Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-26213507-20150715194939/@comment-26893431-20150908121711

S&#039;Dalaar the Snowcat wrote: You are partially right on that. And I would fully agree with you, if not for one problem: Balgruuf was never really neutral. Even from the beginning of the game, it was heavily implied that Balgruuf was leaning more towards the Empire. It is also seen in Whiterun's approach to the Civil War. The Hold was still open to Imperial traffic and allowed Legionnaires to pass through unharmed. Within Balgruuf's court, there are 2(maybe 3) staunch Imperial supporters giving him advice and influencing him in that direction; Proventus and Hrongar(and possibly Commander Caius). The guardsmen are also equipped with Imperial weapons provided by the Empire and show disdain to anyone wearing Stormcloak armor. Finally, while they let go of Imperials who travels through Whiterun, they are hostile to any Stormcloaks entering their territory.

See, Balgruuf was never "neutral". I would say he was 90% Empire supporter. The only reason he didn't go 100% was due to him not enforcing the WGC in his city. Balgruuf knew that he would have to pick a side at some point, but due to the chaos in Skyrim, he saw an opportunity to allow his people to worship Talos for a little longer. But through and through, he was all for the Empire over the Stormcloaks, as you can hear in his speeches against them.

I am surprised that Ulfric has been so patient to still consider Balgruuf a possible ally while he indirectly helps the Imperials and directly hinder the Stormcloaks. But patience had to end at some point. Ulfric didn't force anyone to anything. He just couldn't wait any longer while his men were dying out there and wanted a straight answer so he could plan ahead.

Balgruuf IS neutral, wether you like it or not.

There are also Imperial Legionaires walking around in the Rift, bad argument.

Advice has nothing to do with being sided with them.

Hahaha, you seem to forget that not all Whiterun guards wear Imperial gear. Besides, Skyrim IS an Imperial Province, of course the other guards have Imperial gear.

Balgruuf is a neutral Hold, he send Ulfric his axe (Imperial qeustline) and even says that they are at peace if he accepts it, Ulfric however sees anybody that isn't with him against him because Ulfric is paranoid.