Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-26213507-20150715194939/@comment-26896471-20150925234123

I've explained the manpower thing in a long previous thread so I'll repeat it for reference:

The value of Skyrim to the Empire is its manpower. It lost a vast swathe of this at the point the WGC was signed. These people later became Stormcloaks or Stormcloak sympathisers. These people were clearly lost to the Empire as potential recruits way before the Civil War. An Imperial victory would not suddenly return these men to the fold. The only way these men could be used again to boost the total number fighting the Dominion is if Skyrim is no longer part of the Empire. This is different to those Imperial sympathisers in Skyrim. They would fight for Skyrim against the Dominion, even if they wouldn't fight for 'Skyrim' (in the form of the Stormcloaks, here) against the Empire.

Economically, you speak about land owners 'being aligned to the empire'. A country's businessmen and landowners will always cosy up to those in power. Once they sense the balance of power shifting they shift too. That's why Maven Black-Briar isn't at all bothered that the Jarl through whom she operates is aligned to the Stormcloaks. The political realities are that any power in Skyrim is not strong enough to shift the local balance of power. The current landowners will remain in place and simply shift their assets around. Its not like the new administration would suddenly start arresting landowners throughout Skyrim. Particularly as most of these landowners are Nords themselves. You ask who would pay the miners? The same people who have always paid the miners. The owners of the mines. From what gold will they be paid? The gold from those who buy the ore in Solitude, Windhelm, Stros M'kai and yes, even the Empire. As we've established, it would be suicide for the EEC to cut off all trade with Skyrim.

And: I "don't know Balgruuf very well". Really? So how well do you know Balgruuf? Let's be honest, we can only skim the surface when judging his personality, and the rest we can only make vast assumptions. Yes, he's cool. But we can't go dismissing any hint he may have had dodgy dealings in the past on the basis of his "I'm all for Whiterun" speeches. From the Silver Bloods, to Jarl Siddgeir in Falkreath and the chests of gold, the Empire's relationship with its affiliated Jarls in Skyrim is hardly clean.