Who are the good guys in Skyrim?

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

It's not a question of who are the good guys, because both sides are the good guys in a way. The question is which is the smarter choice. And as someone who played through both factions, the smarter choice is The Imperial Legion. They understand that the only way to keep The Dominion from openly attacking The Empire is through unity. The Dominion benefits from Stormcloak rebellion because both sides are losing men and valuable resources, which will make the invasion a lot easier for The Dominion. Stormcloaks are blinded by their emotions and religion. They're not thinking straight. They're the ones hurting themselves and The Empire through their actions.

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

Imperials I guess...
After playing through the Stormcloak quest line, I came to regret it. General Tullius was the only thing stopping the Thalmor from marching into Skyrim and taking it for themselves.
I think banning of Talos worship is a small price to pay if it stops an invasion.
Ulfric's uprising wishes to rid the imperials from skyrim and claim the throne for himself.
The only way that benefits the people of Skyrim is Talos worship, appart from that his ends are completely selfish.

 

[Little2Raph]

Can't really relate to either side. The Imperials seem to mean well but ruthlessly crush any disent and in fact just seem to be the puppets of the Thalmor (you know, that sounds oddly familiar to me. . .US government anyone?), while the Stormcloaks come across as a bunch of bigoted aryan xenophobes.

I'm kind of hoping I can end up acting like the ronin in Yojimbo (or the man with no name in Fistfull of Dollars if you prefer the americanized version) and play one side off against the other. . .

 

[Trig0n]

I made my decision when I met the Jarl Elisif of Solitude, whose husband was killed by Ulfric. I'd already met Ulfric and General Tullius, and I'd already concluded both were different kinds of assholes, but she was the one who finally swayed my decision. I realized if joining the stormcloaks would put me on a path to kill her, I wasn't going to be happy with the so-called "freeing Skyrim for the Nords." She didn't strike me as power-hungry or oppressive, just a woman trying to do the best for her people whilst mourning the loss of her husband.

Doesn't matter if the quest actually goes that far or not, (I found out later you don't sack Solitude), but I didn't feel like I could let her down like that. Signed up for the imperials immediately.

Props to Skyrim for managing to make my decision on taking sides of a civil war dependent on how I feel about an NPC.

This was quite similar to my experience. I had been roaming about Skyrim as my Argonian, hearing everyone's stories about who was good in their eyes. Eventually I made it to winterhold to have a chat with Ulfric himself. He pretty much wouldn't even talk to me so I went outside to explore the city. That's when I found out Argonians weren't allowed to live in the city and were restricted to one alienage on the docks that all of them had to share.

Then I went to solitude, witnessed the execution, went to the palace, heard Elisif's sad tale, helped her and Falk out a bit with their Wolf Queen problem, overall they were a hell of a lot nicer to me. I still haven't finalized my decision by joining one band in particular, but I'm leaning heavily towards the Empire.

But I still murder every Thalmor I've seen. Mainly because through all the documents I've found I can tell that their power is bad for all of Tamriel. Besides they're even more racist than stormcloaks.

EDIT: I just had another thought. With the Argonians having invaded Morrowind and displaced the Dark elves I'm beginning to wonder if the Black Marsh has found a way to use this situation to regain some of its standing. If the empire could convince them that the Thalmor coming to power would be detrimental to the Argonians (It would) then they could probably get their help as well. After all the Empire never technically invaded the Black Marsh. Though this may piss off the Dark elves. I always figured the Dark elves disliked high elves more than they disliked Argonians.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

The Mud Crabs, obviously. They are just out doing their thing, not bothering anybody. Unless of course you cross them.

 

[uhddh]

It would be nice if you could join the Imperials and fight against the Altmeri Dominion who are the real root of the ban of Talos worship in Skyrim.

the other thing to keep in mind is that the choice of race you make at the begining has a big role in that too. Not likely to see a Dunmer joining up with the Stormcloaks that think s/he is a horrible barbaric monster born from a sewer that needs to die. Where as a Nord isn't likely to join the Imperials who are all the little squealing ***** of the Altmeri Dominion doing whatever they say and bending over when they're done.

Personally I made a Nord that sided with the Imperials and an Imperial that sided with the Stormcloaks.

Yes I did do it to fuck with the morales of the races and morales of the factions but hey, worth it

 

[Arakasi]

I think the Empire are the good guys, though they do get a rocky start, storywise.

