Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-13417807-20130726204600/@comment-9062114-20130909061659

Kestrellius wrote: Basically, Ulfric and his rebellion was a noble effort that wasn't thought out very well. And they would never, ever be able to take the Aldmeri Dominion. They lost to the Empire, and that was before the Dovahkiin showed up. (Ulfric got away because Alduin attacked, but the war would have ended had that not happened.) To me, Skyrim's independence, or lack thereof, is a secondary issue. Ulfric needs to be stopped as quickly and with as few casualties as possible. Then after we take out the Thalmor, we can have a nice negotiation and figure out whether Skyrim wants to be independent or not. It doesn't really require a war. If all else fails, just take a vote of all of Skyrim's inhabitants.

Oh yeah and by the way? The Dovahkiin's biggest advantage is definitely NOT his shouts. In gameplay terms at least, they're basically his weakest weapon. His true advantage is the fact that he has unimaginable connections, and he's pretty much a demigod. Assuming full game completion, he has the support of the Companions, some of the best warriors ever, the College of Winterhold, powerful battlemages, the Thieves' Guild, perfect spies, the Dark Brotherhood, excellent assassins, and the Dawnguard, expert, if ragtag, vampire hunters. (Or the Volkihar Vampires. Either way, pretty powerful.) Oh yeah and the Greybeards. Prolly the Blades too, assuming that he eventually gives them a good tongue-lashing for being murderous idiots and puts them in their place.

Beyond that, he has the support of Hermaeus Mora (I know, I know, he wouldn't want to get involved, but after the events of Dragonborn, it seems likely that he and the Dovahkiin will have established a solid camaradarie comparable to that of Clavicus Vile and Barbas, and he could probably convince Herma-Mora and his daedric legions to help him), the ear of Nocturnal, almost certainly assistance from Sheogorath, what with him being the Dragonborn's predecessor and an all-around good guy, potentially Meridia's help depending on whether the Thalmor start using undead, and quite possibly the aid of the Divines, since while I'm not familiar with their motives, it seems that if they wanted Lorkhan destroyed they would have done it themselves.

In addition to the Greybeards, the Dovahkiin has the support of Parthurnaax (if he didn't kill him, which...he better not have) and any of his dragons, of which there are probably a fair number. As well as Durhneviir and Odahviing. (I hope, though, that a slight majority of the dragons decide to team up with the Thalmor, because air battles.)

Besides all of this, he's just powerful, no two ways about it. A certain amount of it is gameplay mechanics, sure, but he's potentially one of the best smiths and enchanters in Tamriel, an expert with various types of weapons, and one of very few persons capable of wielding the most powerful spells known to exist. This is probably, even in universe, because he's the PC -- in other words, he's one of those unique individuals who are just destined to be in charge of everything everywhere. It's probably connected to the Stones and the fact that his destiny is alterable.
 * Faceplam*. Read my comment above to see why the Dominion didn't beat the Empire. Ulfric dying doesn't mean they would've lost. If anything it would've strengthened the rebellion because people would've seen the Empire being totalitarian (not giving Ulfric a trial and all).