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Which side will align with in the fight for Skyrim?


  • Total voters
    113

Sparkz

Mysterious Creature
Stormcloaks all the way.Snotty Bratty kids of the whiterun jarl need to learn.. there are reprocusions to calling people ...kissers.That and being a stormcloak playes into what im trying to do with my character.
 

The Fallen Hero

Master Assassin; Hybrid
Stormcloaks all the way.Snotty Bratty kids of the whiterun jarl need to learn.. there are reprocusions to calling people ...kissers.That and being a stormcloak playes into what im trying to do with my character.
You do know Ulfric is a Thalmor Spy, right?
 

Lady Redpool the Unlifer

Pyro, Spirits Connoisseur, and Soulless Anarchist
Both my spellswords side with the Stormcloaks, The Breton because he hates the empire, the Redguard because he feels that Skyrim has a right to dictate it's own fate without the Empire as Hammerfell is.

My Imperial and my Nord on the other hand are sided with the Empire, the Imperial because he's an imperial soldier and my Nord in a rage at the dossier he found about Ulfric in the Thalmor embassy.

Personally though, if I were to create a "me" character, I'd side with the Stormcloaks, while Ulfric himself is a racist asshole, his actions and words seem that he has Skyrim's best interests at heat and most of the people tend to agree with him. I guess I'm just a sucker for the whole fight for freedom thing.
 

samgurl775

Cerberus Officer
and most of the people tend to agree with him. I guess I'm just a sucker for the whole fight for freedom thing.
I would say this is definitely false. Outside of the diehards in Windhelm, no one is happy when the Stormcloaks win the war. On the contrary, you'll encounter quite a few people that tell you they think Ulfric is a liar and deceiver (the little girl at Darkwater Crossing says that Ulfric is a "bad man", Asgeir Snow-Shod says he thinks Ulfric only cares about himself, and the Jarls son in Riften says his cause might be true, but "the man is a lie").

Most of the citizens in previously empire controlled cities also don't have much nice to say about the Stormcloaks. Adrianne Avennicci says that if not for her husband Ulfberth(a Nord), the Stormcloaks would refuse to buy from her. Ulfberth questions naming Vignar Gray-Mane the Jarl, saying something about him being too old and losing his wits.

Whereas when you talk to people in previously Stormcloak controlled cities, they don't have anything negative to say about he Empire. It's more of an "oh well, time to move on" kind of attitude. There are even some people that are happy the empire is control, such as Frida in Dawnstar, who will tell you she doesn't like fighting, but Brina Merilis "is the woman for the job". Not to mention the entire Dunmer and Argonian population of Windhelm is grateful the Empire is in control. You'll hear quotes like "having a just and honorable man like Brunwulf in charge can only be an improvement" and my personal favorite about Ulfric, "I hope in his next life, he's reborn as an Argonian forced to live in a slum because of some bigoted Nord dictator."

tldr;
If the Stormcloaks win, diehard Nords are happy, everyone else is upset. If the Empire wins, diehard Nords are unhappy (yet are able to continue to live peacefully) and everyone else is happy.
 

bulbaquil

...is not Sjadbek, he just runs him.
Stormcloaks.

Historical realism - the empire IS in decline - it has been since the Great War at the very least, possibly as far back as the Oblivion Crisis. The empire's greatest extent was at the start of the Third Era, 634 years before the events of Skyrim. The Roman Empire's greatest extent was in 117 AD; if we're using that as a model, this equates to 751 AD by which time the Dark Ages were well underway. The "Roman Empire" still existed (as the Byzantine Empire); the analogy here would be a unified Cyrodiil.
 

imaginepageant

Slytherin Alumni
Stormcloaks all the way for me. I feel strongly in a person's right to believe in what they choose to believe in, so the restriction of religious freedom that the Thalmor, and in essence, the Empire are enforcing does not sit well with me. I could never side with people who are trying to control what others are allowed to think and feel.
 

DrunkenMage

Intoxicated Arch-Mage
I went with the Stormcloak's once but I didn't like it in the end, mainly from just talking to shop owners in Whiterun, how they were being treated, like that Imperial in the potion shop.
 

Docta Corvina

Well-Known Member
So... murdering an innocent person is more acceptable behavior than bigotry?

I can only speak for myself here, but in the case of the Legion almost executing me because it was strongly assumed I was in league with those who helped support a guy who just killed the High King, yes. I understood why they were doing what they were doing at the beginning. The first time I played, I barely paid attention to who I followed through and out of Helgen, but it turned out to be Hadvar. He had sympathy for me and ever since joining the Legion for the first time, my decision has been repeatedly validated by my travels. It's not just about the racism - although that is a huge factor for me personally. I've spoken with many Nords who share my perception of the situation and who agree on the necessity of unity for the present threats and future action against Dominion funny business, as well as fair play for the marginalized races.

