Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-209.7.3.188-20160303204000/@comment-28388246-20160514023831

Ashley Kirshbaum wrote: Blademaster Jauffre wrote: Ashley Kirshbaum wrote:

ulfric's intentions have no impact on whether the fight was fair. whether he asked for independence would have been irrelevant.

Yes it would be relevant, the very fact that he didn't ask led to the Imperials thinking he was just after the throne. So he was charged with foul murder. (Which he would've gotten anyway because of the Voice)

the imperials would likely have framed Ulfric with foul murder regardless of whether the duel was fair or whether he announced his intentions beforehand, as they cannot allow an independent skyrim to happen. it would weaken the empire too much, and thus make things easier for the dominion.

i don't see how usage of the thuum is unfair. it is a skill that takes a lot of effort to learn, so mastery of it shows that the person has great willpower.

True, people who can use the Thu'um command great respect in Skyrim. Ulfric used it to show how weak High King Torygg was, but the Empire used the power mismatch to their advantage. I have no doubt the Empire would have twisted the results for the reasons Ashley mentioned, but they would have had a harder time if it had been kept to a straight-up sword fight or if he had exhausted other non-violent options first.

Since Ulfric's not a stupid man, I was surprised he gave the Empire such a big opening. Then again, if his intention was to give the Empire a big middle finger, then he certainly achieved his purpose.