[SPOILER] Imperials are such bastards : V - Skyrim

» Mon May 14, 2012 2:38 am

We don not want bought soilders like you, go and side with the rebels.

No. I fight for my own. 8D

» Sun May 13, 2012 4:54 pm

Rebel Alliance represent!! :mohawk:

» Sun May 13, 2012 8:28 pm

LEGION=

STORMCLOAK= :ninja:

ME=

» Mon May 14, 2012 5:16 am

Spoiler

I was personally swayed from supporting the Imperials because of the Thalmor once, but I have come to realise the truth. The fact and the matter is, Tamriel cannot exist united without committing necessary evils. One such evil is the peace with the Thalmor. If the Empire does not bring itself to a state of peace with the Thalmor, it will lose the war with the Thalmor. This will allow the Thalmor to very easily conquer the rest of Tamriel.

I strongly believe that the Empire is NOT a "puppet of the Thalmor". There is absolutely no way a Human ruler and entire Human provinces would allow themselves to be ruled by a blatantly anti-human organisation. I am sure they would much rather go down fighting that just surrender themselves over to someone who would kill them anyway. The Empire ceased its conflict with the Thalmor with the Concordat of White Gold; it did not surrender to the Thalmor. I am sure the Thalmor had their terms and conditions and no doubt the Empire had theirs as well. Even in war tactical retreats must be made, and even if a battle is lost, the war might not be. This is one such case in Tamriel; the Empire might not have defeated the Thalmor but by ensuring that they were not defeated either, they could live to fight them another day.

Maybe the Thalmor are there to help the Imperials? It certainly did not seem in anyway that the Imperials were taking orders from the Thalmor; General Tullius seemed very much in command and truth be told, I did not actually even see the Thalmor. I believe they might be acting as spies for the Imperials, perhaps helping them to capture the Stormcloaks? I support the notion that the Thalmor are scum, but the greatest warrior need not be the bravest; if we cannot defeat our enemy head on in this fight, then escape, manipulate them, change the battle conditions to your favour and then fight them again.

I am sure that there is no way any Imperial with a mind would surrender to the Thalmor, who are so obviously anti-human. They have the Penitus Oculatus, who themselves have undercover agents amongst the Thalmor. There are not puppets of the Thalmor, they are just doing what is tactically sound and what they think is the best for the Empire.

Secondly, the Stormcloaks are said to be racist. Well, I'm pro-Human myself so I'm not very much against them there. But then think about the Empire as a whole. If the Empire was made of fragmented. independent nations, there is a high chance Tamriel would constantly be at war with itself, with states such as Skyrim (who has had a violent history, including invading Morrowind during the Oblivion Crisis) and Black Marsh (who invaded...Morrowind as well...) causing a lot of unrest within the continent. And, without the Empire, the Aldmeri Dominion would be nigh-unstoppable.

WIth the racist Stormcloaks at the helm, how could Skyrim work together with the other nations such as Morrowind? If the Stormcloaks form a New Empire, it would be even more oppressive than its predecessors towards the races the Nords consider less important. Okay, I love Dunmer personally, so maybe I'm a bit biased here, but you know it's true. :biggrin:

The Aldmeri Dominion invaded Valenwood, The Empire helped them. Orsinium was sacked, the Empire helped the surviving Orcs. The Empire banned slavery. The Empire has always been the most racially-tolerant faction around and it is from there that I draw my conclusion that the Empire is the greatest hope for Tamriel - as a whole, and for it's future.

We have seen the power of Akavir, we will soon see the power of the Dragons. Foreign, daedric and other deadly threats have threatened Tamriel before. No one knows what else might come. Tamriel needs to stop destroying itself and unite to fight it's common foes as one united Tamriel. Yes, the Imperials may be greedy bastards, but everyone else are either racist or something else. Only greedy bastards can see everyone with an equal view - so long as the Empire profits, the Imperials will profit, they don't care about making the Imperial race superior, all they want is to do business and run the Empire. So, let them do it and let Tamriel prosper! :foodndrink:

» Sun May 13, 2012 11:45 pm

Spoiler

I was personally swayed from supporting the Imperials because of the Thalmor once, but I have come to realise the truth. The fact and the matter is, Tamriel cannot exist united without committing necessary evils. One such evil is the peace with the Thalmor. If the Empire does not bring itself to a state of peace with the Thalmor, it will lose the war with the Thalmor. This will allow the Thalmor to very easily conquer the rest of Tamriel.

