User blog comment:Spritydove/Deeper Thought into the Civil War/@comment-5135631-20120707164216/@comment-3472264-20120713233640

@Anon The Shout is too powerful to be used openly and frequently, if everyone who knew how to shout just went around using the shout every chance they got then the world would be plunged into chaos. It's sort of like why they use restrictor plates at Talladega and Daytona in NASCAR because if they didn't everyone would be moving at speeds in excess of 230 MPH which would result in many crashes and injuries.

@Thedoucheinthenorth Just for future reference avoid saying things like "for a fact" and then put an opinion following it because that just makes you look like you're flamebaiting.

As for the Thalmor capturing and torturing people the quick fact on the loading screen says they do it secretly meaning without anyone else's knowledge and I think "anyone else" includes the Empire. While they may not be in the best shape they are in much better shape than Skyrim is right now and if the civil war were to end in Stormcloak favor then the Dominion could very easily come in and take Skyrim by storm because they now know the terrain and weather better so they can be better prepared for it.

You say that because Hammerfell fended off a Dominion invasion that Skyrim can too. This needs to be thought about past the point of "Hammerfell did it so we can too" the Redguards actively embrace all types of combat, melee, archery, and magic. The Nords on the other hand shun magic and embrace only melee combat with archery being limited, while the Dominion fights much like the Redguards embracing melee combat and magic with a somewhat more limited approach on archery it sounds like the Dominion has the upperhand where battle tactics are concerned especially since magic completely ignores armor regardless of whether one is heavily armored, lightly armored, or not armored at all so the Nords' emphasis on using heavy armor and almost exclusively melee combat would be almost useless, so for Skyrim to stand on its own against the Dominion they would require either a lot of luck or Ulfric would have to make an ass pull and somehow pull something off that makes absolutely no sense but works in the favor of the person who did it which rarely ever happens if at all.

You need to consider this, the Empire is only in decline as a direct result of the Oblivion Crisis which ended the Septim Dynasty which in turn stirred up some political unrest, not because of deterioration by over expanding so saying the Empire is in decline because they spread themselves too thin is not true in any capacity.

Also you seem to be under the illusion that if Ulfric got the throne that he would accept help from the Empire in the event of a Dominion invasion. That is the most ridiculous argument I have ever heard anyone make in favor of the Stormcloaks. Ulfric is too damn proud to accept help from anyone who is affiliated with the Empire or anyone who isn't a Nord for that matter unless that person who isn't a Nord is actively joining the Stormcloaks.