User blog comment:JoshofBlades/Tiber's Hard Work Shall NOT Be Torn Asunder!/@comment-4692385-20111223160450/@comment-86.135.202.182-20120124185055

Yes, it does. That's primarily because Ulfric is an idiot and, looking at things, is completely incapable of stopping the Thalmor. He is struggling to hold off a portion of the imperial army, I'd put money on it that the soldiers remaining in other provinces are more than three times what are sat in Skyrim. If Ulfric were to break through and kill Tullius, then he has still failed. Tullius is a general, one of many, and kicking his forces out doesn't mean the empire won't charge back in.

Frankly though, that isn't the issue. The issue is that a united empire wasn't truly capable of surviving against the Thalmor, what chance does Skyrim alone have? the moment the empire loses control of Skyrim, it is no longer protected by the empire, meaning that each and every thalmor troop could walk in and kill each and every person in Skyrim, and still have enough pikes to spare to hold a couple thousand more heads. A stormcloak victory in the civil war is "inconvenient" to the Thalmor, as it means wasting a couple platoons to go conquer Skyrim. An imperial victory is a sharp kick to the genitals to the Thalmor, as it unites the land once again and prepares the empire (who, might I add, Talos lived for) for round two with the thalmor. splitting off just makes all of skyrim turn into a large target for the Thalmor to walk in and take complete control.