do have a question about Empire not crackign down on the Talos worshippers........if they wasnt cracking down then WHY? did he clear out the forsworn in that city for a safe place to worship? Because wasnt the rebellion started when Ulfric cleared out that city in exchange for a safe place to worship Talos, Thalmor caught wind of it and the Jarl ratted Ulfric and went back on their word for protection to not start up another war with the Thalmor.........let that sink in....

When U talk to the Jarl of Markarth U will see that it is not Ulfric's fault, as the Jarl may confess that to u. Upon request, Ulfric had rescued Markarth and brought brave Nord Champions in to save the Reach from Mayhem , and the Champions asked only to be able to worship Talos freely in return. Once they reclaimed the Reach, The Thalmor found out and told the Empire that the Heros (including Ulfric) should be put to death for honouring Talos, (as way of legally killing off many formidable champions that would be able to stand against the Thalmor later) the Empire sold out the Heros too, so instead of being honoured the champions recieved the death penalty for saving the people of Markarth and reclaiming the Reach for them! The Champions were used and then exterminated for their courage and success. Arrest and Execution watrrants were put out on all the Champions involved and the Nord Jarls ordered by the Empire to do so as well. Many of the finest Nord champions were thus betrayed and beheaded, There are Thalmor at Markarth pushing the Jarl around now as a result of the champions being sold out to him, and this is another reason that some Nords resented the High King puppet thought put in place by the Imperials and why Ulfric resented it too, Ulfric bravely escaped that execution too and they were still after his head even before he challenged the puppet High King and defeated him. If U still think it is all Ulfric's fault as the Imperials want u to think, think again. The Imperials offer up Nord Champions like sacrifices to the Gods, to save themself from the Thalmors is all, but they are just digging their own graves wiith the Thalmor too, by so doing.

The Thalmor told my Dragonborn not knowing who he was, (and whilst trying to get him to help frame someone as a Talos worshiper) that they plan to end the Age of Man and bring in the Age of only Mer, there first step in this is to prevent the honouring of Talos who was a man and so unfit in their opinion to be accepted into the afterlife at all, since he is not Mer and there will be no need of a man-god when there are no men left because there will only be Mer left. This is the Thalmor's way of ridding Skyrim (and anyone that might request Nords as allies against the Thalmor) of the Nord's bravest champions before the bigger war even starts! The more i learn, the more i see that the Stormcloaks are not just a few troublemakers the Imperials want u to think they are. They are trouble only for those who do not see the bigger picture and do not mind letting the Thalmor manipulatively execute Skyrim's greatest champions without risking their own Thalmor lives trying to fight them to do it. This is not even a spoiler because a very new character can find this out, but u will be surprised later by even more later and u may wonder why u did not realize it before.

No, not alone they couldn't. Hammerfell could do it because Hammerfell is not in the middle of a civil war that's draining it's people and resources, and they didn't do it all entirely alone, they were part of the Empire until the Thalmor had already been fought to a standstill. Hammerfell didn't go it alone until after the Concordant was signed. It is a united land, whereas Stormloaks are not a united nation, and live in a shared nation with the Empire. If the Empire falls, they lose all resources from Cyrodiil and half of those of Skyrim. They would be easy targets for the Thalmor.

All good points.

And Ysgramor hat an army of only 500 when he drove out the Elves, so who knows what the Stormcloaks could do.

The Redguard did it in Hammerfell, Ulfric will do it easily, esp. if the Dragonborn is by his side.

The only reason the Hammerfell beat the Thalmoor was because they had curved swords.... curved swords

If u did the Stormcloak Civil war, u will realize that each provendence that had a "empire" supporting Jarl, Ulfric replaced with a jarl thats supportive to his cause. At the end, pretty much every major city is behind whoever u put on the throne or in charge. So after all said and done, it was actually a really smart move that will drastically cut down the time to unite seeing how the major citys are alrdy in line for the cause anyways. Also, if the Empire falls, the EMPIRE loses all its resourses from Skyrim and manpower, whereas Skyrim is very self-effenciet. If ur wondering about military...almost every single nord man AND woman drink and fight plus a good majority were in the army so they alrdy know the drills and formations the Empire military uses plus on top of all that, the rebels outmanuever the Empire's finiest in taking over stradegtic areas. What does Skyrim NEED that cyrodill can give them? Cyrodill is so weak that it has to depend on its provendences for its sourses, whats to stop a united Skyrim form taking over Cyrodill and more?

Nope. They would all die because the Thalmor will just Ice Spike them all

On a more serious note, I know that the Thalmor are too powerful for the Empire so they were smart and saved everyone by signing the contract with the Thalmor. But who knows if the Stormcloaks have a chance. I guess everything is influenced by luck.

