User blog:Madman97/Blog Critic: Why the Stormcloaks are right

[Forwarded By Madman97. This is Dave's blog, I am simply helping him post it as his account is on the fritz for some reason, but this is not mine.] Alright, before all of you p*ss yourselves, this is not an argument as to why the Stormcloaks are superior. No, this is another episode of Blog Critic, where I critique serious lore blogs and give them the verdict. Written by Zippertrain85, who in my opinion is one of this wikia's more prominent members among the others on my metaphorical list,  back in May, this blog got hundreds of comments either from supporters of his argument, or YouTube comment level rage douchebags. I admit, doing this one would have been kind of unfair as I do support the Imperials more than the Stormcloaks, but let's just address the blog at hand. '''"So recently I've read a lot of different opinions about the civil war in Skyrim. If you don't know their are two sides, the Stormcloaks, who are rebelling against the Empire to become independent, and the Imperials who are trying to keep Skyrim as part of the Empire. Both sides have their pros and cons, I personally support the Stormcloaks, but I feel a lot of misinformation has been spread about the them, Ulfric in particular. So I wanted to post this article to explain why those reasons are untrue." ''' Ok, so we start of here with the avergage beginning to an at least semi-intelligent argument for your faction of choice. He says he wants to clear some stuff up, and there is nothing wrong with that. He states that both sides have their pros and cons, but feels that there is misinterpretations of various info collected by Skyrim players these past two years. Ulfric in particular. A couple things. And this goes for a warning for all future blog writers. Fanboys take their s*** seriously, and will clutter your comment section with rage if you don't appease them with a softer title than "Why the Stormcloaks are right." I read through the comments, and while it was mostly three users who were really trolling our Zippertrain, one of them made a good point. You can't put a blunt title such as this, otherwise, ah God, this will just give Imperial fanboys a reason to yell at you. They take anything they can get. Sure, I support the Imperials too, but not on a level that can be deemed insanely so. Instead, put "Why I think the Stormcloaks are right." Trust me, it's the only way to go. Give the Imperial fanboys the benifet of doubt. The Title is probably one of the most important things in these blogs. ""Ulfric & the Stormcloaks are racist".  '''Probably the most common argument against the Stormcloaks. But what if I told you this argument was actually wrong? Well, let's go over it shall we? Let's start with the Gray Quarter, most people think that Ulfric forces all of Windhelm's Dunmer to live in the slum known as the Gray Quarter. But with some research you would realize this to be quite untrue. The Dunmer are not forced to live anywhere. The live in nanny for the Cruel-Seas, and the owner of the Hlaalu farm do not. If Ulfric truly wanted to segregate them why do two Dunmer not live there? Consider this, the Dunmer probably moved to Windhelm right after the eruption of the Red Mountain or the Argonian invasion. Both of witch happened before Ulfric was Jarl. So they must've lived in the Gray Quarter before Ulfric was in power. For whatever reason it must've fallen apart and became what it is today. You might be thinking, "Why doesn't Ulfric fix it?" He's in the middle of a war, it's a rebellion fighting an Empire, it's not going to be easy. Another reason is if they did ruin it on their own, it's not Ulfric's responsibility to fix it. If they destroyed it on their own, why would the Jarl have to spend tax payers dollers to fix something that's not even city property? The next is the Argonians, I actually don't think they are completely forbidden from entering the city. It's never said they can't go in at all? It's just said they can't live in it. Maybe they can't live in it because their is no room. Do you know four empty houses in Windhelm they could move into? Also, Shahvee bought an amulet of Zenithar. Where would she have gotten that from? Inside the city perhaps? Finallly, the Khajiit Caravans aren't allowed in any cities, Stormcloak or Imperial. So you can't just blame the Stormcloaks for that.  "Ulfric just wants to be High King".  This is actually a baseless assumption for the most part. Because nothing in the game shows this. He actually has shown to be the opposite. Just the way I have seen him acting towards Galmar has shown that to me. You could give the argument that he's faking it, but why? Galmar is his second in command, I don't think he would have to hide much from him. I feel that this is a very weak argument with little to no basis in reality.  "Ulfric cheated in his duel with Torygg because he used the Thu'um to murder Torygg".  What people fail to realize is that it doesn't matter how Ulfric won the duel. It was supposed to show that if the High King couldn't protect himself, how was he supposed to protect Skyrim? Ulfric, a Jarl could do that better then Troygg, a High King. Which shows that Ulfric deserved the position more then Torygg. If someone is trying to hurt Skyrim, they aren't going to try and be fair. They're going to try and destroy it. You as High King should be able to protect it from that. "The Stormcloaks don't stand a chance against the Dominion".  First of all, the Nords have been fighting Elves for years. Why would the Dominion be any different? Most would say, "the whole Empire couldn't beat them, how would only the Nords do it?". Actually, though the Empire was wounded, the Dominion was also very weakened. Their main general was killed and every soldier in Cyordiil. That was one of the largest armies ever assmbled in Elven history. And since Elves reproduce slower, they would probably have a much harder time recovering. Hammerfell alone was able to beat them, and they were just as hurt as Cyordiil from the Great War, they also had a civil war between the Crowns and the Forbears before that. So Hammerfell was not in a good position and yet they still beat the Dominion. Why can't Skyrim? Also, they could make an allaince with Hammerfell and the two of them could work together. Also, the Stormcloaks offered High Rock an allaince, they didn't instantly reject them which shows that they might be thinking about it. These three nations would put up one hell of a fight for the Dominion. ''' In this next segment, he gives his reasons as to why these arguments against the Stormcloaks are actually false. My problem started with the very second