Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-76.97.80.106-20130811163656/@comment-24590102-20140824070523

WC-83 wrote: Minus the Republic thing (HAH! You think something like that can be made in a Medieval Fantasy? Oh Anon, you make my sides hurt) that isn't a bad idea (also excluding the "killing Ulfric by stabbing him in the back" idea, other than that, only moral decision). And it really can work either way, though supporting the Empire would keep the infrastructure of the Empire intact and far less rebuilding than if the Stormcloaks ran through Tamriel and conquered everything (Skyrim doesn't exactly have the manpower it thinks it does, they're elite fighters not a horde the size of the province). I'm not so sure. Oblivion pulled off a Medieval senate quite nicely, if I recall - and Skyrim is already a democracy given the moot. Correct me if I'm wrong but, historically, the most significant difference between a republic (Roman) and a democracy (Greek) was that a republic had universal suffrage (e.g. the Plebeian vote or Plebiscite) and a democracy didn't. If I recall, it is but a short step from a democracy to a republic but it is ultimately up to the "gods" to choose iron or silver.

Also, the White-Gold concordat would, by definition, be illegal under any form of republican government owing to its fundamental violation of the Plebiscite. Moreover, much of the Thalmor are thinly scattered as squads enforcing the White-Gold concordat. Simply shifting the machinery of government from democracy to republic would put a legitimate target on every Thalmor back in Skyrim and let the hot air out of Ulfric - without having to embarrass Ulfric into proving his doubtful loyalty to the Nords. The Empire, on the other hand, would find itself in a precarious balance between those who wish to follow Skyrim's change of system (having seen that it can be done) and the Thalmor who seek the double-standards of "privilege". The Thalmor could leave their enforcers deployed throughout the rest of Tamriel and risk losing them as they did in Skyrim. The Thalmor could also withdraw their enforcers and regroup - but doing so would only serve to facilitate the swing from Empire to Republic. Either way, they lose in the end because even their own Plebeians will hear of Skyrim's shiny new republic and, while those Altmer Plebeians may not overthrow the Aldmeri Dominion, they will no longer give it the full support they once did and the Dominion will weaken.