So I understand there are two factions with the game (I don't have it yet but I get the basics) but who are the good guys. I get that the Stormcloaks want Skyrim to be free of the Empire but the Nords didn't have that view in Oblivion and I get that this is because of the new line of Emperors and things aren't as rosy as they were then but if I side with the Stormcloaks (I'll be playing as a Nord) and kick out the Empire does that then mean the Thalmor will have enough strength to overthrow the Empire and take over Skyrim anyway? And I still feel like I have some kind of alligieance to the Septim emperors but I think the Nords to as well.
Thanks for answers in advance

P.S. I'm new so be gentle

Nobody.

I guess the 'bad' guys could be considered as the Altmeri Dominion.

The choice is entirely up to you. You don't even have to be one of the good guys. You can be as evil as you want.

Dunmer of Grey Quarter.

They secretly run everything to keep a balance. Subtle manipulators, preventing anyone from obtaining too much power, keeping everything... in the grey. All while looking like impoverished refugees living in a slum, so you know they're not doing it for personal gain. Those magnificent bastards.

Dragons are the bad guys. The rest is pointless humanoid bickering.

The Dark Brotherhood.

Bears, Spriggans and other wildlife in general.
There they are minding their own business, raising their young, tending to their homes when BANG! Out of nowehere comes an armoured hulk with a big shiney sword looking for something to craft with so (s)he can make a few septims to throw on his / her money pile, in one of the many houses said person owns.
The poor bunnies

Stormcloaks

I'm the good guys!

I gathered that the Thalmor are the villains but is it more possible they will take over Skyrim and possibly the rest of Tamriel if the Stormcloaks defeat the Empire? I see the Thalmor as the enemy because I still quite like the Empire having played as them in Oblivion.

Well while my Nord joined the Imperials as I believe in strength in Numbers, I think a good line of argument from a Stormcloak would be that the Thalmor like the civil war, but don't want either side to win, which would suggest that they are not confident enough to take skyrim if it was isolated. I think the Terrain in skyrim would play a massive role in any Thalmor invasion.

My worry is join the Stormcloaks and kick Imperial ass and then the Empire is released by the Dominion which then come over the hill and flatten a very small force that has relied on guerilla warfare. Besides The Thalmor are dotted all over Skyrim in various positions from keeping a watch on the College of Winterhold to just standing in the street. They probably already know everything about Skyrim. But that is a big speculation.
Urgh decisions decisions.

The empire has already shown itself to be too weak to stand up to the Aldmeri Dominion. A unified Skyrim can only happen via Ulfric Stormcloak and preserving the old ways and worship, not General Tullius and bowing to the elves as they abduct and murder your people.

I joined the Stormcloaks and fought proudly for them but now I'm kinda regretting it...

Most pro-empire people secretly worship Talos , such as the very Jarl of Solitude and Legate Rikke.

Makes me think they only banished Talos worshipping to calm the Dominion down, till they're strong enough to take the fight to them again.

I'm sure that if the Legion somehow managed to kill off the Thalmor, they'd gladly restore Talos worship to what it was before, as if the banishing had never happened at all. It's just a tactic, but Ulfric can't see that.

I think it's less that, and more that the war is weakening the Empire and making it unstable, when the war is over, win or lose, they'll stop getting weaker and regain some stability. And the Thalmor don't want that..

Without the Empire, even in it's weakened state, it's unlikely Skyrim would be able to oppose the Dominion.
Without Skyrim the Empire loses a province and the resources from it and becomes much more fragile, too tempting a target probably.
Neither side truly wins in this war.
The Aldmeri Dominion is the one who really benefits.


The Dominion effectively won the great war. Skyrim forces would have been involved (being a province of the Empire), and yet even then the Empire lost. Skyrim alone would have less resources and fewer allies to call upon.

TL;DR: The Empire would be better for the people of Skyrim.

You'll see, Skyrim will have fallen to the Thalmor by the next TES.
To keep it canon,so that whatever side the Dragonborn aided won't matter, they'll just say Skyrim was overran despite all the efforts from the Stormcloaks and Empire.

Trolls....trolls are the good guys!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YMPAH67f4o

The rabbits.

I think the bunnies' greatest predator is the "Bunnies Slaughtered" tracker in the System menu. Only reason I go out of my way to kill every one of them I find. (and I'm a wood elf ... I shame myself)

Thalmor are clearly evil.

The Stormcloaks are grumpy and misguided, but ultimately just trying to preserve their way of life separate from the Legion. For the most part, they are good.
The Imperials are the police of the world, trying to control everyone so that they can keep them safe. They are good.

Nature doesn't have morals. They are neither good nor evil.

Dragons have the capacity for good and evil. Though, because most of them are serving under Alduin, they are evil.

Thieves that stalk the roads to rob travelers are evil.

Ulfric is a [censored] racist.

Imperials for the win.

But, i'm going to find a way to bring back Talos worship AND beat the living [censored] out of the Talmor.

How? I'm the [censored] Dragonborn, i'll figure it out.

You know who's the ultimate good? The sweet rolls. They just sit there, covered in gooey icing and everyone steals them. They don't fight, they don't murder. They're the ultimate good.