Shog
The Infinite Being
I'm probably beating a dead horse and I'm sure this has been done on this site before, but I want to hear your opinion: Why did you join the side you did for the Civil War quest line in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim? Please do not reply if your response is something along the lines of "Stormcloaks sound better" or "I am loyal to the Imperials after playing Oblivion" or "Because I like them." I've searched around on the internet looking for peoples opinions, but all forms of logic quickly break down into "Because the Imperials like sucking Thalmor c*ck" or "Anyone who joins the Stormcloaks must have a negative IQ." If you do not have a real (preferably lore based) reason for your choice, please do not reply. Similarly I want this to be a place where both sides can discuss their choice openly, so please do us all a favor and leave if you came here with the intention of convincing other people you're right. There is a fine line between persuasion and just stating your reasoning, but there is still a line.
If you made it this far: Congratulations! You can probably add intelligent input into this discussion! To start off, let me get this out of the way: I support the Imperials. I believe that Skyrim will benefit in the long run from their victory over the Stormcloaks. I'm also going to clear up a common misconception about the imperials: They do not like the Altmeri Dominion. In the end, the Dominion is the enemy of both sides. The Imperials and Thalmor are sort of working together, but the Imperials are not happy about it. The only reason they are is because they lost the Great War. I often hear Stormcloaks and Stormcloak supporters say the Imperials should be ashamed of their compliance to the White Gold Concordant, but that would be a great blemish on their honor. A true Nord knows when they're defeated and will honor that, yet they expect the Imperials to blemish their honor and disregard the Concordant?
The argument we've all seen is how the Imperials are actively trying to repress the Nords by banning the worship of Talos. That must be taken at face value, right? It's not like the Imperials altered the entire religion practiced through the Empire to adapt to nordic beliefs when Skyrim joined the Empire. Oh wait, they did. The Imperials are one of the most open minded races (generally) in all of Tamriel and do not care who you worship. The Altmeri Dominion, on the other hand, do. They believe in elven superiority and added the ban of Talos worship into the White Gold Concordant to piss off the Nords and create instability in Skyrim. The Stormcloaks played right into their hands.
Speaking of Thalmor manipulation, they even manipulated Ulfric. In Thalmor Dossier: Ulfric Stormcloak, it was explained how they made him think he overheard valuable information during his interrogation and let him escape. From there they used the Markarth Incident (caused by Ulfric) to further enforce the ban of Talos worship. Further on it made note of how they wanted Ulfric to stay alive. It sounds as though, had Alduin not appeared, the Thalmor would have made a move to free Ulfric at the beginning of the game. If Ulfric lives, then the Imperials have the edge in the War which the Thalmor does not want because that means Skyrim remains under Imperial control and out of their reach.
It looks as though I'm being favortistic (as to be expected), so let's look at something not so great the Empire did in regards to the Altmeri Dominion. They abandoned Hammerfell and kicked them out of the Empire sometime after Cyrodiil fell and the Dominion was working on taking Hammerfell. What good empire would abandon such a large portion of their people in such a time of need? One with foresight. With Cyrodiil fallen, they would need to order all Empire soldiers to stop fighting the Dominion. Not only did they allow Hammerfell to keep fighting, but they also fired all soldiers and officers stationed in Hammerfell (that didn't want to come back to Cyrodiil). This allowed all of their soldiers to keep fighting for what they believed in without violating the terms of the Concordant.
Lastly, I'm going to bring this back to some faults of the Stormcloaks. Mainly their racism. If you don't believe that the Nords are racist, then please get past that mental block.
It's true that this is most strongly felt in Windhelm (where all of my examples came from) and focused mainly on the Dark Elves and Argonians, but why would they stop there? After all, "Skyrim belongs to the Nords." Plus, Windhelm is the center for all Stormcloak activity and if the Stormcloaks win then that will be the cornerstone for all Nord behavior. I'm not saying the other races aren't racist either (again, high elf), but Nord (especially Stormclaok racism) will bite them in the back. If the Empire is pushed out of Skyrim then the Altmeri Dominion will waste no time invading Skyrim, who's people are tired, divided, and short of man power. They won't stand a chance against the force that successfully invaded the Imperial City. They might stand a chance if they had any allies, but they want all other races out of Skyrim and treat them like trash, so no one is going to come to their aid. If Skyrim is for the Nords, they they can defend it by themselves.
I personally believe that no side is "right" in the Civil War (and it's designed to be so), but I believe siding with the Empire will help in the long run to take down the Altmeri Dominion. Please, share your opinion on the matter and poke hols in my argument. I'm hear for a good debate, after all.
