Skyrim Analysis | A Quick Retrospective - Act 1

i feel that the empire is better for skyrim because if they leave the empire, the thalmor will destroy them (also hadvar is such a sweetheart)

I choose Stormcloaks solely because I love CHAOS and CHANGE
I know that the Empire provides peace and stability and maybe if I myself was an inhabitant of Skyrim I would choose to side and offer my services to the Imperial Legion and to the lovable General (Saul Tigh) Tullius
but I don't live in Skyrim and I believe more chaos more interesting stories perhaps the Thalmor may eventually take over and the next Elder Scrolls will involve around the subjugated human races trying to survive and overthrow their elven overlords now THAT is a plot worthy exploring
Feel free to hate me Empire fans although it would be narrow-minded since Skyrim is just a video game but I personally like watching Metatron's videos thus far and even though I agree with what he's saying concerning the subject but I believe a Stormcloak victory would be much more interesting than that of an Imperial one
My character just arrived in Skyrim to wreak chaos and if the inhabitants of this province think Alduin was the actual threat they are deeply mistaken

I understand this video is 8 years old (2023)
Is that African nation committing treason by kicking out the french colonies?

Ok, sure, the Stormcloaks are racist, but keep this in mind... They will accept you into the Stormcloaks regardless of your race, and you will be promoted at the same rate. 2) The Stormcloaks didn't try to behead you at the very start of the game. This being said, any person would be right to be angry at the Empire for wanting to kill them for just wanting to cross the border.
This being said, siding with the Stormcloaks will make the situation for Argonians and Dunmer in Windhelm continue to suck.
But for right now, those people aren't being actively eliminated, and can escape to Cyrodiil if need to.

I have to say I am absolutely not surprised you'd side with the empire. But as a libertarian, obviously, I'm going to side with the only good people of Skyrim : the Draugrs.

I usually side Imperial, but I tried siding with the Stormcloaks once. Couldn't get that playthrough past the Battle of Whiterun. Nothing has ever made me feel more like a monster in any video game than betraying Jarl Balgruf.

I choose the stormcloaks, not because of any material reasons, but because I’m racist. Skyrim for the Nords.

For the Empire!

I love going back and watching Metatron's older videos and it always takes me by surprise how thick and almost British his accent was at this point.

As an imperial nord...Those god damn knife ears can do one, if only pelinal whitstrake could hear you brother.

Armorwise, the Stormcloaks are pretty much exclusively lightly armored. You run into bandits that wear better armor than theirs. Perhaps it's because of the cold area Windhelm, but there are Stormcloak factions from Riften in the southeast...they're not wearing padding solely because of the weather. The Empire has much better armor and varied armor. They have Light, Medium and Heavy armor as would be expected in a standing army as opposed to a rebelling faction. The Empire has Legions...the Stormcloaks have war bands. Who is going to win the primary war is obvious to a military mind. However at the end of the game, assuming the Empire wins, it's clear there is a guerrilla potential for the Stormcloaks; Rikke clearly notes there will be pockets of Stormcloaks after the fall of Windhelm. If the Empire loses, it must be assumed the majority of the surviving Legionaires will return to Cyrodiil, but some of the Nords who serve in the Legion may very well remain behind. Another reason to feel for the Empire...any Nord Legionaires would have to leave their homeland or essentially desert from Imperial service. Besides, a Stormcloak "victory" would almost assure the inevitable victory of the Thalmor in the next war, which we all know will come.

