User blog comment:Sgt. S.S./Why I support the Empire/@comment-2172565-20120321182901/@comment-4947266-20120322031304

(this is the second guy) At the time that Tiber Septim took control and established the first empire, the land was lawless. Now, there is a (if not perfect) system of law and order in the land, so it isn't like Ulfric walked into a bandit camp and established order; he walked into a royal court and started a fight he knew he would win. following that fight, he quickly left the area because he knew the people there actually supported their king and would fight Ulfric for him. and besides that point, why did he see it necessary to eliminate Torygg? was talking to a young king, who actually had a lot of respect for Ulfric and quite possibly might have listened to him, so out of the question that killing him was the only option that was dramatic enough? you also said he could have simply refused, but there are several instances in the game in which it is stated that backing out was NOT an option for Torygg. plus, if the dragonborn had walked into the king's palace, set up a fight he would inevitably win, shout at and then kill the high king of skyrim, i doubt the people would have been all that happy with the dovahkiin. Then there are the Dunmer, Argonians and the other races. one reason that the stormcloaks rebelled was that they feeled like they were being treated as unimportant by the empire.but then, once they have their power, the stormcloaks decide that no one but the nords are important enough to deal with and start treating a few groups with downright contempt.. i would not be suprised that, if the event occurred and the stormcloaks came to power and they began treating all the non-nords with such a degree of prejudice, the other races of skyrim decided to arm up and try to get some power of their own. and if this occured, you would likely have the Thalmor and possibly even the empire supporting them, all with the goal of weakening the stormcloaks. this would give the thalmor an even greater chance at success should they decide to attack. not to mention the fact that the Thalmor are HOPING that Ulfric fights the empire. every soldier lost by both the imperials and the stormcloaks is one more soldier the thalmor won't have to deal with. all the chaos caused by Ulfric is a huge boost to the thalmor. if ulfric was really concerned about defending skyrim from the thalmor, he would be trying to help the empire consolidate its power, not wasting both his and the empire's troops in an unnecessary fight while the thalmor are rebuilding their strength.

you also mention that the empire will be just as hurt or worse by any loss of trade with skyrim. how is that a good thing for anyone? that just means that, should the thalmor launch an offensive against the rest of Tamriel, a main adversary of theirs would be considerably weaker, just as the stormcloaks would be. also, you mention that the stormcloaks have done pretty well in equipping themselves in their fight against the empire, but their localized rebellion against the empire is not a full scale war against the thalmor. at the same time the empire is fighting the stormcloaks in skyrim, it is maintaining all its borders and also keeping an eye on the thalmor. all the stormcloaks were dealing with was their fight with one very distracted opponent. also, after completeing my civil war quests, brunwulf free winter(the guy who replaced Ulfric after i killed him) remarks how the war depleted all their reserves of food, equipment, and wood. it seems to me that, during the rebellion, the stormcloaks were running on fumes, so to speak.

besides that, should the stormcloaks come the power, it is far more likely that they will simply attack the Aldmeri Dominion rather than wait for the thalmor to get around to checking them off their list. with that in mind, it seems less likely that areas like Hammerfell and Cyrodiil(which are already trying to avoid open war with the thalmor) would join in to support a group that has already alienated them by first rebelling and then starting the war itself, all the while treating the non-nords with thinly veiled hate. to go back to the WW2 reference, hitler had already taken much territory by the time Britain and France decided enough was enough. Czechoslovakia, for instance, was left hung out to dry by its "allies" in the hope that it would prevent war. that occurred when Britain and France actually SUPPORTED the Czechs. what would happen if the thalmor ignite a fight with skyrim, for instance? the stormcloaks can't count on the support of other provinces, especially ones they have already screwed relations with. the people of skyrim are only making themselves vulnerable by splitting from the empire.