Which Faction Should You Choose In Skyrim? | Stormcloaks or Imperials

I am in my first playthrough ever of this game and the only frustrated thing is that I don’t want to ruin Whiterun. That is the only reason this is a hard choice to make. I love the ideology of the stormcloaks about making Skyrim free again. But on the otherhand I don’t want to get rid of Balgruuf. He is such a nice guy like all npc’s in whiterun.

An Empire that breaks its own laws cannot be trusted, as was the case with Helgen. At the same time, I felt the Stormcloaks were fighting the wrong people for the right reasons.

Personally, I feel like the best outcome would for the Empire to willingly withdraw its forces from Skyrim to bolster their defenses in Cyrodiil for the next war, while the Stormcloaks militia pool their resources to rebuild Skyrim, and have it become an independent nation like Hammerfell.

I like the Empire but joining the Stormcloaks feels like joining the Indians when the British arrived in America. I just can't resist

Is the hardest choice but it all comes down to
Who tried to behead me at the start of the game?
Who is tolerant towards talmor motherfuckers?
U r a son of a bitch ulfric, but for now, i m in

STORMCLOAK

Stormcloak racism is vastly overstated. One of the main points of evidence is those two stormcloak guards who harass that poor Dunmer once you enter Windhelm, right?

Except those aren't guards, they're both unemployed drunks and one of them is homeless AND If you have ever played Morrowind, you realize Dunmer are arrogant, prideful and their culture is deeply racist (ask a Dumner how much Argonian labour is worth some time)

Meanwhile General Tullius constantly harrasses his female Nord lieutenant. That's not the sort of guy I wanna work with

Joined stormcloaks because independent Skyrim that’s nice, but then I started learning about the Thalmor and how big of a threat they actually are so next play through it’s imperial time

My first play through was a high elf imperial who also killed thalmor on the side (along with vampires). Now I’m doing a full stormcloak Nord play through to see the other side of the story

SKYRIM IS FOR THE NORD!!!!


but for real, if you dive deep into the story, stormcloaks are the good guys. If imperials win, Talos worship will be banished from Tamriel and the Thalmor Dominion will take over everything, even General Tulius and legate rikke say this

I went with the imperials because my character is an Argonian and saw how they were treated by Ulfric in Windhelm (or should I say outside of Windhelm)

I will not tolerate this southern milk-drinking propaganda

no idea what any of that meant. wtf is game of thrones?

Didn't the Imperial try to kill you at the of the game?

Either way don't the thalmor win?

In my head cannon my nord dragonbornhad adopted imperial parents who were in the legion, cant really justify joining them as a nord

Siding with Ralof to then realize the Stormcloaks are a bunch of racists and switching sides seems like the most logical path for a non nord DB

It's Basically: The Nords Should Be Able To Rule Their Land The Way That They Want.. But They're Racist, So Should They Really?

Or, The Imperials Want To Assimilate Everyone Into Modern Day Culture And Take What Is Rightfully The Nords'.

Whatever Sounds Better To You Is What You Fight For. You Could Always Do A Peace Treaty If Not

I mostly pick Imperials because the Thalmor have Ulfric on their payroll.
Oh, you didn’t want the Imperials in charge because the Thalmor call the shots? Surprise! A divided Empire is going to be that much weaker to fight back especially when the king of a province owes his own oppressors a favor.

So you’re gonna be an imperial milk drinker shame because we are not the one who always gets manipulated by a bunch of fascist piss elves The Empire is for the week The storm cloaks is for the strong💪

That would be so cool with the Dragonborn became an emperor

Whoever joins the imperials is a damn fool

Yes you right imperial are the good people but i player from elder srolls 3 to skyrim then i think i am in the elder srolls world😂 i am started worry about talos banned worshiping so i joined with stormcloak

Very biased very based loved the commentary have my kids.

I always choose stormcloaks because I don't want Maven becoming Jarl of Riften after I do my best to make it a better place

stormcloaks are the best cuz:

A) Blue is the better color

B) Virgin Romans vs Chad Vikings

C) Vive la révolution

D) Elves? ELVES!? 😡 🪓 💀

L+ lost war + humiliated + dead emperor + You ban Talos worship a.k.a Dragonborn a.k.a the one founded the empire + Uncultured swine + Your armor looks bad + Elf simp + Abandoned Hammerfell + Disbanded Blades + Coward Elf Pleasers + Failed to execute prisoner + almost killed dragonborn + honorless

I don't know man i too would be pissed if some outsiders that are considered a strong nation invaded my country and tried to take away some of our culture and live in our lands like they own the place

i like the imperials for uniting the races in skyrim, but they sided with the thalmor so i think twice before joining them which makes me think i should join the stormcloacks, but jarl balgruuf my friend gets in the way so I CAN'T DECIDE!