If you made it this far: Congratulations! You can probably add intelligent input into this discussion! To start off, let me get this out of the way: I support the Imperials. I believe that Skyrim will benefit in the long run from their victory over the Stormcloaks. I'm also going to clear up a common misconception about the imperials: They do not like the Altmeri Dominion. In the end, the Dominion is the enemy of both sides. The Imperials and Thalmor are sort of working together, but the Imperials are not happy about it. The only reason they are is because they lost the Great War. I often hear Stormcloaks and Stormcloak supporters say the Imperials should be ashamed of their compliance to the White Gold Concordant, but that would be a great blemish on their honor. A true Nord knows when they're defeated and will honor that, yet they expect the Imperials to blemish their honor and disregard the Concordant?
The argument we've all seen is how the Imperials are actively trying to repress the Nords by banning the worship of Talos. That must be taken at face value, right? It's not like the Imperials altered the entire religion practiced through the Empire to adapt to nordic beliefs when Skyrim joined the Empire. Oh wait, they did. The Imperials are one of the most open minded races (generally) in all of Tamriel and do not care who you worship. The Altmeri Dominion, on the other hand, do. They believe in elven superiority and added the ban of Talos worship into the White Gold Concordant to piss off the Nords and create instability in Skyrim. The Stormcloaks played right into their hands.
Speaking of Thalmor manipulation, they even manipulated Ulfric. In Thalmor Dossier: Ulfric Stormcloak, it was explained how they made him think he overheard valuable information during his interrogation and let him escape. From there they used the Markarth Incident (caused by Ulfric) to further enforce the ban of Talos worship. Further on it made note of how they wanted Ulfric to stay alive. It sounds as though, had Alduin not appeared, the Thalmor would have made a move to free Ulfric at the beginning of the game. If Ulfric lives, then the Imperials have the edge in the War which the Thalmor does not want because that means Skyrim remains under Imperial control and out of their reach.
It looks as though I'm being favortistic (as to be expected), so let's look at something not so great the Empire did in regards to the Altmeri Dominion. They abandoned Hammerfell and kicked them out of the Empire sometime after Cyrodiil fell and the Dominion was working on taking Hammerfell. What good empire would abandon such a large portion of their people in such a time of need? One with foresight. With Cyrodiil fallen, they would need to order all Empire soldiers to stop fighting the Dominion. Not only did they allow Hammerfell to keep fighting, but they also fired all soldiers and officers stationed in Hammerfell (that didn't want to come back to Cyrodiil). This allowed all of their soldiers to keep fighting for what they believed in without violating the terms of the Concordant.
Lastly, I'm going to bring this back to some faults of the Stormcloaks. Mainly their racism. If you don't believe that the Nords are racist, then please get past that mental block.
Rolff: "You come here where you're not wanted, you eat our food, you pollute our city with your stink and you refuse to help the Stormcloaks."
Suvaris: "But we haven't taken a side because it's not our fight."
Angrenor: "Hey, maybe the reason these gray-skins don't help in the war is because they're Imperial spies!"
Suvaris: "Imperial spies? You can't be serious!"
Rolff: "Maybe we'll pay you a visit tonight, little spy. We got ways of finding out what you really are."
"Go back to Morrowind, Dark Elf maggots! You're not welcome here!"
"Get out of our city, gray-skins! This is Nord land!"
"We don't want your kind here, dark elves!"
"This place reeks of gray-skin filth!"
"You like living in this filthy slum, dark elves? Maybe you should go back to Morrowind, where you belong!"
Then there's the Argonian dock workers. Did you know that their employer pays them 8 septims per day? If minimum wage was a thing, that would certainly be below. When you talk to Torbjorn Shatter-Shield, their employer, he starts by saying "Those boots aren't worth the septims I do pay them. I'm not giving them coin I could give to good, Nord workers."
Khajiits aren't allowed in cities because of prejudice.
Suvaris: "But we haven't taken a side because it's not our fight."
Angrenor: "Hey, maybe the reason these gray-skins don't help in the war is because they're Imperial spies!"
Suvaris: "Imperial spies? You can't be serious!"
Rolff: "Maybe we'll pay you a visit tonight, little spy. We got ways of finding out what you really are."
"Go back to Morrowind, Dark Elf maggots! You're not welcome here!"
"Get out of our city, gray-skins! This is Nord land!"
"We don't want your kind here, dark elves!"
"This place reeks of gray-skin filth!"
"You like living in this filthy slum, dark elves? Maybe you should go back to Morrowind, where you belong!"
Then there's the Argonian dock workers. Did you know that their employer pays them 8 septims per day? If minimum wage was a thing, that would certainly be below. When you talk to Torbjorn Shatter-Shield, their employer, he starts by saying "Those boots aren't worth the septims I do pay them. I'm not giving them coin I could give to good, Nord workers."
Khajiits aren't allowed in cities because of prejudice.
I personally believe that no side is "right" in the Civil War (and it's designed to be so), but I believe siding with the Empire will help in the long run to take down the Altmeri Dominion. Please, share your opinion on the matter and poke hols in my argument. I'm hear for a good debate, after all.