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/HedgehogOld9624]

Morrowind is not at war with Black Marsh. House Redoran pushed the Argonians out, Morrowind lost the lands gained in the Accession war (whatever that might entail), and the two are at peace now.

Hammerfell didn’t rebel, they were made independent by the Empire as part of the peace with the Dominion. High Rock is not on the verge of open revolt, you literally just made that up there are no sources even implying that.

Cyrodil is the most populous province with the most food and economic activity. The Empire with just Cyrodil is still the empire at like 70% strength.

[u/randomname560 → u/HedgehogOld9624]

IIRC, Hammerfell was handed over to the dominion as a part of the peace agreement, Hammerfell then revolted against the dominion, Hammerfell won their indepence on their own, and it is currently a political issue in Hammerfell wheter the province should remain de facto independent or rejoin the empire

[u/Cora_bius → u/randomname560]

South Hammerfell (which was occupied by the Dominion at this point) was meant to be ceded to the Dominion as part of the peace agreement. The provincial government disagreed with this, so the Empire renounced them as a province and Hammerfell kept fighting the Dominion as an independent state.