I wouldnt call the Titus Mede's decision to sign the WGC a smart one. He really had no choice in the matter.

Where is it canon that CoC becomes Sheogorath? I'd like to see that. It's like saying that the CoC rebuilt the Knights of the Nine, led the thieves guild, led the mages guild, led the dark brotherhood, led the fighters guild, and was a vampire, all because those are options in the game. The only thing that the CoC achieved canonically was the ending of the Oblivion crisis.

i think it has to do with the circumstances of the ending of the DLC in Oblivion on top of some lines from Sheo in Skyrim implying him remembering certain aspects during the dark brotherhoods, thieves guilds, and whatnot

I suppose your right. I just meant that they could of refused and tried to fight even though they would of lost.

I guess it's implied in the dialog when sheo mentions , "butterflies, a Fox, a severed head, and cheese", but honestly, even then, it doesn't outright say CoC is Sheogorath. Canonwise, I don't even think the CoC could be the grey fox and listener of the black hand as well. Theoretically, another person could have went to shivering isles.

Well if Stormcloacks win the civil war, Thalmor probably won't need wory because Nords will try to invade them and i believe that was their plan in the first place. Also Bretons won't help, Ulfric made sure of that. I wouldn't count on Redguards too since they were left alone againts Thalmor once and no way they lend a hand when Skyrim needs it.

With a mighty FUS RO DAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! and lots of swinging of swords and/or magic

u are forgetting that chorus on high volume in the background...

the nords will be completely alone against the thalmor. also, stormcloaks are pretty ignorant and would run up to them with their swords screaming "MILKDRINKERSSSS" while the thalmors keep using all kind of tricks and magics

If the Dragonborn sides with the Stormcloaks, and allowed Paarthurnax to live, the Aldmeri Dominion will not just be facing Nords, they'd be facing Dragons en masse. Both Odahviing and Paarthurnax allied themselves with the Dragonborn, and Paarthurnax said at the epilogue of the game, that he'd attempt to teach the other Dragons the way of Dovah. I highly doubt the Thalmor would be able to assault Skyrim with a score of Dragons swooping down while breathing great gouts of fire and frost on their back-mid ranks while an army of Nords charges their front ranks. Especially if the Nords are being taught the Thu'um. The front ranks of the Aldmeri Dominion would by shattered by the great sound of many "Fus Ro Dah"s as their back and mid ranks are incinerated into piles of ash and frozen into ice sculptures. The Aldmeri army would crumble in an instant, and the Aldmeri Dominion would cease to be a military power.

Nord forces kill elves better than anyone, so the answer is yes, Skyrim would repel the Dominion indefinitely.

I don't think any force would scare me more then the Nords as a magic oriented military, mainly because Battlecry and Frost Resistance would allow them to constantly collapse and flank my lines.

That is to say Orcs and Redguards may be better martial forces then Nords for a straight stand up kind of fight, but when it comes to fighting mixed magical units, Nords have all the advantage.

elves are really powerfull as an army, probs not

The Reachmen are not on good terms with High Rock. No one is on good terms with the reachmen except the reachmen. This is because they murder people and sacrifice them for rituals. Give up their hearts and wills to witches and generally attack everyone they see. If High Rock sees a good political move in aiding with the effort, they will. (And continued existance of the human race is a rather good political move to make)

The Redguards would be the first ones to ally with Skyrim. They HATE the thalmor. They would jump at a chance to get back at them for sacking their south coasts.

If Scotland can win its independence against England in Braveheart, I'm sure Skyrim will do ok under the Dragonborn.

And how do we know that you the player, are not actually... Talos reborn? :-O
Much like how you are the Nerevarine reborn in Morrowind.

Of course they would.

With the imperial milk drinkers recently sent crying home to Cyrodiil they'd have a top trained army just itching to get some action, with nothing less than a Dragonborn to lead them in a refreshing little campaign against the Thalmor kitties.

Who says they would have lost? Titus Mede had already crushed the Thalmor armies in Cyrodiil. In Hammerfell they continued to fight the Dominion and forced them into signing the The Second Treaty of Stros M'kai. If Hammerfell could do that, it makes for a strong case that the Empire gave up too quickly.

The Empire gave up too quickly but out of cowardice...they turned their back on what was left of the alliance and digned the WGC to save their own asses. The Empire now has no chance of defeating the Thalmor since they've lost Black Marsh, Valenwood and Elswyer to the Aldmeri Dominion and turned their backs on Hammerfell.