Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-26213507-20150715194939/@comment-26893431-20150908151337

Bronkiin wrote: On the Imperial questiline, Balgruuf sends his axe to Ulfric. Peace if he accepts it, war if he returns it. On the Stormcloak questline, Ulfric sends Balgruuf his axe, peace if he accepts, war if he returns it. Both return the axe. @Jauffre to accuse Ulfric under the pretext of returning the axe is absurd.

What you also seem to be forgetting is that in the Imperial questline, Tullius gives the Dragonborn a message to give to Balgruuf, triggering "Message to Whiterun". At that point your quest journal reads "I am to deliver a message to the Jarl of Whiterun it is time for him to pick a side". It is this letter which prompts Balgruuf to pick a side and deliver the axe. We can only assume it was an ultimatum. So in the Imperial questline, Tullius forces Balgruuf to choose, in the Stormcloak questline, it is Ulfric. Therefore you cannot use this as the basis of an argument. The only difference is that Ulfric's axe would mean, you're sided with me.

So? In the Imperial qeustline, had Ulfric kept his axe, there would be no war, and Whiterun would still be neutral.