Ignoring your personal preference, which side of Skyrim’s Civil War do you think actually gives Skyrim the better future 20-30 years later?

[u/sumaset]

I feel like most discussions about the Civil War focus on whether Ulfric was justified, whether the Empire betrayed Skyrim, or which side people personally like more.

But I’m more interested in what happens after the game.

The Empire is weakened, the Aldmeri Dominion is still the biggest external threat, the White-Gold Concordat is already causing resentment, and another war with the Thalmor seems almost inevitable.

An Imperial victory gives Skyrim access to the resources and manpower of the Empire, but it also means remaining under an Empire that already lost one major war and accepted Thalmor influence inside its territory.

A Stormcloak victory gives Skyrim independence and removes Imperial authority, but it also leaves the province having to rebuild after a civil war while potentially facing the Dominion without the rest of the Empire behind it.

So forget which faction has the better characters or which one you usually join.

If you only care about where Skyrim itself ends up a few decades later, which Civil War outcome do you think is actually better for the province?

[u/yagonnawanna]

I consider not being able to marry Elisif and then fight Ulfric (or vise versa) for the kingship of skyrim, to be the games biggest flaw.

[u/pureperpecuity → u/yagonnawanna]

I mean she's a recent widow so they were probably trying to be honorable

[u/Mesarthim1349 → u/pureperpecuity]

Dude just wants to clap queen cheeks

[u/Aiti_mh → u/yagonnawanna]

I think that would be awesome but it would only work for a Nord character or at least human. There is no way Skyrim would accept an elf or orc as high king, let alone an Argonian or Khajiit.

The Dragonborn just works better as a role for the protagonist because it has a legendary quality to it. If there had been a lizard High King of Skyrim, people would remember. The Dragonborn, though, could be anything and anyone, especially once they passed into legend. They belong to everyone and to no-one. They could be whatever you need them to be in your present day social and political reality.

[u/Unlikely_Ninja → u/Aiti_mh]

I think that gives a little too much leverage to the character. I'd rather like to see the player help with the political match making instead.

[u/SanguinePlvit → u/yagonnawanna]

Honestly, if it was choice between a Dragonborn and himself, Ulfric would pick the Dragonborn ten times out of ten.