The Imperials aren't a good idea. They have Severely weakened over the years. Only maintaining Skyrim and High Rock. Hammerfell pushed them out as well. Honestly shouldn't forcibly be able to stay in Skyrim if they aren't welcome. The Imperials just don't have the man power or physical power anymore to be the center powerhouse of the world. They can't even handle a tiny rebellion. Ulfric cheaply but fairly challenged High King and it was legal. The imperials made it a crime despite the fact it isn't and is Skyrim tradition. Ulfric isn't really racist as people say because he is letting the Dark Elves stay in the city and his father cleared and moved a lot of city and Nords to house the Elves. Ulfric can use the voice something only the strongest and most skilled Nords used to do. His army is only "racist" due to propaganda as any government does during war. Let's not forget this is second time Elves have attacked people and waged war. The Snow Elves killed everyone despite having a peaceful friendly relationship with the Nords. Then the 500 Wiped them out in revenge. Now you High Elves doing the same thing, also joining with the Wood Elves and Khajiit. Ulfric was tricked by the Imperials and imprisoned after he freed Markarth where he was tortured and his father died from wounds. Now the High Elves are going around kidnapping people and torturing them for religious beliefs...even if it's proven untrue. The Stereotypes in game end up being true. The khajiit are drug smuggling thieves if you play through the Thieves guild you find this out. At least one of the Dark Elves is basically an Imperial spy. You see tons of Imperial armor and flags in his room. The Argonians are very hateful, spiteful. They are stealing and dealing drugs often as well so not really a Stereotype since it's really happening. If it is OK for Hammerfell to remove the Empire and fight the High Elves why can't Skyrim? The Thamor will have just as much trouble against Skyrim as they do Hammerfell. The land is just as brutal just cold not hot and warriors are just as skillful. Also literally half the Providence of Skyrim supports Ulfric so the Empire is really overstepping its power and boundaries and the Stormcloaks are justified

Can I just destroy everything? Both sides?

I’d say both are equal. The 3 things I love about the imperials are Jarl Balgruuf, Hadvar, and the Whiterun guards, and the 2 things I love about the stormcloaks are not being friends with the thalmor and being blue instead of red.

bruh i didnt even understand what i was doing and sided with stormcloaks without knowing... i thought because thats the first arrow i show that it was the main quest road... im dumb

I played the game twice just to do both factions

If you chose the imperials and play through the dark brotherhood quest line is makes no sense’s you are literally against the empire heck you even kill the emperor

Stormclocks are hypocrites. They rebel because they weren't allowed to pray, but at the say time, they have no problem kicking out forsworns who were the original inhabitants of markath and other parts of Skyrim, they also treat the argonians as shit. Also the first mission which they give is to kill an ice wraith, which is unfair and a secret trap to get us killed, because guess which is the only race that is resistant to cold? Fucking nords.... coincidence? I think not. DOWN WITH ULFRIC THE KILLER OF KINGS😏

