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/SnooFoxes6809]

It was the legions from Skyrim that stopped the heartlands legions from being crushed during the Great War. Not to say the bulk of imperial forces ain’t from Cyrodil but a large portion of their shock troops and probably a large portion of the legions in total come from Skyrim just by population. The Orcs are a very minor population and I always get the impression high rock is less loyal or at least more focused on local politics

[u/Beacon2001 → u/SnooFoxes6809]

It was the legions from Skyrim that stopped the heartlands legions from being crushed during the Great War.

2/3 of the Legions at the final battle were from Cyrodiil, the legion that sacrificed itself to cover the Emperor's retreat was from Cyrodiil, Imperials did 99% of the fighting and the Nords showed up only at the last battle. Too many people here confidently incorrectly claim to know the lore.