I almost always go with Imperials.

Yeah, they made the Thalmor a very easy faction to hate. No matter how you feel about the civil war, everyone hates the Thalmor, and I feel that an Imperial victory will cause the most harm for the Thalmor.

If you are pro Empire(almost every single race) and want Talos back, side with the Empire.


If you are pro Thalmor(High Elves), go with Ulfric and bring ruin to the Empire.

ive made up my mind quickly after hearing the lore, no doubt

empire it is.

For the empire !

/RP off :wink_smile:

I'd rather have the "A Fistful of Dollars" option and bring both sides down.

Uldred

I'm with Ulfric Stormcloak everytime. The man is a patriot. He was a soldier in the Empire fighting the Dominion, fighting for his homeland, fighting for his countrymen. When he saw the Empire surrender, he was broken. The Empire he fought for, the Empire he believed in, would NEVER surrender. Now the Dominion had the Empire on a leash and outlawed the worship of the beloved Talos. This is just too much for any self respecting Nord to be able to stand. The Empire he believed in was now dead, and had to be rebuilt. The original Empire was founded by the Nords, so it would have to happen again. I have other things to say about Ulfric and the Dominion but would spoil some of the story and I don't know how to add spoiler tags. But yeah, I see Ulfric not as a power hungry man like the General described him, but as a George Washington or William Wallace type of man.

The Thalmor call him an asset.
An asset of the Thalmor is an enemy of Talos.

Seriously dude, it's "Coup" - Nobody is forcing a chicken-house on anyone.

Except maybe Col. Sanders

I think it's better to side with the Empire. Yes, you could view the treaty as a "cowardly" move on their part, but the fact is that the Empire has no more love for the Thalmor than the Stormcloaks. The Thalmor, being the pieces of crap that they are, are eventually going to find an excuse for starting another conflict with the humans, and the Stormcloaks are fools (or suicidal) if they think that Skyrim can defend itself against them without the Empire's aid, especially since the civil war will only make it EASIER for the Thalmor to attack them. Plus, the Stormcloaks are just as intolerant as the Thalmor, and not just against different species.

Thanks for all replies guys! I think this is most Interesting topic is elders series, I think a great war is brewing!

But remember this my friends the thalmor dont want any side to win.

It'a a common misconception that siding with the Stormcloaks means siding with the elves. The notes on Ullfric in the embassy say that a quick win by the Storm cloaks would be just as bad for the elves as a quick win by the imperials. Ullfric has left the elven reservation and is acting on his own interestes, not those of the elves.

If the US and England can join together to fight the Germans, I think the Empire and Skyrim can fight against the Thalmor together just fine.

wioohooowiooh Internet police has arrived !! im so sorry grammar nazi ! Pls forgive me Coop coop coop, ill say it like i want

u mad????

Let us see, the Empire, who is in bed (not of their own volition, more like getting terribly molested and continuing to be their six slave in a Fritzl dungeon) with the horribly xenophobic to men and supremacist amongst mer Thalmor led by extremist Altmer.
Then, Ulfric and the Stormcloaks who feel screwed over by the White-Gold Concordat outlawing the worship of Talos, who gave their lives against the Thalmor in the previous war that led to the treaty. (Not being entirely nice (I assume) to mer because of their cousins leading the Thalmor and previous Nord-Mer conflicts (Morrowind etc.)).

So, side with the Empire to increase the chance of winning the next war against the Aldmeri Dominion and continue for now to be the Thalmor's boot-licking foot stools or side with the Stormcloaks, split from the Empire and restore the worship of Talos to its rightful place, while decreasing chances of staving off further defeat at the hands of the Aldmeri Dominion.

To me, it appears either way the Empire is screwed and I can't help but feel sympathy with the opressed Stormcloaks, so despite Ulfric's racist undertones and policies, I'd have to side with the Stormcloaks for the nobler cause against Aldmeri/Thalmor tyranny.

My first char sided with the Empire because of the previous TES games. Once I fully understood the issue, my compassion for the Stormcloak cause grew. So I made my second char side with them.

Everyone harps on Ulfric saying "racist racist racist'. Nobody seemed to mind when the Dunmer acted racist. Everybody was cool with that. But in any event, he's more nationalistic than racist, at least at the present.

I dislike both factions. The Empire suffers those Justiciars and the Legion tells me what to do a lot, and they also assume I'm loyal way too much. The Stormcloaks have done some bad things, although I have decided that the Solitude royalty is full of BS after that execution. They claim to hold to tradition and at the same time they know fully well that the guard that opened the gate wasn't disloyal- he was a political football. The court is also effete and arrogant. General Tullius is so full of himself he could pop, and he complains alot about Nords when you hear him talk. He's a pro, but he's a pro that's not inclined to favor the country he's in. His force is an occupying one more than a protecting one.

Ulfric won't deal with certain threats, ostensibly because they don;t affect Nords, but I've done a couple quests along those lines, and those bandits targetted everyone; Ulfric still didn't do anything. So the point about his being anti-everything-but-Nord doesn't hold water in those cases- he is equally callous to everyone. He wants power sure thing.

Everyone also seems to assume that a Skyrim broken off from the Empire weakens both sides. I'm not sure that's true. But it could make a two-front war for the Thalmor

And re: Ulfric being an 'asset'. That's what the Thalmor think and hope, alright. Is it true? They also say a Stormcloak victory is to be avoided in the same dossier- they don't want him to be in a position to win, and maybe even don't want him to be High King. How does that mesh with his being some kind of agent? He'd have more power and influence over the struggle with the Empire. Plus he allows talos worship, and the Aldemri hate that. They imprisoned him and released him in the hopes he;d be their agent but he makes no indication that it's possible. He hates the Aldmeri representative. What evidence is there that Ulfric will ever aid the Thalmor cause other than a dossier written by the Thalmor? Everyone assume that they are correct all the time? I guess they really are superior, then...

An independent Skyrim may hurt the empire but I don;t see how that means it must aid the Aldmeri. The empire is washed up anyway

I go with what's good for the elves.

The empire is good for elves...so I side with them.

However my Altmer mage wishes that he could have a chat with the Dominion. Why not? He should have that option.

I joined the Storm cloaks because I refuse to wear a skirt in the imperial uniform and also because Ulfric reminds me of Adolf Hitler.

What reminds you about Hitler in Ulfric? His abominable paintings?

I wonder what your rationale is? Because Ulfric doesn't like some groups of people, and Hitler is an infamous figure that you can name? Seems sketchy

Ulfric Is a Unwilling Thalmor SLEEPER Agent! There racist Pigs!

Ulfric is courageous! also me and him became good friends.

They were losing No Legion lost less than half of it's men they needed to recover and recruit. They needed a temporary peace

If hes a william wallace type of man he will end up being gutted by a empire much stronger than him and loose his homeland anyway.

The empire is for the long term good, the stormcloaks are good for the short term until the elves attack.

One thing that often gets overlooked in these discussions is that the Imperial side has Nords too. Half the Nords in Skyrim supports the Empire and opposes the Stormcloaks. In addition, Ulfrik murdered the rightful Nordic high king and keeps Elisif, a Nord from taking the throne. Though Ulfrik hides behind his claims of Skyrim for the Nords but it should really be Skyrim for Ulfrik, since he'll fight the Nords who don't want him to be High King but have just as much right and say in the matter as his side claims to.

Even the banning of Talos worship is a weak excuse, as the imperials worship Talos, just not openly. An npc even says something among the lines that Talos worship was banned but everyone still had their shrines and none cared until Ulfrik started making a fuss, only after which the Thalmor started cracking down on it.