Sure they are allied with the bad guys, but really they're just making the best of a bad situation and biding their time/gathering their strength until they can kick the Dominion's ass and start worshiping Talos again.

This becomes painfully obvious when you do their quests.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

It's more of a case of grey and grey morality.
Both options kind of suck so it all boils down to what you prefer and think is the less evil one.

Personally, I couldn't give a damn about who I chose in the civil war but fortunately I did the Dark Brotherhood questline early on to help me make that choice. After that I can happily say, FUCK THE EMPIRE!

 

[Joseph McConnell]

For the longest time I thought the Stormcloaks were the good guys because they seemed to be fighting for all the "right reasons" but when I decided to throw my hat in with them I instantly regretted it. At the start of that campaign I ended up having to attack people who I had become very fond of. I felt like a traitor. I wish Bethesda had given us a "Mr. House" option like they did in New Vegas. :\

 

[themind]

I don't believe either side are the good guys, neither side is entirely right, but the Imperials are more wrong than the Stormcloaks.

The Imperials tried to sell out Hammerfell by offering the Thalmor a large swath of their land, they outlawed worship of a deity (think about a country in our time trying to outlaw the worship of Jesus or Allah), and allow the Thalmor, who's stated goal is for mer to control the entire continent and enslave men. The Empire is collaborating with a hostile enemy government that is out to eradicate them. The Empire may see it as a stalemate, but it is the Aldmer who patrol their land, witch-hunting for Talos worshippers on the continent, not the other way around.

The Stormcloaks major weakness is their xenophobic attitude toward the other races, but they don't plan on executing or enslaving their enemies. If they had a more open policy they could be a more unifying type of force, but rallying the Nords to fight against a government that wishes to outlaw their God and enslave them all is a cause of hope for all the other races. The Stormcloaks are xenophobic, perhaps borderline racist, but the Thalmor whom the Empire is collaborating with are MORE racist than the rebels. I see the Stormcloaks as by far the lesser of two evils.

The Stormcloaks are accused by their detractors of weakening the chances of defeating the Thalmor, but I see it as the opposite. Hammerfell drove the Thalmor out without the Empire, and Skyrim sits as the provinces farthest away from the Dominion. The Thalmor would have to conquer Hammerfell or Cyrodiil or both before they could realisitically launch a successful invasion of Skyrim, and the more unified Skyrim has the better their chances of victory in war versus the Thalmor.

The one thing that no one discussed is the unity or lack thereof within the Thalmor camp. There is a misconception that the Thalmor are unified in ideology against the Empire, but there must be a number of Altmer and Bosmer that do not subscribe to the Thalmor ideology of racial supremacy of the elves. Pockets of resistance within the Dominion could see the Skyrim rebels as fighting the good fight against an evil that they wish to resist themselves. I think over time a system of racial supremacy that stresses war to solve their issues has only limited appealed. The mer of the Dominion have very little positive aspects of ideology to hold onto, and their mission can only be sustained by aggression and religious persecution, not altogether noble goals.

The noble cause is the one of the Stormcloaks to defend Skyrim, because the Empire is failing in it''s responsibility. The White Gold Concordat is akin to agreeing to end the war in the Middle East by outlawing Allah. It's a recipe for total, unmittigated disaster. It should be the responsibility of a government to protect the freedom, including religious, of the people it purports to call its citizens.

I think in game it comes down mostly to the type of character you create. A Nord especially, and the men races overall, naturally feel more at home with the Stormcloaks, whereas the beast-races and the mer feels more natural as supporting the Empire. The ambiguity works fairly well for roleplaying a certain type of character, but a lot more could have been done to differentiate the Empire and Stormcloaks during the war quest.

The idea that teh Stormcloaks are Nazis, as has bene stated, is foolhardy. The Thalmor are more Nazi-like with their racial superiority doctrine and determined effort to conquer all of Tamriel and enslave the men races. Since the Empire cut a deal with the Dominion, I think they are collaborators with evil, and thus fighting the Empire in Skyrim is fighting oppression by the majority over the minority.

