Who are the good guys in Skyrim?

[Lord_Ascendant]

Stormcloaks because I am a Khajiit who has a stake in neither but feels for the freedom of Skyrim and sides with Ulfric Stormcloak, even though he has issues dealing with the Thalmor [he hates them, but he will work for them for coin]

Spoiler

Ulfric Stormcloak is working for the Thalmor

He does whatever gives him coin and fame....

 

[DustyDrB]

Currently as a Redguard, and going with the rebels because the didn't try kill me for no reason.

Actually, the Empire has reason to be suspicious of Redguards since Hammerfell recently seceded from the Empire when they drove out the Thalmor. That's right, the Redguards got their shit together, unified and drove the Thalmor out of their land. Skyrim could learn a lesson from Hammerfell.

 

[Dudeio]

Being as lazy as I am also I don't really want to read all the replies so I can't say no one else said it. (Who else reads every posts when they're so many! :S)

From what I see the real badguys are the Aldmari Dominion, correct me if I spelled that wrong but they did wage war on the Empire and ended up winning and thus the Empire is their b*tch.

Only bad thing that the Imperials do is not realizing and not having the balls to do what the Stormcloaks are doing. Break free from the operssion that the Aldmari Dominion caused after the White Gold Conchord, (I haven't played Skyrim in like two weeks, I probably have all the names wrong) which was the peace treaty that the Empire signed to stop the war.

I always kill any Aldmari Dominion at sight when I'm out.

 

[JesterRaiin]

I always kill any Aldmari Dominion at sight when I'm out.

And thus, the legend of "Ghost that Screams" known to Aldmari as "Banshee" was born. ;D

 

[NeutralDrow]

Skyrim was the first Nord settlement(I may be misremembering) and Ulfric believes that Skyrim should be ruled by Nords, and Nords alone, so they fight to free Skyrim from Imperial rule.

Of course, one does have to remember that the Nords weren't the first to settle all of Skyrim.

Nords: "What a glorious day this is! We got here first, and now all of Skyrim belongs to the Nords!"
Markarthians: "Wait a second. We're Bretons, and we got to this spot long before you. What are you talking abo--"
*STOMP*
Nords: "Skyrim belongs to the Nords."

Only bad thing that the Imperials do is not realizing and not having the balls to do what the Stormcloaks are doing. Break free from the operssion that the Aldmari Dominion caused after the White Gold Conchord, (I haven't played Skyrim in like two weeks, I probably have all the names wrong) which was the peace treaty that the Empire signed to stop the war.

They don't have the strength to break free, and the Stormcloaks are delusional for thinking they do. It's like the Neville Chamberlain "appeasement" argument all over again. I don't know where people (not you specifically, just in general) keep getting "the Empire is naive and unwittingly under Thalmor control!" from. Practically every Imperial sympathizer I've spoken to hates the Dominion, and talks about elves with barely repressed bile. Hell, I finished the civil war and drove out the Stormcloaks, and asked Tullius what the legion would do now.

His response was essentially "Now? Now, we start preparing to fight elves."

 

[SneeringCanuck]

Being the nationalist that I am, I sided with the storm cloaks.

SKYRIM FOR THE NORDS.

DEATH TO THE TRAITORS AND ELVES.

 

[anonymity88]

I joined the Stormcloaks and then grew to regret my decision. Go talk to the people holed up in the palace in Solitude.

 

[Mikkaddo]

Oh, and Ulfric needs to quickly and quietly ally himself with the Dark Brotherhood. Give safe passage, safehouses and resources to the Brotherhood across Skyrim and in return gain the ability to ensure the quick and silent death of any Thalmor supporter, Imperial supporter or other weaklings that could sprout in Skyrim.

...with organization of five or six people that were silent killed in their own lair by 19th level stealthy archer-blacksmith ?????????????

Tsk tsk tsk... I'm talking of the organization that faced the fires of corruption and was forged anew into the Dread Father's most fearsome servants. Lead by a new Dunmer Listener, loyal to the Night Mother and Dread Father, feared throughout the lands... and the ones who ended the life of the pathetic excuse for an Emperor.

