User blog comment:ShawnCognitionCP/The Empire vs Stormcloaks, the most likely answer/@comment-24728100-20140612152414

Holy crap man! what have you been smoking xD

... oh man, where to start -'J

Lets see, you use Sybile Stentors statement as proof Torygg would have Joined him if asked, but you ignor the very next thing she says, that being Torygg would never have joined Ulfric and betrayed the empire... she contradicts herself, most people would see this as being an unreliable source as it is self negating

In the Great War, yes the imperial city was taken by the dominion, but that wasn't the end of the war, and the legion was not beaten into submission, the Emperor gather all the forces he could and took back the city and all of cyrodiil, it is noted that the dominions retreat was blocked by General Jonahs impenatrable shield wall and every last dominion soldier in Cyrodiil was killed... when you take into account that Lord Narifins army was already the larger of the two dominion armies before all reserve forces from the dominion were bolstered to it... that was a pretty hefty loss for the dominion, and their forces in hammerfell weren't fairing much better as they had suffered heavy losses and were in full retreat from the legions left their by Decianus and the legions of Hammerfell... the dominion was barely holding on, and remember, it was the Emperor from a position of power that called for a meeting with the leaders of the dominion to negotiate an end to the fighting.

~You know how many imperial forces were said to have been lost in the entire war? 3 legions!... that is all

Tullius makes no declaration of planned War on the Dominion! what he says is he doesn't approve of the emperors decision to ally with the thalmor, throughout the game he make it well known he doesn't like having the thalmor ordering the legion what to do, he even makes a quip about being tempted to Join the Stormcloaks for he agrees with their cause, but insists "I'm no traitor, i'm loyal to the empire" so many imperials want to fight the dominion rather than protect them by fighting all who oppose the thalmor, buit they are caught in their loyalty, much like Balgruuf was.

The empire is in shambles, all it has left is Cyrodiil and Half of Skyrim, Blackmarsh declared independance in the wake of the oblivion crisis, Morrowind being independant after the empire abandoned them, Hammerfell being independant after the emperor kicked them out of the empire and left them for dead at the hands of the Thalmor, Highrock having shut out all ties to the empire since the WGC was signed, though they haven't officially left the empire, they have stopped all aid and diplomatic support of the empire... I sumise they likely joined up with hammerfell, as they have many times in the past in violation of the empires will.

remember also that there are redguards who voiced the idea of hammerfell and Skyrim forming a new state to crush the dominion and end the stand off between hammerfell and Cyrodiil and bring the empire to justice... oh yeah, what do you make of Tullius's mention of the legion being busy on the border down in Cyrodiil, they are currently in a joint standoff against hammerfell with the forces of the dominion... it's pretty bleak for the empire, all trade in the east empire company is now regulated by the thalmor.

I could go on, but I have to cut this short for now, I'll see you later -'J