I strongly believe that the Empire is NOT a "puppet of the Thalmor". There is absolutely no way a Human ruler and entire Human provinces would allow themselves to be ruled by a blatantly anti-human organisation. I am sure they would much rather go down fighting that just surrender themselves over to someone who would kill them anyway. The Empire ceased its conflict with the Thalmor with the Concordat of White Gold; it did not surrender to the Thalmor. I am sure the Thalmor had their terms and conditions and no doubt the Empire had theirs as well. Even in war tactical retreats must be made, and even if a battle is lost, the war might not be. This is one such case in Tamriel; the Empire might not have defeated the Thalmor but by ensuring that they were not defeated either, they could live to fight them another day.

Maybe the Thalmor are there to help the Imperials? It certainly did not seem in anyway that the Imperials were taking orders from the Thalmor; General Tullius seemed very much in command and truth be told, I did not actually even see the Thalmor. I believe they might be acting as spies for the Imperials, perhaps helping them to capture the Stormcloaks? I support the notion that the Thalmor are scum, but the greatest warrior need not be the bravest; if we cannot defeat our enemy head on in this fight, then escape, manipulate them, change the battle conditions to your favour and then fight them again.

I am sure that there is no way any Imperial with a mind would surrender to the Thalmor, who are so obviously anti-human. They have the Penitus Oculatus, who themselves have undercover agents amongst the Thalmor. There are not puppets of the Thalmor, they are just doing what is tactically sound and what they think is the best for the Empire.

Secondly, the Stormcloaks are said to be racist. Well, I'm pro-Human myself so I'm not very much against them there. But then think about the Empire as a whole. If the Empire was made of fragmented. independent nations, there is a high chance Tamriel would constantly be at war with itself, with states such as Skyrim (who has had a violent history, including invading Morrowind during the Oblivion Crisis) and Black Marsh (who invaded...Morrowind as well...) causing a lot of unrest within the continent. And, without the Empire, the Aldmeri Dominion would be nigh-unstoppable.

WIth the racist Stormcloaks at the helm, how could Skyrim work together with the other nations such as Morrowind? If the Stormcloaks form a New Empire, it would be even more oppressive than its predecessors towards the races the Nords consider less important. Okay, I love Dunmer personally, so maybe I'm a bit biased here, but you know it's true. :biggrin:

The Aldmeri Dominion invaded Valenwood, The Empire helped them. Orsinium was sacked, the Empire helped the surviving Orcs. The Empire banned slavery. The Empire has always been the most racially-tolerant faction around and it is from there that I draw my conclusion that the Empire is the greatest hope for Tamriel - as a whole, and for it's future.

We have seen the power of Akavir, we will soon see the power of the Dragons. Foreign, daedric and other deadly threats have threatened Tamriel before. No one knows what else might come. Tamriel needs to stop destroying itself and unite to fight it's common foes as one united Tamriel. Yes, the Imperials may be greedy bastards, but everyone else are either racist or something else. Only greedy bastards can see everyone with an equal view - so long as the Empire profits, the Imperials will profit, they don't care about making the Imperial race superior, all they want is to do business and run the Empire. So, let them do it and let Tamriel prosper! :foodndrink:

What more needs to be said, the rebels will destroy Tamriel if they win, with their racist views and their obvious bias against any non-human race. Why would I bow the knee to a pack of dogs such as them? My loyalty belongs to the Empire and to its people.

All Hail the Empire!

» Mon May 14, 2012 5:33 am

Spoiler

I was personally swayed from supporting the Imperials because of the Thalmor once, but I have come to realise the truth. The fact and the matter is, Tamriel cannot exist united without committing necessary evils. One such evil is the peace with the Thalmor. If the Empire does not bring itself to a state of peace with the Thalmor, it will lose the war with the Thalmor. This will allow the Thalmor to very easily conquer the rest of Tamriel.

