No, I knew about this, but why does it matter? Just because the Thalmor think a civil war (not necessarily a Stormcloak victory) is good for them doesn't necessarily mean it's better that the Imperials win. They could also just be underestimating the Nords.SpoilerImperials.
Ordinarily, I'd side with the Stormcloaks, but there is one key consideration here, and that is the fact that the Stormcloaks are being backed by the Thalmor.
'What,' you ask, because I'm assuming you don't know this because why would you even consider the Stormcloaks otherwise, 'why would the Thalmor back the Stormcloaks? The Thalmor hate Talos, and the Stormcloaks ride his dick like it's going out of style!'
Great question!
Read this (http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Thalmor_Dossier:_Ulfric_Stormcloak) (it's like 2 paragraphs, come on).
Well, shit. The Stormcloaks are useful idiots to the Thalmor because they weaken Imperial authority, and by asking for and receiving official permission to worship Talos, the Imperials have to stop closing one eye everywhere else and properly enforcing the terms of the White-Gold Concordat in those places, which means less Talos worship overall.
But why do the Thalmor even give a shit about Talos in the first place?
To very briefly summarize, those fuckers want the end of not just the world, but the universe, because then they can become immortal, because they think Lorkhan stole their immortality, and-you know what, fuck it, just trust me on this one. If you want an explanation instead of the vaguely stated 'trust me' that generally indicates 'I am not trustworthy', I'll attempt to prove trustworthiness by my sources, and say that here (https://1d4chan.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls) is probably the most succinct summary you'll get, otherwise start here (https://fallingawkwardly.wordpress.com/2010/08/29/the-metaphysics-of-morrowind-part-1/) for an interpretation, or here (http://www.newwhirlingschool.com/intro.html) for some stuff on Vehk, who is key to the concept of CHIM, or maybe here (https://www.imperial-library.info/content/vehks-teaching) if you want to delve into it at the source, because frankly this shit hurt my brain the first time round and I don't know if I ever recovered.
Oh, also they're racist against humans, but, I mean, okay they have a decent reason to be, man and mer have some pretty serious issues to work out. People broke time for a while trying to remove the elfiness from a god, there's been lots of genocide both ways, it's like two dudes who hate each other locked in a room, where every day one gets a gun and as much ammo as he wants, and then the next day the other one gets the gun and ammo instead of the first guy, and also they both keep coming back to life I guess, wow this was a shitty metaphor, but forever. It's a shitty metaphor, forever.
Metaphorever.
That's how much CHIM broke my brain. I saved you that pain, people.
Tl;dr Stormcloaks are stooges of universal nihilists, murder Ulfric and support your local Imperial Legion today in stopping criminal scum right there
I usually sided with the imperials. As much as I loved the idea of fighting for freedom and religious liberation, there's no way to avoid that the storm cloaks are lead by a racist who uses other people's religious indignation for his own political gain. Ulfric doesn't give a fan as to whether people can openly worship Talos. He just wants power. And he's willing to stock other nords' fears of the different races to accomplish it.The Nords of Skyrim as a whole care more about Nords than other races, just like the Dunmer of Morrowind care more about other Dunmer. There are no non-Dunmer rulers in Morrowind (except when ruled by the Empire). That's just the way the world is. And it's not like Ulfric is trying to close borders to other races -- he gave Dunmer refugees space inside the walls of Windhelm itself.
No, I knew about this, but why does it matter? Just because the Thalmor think a civil war (not necessarily a Stormcloak victory) is good for them doesn't necessarily mean it's better that the Imperials win. They could also just be underestimating the Nords.SpoilerImperials.
Ordinarily, I'd side with the Stormcloaks, but there is one key consideration here, and that is the fact that the Stormcloaks are being backed by the Thalmor.
'What,' you ask, because I'm assuming you don't know this because why would you even consider the Stormcloaks otherwise, 'why would the Thalmor back the Stormcloaks? The Thalmor hate Talos, and the Stormcloaks ride his dick like it's going out of style!'
Great question!
Read this (http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Thalmor_Dossier:_Ulfric_Stormcloak) (it's like 2 paragraphs, come on).
Well, shit. The Stormcloaks are useful idiots to the Thalmor because they weaken Imperial authority, and by asking for and receiving official permission to worship Talos, the Imperials have to stop closing one eye everywhere else and properly enforcing the terms of the White-Gold Concordat in those places, which means less Talos worship overall.
But why do the Thalmor even give a shit about Talos in the first place?
To very briefly summarize, those fuckers want the end of not just the world, but the universe, because then they can become immortal, because they think Lorkhan stole their immortality, and-you know what, fuck it, just trust me on this one. If you want an explanation instead of the vaguely stated 'trust me' that generally indicates 'I am not trustworthy', I'll attempt to prove trustworthiness by my sources, and say that here (https://1d4chan.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls) is probably the most succinct summary you'll get, otherwise start here (https://fallingawkwardly.wordpress.com/2010/08/29/the-metaphysics-of-morrowind-part-1/) for an interpretation, or here (http://www.newwhirlingschool.com/intro.html) for some stuff on Vehk, who is key to the concept of CHIM, or maybe here (https://www.imperial-library.info/content/vehks-teaching) if you want to delve into it at the source, because frankly this shit hurt my brain the first time round and I don't know if I ever recovered.
Oh, also they're racist against humans, but, I mean, okay they have a decent reason to be, man and mer have some pretty serious issues to work out. People broke time for a while trying to remove the elfiness from a god, there's been lots of genocide both ways, it's like two dudes who hate each other locked in a room, where every day one gets a gun and as much ammo as he wants, and then the next day the other one gets the gun and ammo instead of the first guy, and also they both keep coming back to life I guess, wow this was a shitty metaphor, but forever. It's a shitty metaphor, forever.
Metaphorever.
That's how much CHIM broke my brain. I saved you that pain, people.
Tl;dr Stormcloaks are stooges of universal nihilists, murder Ulfric and support your local Imperial Legion today in stopping criminal scum right thereI usually sided with the imperials. As much as I loved the idea of fighting for freedom and religious liberation, there's no way to avoid that the storm cloaks are lead by a racist who uses other people's religious indignation for his own political gain. Ulfric doesn't give a fan as to whether people can openly worship Talos. He just wants power. And he's willing to stock other nords' fears of the different races to accomplish it.The Nords of Skyrim as a whole care more about Nords than other races, just like the Dunmer of Morrowind care more about other Dunmer. There are no non-Dunmer rulers in Morrowind (except when ruled by the Empire). That's just the way the world is. And it's not like Ulfric is trying to close borders to other races -- he gave Dunmer refugees space inside the walls of Windhelm itself.
And after the Empire wins, nothing changes. Khajiit are still banned from cities. There is still racism.
And sure Ulfric wants power, that's the Nordic way. Might makes right. And he might not care about Talos, but its ban by the Thalmor is evidence of the Empire's weakness and the fact that it doesn't have Skyrim's best interests at heart. If Ulfric is the one it takes to stand up for the Nords, then so be it.
Praise Talos, Long Live the Empire, and I collect the boots of every Thalmor I kill.Somewhat unrelated, but this is what makes TES great.
Well, I still don't know what dragon age is, so...jesus christ man DA:O ultimate edition regularly goes on sale for like $3 on steam you have absolutely no excuse.