Options:

1: Attempt to take on the Thalmor with a free Skyrim and possibly a Hammerfell/High rock alliance.

2: Embrace the Thalmor controlled Empire and give them Skyrim.

OR:

3: Let both sides work out their issues and handle the REAL threats to Tamriel (Which a Civil War is not)

But you said that you thought the Empire was controlled by the Thalmor. I don't think you can really work out your issues with the Thalmor.

What I don't understand is why a lot of folks think Ulfric only cares about power. I never got that impression when speaking to him.

Nobody knows that they are, though. IT is possible but it will take forever.

Yeah. Tumblr, for instance, is a non-stop whinefest about how great Balgruuf is and those terrible Stormcloaks. There as well as here, the few true Nords stick together.

I think a lot of it is, ironically, kneejerk prejudice. Because the Nords are white guys with funny accents, their nationalists must be Nazis.

Directly? Probably not. But it's very likely that the empire is being controlled indirectly by the thalmor.

This is what I meant.

If I had only one regret about being an Imperial, it is that Balgruff doesn't get kicked off his high horse.

Hey, I just created those two options based on what you said. The Thalmor want to kill everyone, you just can't work out shizzle like that.

The Thalmor are in control, only not directly/overtly.

For me i think the war is petty and foolish. The SC can't protect Skyrim by themselves especially that they are only pro Nord. If you ain't a nord go walk the streets. The Imperials are leashed by the Thalmor cause of that white-gold thing so they gotta do what the Thalmor said so. Why don't they just get along and with the Dragonborn's help they could eliminate and destroy any Thalmor that resides in Skyrim. Think about it, with all the resource from the factions and Delphine alone orchestrated that Thalmor Embassy infiltration and it worked smoothly they could drive out the Thalmor and send them home running.

I mean if the Dragonborn can kill dragons, countless of troops and mages then he could do it with a united Skyrim. Thalmor have this in the bag cause they sit back, relax and drink hot tea or whatever the heck they drink and watch Skyrim tear each other up.

Yeah, some people will swarm all over you and accuse you of some pretty nasty stuff just for supporting an imaginary faction in a video game. I've seen it first-hand on other message boards, and that's likely to be a pretty big reason why it appears that such a large majority support the Empire- who wants to speak up about their character joining the Stormcloaks only to have to deal with that sort of nonsense?

Both are bad. But taking the things in consideration, and for convenience, its far better to crush the Stormcloaks and secure the land with the empire, than let a crazy fanatic who rised to power killing his king in the worst moment possible for the land.

If you remove the Dragonborn, Ulfric would have been executed. With a choice between the Empire and the Thalmor, Nords would turn to the Empire. And then no one wins because Skyrim is infested with dragons. Can the Thalmor beat dragons? No. Not without the Thalmorborn.

That's a good one.