The empire is the only thing that is keeping the thalmor out of skyrim they have a few people who dont care who they kill like that woman at the start of the game hell the general even says he is sorry for her trying to cut your head off,plus think of this to the stormcloaks could of said hey this guy isnt with us hes just a guy who was in the wrong place wrong time. and I support the empire before I would suppout a racist man child who only cares about himself and that one little town he owns that half of the people who live in it hate him aswell. I can understand the stormcloaks being mad at the empire for the talos thing but for them to let ulfric manchild to force the dark elfs to live in a [censored] hole the argonians being forced to live outside the walls not even being paid as much as they should plus hes a coward that used a shout on the high king and didnt fight him like a man.

Yet Talos himself said the Empires time is done and its more than likely a good thing. Talos is with the Stormcloaks, has been since Morrowind

If so, then they're doing an absolutely terrible job at it.

I was about to say, the blood of all those Justicars on my scimitar say different.

the nords have the absolute right to desire, demand and seek autonomy.

i've played around 6 characters and haven't been able to play a pro-imperial, yet, lol.

Because Ulfric just wants power. Hes like our past --and likely future-- Presidents: an [censored] at heart who only cares about his secret agenda.

Because the Thalmor want to break the Empire apart.

well, while the current Empire may call itself the Third, the Third died with Martin. Talos' prediction has already come true. This new Empire is blindly leading Mundus to it's destruction. Individuals cannot defeat the Dominion. It will take a united Empire to stop them. We need a Fifth. Hopefully the death of the Emperor will lead to that creation of a Fifth Empire...

It was a single captain that was hard headed and ordered my character executed with the rebels. The officer working with her clearly didn't like the decision, and went on to help my character escape during the chaos.

I was apparently caught in the crossfire as the imperial soldiers ambushed and apprehended the leader of a gang of traitorous rebels, and was captured along with them. Were it not for the traitors criminal activities, I would have never been in that situation in the first place. Why would I join them?

In my first play through I sided with the Storm Cloaks. At the end they didn’t even thank me. On my second play through I sided with the Empire. With them it seemed more like I was getting rid of criminals and helping the weak. They even gave me great gear but even thanked me at the end. I feel the Empire is better for Skyrim. All they took away was open Talos worship. Considering the increased trade, military protection, wealth, jobs, and potential to better their living conditions I don’t understand why the Nords are so against the Empire.

Too bad without Talos the Thalmor are winning in their war for the fate of the world. No Talos, no Nirn, in which trade and all those earthly things mean nothing. You have to understand the Thalmors objectives, they wish to unmake the world, and Talos (shor) is the glue that keeps it together. The Empire wins, the Thalmor wins, everyone else loses.

And the stormcloaks are doing even less. If you actually did the empire quest, and listened to what tullius says at the end, youd know that he -HATES- the thalmor, and wants them dead.

Yet Tullius is doing their bidding, and he knows it. He's a willing pawn in the game to destroy the world.

I started out thinking I'd support the Stormcloaks, but opted to stay neutral as long as possible. Mostly, two things drove me to side with the Empire:

1. I really don't think the Stormcloaks could stand against the Thalmor in the long term. Drive them from Skyrim for a while, sure. But that sort of threat needs to eventually be stamped out at the heart, and while the chances look bleak for either side, I think the Empire has a better chance than the Stormcloaks.

2. I don't trust Ulfric. When my character first asked him in Windhelm if he thinks he should be High King, he did a fine job of dodging the question. Even if he has honestly good intentions for Skyrim, he can't seem to untangle those intentions from his ambitions, which makes him an ideal puppet for the Thalmor to keep the Empire from being abkle to effectively recoup it's strength for the enevitable 'Great War-Round 2'

-Stormcloaks are racist..

-Imperials have a better chance at beating Aldmeri Dominion..

-The Aldmeri Dominion wants the Stormcloaks to win because they know the Stormcloaks are weak and they want to take them on easily..

Because overthrowing a established government that protects you from genocidal elves is pants on head stupid.

-this- Mortals make the future, not gods, the Dwemer proved this long ago.

