Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-27157999-20160710144119/@comment-993964-20170205192805

WhenDovCry wrote: I did the Imperial plotline because most of the Imperial jarls seemed to care about their people over their own power and glory (with the exceptions of Siddgeir and Maven). Stormcloak jarls - not so much.

One thing that struck me, though: After Ulfric Stormcloak was dead, I checked his body. No Amulet of Talos. If he was truly fighting for the right to worship a god, wouldn't he be wearing that god's holy symbol as a statement of his faith?

Anyways, I think whether or not I take a side would depend on my race, and it would be done before any other plotlines. Nord = Stormcloaks, Imperial = Empire, other races = depends on affiliations. My Redguard refused to choose a side - one side turned their back on Hammerfell during the Great War, and the other would see all non-Nords like her leave Skyrim. If she chose a side, she'd lose even if her side won. The Imperial Jarls strike me as weak puppet leaders or corrupt opportunists. Siddgier and Maven aren't loyal to the Empire persay, they're loyal to those who keep them in power. Igmund cowers before the Thalmor and lets them occupy his palace. Elisif the Fair is a pushover who gets exploited if not by General Tullius or her thanes. One of them Erikur, is chummy with the Thalmor and would "Wormtongue" his way into power if he can get Falk Firebeard the steward out of the way. Idgrod Ravencrone is a loon, and Jarl Balgruff seems like an opportunist who only sees to Whiterun's welfare instead of Skyrim as a whole. Not to mention, all these Imperial Jarls I've listed attended the Thalmor Embassy party and are chummy with the Thalmor, where as the Stormcloak jarls don't associate themselves with the foreign invaders subjugating their people, even if they are Ulfric's sycophants.

Just because you didn't find a Talos necklace doesn't mean Ulfric isn't devout. You still find his soul in Sovngarde, he prays for strength at the temple of Talos according Jora, and only the worthy in the eyes of Shor make their way to Sovngarde so he is devout.

There is no evidence the Nords would evict the Redguards. They have no reason too and they need the allies against the Thalmor and the Empire who means to subjugate them. If the Stormcloaks fall, they'll work with the Thalmor to pincer attack Hammerfell so they'll come crawling back to the Empire, and be subjugated by the Imperials. Same with the Argonians, they left the Empire but Morrowind is still Imperial loyal. The Argonians will go back to being Dunmer slaves if they don't back an independent Skyrim. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I get the sense that people equate the Nords as xenophobic because they equate the "white-skinned" race as oppressors prejudice that is prevalent in real life with the politics of this video game but that narrative is not the same as what's said in the videogame. The Dunmer aren't the beleaguered dark skinned minority, they're opportunists who were given tax exemptions and fully autonomous colonies in Nord land by the Empire in exchange for a military alliance. They are subjugating and occupying the native people who gave them refuge in their time of need just because they don't want their special treatment in the Empire, at the expense of the Nords, and even all the other races who aren't bootlicking the Imperials.