Oh god, you guys don't pay attention to /tg, do you? There's long, sprawling, heated discussions about this all over the forums there. I think the Empire is the clear winner here. The Empire is pretty vast and covers over three different nation states, it's possible that with the main seat of government being in Cyrodiil it's to disconnected from Skyrim to be affective.Д«ecause of the massive pressure put on them by the Thalmor, the Empire was forced to ban the worship of Talos or risk another Great War that nether Skyrim nor the empire at large would walk away from. In the UK it was an ancient tradition to kill a Scotsman from the walls of York with a bow, if you tried that now you'd be sitting pretty in the nearest high security prison. Just because something is an ancient tradition doesn't make it lawful or right. Ulfric Challenged The High King In ' Ancient Nord Tradition'.If the Stormcloaks push the Empire out of Skyrim then that just leaves High Rock and Cyrodiil and that isn't enough to even slow the Elves. The Empire is the only thing stopping the Aldmeri Dominion from sweeping across the continent and ruling all. All of the Jarls are Nord and sure the Legion is comprised of everybody from Bretons to Orks to Redguards but the vast majority in Skyrim are actually Nords. Ulfric says that only Nords should rule Skyrim but what he doesn't realise is that even with Skyrim being apart of the Empire, the Nords STILL rule. If you look at the maps in Skyrim before the Dragonborn get's involved with the civil war you will see that the Empire actually has more support by the pepole of Skyrim than what the Stormcloaks do What may be an answer to my last point is that in an dossier in the Thalmor Embassy Ulfric is revealed as actually being a sleeper agent, he is described as being somewhat uncooperative but direct contact has and will be made.ДЄll Stormcloaks are Nords but not all Nords are Stormcloaks. Then again why fight the empire at all? His beef is with the Thalmor so why not declare war on them, sack the embassy and drive them from Skyrim? Not to mention he could have tried political solutions first. If Ulfric is truly serious about driving the empire from Skyrim then his only chance is to fight a guerilla war (much like the Forsworn he created) but instead he equips young impressionable Nords with subpar gear to go and fight a highly advanced empire. In the Stormcloak stronghold of WIndhelm the other races are actually restricted to ghettos like the Gray Quarter and Argonian Assemblage.ДЇor the most part the Stormcloaks are a slightly more advanced Hold's Guard, they may have larger numbers but that's about it. The Nords as a pepole are pretty xenophobic at the best of times but the Stormcloaks take it to a new level. When Ulfric took Markarth from the Reachmen (who are ironically the TRUE sons of the Reach not the Nords) he stopped short of genocide, it didn't matter if you where a Breton, Nord woman, child, farmer, blacksmith, if you didn't fight for the Stormcloaks cause Ulfric had you tortured then executed. When Ulfric killed the High King he did so by using the ancient Nordic traditions of single combat.Д«eing a rebel uprising of native sons, the Stormcloaks are automatic underdogs compared to the might of the Empire. Ulfric Challenged The High King In Ancient Nord Tradition.Let's take a look at the pros and cons of each:ДЄll Stormcloaks are Nords and it is there claim that only Nords should be able to control the destiny of there land. When most pepole ask me if I like playing as a Stormcloaks or the Imperial I'll normally answer Stormcloaks but that's mostly because there missions are more fun IMO but as for who actually prefer, and I know agrees with me here, I'd say the Empire as the are actually the ones in the right. SPOILDERS: I know is is an old topic but Skyrim is still a very popular game and I still find this subject interesting.

Ulfric stormcloak thalmor sleeper agent