Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-24044823-20131013015938/@comment-5436695-20131015214404

Even not mentioning that I always support the Empire, everything becomes clear after reading Thalmor Dossier about Ulfric.

Still, "Independent Skyrim" got no chances anyways. Have you seen the level of training and equipment of Stormcloaks and regular Skyrim guards (apart from Solitude ones)? They are not always able to match even regular bandits. While after replacing Dawnstar, Winterhold, Windhelm and Riften guards with Imperial legionaries you can be relatively sure about the safety of locals even in the case of dragon attack. Not saying about Redoran guards on Solstheim - fellas can overperform a legendary dragon without serious problems.