If you play through the entire game, eventually you will end up (no matter what your ethnicity or race) as a visitor to Sovngarde, the Nord paradise/Valhalla clone afterlife. There is a very interesting situation there. If you win as the Stormcloaks, you will NOT meet General Tullius but you will meet Legate Rikke. She is a Nord. In fact your character as a still living Dragonborn is the only possible non-Nord that you will meet. Conversely if you win as the Imperials, you will be able to meet Ulfric and Galmar as well as any other Nords who died in combat during the game, including Nords from the opposing side and historical Nord heros such as King Torryg, Ysgramor and Jurgen Windcaller.
According to the Lore, Tiber Septim was born on Atmora but spent his youth in Skyrim among the Nords. And here we run into a problem. Tiber Septim, who was born with the name Talos arrived in Skyrim during the Second Era and was definitely a general under King Cuhlecain who started as the King of Falkreath, only becoming Emperor at a later date. So we know that Cuhlecain was a Nord...he was born and lived in Skyrim after the Nords had eliminated the Snow Elves. Now Tiber Septim/Talos is definitely a major hero if not THE hero of the Nords. If he is a Nord and clearly a hero of Skyrim...why is he not seen in Sovngarde? There are two possiblities.
One, from the Nord point of view...he was a Nord hero and the only reason he is NOT in Sovngarde is because he was deified as Talos, the Ninth God. He's not in Sovngarde because he is "not dead." He's a God. For the Nords, that's proof of his deification. Two, from the Mer perspective, he was only a man and not a native born Nord, so he can't go to Sovngarde. He's absent from Sovngarde because he's not a Nord, not because he's ascended into godhood. I kinda prefer the first view, but either opinion can sufficiently explain why Skyrim's greatest hero doesn't walk around Sovngarde.

"You wish to see an empire without Talos without its SOUL! We should be fighting those witch elves not bending knee to them!"
-Vignar Greymane
The true Jarl of Whiterun

Skyrim belongs to the Nords...

Over the 7-8 years that I’ve spent playing this game, I feel like I’ve gone through some version of the bell curve meme.

-When I was new to not just the game but the series as a whole, I sided with the Stormcloaks, because “Thalmor are Elf N*zis, boo weak empire, etc.”

-After a year or so of being exposed to the game, I sided with the Imperials because I had fallen in love with the lore of Tiber Septim’s empire and rise to divinity. I also didn’t believe the Stormcloaks could muster the power to fend off the Thalmor on their own, and I disliked how xenophobic they seemed.

-Finally, within the last year or so, I got around to exploring the D E E P lore behind the setting, and I discovered some legends, a lot of history, and a few theories that swayed me back to the Stormcloaks. Namely, that the elves of Tamriel have a long history of enslaving or exterminating mankind going back to the earliest myths of creation; that the first empire was founded by an uprising of human slaves against their daedra-worshipping elven overlords, and that by seeking to enforce the banning of Talos worship, the Thalmor are not just trying to subjugate and insult mankind, but are potentially trying to erase the concept of humanity’s greatest god and champion from existence. To say nothing of the theories that Talos is a reborn form of Lorkhan/Shor/Sheor/Shezzar, the god who was responsible for creating Tamriel, was a champion of the races of men, and was killed by the elven pantheon at the dawn of time.

So now that I’m back where I started, I guess I’d say: pick whichever side fits best with your character’s motives…so long as you believe the side you’ve chosen will do the best at driving those wretched Thalmor to extinction! 😁

Metatron I’m disappointed u play elf I was sure u would go on full imperial like I do

I swear everytime I enter the castle of Windhelm for the first time and I hear Ulfric makes his speech I get chills.

You, Metatron, siding with the Empire was absolutely shocking! Lol😂
Awesome channel & content.

Hail Sithis!

As redguard I side with the empire, cause the stormcloaks come off as bigots, and the empire gives the best chance of defeating the dominion

I can say that Balgruuf is the single biggest factor keeping me from joining the Stormcloaks

Binged video 103

A major reason Metatron sided with the Empire is because of the elf racism of the Stormcloaks.
I side with the Empire for almost the opposite reason. Because the Empire can provide a much stronger deterrent against the elvish Empire's hidden desire to conquer the lands of men.

“Water is like liquid elevator music.”

—Bilbo Baggins

Ad mortem sic vita fluit, velut ad mare flumen. Vivere nam res est dulcis, amara mori. Restituunt furtum fures, vi rapta, latrones. Omnia mors aufert, restituitque nihil. Latus ad occasum, unquam rediturus ad ortum. Vivo hodie, moriar cras, here natus eram.

When I was younger I thought stormcloaks were best, then I grew up and realised the stormcloaks are short sighted morons... This is coming from someone with stormcloak tattoo lol

The empire is forced to ban talos because there would have been even more death it’s evil situation true but empire was forced too

Who actually likes the elf’s all the cool elf’s are gone meaning the snow and deep

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.