I love how this debate is ongoing after all this time and I still enjoy reading / hearing what everyone has to say about it. I am such an elder scrolls nerd and would love to put in my two cents if anyone cares to read it.
In following the lore and knowing where the events of Skyrim take place within the elder scrolls time line, I am a solidified Stormcloak and proud son of Skyrim. What we see in Skyrim is a very weak empire still licking its wounds following the Great War. The signing of the White Gold Concordat may buy some time for the empire to rebuild, but the fact of the matter is, it benefits the Aldmeri Dominion much more as they now have a means of having Thalmor agents EVERYWHERE to enforce their laws and gain information. It also disbanded the Blades which were an instrumental force for the Imperials. One of the strongest qualities the Thalmor actually have is that of espionage and knowledge. The Aldmeri Dominion may have the most talented and capable mages in all of Tamriel, but they are capable of achieving this because of the amount of knowledge they have acquired. This also makes them ferocious opponents on the battlefield because knowledge is power in the field of combat. So not only is the White Gold Concordat an absolute middle finger to the Nords that helped the empire reclaim the Imperial City since it outlaws Talos worship, but it allows the Thalmor to have an unchallenged presence in Skyrim which funnels intel to the Aldmeri Dominion. I would argue that the Thalmor had an ulterior motive with the White Gold Concordat, which was creating a divide between the Empire and the Nords. After seeing the Nords reclaim the Imperial City in an absolute smackdown, they know full well how capable and dangerous the true sons and daughters of Skyrim truly are. So the last thing they want, is an Imperial offensive that is backed by the brawn of the Nords. What they couldn't expect or account for though, is the revival of Alduin and the re-emergence of a Dragonborn. They also likely don't expect any kind of rebellion succeeding and getting snuffed out which forces the Empire to use more resources they don't necessarily have.
With that said, I believe this is the root of the debate of Stormcloak VS. Imperial. One would think that backing the Imperials would allow them to utilize Skyrim as the vassal state that will help them win the next war. Whereas the Stormcloak approach detaches Skyrim from a crippled and dwindling empire and brings the power of choice back into the hands of the Nords.
What I truly believe is that the Imperial Empire is on the road to destruction and any vassal state attached to them will fall with them. The survival of Man is better left with creating an independent north that can rebuild and unify it's Northern neighbors under the banner of the Dragonborn, not the Empire. That would be a better counter offensive against an Aldmeri advance through Cyrodiil when a second war ignites. If the Dragonborn fights under the Imperial banner, that doesn't ensure that he will be a Tiber Septim type that can unify Men against the Mer. If he was to fight as part of an independent state to reclaim Cyrodiil for man, that would be a better motivation for their fellow human races to fight beside a new "Tiber Septim".
All in all, I can understand some of the disdain for the Stormcloaks. They are very xenophobic and threaten the safety of other races in Skyrim. Ulfric is more aggressive than he is diplomatic which isn't always ideal and can create more issues than resolve them. But knowing how conniving the Thalmor are and how they are basically using the Imperials as puppets for their espionage, the fate of Skyrim is in better hands for those that want an independent state. That will be a better situation to face the Thalmor rather than allowing them to gain more information on Skyrim and chance another war siding with an already crumbling empire.
All empires fall and I believe the events in Skyrim tell us that they are on the path of completely dissolving. My hopes for Man in Tamriel lie with an independent Skyrim to fight a tired Aldmeri Dominion after they spend their resources defeating what's left of the Empire.

I’ve never completed either faction, but I’ve always wanted to join the stormcloaks. But now that I have and had to get a surrender from a jerl I liked. I feel definitely about it.

Havoc squad will fight against the imp menace no matter the universe.


For the republic! For skyrim!

As a dark elf this Choice was always easy. I always preferred the side that wasn't openly racist towards me. Fck the stormcucks

The thing is, Ulfric Stormcloak is helping the Thalmor .. not directly but he weakens the Empire, which is perfect for the Admeri Dominion.
I also hate how the Stormcloaks treat other races like the Dunmer or Argonians.

I just want to know which side give me more.

For The Empire, The elves aren't going to kill themselves and we're better off united.

well didnt the imperials want to kill us at the beginning of the game?

I choose the imperials because I normally play as the lizard race, and if I play as the lizard rest the storm cloaks say thinly veiled hatred to me and apparently everyone else who isn’t Nord
I would fight for the man over the rudeness of some rednecks every day

awesome vid i would always join the stormcloaks but thats just because i like creating more chaos, as far as i can see the stormcloaks would stand 0 chance against the thalmor if they invaded skyrim because of there victory there magic would annhilate them ulfrics limited shouts would serve nothing when it can be blocked with ease with wards being how many mages the Aldmeri have they would walk over the stormcloaks with ease. the Dragonborn cannot be used since they can choose either side so he/she cant be used to back any side. you see groups of stormcloaks in events around skyrim get wiped out with ease by the thalmor and since nords hate magic how the heck are they going to combat magic if they use none. So imperials seems to be the best bet overhaul with skyrim backing them they become stronger and if they manage to bring the Alikr back into the fold then they might actually have a chance.

They were ruled by the septum Dynasty the septum Dynasty ended when Martin septim died this is Tiber septim Empire this is not Titus mede the Second Empire

I haven't chosen mine yet, but I did want to join the Imperials from the beginning, but the fact they were about to execute the character, there's some obvious bad blood there.

I accidentally joined the legion cause i had no idea what i was doing and the door of the legion was closer lol best decision of my life

11 years later and I still can't decide. I've played multiple playthroughs & have always chosen Imperials; maybe Stormcloaks once? And that was bc I prefer the Imperial armor look. Stormcloak armor looks too much like city guards, lol 😂

Imperials literally are the servile tool of High Elfs globohomo scheme.

Of course the faction which didn't attempt to murder my character in the first 5 minutes. Damn the politics, revenge comes first.