User blog comment:AveryWood/Reasons Why Going With the Empire is Better/@comment-4588723-20120823165224

Seriously? There’s nothing new or rational in this post, just the same slanted assumptions. This is just a regurgitation of the in-game Imperial propaganda from Tullius and the Jarls who support him. I’m surprised TDITN hasn’t arrived yet with his battleaxe of logic, to cleave into this crap. Here’s why this is BS:

1)	Yes, the Empire * intends * to reverse the Thalmor occupation “when the time is right,” when the Emperor (Titus II, his successor, whoever) decides that the Legion has sufficient strength and position to drive them out, and it’s supposedly “just a matter of time.” But this is bull. What IS their timeframe? What are the criteria for sufficient strength? What counterintelligence operations are currently in play to keep the Thalmor from getting their fingers into every pie in Cyrodiil and the other provinces? Assuming they eventually decide “the time is right” (which typically means that someone ELSE will be shouldering 99% of the risk), how will the resistance be mounted? What preparations will be made beforehand to maintain the element of surprise? How are Imperial troops trained to respond if the Thalmor violate the Concordat first and start attacking peaceful settlements again? None of these questions have answers, because the Empire is too busy bickering over borderlines, fitting Nords out in Legionnaire armor and being oblivious to the corruption on their own Council to face the true threats and eliminate them. The point is, if the Thalmor are allowed to remain in charge much longer, they will continue to grow, become more vigilant and closer to realizing their ultimate goal, which is subjugation of all other races – they’ve come pretty damn close already. The longer the Empire waits to act against the Aldmeri Dominion, the more improbable their eventual victory becomes. 2)	The argument that the Stormcloaks are “weakening” mankind’s chances against the Dominion is specious. It is based on the assumption that outnumbering the enemy = defeating the enemy. This is one of the most infamously disastrous assumptions in military history – just because the Nords or the Imperials or the Redguards are fewer in number apart, does NOT make them strategically weaker than a theoretical coalition force. In fact, if they were to unite under one banner, the Empire would require that it be the Legion’s banner, for the same reason they demanded all provincial rulers (e.g. Torygg) to agree to the Concordat regardless of what was best for their people. And under the command of Tullius or another Imperial commander like him, neither Nords nor Redguards would have nearly as much to fight for, and it has already been seen that Imperial tactics are lacking in any kind of originality or flexibility. Anyone who has studied military history knows that troop morale and a commander’s tactical savvy are far more important than having a numerical advantage. So the prize for weakest front actually goes to the Imperial Legion. 3)	This post, like the in-game NPC dialogue it all but directly quotes, demonstrates a couple of blatant biases about the Talos issue. First, it assumes that the deity of Talos is the primary contention in the rebellion, which it is not. Similarly, the American Civil War is often misrepresented as being “about slavery” when the Emancipation Proclamation wasn’t enacted until almost 3 years into the war. The reason for the misunderstanding is simple: in the latter half of the war, Emancipation was so widely touted by Union commanders as their “righteous motivation” that lazy history teachers have recorded it as the single facet of what was actually a very complex sociopolitical conflict, and the already badly educated masses of American students don’t know any better. In the same way, Talos worship is a big motivation for the Nords in the rank/file of Ulfric’s freedom fighters, but it’s not the main issue. Second, and more importantly, it states that the Nords’ freedom of worship is a “stupid reason” to fight. Really? Because freedom of religion is considered a human right on this planet, and although Nirn isn’t the same as here, the Tamrielic equivalent of human rights exists very clearly in many different plotlines throughout all the TES games. So when did a basic right of sentient lifeforms become a stupid reason to stand your ground and defend your way of life?

The question probably raised by that last point is, “Then what IS the main issue, if it’s not about religious freedoms being taken away?” The issue is this: On whose terms are you willing to give your life? Life is short and often cheap in Tamriel, now more than ever, and as an adventurer or wanderer or just a retired, married Dragonborn trying to settle down, somebody somewhere still wants your head on a pike. Likewise, whether you pick a side or not, the Great War isn’t over yet. It’s not a couple battles, it’s a tourney, and the Civil War is just the semi-final to determine who goes to the big game. So here's the rankings: The Stormcloaks and Empire are evenly matched, it takes only the enlistment of a powerful individual on either side to bring victory, but that's because Skyrim is pretty evenly divided over the CW. If the Empire tried to shake off the Dominion now, under its current leadership, it would fail miserably. If the Thalmor attempted to force a united Skyrim under its heels within the next couple of years, THEY would fail miserably. You see the rational solution? Let Mede’s Imperial pinheads do whatever they like, as misguided as their “temporary pacification” strategy is. All player characters, regardless of race, playstyle, beliefs or lack of them, are inhabitants of Skyrim – and if the inhabitants of Skyrim tip the Dominion’s hand, force them to launch an assault across the Empire into the savage lands and against the hearty warriors of Skyrim, then we have ALL the advantages on our side. We don’t need the Empire to hold our hands, we just need them to get the hell out of our way so we can get the Thalmor's attention and face them on our own turf.