People will undoubtedly perceive the situation differently, some calling it a choice between the lesser of two evils. Both sides have their flaws, to be sure. But for me, I've always had the sense that Empire was more biding its time than just haplessly rolling over when it came to the Dominion. I give it more credit than that. Hell, I despise the Thalmor and kill them every chance I get - I think most of us do. But a fractured Skyrim only plays into their hands. Even the Thalmor Dossier indicates that they would sustain damage from Imperial victory in the Civil War, though they were not looking to outright encourage Stormcloak victory either. Rather, they favored the constant turmoil which allowed them to plot future offenses. Facing a united Empire would have been far more serious for them than land broken by internal strife. To me, it seems that hope of a truly "free" Skyrim (and Empire at large) would require the destruction or at least the disabling of the Dominion's power. I don't see how that could ever happen without unity - even if it's reluctant at best.

There are obviously some more factual details that Reaper will give us when his article is done. Should be insightful, I'm interested in learning as much as possible.
 

imaginepageant

Slytherin Alumni
I can only speak for myself here, but in the case of the Legion almost executing me because it was strongly assumed I was in league with those who helped support a guy who just killed the High King, yes.

I strongly disagree. I do not feel that a "strong assumption" of one's guilt justifies execution. If there was concrete, indisputable proof of one's guilt, I could understand and excuse their actions. Or, if I was arrested on suspicion of supporting the rebellion and then given a chance to defend myself and prove my innocence, all right, that's fine. But what we learn from the opening scene of the game is that the Empire does not require any sort of proof beyond personal suspicion to chop a person's head off.

Imagine if a man was arrested today on no greater grounds than that he was found in the company of a band of wanted criminals at the time of their arrest. There is absolutely nothing that points to this man actually committing a crime, or being in league with said criminals. Yet, not only is the man denied any sort of trial or chance to defend himself, but he is immediately sentenced to death and sent to the electric chair. Would this be acceptable? Absolutely not. So why is the same scenario excused in Skyrim?
 

DrunkenMage

Intoxicated Arch-Mage
Didn't they go "But he/she's not on the list?" but that Captain ordered it to go ahead, I mean they were just following order's, so the blame would be on that Captain?
 

Flint firestorm

The leading man, who else?
I strongly disagree. I do not feel that a "strong assumption" of one's guilt justifies execution. If there was concrete, indisputable proof of one's guilt, I could understand and excuse their actions. Or, if I was arrested on suspicion of supporting the rebellion and then given a chance to defend myself and prove my innocence, all right, that's fine. But what we learn from the opening scene of the game is that the Empire does not require any sort of proof beyond personal suspicion to chop a person's head off.

Imagine if a man was arrested today on no greater grounds than that he was found in the company of a band of wanted criminals at the time of their arrest. There is absolutely nothing that points to this man actually committing a crime, or being in league with said criminals. Yet, not only is the man denied any sort of trial or chance to defend himself, but he is immediately sentenced to death and sent to the electric chair. Would this be acceptable? Absolutely not. So why is the same scenario excused in Skyrim?
May I remind you that these are not modern times and if a group of people who let's say killed the president where seen and you Where with them do you think you'd get a trail a what makes you think that the stormcloaks who arrest people for thinking differently and are lead by a murderer would not execute you
 

Docta Corvina

Well-Known Member
I strongly disagree. I do not feel that a "strong assumption" of one's guilt justifies execution. If there was concrete, indisputable proof of one's guilt, I could understand and excuse their actions. Or, if I was arrested on suspicion of supporting the rebellion and then given a chance to defend myself and prove my innocence, all right, that's fine. But what we learn from the opening scene of the game is that the Empire does not require any sort of proof beyond personal suspicion to chop a person's head off.

Imagine if a man was arrested today on no greater grounds than that he was found in the company of a band of wanted criminals at the time of their arrest. There is absolutely nothing that points to this man actually committing a crime, or being in league with said criminals. Yet, not only is the man denied any sort of trial or chance to defend himself, but he is immediately sentenced to death and sent to the electric chair. Would this be acceptable? Absolutely not. So why is the same scenario excused in Skyrim?

I agree that in an ideal situation, I would have at least had a trial. But tensions were extremely high, the Empire was panicking and to be honest, I really do not think that had the sides been reversed, the Stormcloaks would have operated any differently. Say, if I had been in the same place as some Imperial sympathizers when Ulfric was assassinated. Does that make it okay? I don't think I said I found it okay - I wasn't happy about being thrown into the proverbial pit at the beginning. But as events unfolded, I better understood why it happened. I was and still do tend to look at the bigger picture with this game's story, and that's why I believe the Empire isn't hardly finished with the Dominion.

I eventually was given the chance to prove myself - hell, just showing up to enlist was enough to convince the normally incredulous Tullius of my seriousness. Nords like Rikke and Hadvar inspire me and help to validate my feelings and decision to support the Empire. We'll likely have to agree to disagree from that point, I assume. But for me, while my summary near-execution was unfortunate, I do not hold it against the Imperials.
 

DrunkenMage

Intoxicated Arch-Mage
The first time I played Skyrim, in the begining I wasn't really thinking of "I hate the Empire for trying to kill me" what was going through my mind was "Where do I get me a mask and axe like that?" then the "Oh my god a dragon" I wasn't thinking Politically for awhile, mainly it was "EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF LEG IT!" then later on I started thinking about the Civil War.
 

Docta Corvina

Well-Known Member
That's interesting, Reaper! I'll have to start a new person and look/listen more closely. Man, I usually am all about catching little details like that. I guess I'm just always so antsy to get to the creation mode that I don't pay enough attention. :p
 

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