See this is the thing. People will make this type of statement, while simultaneously neglecting the fact that this very thing is happening to the citizens of Skyrim. And the greater good of who? Imperials? Certainly not the Nords. They are being stripped of their culture and killed (presumably) by the thousands. I mean, what is your take on the Srebrenica Massacre?

If you listen to Ulfric's soliloquy, he explains that he fights for brothers-in-arms that he lost in battle against the thalmor, he fights for their families, he fights for his land, he fights for integrity, and he fights for freedom.

He can never tell a lie I guess.

Because politicians are known for always being honest and completely truthful when they make speeches.

It wouldn't be free. It'd be under stormcloak rule. The Stormcloaks think that they’re fighting the Thalmor, when in fact they’re helping them by weakening the Empire. There’s even a Thalmor journal that says as much. And if the Stormcloaks think that they can take the Thalmor once they’re free of the Empire, good luck with that. If the entire bloody Empire could only hope to reach a stalemate with these guys, what’s one province already weakened by civil war and probably going to be subject to a lot of internal strife after the fact ever going to hope to do?

The empire turned Toralf Graymane to the Thalmor to be tortured and killed.

What natural resources?

Look at the stormcloaks, who don't know next to nothing about magic yet plan to challenge the dominion who is magic based faction, They'll be battling the unknown.

Wasn't that the Battleborns?

as skyrim's mechanics work, melee beats magic anyday so the stormcloaks have it made.

The battle borns are staunch supporters of the empire and even have imperial missives documenting their affairs with tullius and the thalmor

Really, cuz all my Mage has to do is wear some enchanted heavy armor and chain lightning everyone so they can't even move, tested in Whiterun and riften

gameplay mecahnism doesn't count.

And the Empire has greater number than the stromcloak let's say Skyrim Legion = Stormcloaks army that means
Skyrim Legion +High Rock Legion +Cyrodiil Legion > Stormcloaks.

You can level up melee faster, but a leveled mage can literally wipe a team of swordsman without even being touched, by conjuration and alteration alone.

Lore often has magic winning out over brute strength though.

Well, all Thalmor mages and other magic users are easily killed on sight and pose little threat while the heavy armored enemies usually are fairly difficult to deal with. Hagravens on the other hand have scary spells that kill u.

This is all RP debate anyways....

But I disagree with the underlined. I think the Alik'r resistance and the obvious weaknesses of the Empire in Skyrim suggest that the Empire is in a vastly underpowered state and is attempting to simply cling to what resources they can. An organised, sovereign Nord nation would be far stronger in serving the Nords than the current Empire could ever be. And I think there's enough real life precedent to argue that a free Skyrim would be a greater threat to the AD, in addition to the already raging Alik'r resistance than a complacent Skyrim under Imperial boot. Furthermore, I think it would be in the best interest of the remaining Imperial states, to let Skyrim be and focus on making the greatest advantage of the ensuing turmoil. The Imperials would be much better off waging a proxy war, funding the Stromcloaks against the AD than losing bodies trying to keep grip on fleeting resources.

it actually ultimatly comes out to where the Dragonborn stands on the issue so technically either side has equal capacity to wins lol.

As I said don't use gameplay mechanism as example.

Lol, I kinda hope that there is little political strife in ES 6 and it puts more focus on daedra or something XD.

Nope, Stormcloaks is at stalemate with Skyrim Legion, as I said what makes Skyrim Legion + High Rock Legion + Cyrodiil Legion against stormcloak? Saying Empire is weak is also saying the stormcloaks are weak since they are at stalemate with only Skyrim Legion which are just a fraction of the whole Empire.

There's also one that says a free Skyrim under Ulfric's leadership would be a grave threat to the AD. What's your point?

My Nord Character standbys all things Nordic, while my Altmer character even though he sided with the Imperials doesn't care because he knows in the end both sides will be weaker and easier to attack.

Basically that journal states that the dominion does not want anyone to win they want the war to continue as long as possible.

HR and Cyodiil legion camps mean nothing if they aren't present in Skyrim, now do they? Other than for filler bodies to replace old ones. Which brings the next point. If all of those supposed Imperial resources can't even quell a revolt in a single state, what does that say about the Empire? It means, the once great empire is pretty f'n weak. They have no troops, the moral is down. There's even quotes in the game stating they can barely keep rations to feed the troops they have. That means their supply lines are in shambles. That's real world issues right there. You can spend all day counting real world examples of wars lost because supply lines were destroyed.

I'm comparing their effectiveness against the dominion when the great war begin the whole Empire will fight not just the Skyrim Legion. But this is the first time I hear about ration, which character say it?