Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-93.77.208.208-20190324123127/@comment-62.167.124.166-20190326000607

93.77.208.208 wrote: Can't agree with you, emperor is killed by dark brotherhood. In addition, on the side of the stormcloacks most of the local population, while the Empire is supported by people only weakly. In addition, the morale of the imperial soldiers, as we find out as the game progresses, is rather low, and the death of the emperor will cause him even greater damage, and this proves the victory of the Storm Brothers, who are fighting for their homeland. A similar example experienced by the USSR in 1941-45. While it is reasonable to speculate that the death of Titus Mede II may have a negative impact on the Legion's morale, the consequences of the Emperor's death are unknown and virtually not indicated in the game. The overalI low morale among the Imperial troops is indeed a fair point nontheless.

However, I do not find the claim that the Stormcloaks are supported by most of the local population evident. What we see in the game is that the population is split rather down the middle; you'll find more or less equally as many supporters as you'll find advesaries of the Stormcloaks throughout all and any of the Nine Holds and within the major cities, exceptions perhaps being Windhelm and Solitude, respectively, both showing more clearly a supportive majority for their respective faction. It is to be noted that, especially in Windhelm, members of migrant communities tend to oppose the Stormcloaks more commonly than the Nords do; therefore depending on who is counted among the 'locals' the evalutaion may shift accordingly. Even so, an overall clear majority supporting the Stormcloaks is not apparent. Genreal Tullies also relies heavily on local recruits in his endeavor, after all. What should also be considered is that both the support for and morale among either faction might change as the Civil War progresses. Namely the outcome of the Battle for Whiterun may have a deciding impact in that regard; it is said that many locals join the Legion after Balgruuf announces his allegiance with the Empire (unless the corresponding wiki page is flawed in that regard), though I am aware that the dynamic is difficult to take into consideration when figuring out what might be set in a next Elder Scrolls title.

That is not to say, however, that I am convinced by any means tha the Empire will get Skyrim under its control again if we're just talking about who is able to amass more power (locally). As I indicated previously, I believe that in those terms, the game hardly allows for any clear conclusion; the most apparent out of the possiblities perhaps being that the war won't even be concluded in the near future - but that option is deliberately not the focus of this thread. As mentioned, my point was that from a narrative persepective - if the goal is to link the facts generated in the next title with what happens in Skyim as seemingly as possible (given that the conclusion of Skyrim's civil war is to be communicated in it) - that it may be easier to establish coherency going down the route of an Imperial victory. I do acknowledge though that the initial low morale found among Imperial troops is a considerable factor in both terms. The Emperor's death may be, as well, but there is essentially nothing to go on.