Although there was one thing I always wondered. Why is there no impact after the Emperor is killed (or not killed) ? If he was indeed assassinated wouldn't there be rather strong repercussions on the whole civil war? Some sign other than the occassional guard comment. Why wouldn't it have an impact on the civil war questiline? It would be a great coup for the Stormcloaks. "We killed your king, so we win" or something like that. Or set off new questlines for example, maybe new treaties with the Thalmor (or boot them out, or not), kick out straggler Imperialists etc. etc. Is Ulfric's spy network (not to mention the Empire's hush hush crew being incapable) so weak it wouldn't receive news like that? (not like every guard talks about it) Why is the General more important than the Emperor? Or, maybe an alternative depending on who you are aligned with, ie assassinate Ulfric instead of the Emperor. And, if you've killed the Emperor in the DB questline, but haven't done civil war yet, what impact would that have on the truce meeting with the Dragonborn (to deal with dragons instead of civil conflict)? Well ok, I guess it was more than one thing :)