In the end, it doesn't matter who holds political control over Skyrim. The Thalmor will die for what they did elsewhere and the true power of life and death will be where it belongs... where the Night Mother directs it, with the Dread Father whispering approval in the ears of his servants.

in a word . . . this. Thank you Deviate, for seeing to the truth of the matter . . . though, I think if Ulfric wanted to ally himself with a group that is made up so much of some of the races the Stormcloaks openly hate, he'd have to make some quick and possibly double edged deals about not treating them the same way he does in Windhelm.

 

[Muphin_Mann]

Niether. Or both. Depends how cynical you are. Stormcloaks are racist and extremist. Imperials are a puppet for the facist aldmeri dominion.

But if you resolve the war either way then your foiling the dominions plans for an endless war to grind the humans down.

 

[Shellsh0cker]

While I applaud how "grey" Bethesda made this decision, the more I learn, the more I think the Imperials have the right of it. The Stormcloaks have some noble goals—religious freedom being the most obvious—but it's not the Imperials who are truly responsible for the ban on Talos worship, it's the Dominion. They're the real enemy, and I think the best way to fight them is to rally the Empire.

 

[sgtshock]

The good guys in Skyrim are anyone and everyone who takes the fight to those filthy, pompous, genocidal Thalmor. I really wish I could tell Ulfric and Tullius to settle on a temporary truce to regain their strength so both sides can take the fight to those high elf bastards.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Everyone seems pretty grey to me aside from the Thalmor they come across as pretty horrible and dare I say it Nazi-like in their views. I might be wrong as I'm not totally up on their law but that's the impression I got.

Spoiler

It;s annoying that you can't choose either side without them 'winning' so to speak

 

[Tiger Sora]

If you want me to put it in black and white terms. The Stormcloaks are the good guys. They fight to control "their" country.
The Imperials are occupiers of the people. Skyrim, I think has always been apart of the Empire.

But it's like a Commonwealth nation gaining independence from England. If the people yearn for freedom to run things themselves. And you don't let them, than your oppressing the peoples. Not everyone, but most of them in some fashion.

Ya that works for me and I'm not gona think on this anymore.

 

[RickyRich]

Both of these factions both have downsides to them, Stormcloaks have more than the Empire. The Empire is trying to unify Tamriel and keep Skyrim out of the hands of the Aldmeri Dominion, but the Stormcloaks think that Skyrim should be independent. This would be a noble idea until you realize that the Empire is the only thing keeping the Dominion from occupying Skyrim and more than likely slaughtering a lot of people in the war that would more than likely result.

Stormcloaks = Bad
Empire = less bad

 

[Muphin_Mann]

Everyone seems pretty grey to me aside from the Thalmor they come across as pretty horrible and dare I say it Nazi-like in their views. I might be wrong as I'm not totally up on their law but that's the impression I got.

Spoiler

It;s annoying that you can't choose either side without them 'winning' so to speak

Nazi-like in their attitude, but with even worse long term goals. They dont just want to rule the world and commit genocide...that would be too simple. The Aldmeri Dominion claim to be the descendents of the Aldmeri, the first elves, who are said to have once been gods. They want to destroy humanity and all its culture and then unmake at least some of the world to reclaim the stolen god-power that went into it so they can "reclaim" their place as divine beings.

So...nazis if hitler claimed to be the direct descendant of jesus who plans to be the next coming by killing half the planet.

 

[DarkRyter]

The only real good guys in Skyrim are the Dark Brotherhood.

Efficient, Hard working, friendly service you just don't get anywhere else.

 

[Justanewguy]

The Blades.

But if you're talking the civil war, the good guys are basically anyone but Ulfric.

The Empire has a few zealots who kill first, ask questions later (like the captain ordering your execution), but they're trying to keep shit together and taking the long view. General Tullius is a bit of an asshole, but he's a jaded, cynical member of military high command who's just had a major setback (the rebel leader escaping). He even admits on the conclusion of the civil war that he hopes the remaining Stormcloaks will stop fighting, because he doesn't want to kill them all, but would otherwise have no choice. The rank-and-file Stormcloaks, on the other hand, tend to be provincial (see: racist) dickbags, but they genuinely feel they're fighting to save their country.

the Imperials are restricting a groups religious beliefs which seems equally bad to me. (Example: the ban on Talos worship)

They don't want to do that...and in fact, they kind of don't. That's brought up repeatedly. The treaty with the Altmer made them officially ban Talos worship (which, trust me, upset the Imperials just as much as the Nords), and that treaty was in exchange for humanity's continued existence. Even with the ban, they do absolutely nothing to stop unofficial worship.