I strongly believe that the Empire is NOT a "puppet of the Thalmor". There is absolutely no way a Human ruler and entire Human provinces would allow themselves to be ruled by a blatantly anti-human organisation. I am sure they would much rather go down fighting that just surrender themselves over to someone who would kill them anyway. The Empire ceased its conflict with the Thalmor with the Concordat of White Gold; it did not surrender to the Thalmor. I am sure the Thalmor had their terms and conditions and no doubt the Empire had theirs as well. Even in war tactical retreats must be made, and even if a battle is lost, the war might not be. This is one such case in Tamriel; the Empire might not have defeated the Thalmor but by ensuring that they were not defeated either, they could live to fight them another day.

Maybe the Thalmor are there to help the Imperials? It certainly did not seem in anyway that the Imperials were taking orders from the Thalmor; General Tullius seemed very much in command and truth be told, I did not actually even see the Thalmor. I believe they might be acting as spies for the Imperials, perhaps helping them to capture the Stormcloaks? I support the notion that the Thalmor are scum, but the greatest warrior need not be the bravest; if we cannot defeat our enemy head on in this fight, then escape, manipulate them, change the battle conditions to your favour and then fight them again.

I am sure that there is no way any Imperial with a mind would surrender to the Thalmor, who are so obviously anti-human. They have the Penitus Oculatus, who themselves have undercover agents amongst the Thalmor. There are not puppets of the Thalmor, they are just doing what is tactically sound and what they think is the best for the Empire.

Secondly, the Stormcloaks are said to be racist. Well, I'm pro-Human myself so I'm not very much against them there. But then think about the Empire as a whole. If the Empire was made of fragmented. independent nations, there is a high chance Tamriel would constantly be at war with itself, with states such as Skyrim (who has had a violent history, including invading Morrowind during the Oblivion Crisis) and Black Marsh (who invaded...Morrowind as well...) causing a lot of unrest within the continent. And, without the Empire, the Aldmeri Dominion would be nigh-unstoppable.

WIth the racist Stormcloaks at the helm, how could Skyrim work together with the other nations such as Morrowind? If the Stormcloaks form a New Empire, it would be even more oppressive than its predecessors towards the races the Nords consider less important. Okay, I love Dunmer personally, so maybe I'm a bit biased here, but you know it's true. :biggrin:

The Aldmeri Dominion invaded Valenwood, The Empire helped them. Orsinium was sacked, the Empire helped the surviving Orcs. The Empire banned slavery. The Empire has always been the most racially-tolerant faction around and it is from there that I draw my conclusion that the Empire is the greatest hope for Tamriel - as a whole, and for it's future.

We have seen the power of Akavir, we will soon see the power of the Dragons. Foreign, daedric and other deadly threats have threatened Tamriel before. No one knows what else might come. Tamriel needs to stop destroying itself and unite to fight it's common foes as one united Tamriel. Yes, the Imperials may be greedy bastards, but everyone else are either racist or something else. Only greedy bastards can see everyone with an equal view - so long as the Empire profits, the Imperials will profit, they don't care about making the Imperial race superior, all they want is to do business and run the Empire. So, let them do it and let Tamriel prosper! :foodndrink:

This. When the Empire have retaken lost territories, it can turn its focus on the Thalmor. And after that we have a strong continent that can stand against foreign threats. A divided Tamriel is a weak Tamriel

» Sun May 13, 2012 3:11 pm

But does the Empire allow religious freedoms?

Side with the racist Thalmor you cowards. No honor.

» Sun May 13, 2012 11:28 pm

Spoiler

I was personally swayed from supporting the Imperials because of the Thalmor once, but I have come to realise the truth. The fact and the matter is, Tamriel cannot exist united without committing necessary evils. One such evil is the peace with the Thalmor. If the Empire does not bring itself to a state of peace with the Thalmor, it will lose the war with the Thalmor. This will allow the Thalmor to very easily conquer the rest of Tamriel.

