Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-93.77.208.208-20190324123127/@comment-89.217.97.59-20190326224856

93.77.208.208 wrote: CatholicPrincess15 wrote: An Imperial victory. After all, Jarl Idgrod sees visions of the future, and she sides with the Imperials. Wouldn't she naturally pick the winning side?

In addition, if the Imperials do not win canonically, how could Ancano get past the Winterhold citizens, who would have attacked on the spot? This is a game convention about Ankano, created so that the player can pass the college of magicians, regardless of the choice in the civil war. And do not forget that because of the death of the emperor will entail a lot of events during which the legions will not be up to Skyrim at all. For example, a recurrence of the Interregnum of the Thunderstorm Crown is quite likely when, due to the absence of the emperor, the Gradjanian war began in Cyrodiil among the claimants. If the Legion is joined after Titus Mede II has been killed, the oath is taken in the name of the Emperor still - and this is clearly not an oversight by the developers as prior to killing Titus, his name is included in the oath. It may be the case that they traditionally swear by the Emperor even when there currently should be none - we don't know that. But it may well indicate that Titus Mede II is immediately succeeded by an heir unknown to us or that someone else succesfully claimed the throne. Either way seems plausible. After all, it wouldn't make much sense to have the Emperor assassniated if there is no follow-up plan and to let chaos reign unless precisely that was the goal. But other than the Thalmor, that would presumably not be in anyone's interest, and a plausible connection from Motierre with the Thalmor would yet have to be laid out. Instead, it seems more likely that Motierre was following an agenda that goes beyond the assassination of the Emperor, requiring a (quick) seccuessor to the throne. Of course, if another interregnum occured, that may have an impact on the military activities. Though, again, what the aftermath of the Emperor's death brings is otherwise not indicated in the game, at least to my knowledge/current awareness.

As for Ancano's access to the College; it is possibily out of necessecity for the player's accessibility to the arch, as you said. Though this example raises a general issue or difficulty about the discussion that one needs to be aware of: There are plenty of things depicted in the game that one cannot be truly certain about whether they may be a suitable indicator for xy, or whether they are a compromise for the mechanics, or simply an oversight by the developers. Anyway, even if Ancano isn't just there to be able to play through the College arch no matter what, to slip through the Stormcloaks and the Winterhold Guard may not have been impossible for him. It is a fair question though if you don't to write it off as a mechanical issue only.

As for Idgrod Ravencrone's visions and her allegiance; that is implying that she has visions particularly regarding the war. She says that the "divines reveal things to [her] from time to time" - we do not know how frequent, how specific, or generally what the content of those revalations are. The arguement holds true only and if she has visions regarding the outcome of the war, which we do not know that she has those. Her statement regarding the conflict is rather neutral-toned: ''"Now is not the time to fight amongst ourselves. I fear dark days approach and all of Skyrim's strength will be needed." ''This doesn't indicate that she knows the end of the conflict at all. I would argue that her allegiance with the Empire is not one of confidence in the outcome rather than her refusing to help Ulfric needlessly stir up trouble (from her point of view) because she fears "dark days approach and all of Skyrim's strength will be needed", and loyalty should overall be a Jarl's default disposition. Therefore I believe that Jarl Ravencrone's "gift" is really not a strong reference point here, though one may underline another arguement with her general wisdom, perhaps.