In fact, that's ultimately the cause of the war. Some Nords (including Ulfric) were given the freedom to openly worship Talos, and the elves found out (the Jarl who tells you admits that it was a stupid mistake) and captured them all.

They may be a bunch of racist jerks, but at least they don't kill people for having a certain faith, nor do they seem like they have any intent to take over the world.

You're mistaking the Empire for the Aldmeri Dominion. Far as I know, you never work for the Thalmor...in fact, part of the resolution for either side of the civil war is preparing for the next war against the elves.

I'm of a similar opinion, although I don't chuck too many stones at Ulfric. He may be racist, but frankly, he's willing to take anyone's help he can get, whether they're Nord, Imperial, Mer, Argonian, Kajiht, or other (I know I just grouped Bretons and Redguards as other, but it felt odd to keep listing). By the end of the Stormcloak campaign (yes I went Stormcloak) I regretted having joined Ulfric. I have a feeling I would probably have a similar feeling after joining Tullius. What it boils down to to me is which side will have a better chance at fighting the Thalmor.

What it boils down to is how the sides line up in the up coming war. If Skyrim goes free, it signals the end of the Septim (third) empire, and the sides line up most likely as follows: High Rock, Hammerfell, Skyrim, with help from resistance forces in Cyrodil and Valenwood against the Summerset Isles and Elswyr (the Kajiit homeland) with token support from Cyrodil and Valenwood. Black Marsh might also send help to the Aldemeri, but they're a bit busy occupying Morrowind, who are a bit too busy being completely screwed up by Red Mountain to help anyone.

On the other hand, if Skyrim is brought back under the Empire, the Empire scores a major victory, proving that it can definitely handle itself, and proves that it may still have the might to deal with the Thalmor. Tullius returns as a victorious general to lead the Empire's forces against the Aldemeri Dominion (somewhat mirroring Tiber Septim, and I think that's intentional. My bet is that Tullius becomes Emperor some time before he dies and rebuilds what Tiber Septim first created). With the Empire (Cyrodil and Skyrim) fighting the Aldemeri, the Redguards might not like it, but ultimately they'll be forced to fight on the side of the Empire as well (I'd imagine Skyrim would probably bridge the diplomatic gap, and Hammerfell would be happy to have Imperial forces helping them again. All might not be forgiven, but it'd go a long way for an Imperial force to stand beside a Hammerfell army in facing the Thalmor). So Cyrodil, Skyrim, Hammerfell, and High Rock with some minor help from resistance forces in Valenwood would line up against the Summerset Isles and Elswyr, with token help from Valenwood. At this point, Morrowind's sympathies to the Empire might be stirred enough that they would give Black Marsh enough trouble to keep the Argonians completely out of the war.

In summary, it seems to me that the Empire has a better chance to defeat the Thalmor. If Skyrim breaks away, it signals the end of Human unity altogether, and Cyrodil would probably quickly collapse to become a sort of Vichy government for the Thalmor. Valenwood hates the Thalmor, but they're pretty well controlled right now, and Morrowind has Imperial leanings, but probably wouldn't fight for Cyrodil unless the Empire still existed. While the Empire may have banned Talos worship, it wasn't really their choice and they aren't really happy with it either. However it goes, it'll be interesting to see how these predictions pan out (if they do at all). Skyrim is the first game to really have divergent storylines like this since Daggerfall, which ended with the canonization of the "Warp in the West" (which is really one of the neatest ways to canonize the end of a game like that, and is well worth looking into if you're interested).

 

[Tsunimo]

That's what I liked about this game story, was that neither side could really claim the 'good guy' role.
I made two characters to play through both sides, but if I must chose, I liked the Imperials more.

 

[Muphin_Mann]

The Scale of EVIL!!1! (as judged by mortal men)

10 -- Mehrunes Dagon, Alduin, other world-enders
9 -- Aldmeri Dominion
8 -- Falmer (want to end world-not up to it)
7 -- Dark Brotherhood
6 -- Many Deadra Princes
5 -- Bandits, Necromancers
4 -- Ulfric "The Bear of Markarth" Stormcloak, The Empire as a whole
3 -- Thieves, Lollygaggers, "Good" princes
2 -- General Tullius, The Stormcloaks as a whole
1 -- The Vigil of Stendarr, The Psijic Order
0 -- Priests of Mara