to fight for the Empire if they don't want to, and if it makes the Empire weaker, then it's the Empires own fault for not respecting the people of Skyrim enough to keep them happy. The Stormcloaks are blamed for problems that were actually caused by the Thalmor, so if anyone is evil, it's them. The Stormcloaks are just fighting a war that the Empire has failed to win. The war against the ban of Talos. That's an utterly ridiculous over-generalization. The Thalmor are not the problem either, it's the Dominion that's the true problem, the Thalmor are just a small part. The Empire never enforced the White-Gold Concordat's Talos ban. It was the Stormcloak's (read: Ulfric's) fault that the Dominion began to look more closely at the Empire's internal affairs. Many around Skyrim mention at some point or another in random dialogue that they were able to worship Talos freely before Ulfric began publicly decrying the concordat and it's unfair ban of Talos worship. So yes, it was their fault. It's also laughable that you could possibly think the war is all about Talos. The Great War was a war of aggression from the Dominion, attempting to destroy the Empire. Admittedly, a large part of the war was about Talos worship (the Dominion really wants revenge on Talos for his destruction of the first Aldmeri Dominion), but not all. Even though they succeeded in banning Talos worship, the Dominion will still attack the Empire in the future. The Empire wasn't so concerned about the Talos ban as the sword-point tactic the Aldmeri used against them. An empire simply does not submit to another's arrogant demands without at least resisting greatly. As I have mentioned several times, the Empire will make things right by reopening the war with the Dominion, and winning this time. They were unprepared for the first war, and Titus Mede II was unaware of their poor military state at the start of the Great War. The Stormcloaks have no hope of defeating the Dominion alone, with, or without the Dragonborn. No continents are going to ally themselves with others against the Dominion, they will each hope the Aldmeri will leave them alone, vainly, and then be crushed one by one. Following the paths of previous games, the Dragonborn may very well not play a significant role in the Civil War, only the Dragon Crisis. Bethesda usually has seperate people for each main quest.

"Ulfric just wants to be High King" - Of course he does, the whole Stormcloak rebellion was started several years after the White-Gold concordat, as a power-grab. Ulfric does have valid points, but to him they aren't so important. If you carefully listen to his dialogue, it's designed to inspire the Nords, as any speech should, but talk to Ulfric himself and he doesn't care too much about the populace. Especially non-Nords. He's elitist. "The Empire just wants to rule Skyrim." - They don't necessarily rule it, in case you didn't know. They get resources, and soldiers for the legion, but the Nords still have their High King. Each province is given a large measure of freedom. The reason that Ulfric didn't become High King after killing Torryg is because most don't consider the Voice to be "fair" in a fight. Just like they wouldn't consider magic "fair". Not all Nords side with Ulfric, but very few non-Nords side with him. Just look at the Grey Quarter in Windhelm to see what he thinks of other races. Elisif isn't corrupt like Ulfric mentions in his final speech. In fact, she's still grieving over the loss of her husband, as she mentions after that speech in conversation. The Empire isn't some dying force, and Titus Mede II refused the terms in the White-Gold Concordat once before, but after the Imperial City had been sacked by the Dominion and retaken (at a great cost mind you) did the Emperor accept those terms. Plus the fall of the Blades. War with the Aldmeri Dominion will begin again, I promise you. Skyrim needs to stand with the Empire when that happens. General Tullius may not understand the Nords, I admit, but I can understand where he's coming from. In his mind he needs to get troops to places like Whiterun, but the Jarls are refusing his help, so he's getting angry. He needs those cities to remain independent, not under the control of the Stormcloaks. If he was truly as bad as some think, he wouldn't ask, he would just force the troops down the Jarl's collective throats. The Empire has made some mistakes, but they're not what detractors make them out to be. A few helpful links: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Great_War http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Ulfric_Stormcloak (the part about Torryg

Glad to help out. And by the way, Elder Scrolls: Arena is set in all Tamriel.

Of course neither side is perfect, but I feel the Empire is the lesser of the two evils (neither side is truly *evil* though). I've heard some people talking about the Imperials robbing them on the road and such. I think the Stormcloaks themselves are being deceived by Ulfric, because he clearly says he is fighting for an independent Skyrim, but we know he wouldn't be fighting if there wasn't a way for him to have the power. Besides, Talos worship was never truly outlawed until Ulfric started making a noise about it being against the law. The Empire was really just turning a blind eye to the whole thing, but then when Ulfric started everything the Aldmeri Dominion got wind of it. The Empire still doesn't help the Aldmeri Dominion in finding Talos worshipers. Besides, as I said, the Empire was going to eventually begin the war with the Aldmeri again, and undo everything set up in the White-Gold Concordat.

I just finished the Stormcloak questline today. I could never bring myself to do it because I always felt bad at Whiterun when forcing Balgruff to submit and Vignar walks in there, so I always reloaded an earlier save. I thought I needed to see what the ending was though so I finally finished it. It gave me the distinct impression that the Stormcloaks were closer to the bad guys than the Imperials (something I had always suspected). A). We all have to admit Ulfic's intentions are less than honorable. The last conversation between he and Galmar really gave that away. He just wanted to be king. B). General Tullius' last words made sense. The Empire never planned to go out quietly, the military was always preparing for another war, but it was the Aldmeri Dominion who started the troubles in Skyrim. (I wonder if they contacted Ulfric by chance?) C). Without Skyrim, the Empire may not be able to defeat the Aldmeri Dominion, and Skyrim by itself certainly won't be able to. Regardless of what you may think (I'm not taking arguments on this one), Skyrim doesn't have the power to withstand an empire that was able to give the Empire, made of many provinces, a run for it's money. D). No one actually likes the Dominion, and no one helps them "enforce" their ban on Talos worship, which will most likely be lifted when the Empire renews war with the Dominion. All that aside, Bethesda really put a twist into TES. Instead of it all being about one game, and one main story that ends at that game's end, the story from Skyrim might continue to the next game. Maybe we'll get to participate in the war with the Aldmeri. Or at least in an expansion maybe? Anyways, I hope the next game is in Valenwood or Hammerfell.