See, most people here seem to think the Thalmor have the power to steam roll skyrim without the Empire. Fact is, the Thalmor militarily are inept now that the world knows their coming. 'Old Merry' is no match for the strong arm of a true warrior culture who will die to the last child rather than bow to an elf. Look at Hammerfell, they won without the Empire.

Except the Thalmor aren't really winning their war - As long as Talos is being worshipped, even in private, he's still working. And the Thalmor have proven themselves incapable of removing Talos worshipers that remain loyal to the Empire, considering that the entire Legion worships him.

The empire, while nominally complicit with the Thalmor, is being very passive-aggressive. Why would they let me find out exactly where a Dominion Stronghold is unless they want the dominion to hurt?

The Thalmor's attempt to eliminate Talos worship is about as effectual in destroying the world as pulling out a hair - Yeah, it might hurt, but it's not going to kill the world.

It's interesting that before the game was released all we knew about the Empire was:
1. They tried to execute you
2. They're a shadow of their former selves.

And all we knew about the Stormcloaks was that they were trying to achieve independence. Polls taken before release were hugely in favor of the Stormcloaks. After the game got released and we found out more about both sides(particularly the Stormcloaks)the numbers pretty much reversed.

Anyway I support the Empire because I'm willing to look past the events in the tutorial, they support a multi-racial society that the Stormcloaks don't, and because I view the banning of Talos as a pragmatic temporary measure that will be lifted as soon as the Second Great War starts.

I'd say their patient enough to win tamriel "One decade at a time" as that unfriendly pointy eared bastard let me know in Markath.

Yet the thalmor are in skyrim and abduct and kill people because they want to worship their own gods?

and if the empire has so much love for other racist, why do they not allow khajiit in solitude? yea nords live their but should they be able to inforce that if they so race friendly? how come i only see imperial legionaries?

" you nords and your bloody sense of honor "

LAWL

The problem is that the Thalmor don't have a decade, though they may feel they do. The Empire is regaining its strength quickly.

They dont have the freedom they would have without the stormcloaks, simple. PLus, as the dragonborn, you hae the choice to save said people. If you dont, thats your bad.

I know right? The entire Empire was putting my head on the block... well no. It was a rotten situation but Hadvar wasn't happy, and I still can't tell if General Tullius was even really aware of the fact I wasn't on the list - the women there ordered it despite Hadvar pointing out I wasn't on the list.

And it was a rotten situation. The Stormcloaks didn't feel like saying anything in my defense (yeah, thanks guys, a "they aren't with us" would have been nice, but since I'm not getting anything like that I guess I will just try and die with honor like you suggest). The Empire was pretty bad in it, but I just looked past that at both sides later in the came when I had to choose.

Especially since in every game I have started out as a prisoner of the Empire, usually with no idea why or how I ended up there. Granted, I am usually being set free on the Emperors orders, but still.

It was hard to accept I was going to be killed for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but then again I remember such things are hardly limited to "bad guys". But I'm not judging an entire organization based on that one even.


Well there are some claims relating to when Ulfric took back the Reach from the Forsworn but you don't get much of a chance to investigate theim or how accurate their are (lets just say they involve a lot more innocent killing than the Empire executing a couple of people that were caught with the leadership of a rebellion).

And we can assess a person as an entire package as well. Ulfric may have a dirty past - uh, yeah. Does he as a person perhaps suggest he will also lead to a dirty present and future? It does in my mind (more so than the Empire). Does the Empire have a dirty past? Uh, yeah. Does it suggest it will also have a dirty present and future? Possibly, but to my mind it still offers better potential for all races than the Stormcloaks.

And that is the point. When it comes time to choose our characters, for whatever reasons we deem fit to give them, are choosing based on those reasons. If people look at the Empire and have insurmountable problems with them they will probably join the Stormcloaks despite whatever unpleasant things are related to them and vice versa.


I wasn't aware everything had to be justified. Do I have evidence or reason to believe it is a common practice in the Empire? No. Do I have reason to believe the Stormcloaks haven't done similar? No. Do both sides have more to them than the open sequence? Hell yeah. Hence making a decision based on more than that open sequence (but fully understanding some people will play a character who bases which side they join on that sequence.)