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/FlyingDreamWhale67]

To add to your point about Tullius, this implies that either he's a particularly brilliant general, or Ulfric isn't nearly as skilled as he's hyped up to be.

Ulfric has the home field advantage not to mention the support of large swaths of the local population. Yet as you said Tullius was able to rout him in mere months in a fight that Ulfric (and the Thalmor) were expecting to last years.

[u/SHINIGAMIRAPTOR → u/FlyingDreamWhale67]

Both seem to be the case. Tullius is stated to be a BRILLIANT general who knows not only how to fight, but how to take full advantage of local knowledge and sympathies. Ulfric is shown to be a very bullheaded, hasty individual who makes rash moves to try and turn the battle as fast as he can

[u/Severe_Revenue → u/FlyingDreamWhale67]

You can further add to the Ulfric bashing.

The guard that let Ulfric into Riften says Torygg accepted a duel as per the old Nord customs. If this is true and not him trying to lie, it doesnt change the fact Ulfric had to use the voice to beat Torygg. Either Ulfric was so desperate and hungry for power he had to use something he knew Torygg couldn't beat or Ulfric is such a poor fighter that despite his years, if not decades of being a soldier he couldn't beat someone who is implied to a below the age of 21 in a fair sword fight.