Board Thread:Skyrim/@comment-11344160-20160205154012/@comment-29729442-20180130013013

Frozenhero1 wrote: I've noticed an overwhelming sentiment within these forums that the Empire is the way of the future. I disagree.

But the Stormcloaks are racists! No they're not. They're nationalists. There are racists in Windhelm, two by my count, but neither of them seem to be Stormcloaks. Ulfric brought a bunch of Dunmer refugees into his city rather than turn them away. Maybe the Grey Quarter is a slum, but what is Ulfric supposed to do - give them all nice houses and a bunch of gold? As for the Argonians and Kah-jeet, I'm not sure I'd be eager to let walking/talking cats and lizards into my home either (especially the Kah-jeet, who have proven themselves time and time again to be criminals, drug addicts, and thieves).

But Ulfric is a Thalmor agent! No he's not. The Thalmor consider him an 'asset' (and an unwilling one to boot), but that same document everyone references also states that the Thalmor are against either side prevailing in the Rebellion. They understand that if the Stormcloaks secure a quick victory it would be that much more difficult for the Dominion. Skyrim and Cyrodill, without Civil War, regardless of the 'victor', is a stronger Skyrim and Cyrodill, even seperate.

If Skyrim rebels it weakens the Empire! So? I've got news for you - the 'Empire' is over. They've lost most of their provinces and the whole thing is crumbling. Skyrim is perfectly capable of standing on its own. What people seem to miss is that Skyrim gaining independence doesn't automatically make them enemies with Cyrodill. They can still be friends, trade, and even fight against the Dominion together. Kind of like America and England.

But Ulfric is an egomaniac! Yeah, probably. But at least he's got a spine. Looking around at the other Jarls, I don't see much in the way of effective leadership. Most of them are complete tools or puppets, with the one exception being Balgruuf in Whiterun, but he's a little indecisive and wishy-washy. If Elisif was made High Queen she would be dancing on the strings of the Imperials, who are (understandably) going to serve their own interests at the expense of Skyrim. She has shown that she cares for the people, but has also demonstrated absolutely no backbone when it comes to her bureaucracy.

If Skyrim become independent, they'll have a whole host of problems. They'll need to come up with things like their own currency, which will cause temporary economic havoc. They'll need to fill the vacuum created by the absence of the East Empire trading company. They'll need to form a cohesive military. And, ultimately, they'll have to figure out how to deal with the Aldmeri Dominion. But they can do all of these things. The Nords have done it before. Hell, the Nords invented the Empire. They can do it again.

Alright. I will point these with numbers in the reply to make it simple.

1- Saying that they are not racist is to ignore what the Stormcloaks, as a group, do to these races. In Windhelm, where Ulfric has direct control since he is not the High King yet, the guards do nothing to give protection to the Gray Quarter as it is revealed by Ambarys Rendar (who also says that things got a lot worse since Ulfric took over), and this is clearly shown by how Rolff screams racist words every night there. And about Ulfric letting the dunmer there: no, he didn’t. They were already there before he was even born (the Red Mountain erupted in the very first years of the 4th Era, so the High King at the time gave the Gray Quarter to them). Giving a population a chance to have a better life trough honest work is one thing, completely ignoring such population to the point of doing nothing about racists shouting at them every night is a completely different thing.

As for the argonians and Khajiit: I agree about not letting the caravans in the city’s walls since they are known for smuggling skooma, but the argonians do not do this and thos eof Windhelm seem to value hardwork (and having scaly skin does not exclude the fact that they are as rational as any nord in the city).

2- Regardless, the content of the Thalmor Dossier shows that the Civil War, that Ulfric himself started, is weakening both sides and this is why the Dossier says they should intervene, directly or indirectly, when one side is about to win (the content of the Dossier even reveals that they wanted to prevent Ulfric’s execution, a concrete example of how they want the war to go on) and remain hands off as long as the Civil War is on a standstill.

In other words: no matter if Ulfric is working for the Thalmor or not, he is being played and used just like the imperials thanks to a war that is happening thanks to him.

3- I kinda talked about it in number 2, but anyway: if this war was not started years ago (Solaf and the father of that deceased Stormcloak Battle Maiden, I forgot his name, reveal that this war has been foing on for years), maybe the empire could have rebuilt itself to the point of already being able to handle the Dominion, but Ulfric’s rebellion made the Empire need to eighter send troops to Skyrim (tough by 4th Era 201 the reinforcements almost stopped, wich Legate Fasendil reveals... clearly because leaving Cyrodiil defenseless would not go unnoticed by the Dominion’s forces) or to spend resources on locally recruited soldiers instead of being able to focus on the Empire’s best men.

And just to add an important aspect: armor. While we mostly see leather armor on imperials in the vanilla game, Stormcloaks say that “legion soldiers gleam like fresh fallen snow and clank like a kitchen”, wich reveals that most imperials in the lore use plate armor (wich also explains why many Stormcloaks use blunt weapons like maces and hammers, what would be pointless if they were fighting against opponents using only leather armor). The Stormcloaks, however, use a chainmail “shirt” that barely protects their limbs (wixh is why the imperials only carry swords in the Vanilla game, with some TES: Legends cards showing imperials carrying spears)... and some Stormcloaks go to the battlefield without shields (with some TES: Legends cards showing that some fight even without helmets) and I think I do not have to comment about the Stormcloak Officer armor.

So I think I can say that Skyrim would be far stronger and better with the Empire thanks to the imperials’ better equipment and lack of racism, tough I would not oppose Skyrim’s independence if it was supposed to be a peaceful movement, without weakening any side