Bethesda Needs to clarify this for players

[vinh834]

It seems to me that most people that play this game that are not that interested in lore are led to believe that the Empire invaded skyrim and conquered it, whereas the Nords were actually the one that created the Empire in the first place.

[Tidus44]

Depends on what your are talking about. From the wiki.

 

Fourth Empire

 

High Chancellor Ocato became Potentate Ocato when no candidate to replace Martin could be found. Ocato kept the Empire more or less intact in the tumultuous years after the Oblivion Crisis, but was assassinated in or around 4E 10, which ushered in the seven-year Stormcrown Interregnum.[10] It ended when Titus Mede captured the Imperial City and crowned himself the first Emperor of a new dynasty.[11]

 

In 4E 168, Emperor Titus Mede II ascends to the throne. The Empire is now a shadow of its former glory. Valenwood and Elsweyr had been ceded to the Thalmor, Black Marsh had been lost to Imperial rule since the Oblivion Crisis, Morrowind had yet to fully recover from the eruption of Red Mountain, and Hammerfell was plagued by infighting between the Crown and Forbear factions. Only High Rock, Cyrodiil, and Skyrim remained prosperous and peaceful.

 

In 4E 171, the Great War begins with armies from the Aldmeri Dominion invading the Imperial provinces of Hammerfell and Cyrodiil. After Titus II rejects an ultimatum to make massive concessions to the Thalmor, Aldmeri armies invade. An army led by Thalmor general Lord Naarifin emerges from hidden camps in northern Elsweyr and assaults southern Cyrodiil, flanking Imperial defenses along the Valenwood border. Leyawiin falls to the invaders, and Bravil is surrounded and besieged. Simultaneously, an army under Lady Arannelya crosses western Cyrodiil, bypassing Anvil and Kvatch and entering Hammerfell. This army is joined by smaller forces landing on Hammerfell's coast. Imperial troops are forced into retreat across the Alik'r Desert. The war ends a year after the Thalmor siege and sack The Imperial City with the Battle Of The Red Ring, and with the subsequent Imperial acceptance of the White-Gold Concordat. This contains terms almost identical to those rejected before the war, specifically the outlaw of Talos worship, which was one of the major causes of the Civil War in Skyrim. Hammerfell secedes from the Empire and works to combat Thalmor forces, gaining their freedom in 4E 180. This leaves the Empire in a diminished and less stable condition, though it retains control of the provinces of Cyrodiil, High Rock, and Skyrim.

 

In 4E 201, the Nords of Skyrim engage in a civil war for independence from the Empire. Factions consist of the Stormcloaks led by Ulfric Stormcloak, and the Imperial Legion, led by General Tullius.

[BrettM]

I'm not sure how anyone would get the impression that Skyrim was conquered. The relationship between Skyrim and the Empire should be obvious from casual conversations even to players who never study the lore. Some characters will mention their pride in serving in the Legion and others will speak of Skyrim as being the strength of the Empire. Some who support the Stormcloaks will speak of how the Empire sold them out with the Concordat. Even Ulfric speaks of his service in the Legion and how he feels betrayed by the Empire he bled for. Anyone who talks to a priest of Talos (or listens to the noisy ranting of the preacher in Whiterun) will hear about Skyrim's long history of support for the Empire. None of this is the kind of talk you'd expect to hear from a conquered population forced to provide conscript cannon fodder.

 

But I don't think it's entirely accurate to say the Nords created the Empire, though they did join it voluntarily early on. Tiber Septim set out to conquer Skyrim after he became General of the Colovian Estates under King Cuhlecain. The Nords fought him until they realized that he was a "true son of Skyrim" when they heard his thu'um, after which they decided to follow him. One would have to study the lore some to find this out, but you don't need to know it to know that Skyrim isn't just another conquest.

 

If you ask me, though, the Empire supporters in Skyrim are fooling themselves when they talk about the importance of Skyrim to the Empire and the respect that the Empire has for the Nords. All of that was true during the Septim dynasty, which had strong ties of kinship and shared history with Skyrim. But that was over 200 years ago and the current dynasty has no such ties. The Empire of today regards the Nords as barbarian outlanders who would all become brigands if the Empire didn't force civilization on them. They have absolutely no respect for the political system of Skyrim or the Nord sense of honor. The relationship between Skyrim and the Empire has changed since the Oblivion crisis, but there are many like Jarl Balgruuf who do not realize it and are clinging to the past.

[vertex23]

There's a bit of a difference between "The Nords" who created the Empire, and the Nords who are currently in Skyrim.