User blog comment:Hippogriff12/The Scarcity of Racists in Skyrim/@comment-5302371-20120728161339/@comment-5135631-20120731220446

But why was he rushing? He needn't rush. He could have done everything properly and maybe I wouldn't hate him as much.

By the time Ulfric decided to attack Whiterun, he knew Balgruuf was on the Empire's side, because Balgruuf and his advisors discussed the matter before Ulfric planned his attack, and I personally gave Ulfric Balgruuf's response.

Whether or not Ulfric knew, we knew. Ulfric had confidence in Balgruuf to do the right thing, but he blew it by joining the reds.