Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-72.74.78.209-20141019230536/@comment-25640840-20141116181551

Some say it was cowardly and treasonous, some say it was heroic. The only thing we can assume is that it was neither.

I think it was definitely a duel and that Torygg accepted it. Even the Imperials agree to that. It might be that Imperial law has supremacy over provincial custom (making the duel illegal) but that fact doesn't matter to the vast majority of Nords and when Imperial rules was in fact being contested with the duel then it doesn't really matter. As far as I'm concerned the duel was legitimate.

Now, was the duel fair? With or without the thu'um Ulfric would have easily beaten Torygg so it was a forgone conclusion. His exact use of the thu'um is disputed. Some say he killed Torygg with it, some say he stunned him. Now we can use our own knowledge of the Thu'um, which was probably unrelenting force and say that Torygg was stunned by it, not killed.

Now, was that fair? I think Ulfric's voice is definitely own of his greatest strengths and is one of the main reasons why people follow him. The thu'um is sacred among the Nords and I think that most Nords wouldn't have cared if he used it or not. Of course Imperials would believe other wise but since Ulfric is a leader of Nords their opinion doesn't really matter. I think the use of the thu'um was not honourable but at the same time wasn't dishonourable.

I also don't think it's fair of you to say that Ulfric was a coward because he fled Solitude. What was he supposed to do? Stay and be killed by imperial soldiers?

The fact that people are arguing over who would be best at fighting the Thalmor is silly. You could say that only the Empire could beat them or that only Ulfric could beat them and be right both ways. I think that it is utterly irrelevant anyway since the Thalmor will likely not even be in the next game. Some other disaster will happen and the Great War and Civil War will be forgotten completely.