I strongly believe that the Empire is NOT a "puppet of the Thalmor". There is absolutely no way a Human ruler and entire Human provinces would allow themselves to be ruled by a blatantly anti-human organisation. I am sure they would much rather go down fighting that just surrender themselves over to someone who would kill them anyway. The Empire ceased its conflict with the Thalmor with the Concordat of White Gold; it did not surrender to the Thalmor. I am sure the Thalmor had their terms and conditions and no doubt the Empire had theirs as well. Even in war tactical retreats must be made, and even if a battle is lost, the war might not be. This is one such case in Tamriel; the Empire might not have defeated the Thalmor but by ensuring that they were not defeated either, they could live to fight them another day.

Maybe the Thalmor are there to help the Imperials? It certainly did not seem in anyway that the Imperials were taking orders from the Thalmor; General Tullius seemed very much in command and truth be told, I did not actually even see the Thalmor. I believe they might be acting as spies for the Imperials, perhaps helping them to capture the Stormcloaks? I support the notion that the Thalmor are scum, but the greatest warrior need not be the bravest; if we cannot defeat our enemy head on in this fight, then escape, manipulate them, change the battle conditions to your favour and then fight them again.

I am sure that there is no way any Imperial with a mind would surrender to the Thalmor, who are so obviously anti-human. They have the Penitus Oculatus, who themselves have undercover agents amongst the Thalmor. There are not puppets of the Thalmor, they are just doing what is tactically sound and what they think is the best for the Empire.

Secondly, the Stormcloaks are said to be racist. Well, I'm pro-Human myself so I'm not very much against them there. But then think about the Empire as a whole. If the Empire was made of fragmented. independent nations, there is a high chance Tamriel would constantly be at war with itself, with states such as Skyrim (who has had a violent history, including invading Morrowind during the Oblivion Crisis) and Black Marsh (who invaded...Morrowind as well...) causing a lot of unrest within the continent. And, without the Empire, the Aldmeri Dominion would be nigh-unstoppable.

WIth the racist Stormcloaks at the helm, how could Skyrim work together with the other nations such as Morrowind? If the Stormcloaks form a New Empire, it would be even more oppressive than its predecessors towards the races the Nords consider less important. Okay, I love Dunmer personally, so maybe I'm a bit biased here, but you know it's true. :biggrin:

The Aldmeri Dominion invaded Valenwood, The Empire helped them. Orsinium was sacked, the Empire helped the surviving Orcs. The Empire banned slavery. The Empire has always been the most racially-tolerant faction around and it is from there that I draw my conclusion that the Empire is the greatest hope for Tamriel - as a whole, and for it's future.

We have seen the power of Akavir, we will soon see the power of the Dragons. Foreign, daedric and other deadly threats have threatened Tamriel before. No one knows what else might come. Tamriel needs to stop destroying itself and unite to fight it's common foes as one united Tamriel. Yes, the Imperials may be greedy bastards, but everyone else are either racist or something else. Only greedy bastards can see everyone with an equal view - so long as the Empire profits, the Imperials will profit, they don't care about making the Imperial race superior, all they want is to do business and run the Empire. So, let them do it and let Tamriel prosper! :foodndrink:

You have just reassured me in my choice to join the Legion. Impressive anolysis, there. :foodndrink:

» Sun May 13, 2012 5:54 pm

Spoiler

I was personally swayed from supporting the Imperials because of the Thalmor once, but I have come to realise the truth. The fact and the matter is, Tamriel cannot exist united without committing necessary evils. One such evil is the peace with the Thalmor. If the Empire does not bring itself to a state of peace with the Thalmor, it will lose the war with the Thalmor. This will allow the Thalmor to very easily conquer the rest of Tamriel.

I strongly believe that the Empire is NOT a "puppet of the Thalmor". There is absolutely no way a Human ruler and entire Human provinces would allow themselves to be ruled by a blatantly anti-human organisation. I am sure they would much rather go down fighting that just surrender themselves over to someone who would kill them anyway. The Empire ceased its conflict with the Thalmor with the Concordat of White Gold; it did not surrender to the Thalmor. I am sure the Thalmor had their terms and conditions and no doubt the Empire had theirs as well. Even in war tactical retreats must be made, and even if a battle is lost, the war might not be. This is one such case in Tamriel; the Empire might not have defeated the Thalmor but by ensuring that they were not defeated either, they could live to fight them another day.

