terzho Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Eleswyr and Valenwood joined the Aldemeri Dominion willingly and let's face it, are better off. The way I read it, the Thalmor engineered a coup in Valenwood, installed a puppet government and have been merrily slaughtering any Bosmer who don't like it (example: Malborn's family). And the Khajit were tricked - something to do with the moons disappearing and reappearing (I'm a little hazy on what that's all about). The Argonians seem to have done well for themselves though, counterattacking into Oblivion during the crisis and then invading Morrowind. They're no puppet of the Thalmor or the Empire. Good for them. Before the Bosmer joined the Aldemeri dominion their government was still a puppet government except it was imperial led although I do admit the purges did exist. Also with the Khajit it may or may not have been a trick we don't know that. The important thing was that the khajit joined willingly and without bloodshed and even got to go back to their old form of government. When the Empire was formed everything was done through war and conquest. What I'm trying to say is though the "Empire" is not what it once was anymore and Skyrim being a part of it only benefits Cyrodil. Skyrim by itself is stronger, they can keep their own resources instead of given it away to Cyrodil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanchan05 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 + As a Stormcloak officer, I get to wear a bear on my head. It's worth destroying the Empire just for that. It's hard to argue against that. My Bosmer was an Imperial legate and I have that armor. Got if off a Stormcloak Officer I killed in the Whiterun seige. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcpunchface Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I went Stormcloaks mostly for the reason of walking into Solitude Legion barracks and listened into the General telling the Nord chick to rile up the Jarls against Ulfric, even if she has to exaggerate.......so shows right there that they're manipulating the "lawless Nords" to their bidding........to solve this "problem," I thought, "oh, well, All Ulfric wants is the Nords to go back into control." Just because some of the Nords hate the "lesser races" doesn't mean the Stormcloaks in general hate the "lesser races," I mean, I'm a Kajit fighting for a free Skyrim! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitsakos2006 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 On my first playthrough i went with SC.The decision was simple, i was going to be executed just for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. That doesn't sound very fair... lolNow on my 2nd playthrough after helgen i followed the nord again but i want to start the Imperials. Is that possible? Or i am stuck with the SC again?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanchan05 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 (edited) Its possible. You can even escape Helgen with the stormcloaks and side with the imperials. What happens in Helgen apart from the dragons doesn't have anything to do with your other choices. Just head to Castle Dour in Solitude. Edited January 25, 2012 by chanchan05 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitsakos2006 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 thank you, i'll try that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khorak Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I chose the Stormcloaks. Because the viking cliche is way more fun than the collapsing empire cliche. Geez, at least the Empire in Morrowind and Oblivion looked cool. Now they're an army of leather and bows. What the hell happened there? I'd kill Stormcloaks all day, every day, 365 days a year, if the Empire at least managed to pull out some damn aesthetic appeal. But nooooooo. So sod them. Not that the Stormcloaks are much better in that regard, but there's always a bear on your head to look forward to, which is modelled throughout the entire questline by the most hilariously angry, gravelly voiced man in all of Skyrim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lachdonin Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I wouldn't go so far as to say its a choice between Tamriel vs Skyrim becase let's think about it for a second. The Aldemeri dominion only wants to war against the Human races. Eleswyr and Valenwood joined the Aldemeri Dominion willingly and let's face it, are better off. The Argonians of Black Marsh left the empire and are also better off since they own a majority of Morrowind. Hammerfall have shown they can hold off on their own and had a right to leave the empire as they pretty much got sold out with the majority of their lands being planned on being given away. So this leaves us with a weak Cyrodil, a half unwilling-opressed Skyrim and High rock. If skyrim stays with the Empire they get their resources taken away, aren't allowed to openly worship their God and have to wait around for Cyrodil to eventually rebuild. Skyrim by itself is stronger then a Skyrim getting leached off of by a weak Cyrodil. So it's not really Tamriel vs Skyrim. It's more whether you still care about Cyrodil or you want a strong Skyrim. Who says that Skyrim by itself can't hold off against the Aldemeri Dominion. They don't have to lose resources to Cyrodil so they can focus on themselves. Maybe when Cyrodil gets their act together and rebuild they can make an alliance with skyrim on Skyrims Terms rather then forcing them. This is, really, a highly skewed breakdown of the current history and political alignment. First, within the Dominion, very few people are 'better off'. Summerset and Valenwood regularly suffer from Stalinesque purges, where dissadents and political rivals are executed by the Thalmor. Elswyr currently suffers froma 'God complex' and veritably worship the Thalmor because of the moon incedent, which may or may not have involved the Thalmor at all. Second, Hammerfell did not 'hold off on their own' but in fact did so with the assistance of a large force of Imperial Legionaries, who had been 'dissmissed' for the express purpose of protecting Hammerfell. It was these soldiers who not only bore the brunt of the fighting, but the brunt of the casualties, so in the end Hammerfell was still saved through the shedding of imperial blood. Third, the Domminion does not 'only' want war with the Humans, they want the complete subjugation of all non-Mer on Tamriel. The Humans just happen to be the ones putting up the biggest fight. There are also indications that the Thalmor want to literally destroy the world to regain their godhood, but thats a convoluted hypothesis better placed elsewhere. Fourth, the asumption that Skyrim alone is stronger than Skyrim in the Empire is assuming that all Skyrim's resources go to feeding the Empire. Not only is this not shown in game, but its mentioned in Falkreath, Markarth, Whiterun, Solitude and even Riften that Skyrim largely depends on trade with Cyrodiil. Cutting off that trade would, in fact, make Skyrim weaker. Fifth, the Argonians do not, in fact, control the majority of Morrowind. The Infernal City states quite clearly that, after exacting their revenge on Drez and Telvaani, they withdrew back into their swamps. Asside from that, we have absolutely zero knowlege about their current state of affairs, so we can't judge whether or not their doing well. We are told that, however, that the last time a Hist seperated its self from the network it caused something of a civil war as the other Hist worked to destroy it. Since the Hist in Lilmoth did just that, for all we know the whole province could still be embroiled in a Argonian civil war. Finally, you'll note that i refer to the Empire and Cyrodiil independantly. Thats because the two are not synonomous. The Empire is a inter-national governing body which acts in the intrests of all the provinces. That does not seem to ahve changed, as it's still in the Provinces intrests to deal with the Thalmor. We are told by Tullius directly that the reason he has so few troops is because the main Legion armies are rallied at the Domminion border. Just because the capital is in Cyrodiil does not mean the Empire works solely in Cyrodiil's intrests. As such, i stand by the statement that the factions revolve around Tamriel-vs-Skyrim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mhort Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I played as Imperial but didn't finished the quest line!Now with my Third character i'm willing to join the Stormcloacks and do some rampage in Solitude... :whistling: Since I've already killed the Emperor!! :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashven Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Dear God, I was so incredibly wrong about the Stormcloaks. So incredibly wrong. I decided to go with the Imperials while starting a new game (and actually prayed I wouldn't have to kill Ralof) and eventually got out and got moving. As I progressed through some of the story, I started realizing...this makes sense. There's a purpose for what the Imperials do, and it doesn't involve a more-or-less rogue Jarl wanting to plant his fat ass upon the throne. They know full what what the Thalmor are, they're no more happy about having to deal with them than the Nords are. But I actually understood how the Imperials are slightly worried that if Skyrim splits away, they might not be able to fight the Thalmor back if there's another Great War. I mean, don't get me wrong - I read all of this before. But it took me seeing it to really believe it, I suppose. I guess I'll have to start tipping the bards to play the Age of Agression now, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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