 

[Starkiller101]

I have completed the civil war quest line with an overpowered Warrior in the name of the Empire. The way I look at it I would rather be supporting the empire (With their flaws) than the Stormcloaks, who are batshit crazy Nazi's. I mean, Ulfric has been described as "Himmler wearing fur" for a reason (The Nazi's loved the Vikings, its one of the main reasons we have not seen very many viking games), I will not be supporting tall, blond haired, blue eyed racists in any game (I even feel a tad bad about playing as the Wehrmarcht in CoH, both of my grandfathers fought in the war). So yeah. I sided with the Empire (But I am now playing a neutral mage who does not intend to side with either faction)

1. Not all Stormcloaks are like Ulfric, see the other Stormcloak holds. Some think Ulfric is an idiot, but believe in his cause, some think he is a legend and believe in his cause. I have not, however, seen any other Stormcloak hold with slums for non-Nords. Only Winterhold.
2. Ulfric is not racist, merely Xenophobic. Read through my other posts and his dossier about his history, and recent events in Tamriel, and his xenophobia can be fair. There is little that the other races have done recently that wouldn't make others nervous.

In NV I sided with the NCR. I like them. They do everything for the greater good. Sure, they are corrupt as hell and they have all of the military acumen of a child, their generals are wasteful and sorta retarded and they have a bit of a russian feel about them where military matters are concerned (Their most readily replaceable commodity is people. Conscripts.) but they are sure as hell better then a bunch of thugs. You need order and stability for people to survive, even if that order comes in the shape of a failing corrupt democracy that does not care about the little people that fall through the cracks.

Here is the thing. If Ulfric wins, Skyrim will have the same amount of order as if the Empire wins. Why? Nord Tradition. If the empire refuses to acknowledge the Jarl's moot and Skyrim's own election of her High King, I can foresee another war about that. If it accepts it, the same thing that would happen if Ulfric had won would happen: A moot would be called to elect the new high king. After that, Skyrim would be united, and each Jarl would govern their hold much as they are governing it now. No less order than before. All that would change is that Cyrodiil and High Rock would be without Skyrim, who would be in a great position to then ally with Hammerfell against the Thalmor.

Although the choice is much easier in Skyrim. The Stormcloaks are a bunch of isolationist, racist pricks, based on the Nazis, that only care about themselves. Hell, even the Blacksmith in Riverwood states that it was never really a problem about the Talos worship thing until the Stormccloaks made it a problem, till the stormcloaks made people THINK it was a problem. The Empire might not be strong, it might not be particularly nice, but if Skyrim goes up in flames then every single province might try and go up in flames. And then the elves will win overall.

Now here is where I say no.
The Stormcloaks are not Nazis.
Lets, as step one, compare the actions of each group:
Stormcloaks:
Distrust other races, but permit them to live in their cities. In one hold, they are given a lesser status. Nobody is executed because of their race, nor whether they think Ulfric is right or wrong (So long as they don't go to activively support the Empire I'd assume)
Imperials:
Public executions of those who believe differently to them (Roggvir. What he did was perfectly within Nord tradition, yet he was executed because it meant the Imperials wouldn't win the war outright.)
Agents roaming the land executing anyone of a certain religious sect (Similar to the Gestapo going around executing any Jews)

Tell me who are the Nazi's here?

Then, you state that Nords are based of Nazis, with the explanation that Nazi's liked Vikings. I'm sorry, but a viking race in a viking game is going to be viking because they are vikings, not because it makes them more like a Nazi. Simply because one sect likes something, does not mean that everything made about it after that is meant to imply similarity to that sect.

Yes, some Stormcloaks are xenophobic - with a reasonable reason to be. No, that does not make them based off Nazis. It makes them xenophobic. I'd compare them to North Korea more than the Nazis, with the Empire being more Nazi than the Stormcloaks.

True dat.

 

[Starkiller101]

It would be nice if you could join the Imperials and fight against the Altmeri Dominion who are the real root of the ban of Talos worship in Skyrim.

the other thing to keep in mind is that the choice of race you make at the begining has a big role in that too. Not likely to see a Dunmer joining up with the Stormcloaks that think s/he is a horrible barbaric monster born from a sewer that needs to die. Where as a Nord isn't likely to join the Imperials who are all the little squealing ***** of the Altmeri Dominion doing whatever they say and bending over when they're done.

Actually the nords make up the bulk of the Empire as you can see in-game

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Each side has their bad apples that's for sure (looking at you blood thirsty imperial she b**** at the beginning of the game!)
But in the end I think the Imperials intentions of much nobler than the Stormcloaks.
Now how about those High Elves...

 

[SajuukKhar]

There are no real "good guys" or "badguys" in Skyrim

Everything is just shade of grey.

Even The Thalmor aren't actually evil