Maybe the Thalmor are there to help the Imperials? It certainly did not seem in anyway that the Imperials were taking orders from the Thalmor; General Tullius seemed very much in command and truth be told, I did not actually even see the Thalmor. I believe they might be acting as spies for the Imperials, perhaps helping them to capture the Stormcloaks? I support the notion that the Thalmor are scum, but the greatest warrior need not be the bravest; if we cannot defeat our enemy head on in this fight, then escape, manipulate them, change the battle conditions to your favour and then fight them again.

I am sure that there is no way any Imperial with a mind would surrender to the Thalmor, who are so obviously anti-human. They have the Penitus Oculatus, who themselves have undercover agents amongst the Thalmor. There are not puppets of the Thalmor, they are just doing what is tactically sound and what they think is the best for the Empire.

Secondly, the Stormcloaks are said to be racist. Well, I'm pro-Human myself so I'm not very much against them there. But then think about the Empire as a whole. If the Empire was made of fragmented. independent nations, there is a high chance Tamriel would constantly be at war with itself, with states such as Skyrim (who has had a violent history, including invading Morrowind during the Oblivion Crisis) and Black Marsh (who invaded...Morrowind as well...) causing a lot of unrest within the continent. And, without the Empire, the Aldmeri Dominion would be nigh-unstoppable.

WIth the racist Stormcloaks at the helm, how could Skyrim work together with the other nations such as Morrowind? If the Stormcloaks form a New Empire, it would be even more oppressive than its predecessors towards the races the Nords consider less important. Okay, I love Dunmer personally, so maybe I'm a bit biased here, but you know it's true. :biggrin:

The Aldmeri Dominion invaded Valenwood, The Empire helped them. Orsinium was sacked, the Empire helped the surviving Orcs. The Empire banned slavery. The Empire has always been the most racially-tolerant faction around and it is from there that I draw my conclusion that the Empire is the greatest hope for Tamriel - as a whole, and for it's future.

We have seen the power of Akavir, we will soon see the power of the Dragons. Foreign, daedric and other deadly threats have threatened Tamriel before. No one knows what else might come. Tamriel needs to stop destroying itself and unite to fight it's common foes as one united Tamriel. Yes, the Imperials may be greedy bastards, but everyone else are either racist or something else. Only greedy bastards can see everyone with an equal view - so long as the Empire profits, the Imperials will profit, they don't care about making the Imperial race superior, all they want is to do business and run the Empire. So, let them do it and let Tamriel prosper! :foodndrink:

Well said!
:foodndrink:

» Mon May 14, 2012 3:10 am

Yeah... banning Talos is half the Thalmor's goal. As in, it is part of their goal to destroy Mundus. The Imperial are helping them with this, so [censored] 'em. The Stormcloaks are keeping the concept of Talos, and thus in part the concept of Man, alive. And if they were so racist, why do they allow so many Dunmer in their capital? Don't forget it was the Nords who took pity on the Dunmer, not the Empire.

The Thalmor is not just an "anti-Man" organization. They are an anti-Mundus organization. Banning Talos for the Thalmor is the equivalent of deactivating White Gold Tower for the Mythic Dawn.

To kill Man is to reach Heaven, from where we came before the Doom Drum's iniquity. When we accomplish this, we can escape the mockery and long shame of the Material Prison.

To achieve this goal, we must:

1) Erase the Upstart Talos from the mythic. His presence fortifies the Wheel of the Convention, and binds our souls to this plane.

2) Remove Man not just from the world, but from the Pattern of Possibility, so that the very idea of them can be forgotten and thereby never again repeated.

3) With Talos and the Sons of Talos removed, the Dragon will become ours to unbind. The world of mortals will be over. The Dragon will uncoil his hold on the stagnancy of linear time and move as Free Serpent again, moving through the Aether without measure or burden, spilling time along the innumerable roads we once travelled. And with that we will regain the mantle of the imperishable spirit.

If the Thalmor could get the Empire to ban Talos, and then suddenly stopped ripping the Ruby Legions to shreds, it means that banning Talos was their goal. I guess they don't really need to kill every human, cause ~~Auriel~~ Alduin is coming to save them.

