Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-27007772-20140611204941/@comment-69.119.138.146-20150331171030

95.232.229.149 wrote: Wulf/Talos himself said long centuries before TES:Skyrim take place, that the Emprie is too old and it is time for a change.

Akatosh himself, when he gifted the Dragonblood Emperor with his divine powers, said that if theere is no Dragonblood Emperors, the Emprie would fall.

All of the above sattements are true and already happened, so the Empire shall fall, for the good of all MEN.

How i see it now, the Stormcloaks are the CHANGE everyone (Akatosh Talos/Lorkhan) wanted, Hammerfell will most probably go in very good tterms with Ulfric sicne they share same values and honor, and probably form an Alliance, High Rock will follow since they are no more in communication with the Empire.

Thus, the most feasible solution is that the Emprie lsoe the Civil WAr, at first it might look like a very bad position for the MEN, but for the long run/goal, it is the best solution that the Emprie fall, it is weak, ill advised, bad driven without ideals other than retain theyr greedy powers, it have nothing to do with the old glorious Empire led by a dragonblood.

1. Wulf says, word for word:

"The Emperor is getting old. Don't know how much longer he'll hang on. So is the whole Empire, for that matter. Getting old, that is. The Emperor and the legions have held the Empire together for hundreds of years. It's been a good thing, by and large. But maybe it's time for a change. Time for something young and new. What? No idea. Because I'm old. Old dog doesn't get new ideas. But maybe young folks like you should try some new ideas. I don't know. Could be messy. But change is never pretty."

He only states that it might be time for a change, and states rather clearly that he has no idea what that change should be. Who are we to claim what he meant? Change can mean a very many different things. It could be that he meant a change of dynasties, which certainly happened with the rise of the Medes. The point being, his words themselves are deliberately vague, and you cannot use Wulf's words to support your claim either way, as the context of his statement was drastically different. The Empire circa TES 3 is not the same as the Empire circa TES 5.

2. Martin's sacrifice rendered the Dragonfires and the Covenant of Alessia obsolete: the entire point of the endeavor was that Dragonborn Emperors were no longer necessary. And indeed, how could they be? The Last Dragonborn is the Last Dragonborn: if only Dragonborn Emperors could sit the Ruby Throne and be considered rightful rulers, then the Empire would fall after his inevitable disappearance.

3. The Gods are not omniscient. They do not know everything that is or will be. They could not support Ulfric's uprising beforehand, because they did not know it was going to happen until it became apparent. If anything, both Akatosh and Talos would be opposed to Ulfric: Akatosh is very specifically the Patron God of the Empire, while Talos is its Founder. If anything can be said of Talos, it is that his ego dominates his personality: it guaranteed CHIM rather than zero-sum, and it would hold the Empire dear as the lasting footprint he has had on Nirn centuries after he left it. If I were to create a magnificent castle in the sand that lasted the test of waves and time, I would not look kindly upon the few toddlers who came over and smashed it because they thought it was ugly. Especially not if I was a supreme narcissist.

4. High Rock and Cyrodiil are allies and the only secure foundations of the Empire left, and the Bretons have no particular love for Skyrim: this would be especially true if they had just sent hundreds of their young men and women to the Legion to die there. War grievances do not disappear overnight.

5. Hammerfell does not despise the Empire, they seceded as they could not accept the terms of the Concordat. Formally leaving an alliance because you cannot accept a particular treaty, but otherwise retaining diplomatic and trade relations, and completely turning your back on the allies you've had for centuries, are two very different things.

6. The Aldmeri Dominion defeated the Empire when it was united (discounting Morrowind, Argonia, and the Dominion provinces, naturally), and coming out of a period of relative peace (for all but Cyrodiil, at least). What makes you think that only Skyrim can defeat it? Even with Hammerfell and High Rock, as you suggest, there are not nearly enough men or resources in those provinces to defeat a Dominion host. Any potential defeat of the Dominion would require all the kingdoms of Men, very importantly including Cyrodiil, and even so would require a great deal of time to recover and replenish before a Dominion defeat could even be a possibility. The Empire is the best hope of a victory, and siding Imperial guarantees the least amount of conflict and the most amount of recovery time left before the Second Great War can be waged.

But, of course, there is no canonical ending to the Civil War. Bethesda is likely to either mention a neutral ending in passing, perhaps a stalemate or a truce with Skyrim gaining greater independence but remaining nominally under the Imperial banner, not mention it at all, or say that it became irrelevant due to the Second Great War and the necessity for alliances to be made (assuming the next game does deal with the Second Great War).