line. "What if I told you these arguments were wrong?" Again, big no-no. As with the title above, these dudes will eat you alive. So in his arguments, he says that the reason different races in Windhelm are being treated poorly was because they were in a civil war, and since Daggerfall was actually a huge portion of land, the land of Skyrim is a lot bigger than it actually appears on screen, monumentally so. So the civil war in actuality is a lot bigger than what our consoles and PC's can actually process. It's the reason why the Civil war was basically about ten dudes versus Ten dudes, the most impressive by far being the attack of Whiterun, and they used it the very first time, a waste in my opinion. But the point is, the war is a lot bigger, the tole is a lot bigger, and Ulfric is trying to lead a revolution, basically saying "We will cross that bridge when we come to it," with the races treatment. While I am sure that this argument is pretty sound, I admit, Ulfric is a pretty busy guy, it still would improve things a lot better if the Dunmer were treated like actual living breathing well, not humans, but pretty close, except with grey skin and red eyes...but that's not the point. I see elves and (some) men living together side by side in Falkreath. The High Priest of Arkay is a High Elf, of all things, and I see no discrimination. Windhelm, as with Skyrim and all the Holds, are probably a lot bigger than it appears, with much more people, and I am sure more than just four Dunmer would live there, and I think Ulfric could at least give a morale speech. I don't see him getting off his @$$ and doing anything. He sends the Dragonborn to do his dirty work. But that's besides the point. Sticking to the confines of the game, this argument is kind of lacking, a bit better when you look at it from Daggerfall sized standards, but it is ultimatly irrelevant. Ulfric can at least shake hands with one of them. This includes Argonians. I am sure there would be room in the city from the Daggefall standards, but within the confines of the game itself, I suppose not. Plus, it is said in game that Ulfric signed a decree that forbade Argonaians from entering the city.I will agree on one thing though. Khajiit Caravans are not aloud into the holds. Why? Hell if I know. This is pretty outright discrimination, but not by Ulfric I don't think himself. The general public don't have a very high standing with the overgrown cats of the south, even if I do like them a bit. So the Nords arn't done any favors there. While Zippertrain is kind of right, (To send angry Imperial Fanboy messages, send to this email: gof***yourself@don'tgiveas***.com), in saying that the basis of Ulfric wanting to be High King is baseless, you cannot deny that you have had your suspicions. I mean, it is awfully convenient that if the Stormcloak path is chosen, things tend to work out for the better for Ulfric. There is no question he will become High King if this storyline is completed. But that's all it really is. Suspicion. Ulfric really has nothing happening to him that say's "Ooh yeah, I'm a corrupt politician!" While the notion is not unarguable, it doesn't have real proof to back it up. So, props to Zippertrain85, he got this one right. Onto one of the more controversal moments of Ulfric's career, using the Thu'um to kill the High King of Skyrim. While I admit challenging whom was still supposed to be a boy was harsh, Ulfric's intentions were quite justified. How was the High King supposed to protect Skyrim if he couldn't even protect himself? Very good. But flawed in my opinion. This is an issue between me and Madman97 about Ulfric. While it's the norm to find Ulfric a jerk, there is actually not a lot that says he kind of is except through bias. However, this is a moment where I find myself not liking Ulfric. The High King was just a boy according to dialogue from Ulfric. Ulfric could have just shouted him to the ground and made him yield. He didn't have to kill Toryyg. Ulfric needed to show that the High King was weak, that's it. Killing was uneccessary. An old fashioned Nord battle would be one on one blade to blade, not one on one blade to BIG SHOUTY VOICE. Ulfric, hero of the Stormcloaks. But Im not here to refute. We really need to wrap this up though. The rest is the same, giving arguments on the positions of Hammerfell and Skyrim, and ending with two more arguments for clearing Ulfric's name. I am beginning to sense a pattern here. Have you got it? If not, let me give you a hint. (Clears throat) ...ulfric ...Ulfric ...ULFRIC!!! ULFRIC EVERYWHERE!!! This blog was called why the Stormcloaks are right! Not 'Why Ulfric isn't a douche!" In the entire blog, I have only seen two points on why the Stormcloaks rock, and the rest is literally just righting the contraversy around Ulfric Stormcloak. Plus there is a fair shar of grammatical errors along the way. I ain't a grammar nazi, but some of the sentences are just wrong. Some people might even think it was written by the author of Alduin is Real. Ok, that's a bit mean, but...actually, you know what? This was written by Nords. No wonder why this blog got such a bad rep with people, it's just Nord propaganda! Ok, maybe I am judging it to harshly. I am sure Zippertrain had good intentions when writing this, but he just did it wrong. The Final verdict? (Drum Roll please) .... AVERAGE! Final Word: Look, as the title would suggest, I came here looking for arguments to support the Stormcloaks and I saw it more in the comments below than I did the actual blog. This could have had the makings of a good blog, Zipper's certainly got the apptitude, but as it shows, he, (or she) has still got a lot to learn. If your going to do something as ballsy as speak against the Empire on a public blog forum, you gotta do it right. By now, you probably think I hate this thing. But that is far from true. I do admire one thing. Surprisingly, it's the vey thing I was knocking on it for, and that's the arguments for Ulfric. Maybe my sheer luck or actual knowledge of the fanbase, Zipper understood that a lot of the arguments against the stormcloaks start at one person: Ulfric. In fact, a large chunk of the people here condemn the Nords and Stormcloaks because of Ulfric, so it's no surpise that he would want to right the wrongs of that, thereby giving the Stormcloaks a more approachable standing. And that is enough for me to at least give it an Average. It's never whether you succeed or not. It's if you tried, and in my book, Zippertrain did just that. Unfortunatly, I just don't think he suceeded, as shown by all 300 of rage comments on his blog. This is Blog Critic, out. Madman97 (talk) 06:50, December 5, 2013 (UTC)