I think that the Empire is the most "ethical" choice. But the Stormcloaks are right. This is how I felt playing through both lines. In the end, Skyrim deserves better than what the Empire can give them, and deserves to be independent. Torygg did not deserve to be killed, but he WAS a puppet of the Empire and should not have been made High King. Ulfric is right, though not always moral. It is up to you to decide which of those two concepts holds the most sway for you. As for me, I'm a Stormcloak for life. Only Skyrim can do what's best for Skyrim.

Correct, but the whole Empire deal - it all began in Skyrim, later the epicentre shifted into Cyrodiil.

I can and did roleplay both sides. My Imperial's are really Imperial and can support that the people's of Skyrim are better off in a united Empire against the Aldmeri Dominion who has just about used up all their pushy-but-you-like-it cards.

My Stormcloaks are fiercely in support of an independent Skyrim that refuses to have the support of an Empire that is bending over backwards and being weak to the Aldmeri Dominion.

I don't know that one is more moral than the other, really... that's what makes it so easy to support one on one character and the other on another. Both sides are right, and both sides are making critical errors. That's what makes them so well balanced in a game like this.

Choose what's right for your character and go with it... I have a Nord who thinks Ulfric has already cost Skyrim too many people by pushing his fight... and I have an Imperial who firmly believes that the Stormcloaks are the only real hope against an Aldmeri Dominion that will continue to legislate and intimidate to have what they want from behind the curtain at the back of the room.

woot for RPG.

In the end, I decided on personal levels. I knew and liked a lot of the Stormcloaks and it bothered me I might have killed the Greymane brothers when I attacked one of those forts, but I actually liked the Queen of Solitude more (plus Rikke and Hadvar) so I decided - [censored it] I'm going to kill Ulfric for killing the King. Forget all of the stuff about the Civil War and so on, I'm just doing it because I liked the other people involved more.

On another forum a former marine (or at least preteding to be one) posted that our choice in the game's civil war is skewed because we don't have to live with the consequences of our choice. I think that's a good point. We tend to base our choices on superficial ethical considerations and sympathies that would perhaps prove an expensive luxury in the real world.

What would you actually do if you lived in that world and weren't a dragonborn (who can singlehandedly change history) but a simple Nord farmer, merchant or servant?

There is no right or wrong. Though I prefer the Empire.

If they need the Nords in the fight against the Thalmor then they should make more effort to keep their loyalty. Its no help having allies that are only your allies because you beat them down.