» Sun May 13, 2012 7:59 pm

ulfric kinda gives me an eddard stark kind of vibe... i like him

No! Ned respected the law...The rebels are not the law

» Mon May 14, 2012 1:50 am

No! Ned respected the law...The rebels are not the law

Eh. He did kind of rebel against the Targaryens with Robert, no? =P

I understand Aeris was bat-sh*t - but the Targaryens were still the true heirs to the Iron Throne. /Nerd off.

» Mon May 14, 2012 12:15 am

Eh. He did kind of rebel against the Targaryens with Robert, no? =P

I understand Aeris was bat-sh*t - but the Targaryens were still the true heirs to the Iron Throne. /Nerd off.

NO! The targeyans became the rightfull heirs by right of conquest! Same with robert......

» Mon May 14, 2012 4:44 am

Spoiler

I was personally swayed from supporting the Imperials because of the Thalmor once, but I have come to realise the truth. The fact and the matter is, Tamriel cannot exist united without committing necessary evils. One such evil is the peace with the Thalmor. If the Empire does not bring itself to a state of peace with the Thalmor, it will lose the war with the Thalmor. This will allow the Thalmor to very easily conquer the rest of Tamriel.

I strongly believe that the Empire is NOT a "puppet of the Thalmor". There is absolutely no way a Human ruler and entire Human provinces would allow themselves to be ruled by a blatantly anti-human organisation. I am sure they would much rather go down fighting that just surrender themselves over to someone who would kill them anyway. The Empire ceased its conflict with the Thalmor with the Concordat of White Gold; it did not surrender to the Thalmor. I am sure the Thalmor had their terms and conditions and no doubt the Empire had theirs as well. Even in war tactical retreats must be made, and even if a battle is lost, the war might not be. This is one such case in Tamriel; the Empire might not have defeated the Thalmor but by ensuring that they were not defeated either, they could live to fight them another day.

Maybe the Thalmor are there to help the Imperials? It certainly did not seem in anyway that the Imperials were taking orders from the Thalmor; General Tullius seemed very much in command and truth be told, I did not actually even see the Thalmor. I believe they might be acting as spies for the Imperials, perhaps helping them to capture the Stormcloaks? I support the notion that the Thalmor are scum, but the greatest warrior need not be the bravest; if we cannot defeat our enemy head on in this fight, then escape, manipulate them, change the battle conditions to your favour and then fight them again.

I am sure that there is no way any Imperial with a mind would surrender to the Thalmor, who are so obviously anti-human. They have the Penitus Oculatus, who themselves have undercover agents amongst the Thalmor. There are not puppets of the Thalmor, they are just doing what is tactically sound and what they think is the best for the Empire.

Secondly, the Stormcloaks are said to be racist. Well, I'm pro-Human myself so I'm not very much against them there. But then think about the Empire as a whole. If the Empire was made of fragmented. independent nations, there is a high chance Tamriel would constantly be at war with itself, with states such as Skyrim (who has had a violent history, including invading Morrowind during the Oblivion Crisis) and Black Marsh (who invaded...Morrowind as well...) causing a lot of unrest within the continent. And, without the Empire, the Aldmeri Dominion would be nigh-unstoppable.

WIth the racist Stormcloaks at the helm, how could Skyrim work together with the other nations such as Morrowind? If the Stormcloaks form a New Empire, it would be even more oppressive than its predecessors towards the races the Nords consider less important. Okay, I love Dunmer personally, so maybe I'm a bit biased here, but you know it's true. :biggrin:

The Aldmeri Dominion invaded Valenwood, The Empire helped them. Orsinium was sacked, the Empire helped the surviving Orcs. The Empire banned slavery. The Empire has always been the most racially-tolerant faction around and it is from there that I draw my conclusion that the Empire is the greatest hope for Tamriel - as a whole, and for it's future.

