User blog comment:Spritydove/Deeper Thought into the Civil War/@comment-1840877-20120723091309/@comment-4588723-20120725045251

1. First of all I'm not usually a Nord, actually if I was personally living in Tamriel I would've been born a Breton. That said, I'm not automatically "opposed" to any race, as inprecise as that term is, but when I'm travelling or questing alongside a Dunmer or Khajiit I tend to make sure I'm not walking in front of them for too long, they're just too naturally talented at backstabbing. That isn't a moral judgment at all, just a fact of Tamriel's racial diversity.*

2. I suppose it's possible that Ulfric "may" be sacrificing his position as Jarl and throwing the prestige and heritage of Windhelm to the wind just to take an underdog's shot at beating back the Imperials and getting a bigger throne; it doesn't make any rational sense, and even the Thalmor acknowledge the complexity of Ulfric's motivations, but yeah it's possible. Ultimately, however, I don't support the Stormcloaks for Ulfric Stormcloak, so his personal agenda is of precious little importance to me. I don't care for the guy as a mate, but I'm on the same page as far as what's best for the people of Skyrim. Which brings me to the last question...

3. Yes, Skyrim will absolutely be able to fend off the Thalmor WHEN they come (not if), for several reasons. Most of the logistical reasons have been elucidated by TDITN, but I would add the fact that if Skyrim were an Imperial province, their militia and border defense would be commanded by the Imperial Legion, under the rule of Titus Mede's successor. The eager-to-compromise Empire would make a far weaker defense of Skyrim than a High King who's actually concerned about the wellbeing of Skyrim's native people (who are the Nords, whether you like it or not, everyone else is a visitor). In the end, what the Empire did to the Redguards during the Great War is a foreshadow of what they would do to the Nords once the pressure heated up again; they'd hack up the land as only politicians see fit to do, and give away life and livelihood of civilians who are too unimportant to receive consideration. Centralized government without conviction, as seen in the present sorry excuse for an Empire, has never won both the war and the peace, and it can't here.


 * I'm working on a blog post of my own to bring out this point in detail, but the depiction of patriotic Nords as racist or bigoted is culturally ignorant and hypocritical; the races of Nirn are not equal, they are not of the same origin, and to deny the fact that certain races of men and races of Mer have very good reasons not to trust each other is beyond naive. It is destructively narrow-minded.