I kind of get the feeling that either Delphine will brainwash a new generation of blades, or the blades will split into two factions, one which is genocidal to the dragons and the dragonborn, and the other which honors their pledge to protect the dragonborn.

lol.. "genicidal". i think the real issues here aren't the game itself. it's that too many fantasy fans have a liking for dragons. the kind of people with a lot of dragon statues sitting on their shelves.

except, this game sets them up as enemies of mortals. and you, the ultimate dragonslayer.

making delphine out to be some fanatic is laughable. she's really not much different than obi-wan or yoda, who tried to persuade luke that vader was unredeemable. i didn't hear anyone talk about them being bad. they're just normal. cautious. luke is the one that's abnormal. he's an extreme idealist goody good boy, who wants to redeem everyone. he gets proven right in the end, but... it could have gone either way, and not been a bad outcome. same here.

Actually, you can recruit 3 blades long before you get the 'ultimatum' (this happened to me). I basically gave them Lydia, Mjoll and Derkeethus - people I like. I wouldn't want to have to kill them.