We have seen the power of Akavir, we will soon see the power of the Dragons. Foreign, daedric and other deadly threats have threatened Tamriel before. No one knows what else might come. Tamriel needs to stop destroying itself and unite to fight it's common foes as one united Tamriel. Yes, the Imperials may be greedy bastards, but everyone else are either racist or something else. Only greedy bastards can see everyone with an equal view - so long as the Empire profits, the Imperials will profit, they don't care about making the Imperial race superior, all they want is to do business and run the Empire. So, let them do it and let Tamriel prosper! :foodndrink:

As for your first part, I still am not entirely convinced. Why would the Empire ever allow the Thalmor to operate and carry out their own agenda in Skyrim knowing full-well that they are an enemy in the long run? Most members, including General Tullius may very well believe that they are in control of the situation, but these individuals are not necessary in regards to the Empire being a puppet. Due to the form of government of the Empire, only the Emperor needs to be influenced by the Thalmor.

Who knows what sort of under-the-table dealings have happened in the last couple hundred years. Maybe the Empire feels that it is a necessary evil to submit to the Thalmor covertly for the good of Tamriel, knowing full-well that the average Imperial citizen would never agree to such overt politics. It really doesn't make sense to me to have the Thalmor working so closely with the Empire, especially with their conflicting politics as you pointed out. I do like the arguments that you bring up, but I am just not completely convinced yet into believing the Empire is not a puppet -- willing or not.

As for the second part of your post, I can only hope that the Stormcloaks are actually allied with the Blades, or at least are focused on reforming the current Empire. This belief piggy-backs off of my other belief that the Empire is a puppet, or at least far more corrupt than the Septim Empire. If this is not the case then I can very well see the future of Tamriel going down the path that you have described. To maintain order, the change has to be done at the top of the ladder, else you'll have a potential for anarchy.

If the SCs are rebelling solely to have Skyrim become its own sovereign kingdom, then there will definitely be some conflict for me when I go to pick a side. So far, based on the 20min leak footage of the intro, we really only have SC propaganda to work with. Now I really want to feel like the choice between the Legion and Stormcloaks is a fair one. I was one of those people that overly-loved the Legion faction in MW. I was very disappointed that you could not join them in OB. I just want them to be treated fairly in Skyrim.

» Sun May 13, 2012 4:28 pm

Intro spoiler...

Spoiler

That Imperial woman commander (or whatever the rank was) reminded me of the villain in the Firefly movie Serenity (being all polite and nice... while planning to kill you). It's almost more creepy than if she were overtly evil. The same goes for the whole execution sequence, as they were acting all nice and giving well wishes for the afterlife and such.

I highly doubt I'll side with the Empire after what I've seen, but the presentation in the intro will make them more interesting as the opposing faction than I'd have expected.

» Sun May 13, 2012 9:35 pm

The Stormcloaks are just wrong as the current Empire was for allowing Thalmor into their politics. Ulric murdered the current High King of Skyrim and plunged an otherwise peaceful, stable country into civil war when instead they should have been building their strength with the new Empire to fight against the Thalmor. And he did it just because he believed himself to be the rightful ruler? Now that he fulfilled the last piece of the prophecy to enable Alduin's return, the Thalmor will no doubt take advantage of this situation and be rid of the Empire, Stormcloaks, and destroy the world all at once.

» Sun May 13, 2012 2:14 pm

The Stormcloaks are just wrong as the current Empire was for allowing Thalmor into their politics. Ulric murdered the current High King of Skyrim and plunged an otherwise peaceful, stable country into civil war when instead they should have been building their strength with the new Empire to fight against the Thalmor. And he did it just because he believed himself to be the rightful ruler? Now that he fulfilled the last piece of the prophecy to enable Alduin's return, the Thalmor will no doubt take advantage of this situation and be rid of the Empire, Stormcloaks, and destroy the world all at once.

Do we know for a fact that Ulfric killed the High King of Skyrim?

Suppose he did. Is it possible that it was for a good reason? Isn't there something worth going to war over? If we didn't all believe that there was (even if we don't agree on what it might be), we wouldn't be here.

Fact: sometimes kings belong 6 feet below. If that weren't true, there wouldn't BE any Empire. All Empires are nourished by wars and the blood of kings like mother's milk.

Fact: just because Ulfric's actions fulfill a prophecy, doesn't mean that Alduin's return is his fault. How could Ulfric be responsible for Alduin's actions? Is Alduin his lapdog?

Perhaps the Thalmor will take advantage of this situation...

...but so will I. It begins with the death of a dragon...and it ends with the death of an Empire.