I always side with the Stormcloaks because, ultimately, the Empire decided to let their citizens' lives be dictated by a foreign power, throwing religious freedom in the trash.

Stormcloaks all the way.

My Character: I can't believe Ulfric killed the High King!
My Character a year later: kills the emperor for some gold.
(A true example of how war changes a man😂)

If You choose stormclooks You are doomed, You fight the High elves by yourself😂

For my “canon” Last Dragonborn build (the one from the trailers) I chose the Stormcloaks. I think it makes for a more captivating story, the Last Dragonborn is there to reset everything.

The Empire fell off so hard without a Dragonborn in power, tried to eliminate the current one returning home, the Dragonborn runs the Thieves Guild, leads the Companions, the Headmaster of the College & assassinates the false Emperor.

But any other play through I go with Imperials just cos I prefer MOST of the choice of Jarls.

If you still think the imperials are right then you are delusional the empire is weak and failing
Stormcloaks are only “racist” due to paranoia and wartime stress I’m sure that over time Skyrim shall rebuild its self into a strong nation alongside hammerfell
I think that will be seen in es6
Not to mention the Stormcloaks side of the story is better in terms of immersion

The only thing that made me join the stormcloaks is that I don't like imperial armor in general I don't like armor looking in skyrim but I hate imperial armor specifically because I don't really like roman or Greek armor sorry I know that this is an unpopular opinion but it's my opinion

For the Empire

All these years later and it still takes no more than a brisk walk through the Gray Quarter to help me decide to join the Legion.

I think Whiterun ahold should be the capital of Skyrim

Also, I wouldn't even believe Todd Howard if he said it's not cannon that the Dragonborne is a stormcloak. You start as a default Nord, you meet Ulfric in the intro while arrested with him, your expected to go with the nord to escape, Ulfric is the only other user of the Voice, Ulfric is the only other one to train with the Greybeards, 1st town whiterun has a shrine of Talos. They clearly expected you to pick the Stormcloaks. Idk how anyone even Bethesda can imagine a scenario where the Empire actually wins, when the Dragonborne is on the other side.

The amount of people who side with the stormcloaks spiritually or politically, but choose the empire, is to me the main reason the Empire can never win. An empire of its size and magnitude can't survive without its die hard supporters. Practically speaking, guerilla warfare shows us it's the side with more will to fight that inevitably wins, and I think we all know the Stormcloaks have that in strides.

Good On you for supporting The Empire!!!!

Ulfiric black mailed The high King, Fight me or you loose your honour and don't go to soverngard, Nord Heaven!!!. Who world win Some high-born boy who has not been any any war's. Or Ulfiric Veteran of great and The war in the reach, and He has the way of the Voice. Hmmmmmm

COMMON EMPIRE W

Imperials. For sure. (I'm replaying skyrim for the 6th time. This time a 2 handed orc warrior.) I can't exactly side with the storm cloaks when they treat me like a second class citizen at best. Furthermore skyrim cannot be weakened. The borders must be defended. If the imperial were not worried about the borders they could use those troops to crush the storm cloaks. But they can't, the imperial have all of there people in mind. The storm cloaks only care about nords.

I like high elfs and dark elfs they are great for a mage build and the dark elfs are good for vampires

Most of my playthroughs of this game has usually had me side with the Imperials, even when I role-play as a Nord. I think I have four out of like twenty different main builds that I have sided with the Stormcloaks, and all of them were, shall we say, less-than savory characters. Two of them were thieves and all of them were werewolves. I figure the Volkihar clan would support the Empire in general, but I think they would otherwise be relatively indifferent to the war. For all the other characters I've made who joined the Imperials, I could not get past the fact that Ulfric cheated in using the Voice to win against the High King, who was considered a boy. Cheating in this duel was a no-no. Plus, I figured that if the Empire wants to eventually throw off the shackles of the Thalmor, they need Skyrim to do that.

Ulfric is a Thalmor plant! You can find documents in-game proving so. He is a sleeper agent brainwashed by the dominion