Before responding please take on board that this isn't an all out Imperial v Stormcloak debate, as it doesn't relate to the political side of the conflict or Ulfric's veiws in general. There's plenty of other threads discussing those matters.


Ok, now onto my question:

Why would anyone in their right mind opt to go with Hadvar [Imperial]?

Makes no sense whatsoever. What makes you think you'll not just be rounded up in the Keep with the rest of the prisoners and executed at a later date? Common sense says i should go with my fellow prisoner rather than my captures, who minutes earlier were intent on having my head on the block. Whilst not forgetting they totally disregarded the fact i wasn't even on their execution list.

Whether i make it out of Helgen or not, i at least know my fellow prisoner will free my hands, whilst i have no way of knowing my fate if opting to go with the Imperial. Hell, you bump into the Imperial captain seconds after entering the Keep and it's obvious she still sees you as execution material, so nothing has changed in that respect.

The first time I played the intro I wasn't really thinking about it. I was just thinking 'Oh [censored], a dragon get me out of here'

My second and third character ended up going with whatever side I was going to join. But he actually wasn't the one that said to execute you. It was that female.

Hadvar was the one who tried to get you off at the start "He's not on the list", so it would make sense from a RP perspective that he wouldn't kill you outright, and the character wouldn't know enough about the internal strife in Skyrim to know he could actually be safe from the Empire in Stormcloak territory.

well it is rather clear that ulfric is the bad guy, he killed the king, and wants to take over the throne, and its fairly clear by the way his friend talks about him that anything but praise will get you in trouble with him. its not an ideal situation, but I wanted to clear my name, and figured I'd have to go with the imperials to do so. ulfric would just assume he was doing me a favour by taking in a criminal, and I would be in dept to him for the rest of my life.

That was the same as me. And i did go the Imerial route becasue i never even saw the stormcloak option as i was in too much of a hurry. Second time through i went slower and that's when i noticed there was an option. Needless to say, i've opted to go with Ralof each and every time, even if i have played with an imperial minded character.

Actually, it wasn't until my fourth character that I realized you even had a choice. It's like an "Oh Hell" moment and I just want to live, so I always followed the Imperial. He was sympathetic to you not being on the list in the first place. Now i always go with the Stormcloak. You get to kill the Captain and loot a full set of Heavy Armor. It's the most profitable route for the start.

From what i can gather, none of us on the cart were afforded a fair hearing, so what made you think you'd could clear your name in the coming minutes or hours? Had the Imperial Captain re appeared, do you think you would have been given that chance? I don't. yeah, I'd think about joining the Imperials at a later date, but not mere minutes after having had my head on a block.

I went with the stormcloaks because the Imperials were about to behead my Nord and it didn't feel right to go join the Imperials after escaping with Ralof.

I may roll an Imperial character at some point and side with the empire to see the other side, though it would still be hard to forget that my character was about to be executed simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Simple.

Uh, when Ralof met up with Hadvar, the dragon [Alduin] swooped down close, and I hid behind a boulder, losing sight of both of them. In the confusion, I peeked out from the boulder, and the first face I saw from a distance was Hadvar's, yelling and waving me into the keep. What am I supposed to do? Suddenly remind myself of my arrest, and then linger around, waiting to get toasted by a dragon? Or do I just run to him and try to survive?

When I made it into the keep though, I kept some distance from the guy.. and killed his imperial buddies (the torturers) behind his back. By the time we got out of the cave, I actually started liking Hadvar. He wasn't what I expected.


Not necessarily. His uncle sets you up with free iron and steel ingots, some iron armor pieces, and if you're a bastard like myself... then you steal his two blacksmith potions too. They're hard to come by, especially that early.

Well you can RP somebody that hates the stormcloacks from the get-go, so that might be a reason to follow the Imperial. But it's the only real reason I can think of, otherwise it's just a stupid decision.

From an RP point of view you may be thinking that you could save the imperial captain's life and make her your six slave...I know I thought that...

When I first started I didn't even know there was an option to go with Rolaf. He walked away out of my field of view, and I was so awed by the graphics in Skyrim, I wasn't paying any attention to journal entries popping up and jut saw Hadvar standing their waving let's go. Besides he does tell you to keep with him, if you want to live. If you suspected him, you could've doubetd him then.

Yeah but back then you didn't have an alternative, and more important a dragon practically chasing you...

Let's just say that your RP knows about the war, and has a deep hatred for Ulfric. Then why would he choose to follow the guard of the one he hates?

That's funny.
I steal anything not nailed down. But even with the ingots and gear, I think you still profit more from the Imps.

As others have said Hadvar tries to help you out. And really if he thought you should have been executed he wouldn't help you escape. Now say your in prison and there is a disaster. You can either help a fellow criminal escape and be a fugitive. Or help a guard escape and possibly get paroled or pardoned.

Try and recall that when you sign up with Ulfric and remind him you were at Helgan he assumes you were a criminal. Saying so long your criminal past stays in the past.

Stormcloak armor I think is worth more per pound though. Which money wise makes it more valuable.

Who's more likely to have a key to get out? Just asking...

There's a moment there too when it almost seems like it's his actually intent to get you out. General Tullius says "Hadvar, into the keep, soldier!" and Hadvar directs you the other way. "It's you and me, prisoner."

At Helgen, M'aiq followed Alduin.

You get plenty of that either way.

No, it's a lot less. My friend. Check the numbers.
Storm Armor - weight 8 worth 25
Imp Lt Armor - weight 6 worth 75
Imp Studded Lt Armor - weight 6 worth 125

I go with the closest door.
Because, you know, there's a dragon trying to eat me.

I was actually refering to the heavy armor you pick up from the captain, in any event weapons are worth the most per pound and you'll probably be at your limit just from your own armor and them.

A pro-imperial PC may rationalize that his odds of survival are vastly improved by following Hadvar who has Helgen's imperial resources behind him, even in the face of a potential execution at a later time. What is the point of following Ralof if you think it will lead to your own BBQ?