Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-76.97.80.106-20130811163656/@comment-24999978-20140725194353

Jarjarbinks590 wrote: 76.97.80.106 wrote: I was thinking about the whole civil war going on in skyrim, and I realized something. The Imperials only fight in the war to maintain peace and keep Ulfric's uprising under control. The stormcloaks fight because of the empire being weakened and they don't like the idea of mer banning Talos worship and controlling the empire. As for the Dominion's reasoning for what they did, I am unsure, but given the presented facts, I think the best strategy is for the Stormcloaks and Imperials to work in tandem to wipe out the dominion and eradicate the White-Gold Concordat (No dominion to be wary of), legalizing Talos worship and returning power to the Empire. Thoughts? This is exactly what I've been thinking, but with a few extra things thrown in. Let me just mention a few things by the end of the Main Questline (assuming the Civil War has not been finished):

1.) Alduin is defeated, meaning that the dragons have lost their "thuri" and this role is now taken by the Dragonborn.

2.) Odahviing now serves the Player, no matter which side of the War they take, and he is a damn powerful and feared ally in battle; he would terrify the Thalmor armies.

-Add that to the Thu'um of the player character and Ulfric Stormcloak, and that's 3 shout users (4 if the player character were to summon a Hero of Sovngarde).

3.) After the Greybeards' peace council was successful, they are in a position to call a second meeting, congratulating both sides for their co-operation and to discuss terms of a PERMANENT treaty to team up against the Dominion (both Ulfric and Tullius hate the Thalmor).

-While Ulfric refused to co-operate well at the first meeting, lore-wise the player should be a rather persuasive character, able to talk sense into him.

4.) The Blades are now reformed and gaining new recruits; they can now resume their former position as spies against the Thalmor, running espionage and scouting missions.

5.) The people of Skyrim already resent the Thalmor and the Nords would never miss a chance for vengeance; there would not be any trouble gathering recruits for the Legion/Stormclaks (let's assume the Stormcloaks fold into the Legion if they do team up, many Stormcloaks were already in the Legion before and the nostalgia may give them a boost of morale).

Admittedly that last point isn't quite as relevant, but still. Thoughts on these points please, people?

Some interesting ideas. I presume your first and second point are to illustrate that the Dragonborn has a high standing and powerful backing, thus making him a persuasive figure and in a greater position to negotiate between the two factions? If so, I can certainly see what you mean, but sadly, the Heroes of the previous Elder Scrolls games have never really stuck around after their Events (barring Cyrus, but I think that is a different case for various reasons). Also, members of both factions do obviously despise the Thalmor, but I wonder how open they would be to negotiating after all of the fighting and destruction. I would have thought that if the Stormcloaks were that ready to fight with the Empire, they would have not have rebelled in the first place and could have waited for the Empire to have fought the Aldmeri Dominion. Of course, I suppose that perhaps they may claim that they were unsure whether the Empire would ever go to war with the Dominion again, but there seems to be enough resentment to suggest that they may not too far in the future.