Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-26213507-20150715194939/@comment-26801133-20150909084818

Blademaster Jauffre wrote: S&#039;Dalaar the Snowcat wrote: Definition of neutral: not supporting or helping either side in a conflict, disagreement, etc.; impartial. Whiterun attacking Stormcloak soldiers but letting Imperial soldiers walk freely speaks volumes against their so called... Maybe because, as I already said, Skyrim is an Imperial province, the Stormcloaks would have no reason to be in Whiterun hold but to conqeur it.

That's because game mechanics had to put them into one faction, and since they fight the Stormcloaks at one point, that means they are coded as Imperial, makes sense if you think about it...

Rivalry with Ulfric?

I suppose you never take a look at the LEFT gateguard in Whiterun? And the Western watchtower?

It's one of the reasons why Whiterun uses Imperial weapons, the Empire supplied them before the rebellion.

Siding with the Stormcloaks would mean the Imperials attacking, but you would still blame Balgruuf.

You can't blame Balgruuf for Ulfric being paranoid, Ulfric is just as bad as Glarthir. If Whiterun still consider themselves to be a part of the Empire, then it means they are on the Empire's side. You speak against your own argument of them being neutral then.

True, but if the developers truly intended them to be neutral, then they could have coded a separate "Whiterun Faction" that would be friendly/hostile to both Imperials and Stormcloaks. It could be just laziness on the developers part, but considering that it was heavily implied even from the beginning that Balgruuf would side with the Empire, I am pretty certain they did that on purpose.

Yes, Gerdur mentions that Balgruuf and Ulfric has been at odd with each other for years and that he might side with the Empire because of it.

Yes, I already mentioned those soldiers when I said "like the gate guard when you are about to enter Whiterun and the 4 soldiers that help you fight Mirmulnir". I am aware of them. But once you finish their quests, they will either be dead from Mirmulnir or just vanish and/or be replaced with regular guards with Imperial gear. So I wouldn't really count those in. But if we are going to count them in, its only 5 soldiers among a pretty limitless amount. And 3 of them don't even wear real guard helmets. They might not even have been full-fledged guards, only militia. But that's just speculations.

Presicely! That is the way of war. When you pick a side, you will also pick an enemy. But Balgruuf picking the right/wrong side is all on him.

Ulfric didn't attack out of paranoia. He attacked after Balgruuf sided with the Empire. Before, he just sent an axe, just to know where his allegiance stood. Ulfric could not continue his campaign against the Empire until they could have access to the center of Skyrim, being the key to the Civil War.

And really, you compare Ulfric to Glarthir? That sounds more like an insult than an intellectual comparison. Ulfric shows somr paranoiac behavior, but nothing like Glarthir, who acts without any kind of basis.