Did he deserve it? Did he know what Ulfric was planning to do? DId he know what had happened when he let Ulfric leave? Was it Elisif that ordered the exection? What was the real reason for ordering the execution? Law? Was it out of anger? Grief? Did the citizens cry for his blood?

Do you wish you could have stopped the execution?

What do you think of the matter?

The citizens crying for blood. Although the crying was most likely contrived.

No. Imprisonment, maybe. I'm not sure I can think of anything worthy of death (except for talking loudly at the theater).

I missed the execution because I entered the city from a whole different area, so when a bunch of NPC's talked for so long about it I was so confused until I looked it up on the wiki. Talking the the guy who owns the winking skeever (or his son, rather) reveals that Roggvir was a bit of an ass as well, and pretty immature. Executed for opening the gates for Ulfric though? Harsh, and definitely done to make an example of him since they couldn't get their hands on Ulfric.

I think the irony is that Roggvir probably deserved execution by Nord standards. if Roggvir was actually as honorable and noble as he claimed to be, he would have realized that it was a betrayal of his liege lord (the Jarl of Solitude) and his job (a guard at the city gates) to let Ulfric go. Yeah, it was a duel and Roggvir had a right to believe that it was wrong for Ulfric to be persecuted for it.

However, that doesn't mean he is freed from his obligations to assist in the man's escape.

That was just wrong.

Regicide (or complicity in such an offense) was usually punished with more gruesome sorts of executions in past times. Beheading was only for nobles and people who could bribe the judges for a quick and painless death... At least, he should have been left to starve on a hanged cage outside the city gates with a sign explaining his fate.

No. Torygg accepted the duel and there are many witnesses to that fact. Roggvir is paying the price for Torygg's decision, not for Ulfric. There was no regicide as of Torygg accepting Ulfric's challenge.

That makes Ulfric's actions okay by Nord traditions. That still doesn't get Roggvir off the hook for helping the guy escape. I think Roggvir owed his dead liege a bit more, or, at the very least shouldn't have done his job so poorly.

Why shouldn't he let Ulfric out of the city? There was no murder. Torygg chose his fate, and Roggvir shouldn't have to pay for that.

It was cowardly of the imperials to try to punish Ulfric for following through on a duel that was accepted by both parties. But that is what they do- decide when to apply their laws as it's convenient to them.

Well if he was ordered to close the gates, that's defying a direct order. In a Medieval society, you do what you're told.

The military too.

Okay let me rephrase. Was Roggvir aware of Ulfric's actions when he let him leave the city? And if yes, was his execution deserved?

We can't know if he knew what had happened or if there was an order to shut the gate or not. I don't know of any dialogue that establishes either. Ulfric probably would have killed him if he'd resisted, so poor Roggvir was dead either way. His execution just seems to me like the empire trying to send a message to Stormcloak sympathizers.

Ulfric used a shout in a duel which is against the Th'um code (the voice cannot be used for personal gain). In an honor bound society like that of the nords, I can understand why some people may accuse him of having cheated his way to vicotry or having murdered the high king.

If Ulfric challenged the High King who accepted the duel, killed him in front of the whole court, and was allowed to walk out of the goddam place by every guard/captain/thrane/court wizard/house carl...

Really, why is a city gate keeper made responsible?

He does deserve punishment
Ulfric rides in, Fus roh Dah, roggvir lets him out.
Clearly that is a crime
but certainly not execution. I mean, beheading a person for opening the gates, sumthin aint right

That's the Greybeards' code. Not everyone holds to it. They all knew that Ulfric grew up at High Hrothgar and knew the thu'um, so unless there was some agreement made (we hear nothing of that), it was a fair duel.

There are a few people around Solitude who have information about Roggvir. He seems a bit of a character, (winding up his mates) but hardly a criminal worthy of death. Though his grieving relative (sorry, I forgot her name) has some interesting information about what happened regarding the gate incodent.

I tried to rescue him once off the block, but he died fighting the guards anyway and I got a bounty so it was a complete waste of time.

(A bit like the stormcloak prisoners who you rescue on the road. "Quick here's some armour and a really big sword! You're free!" Totally ignors you and plants a right hook in the face of the nearest guard who returns the favour by actually using his weapon to run the idiot through... but I digress, as usual. Sorry.)

Well, if he learned the shouts from the Greybeards, he must had made an oath when he was admitted at the monastery. During the welcome dialogue with they Greybeards, it's possible to ask why they wishes to teach the Dragonborn the Way of the Voice even if he/she doesn't follow their philosophy. Their answer is something along the lines of "in time of need, we make an exception".

Ulfric using the "voice" to throw Torygg to the ground is like those rogue nations that use chemical weapons despite them being banned by conventions

Death penalty is an abhorrent idea, so no, he did not deserve to be killed.

He broke a law and knew it, so he deserved to be punished no matter how justified it was.

Death, however, was maybe a bit too excessive, unless death penalty is a recognized punishment for wartime treason.

Actually, what Ulfric did is of no consequence. The question is, why, the whole court, including 3-4 guards, falkbeard, the court Mage, his house carl, the two thranes all did nothing!

If Ulfric slowed time or something and killed the high king before anyone can react and run straight pass the gate. Then Roggvir most likely didn't know or couldn't react in time because the gate is normally open.

If they actually had a real duel with hidden weapon checking, poison checking and seconds etc etc. Then it was a fair agreed duel. And the court had more than enough time to stop it, or apprehend Ulfric. Shouldn't the entire court be MORE gulity than a lowly gatesmen.

No, you poor deluded imperial supporter. Roggvir was a scapegoat though and though to bear the cost of inaction by his superiors.

To put it in retrospective, you are a security guard in a bank. A senator or mayor of NYC walked into the bank. He then cashes in a fake check in Obama's name for 1 trillion dollars and walk out of the bank. This is YOUR job to stop him when there is not so much as a sound from the bank manager and bank president?

People witnessing the duel might have been paralyzed in shock and awe or probably they reacted and tried to stop him and that's the reason why he had to escape in the first place. Without a guard sympathizing for his cause maybe he would have been caught, creating another type of casus belli and another turn of the story altogether.

Screw Nord traditions. And tradition, in general. What kind of goofy defense is that?

They weren't the actual rules for taking a throne at the time. If you want them to be the rules, then let your PC help Ulfric's cause, I guess. Suddenly, it's "right". Otherwise, it's not.

"Tradition" doesn't mean "legal". Especially when everyone refers to it as an ANCIENT tradition. There's a reason why you don't see people killing Jarls left and right even when they are so awful. This is clearly a tradition that people don't practice anymore, though it is also in that gray area traditions go through when they aren't practiced but you can still get some people to accept their use (even if the tradition is very distasteful). That's what we have here. Though to be fair, no one says the killer of a leader gets off scott-free if they practice this tradition, so maybe the tradition doesn't cover safety -- edit: I realize Rogvir uses the tradition as a defense of his actions, which indicates he at least thought it meant Ulfric should get off scott-free, though that doesn't mean that's what the actual tradition is.

Rogvir certainly deserves some sort of punishment. Quite arguably what he committed is treason, since he allowed the killer of their king to escape and apparently knowingly did so. The tradition excuse IS an extremely flimsy one, since it is most certainly NOT a legal justification.