Why the Stormcloaks are superior to the Empire, a thread:

This thread will start debunking common slander about the stormcloaks, than go into why they're the superior choice to the empire

To start, let me debunk the most common accusation: that Ulfric Stormcloack is a thalmor asset

This accusation comes from the Thalmor dossier on Ulfric, which provides some insight into his life during the Great War. The thalmor describe him as an "asset," however this does not mean he is working for them, as many claim

What the dossier says is that Ulfric was a soldier in the legion who was captured. After the thalmor learned he was the son of the Jarl of windhelm, they saw his potential use

He was interrogated and made to believe the information he gave was crucial in the capture of The Imperial City; this was false.

He was then "allowed to escape." It is unknown if he was simply not stopped or if the thalmor aided his escape

They than "established contact" with him. It is unknown what happened here, however it is stated that he became "uncooperative" following the Markarth Incident. As such, he is no longer following any thalmor command.

The dossier contains a thorough debunking of another myth: that the Thalmor wants Ulfric to win the Civil war.

The final sentence of the dossier EXPLICITY states that "A stormcloak victory is also to be avoided."

What the thalmor want is a continuing civil war that weakens both sides, not victory one way or the other.

Now to another allegation: that Ulfric is a racist and a "nord supremacist."

First and most obviously, Ulfric allows all races within his ranks. A player of any race may join the stormcloaks.

Now let's talk about the "grey quarter," the dunmer ghetto in Windhelm often used to accuse Ulfric of racism against the dunmer

In fact, the quarter is the fault of the empire. Following the eruption of red mountain, the dunmer refugees were sent to windhelm, a majority nord city.

Tensions between the two races go back centuries, and if anything the nords are less aggressive and racist. Anyone who's played Morrowind can attest to that.

While Ulfric may be "ignoring their plight," which holds some merit, he IS fighting a major war, and can't be expected to do all his duties to a T.

Ulfric has also not imposed any especially harsh laws on the quarter - per Viola Giordano, the quarter pays no extra tax, despite what some nord citizens want.

The other racial issue is the laws banning argonians from entering the city. This is again a result of imperial incompetence in response to the Red Year.

The influx of Dunmer citizens also lead to an influx of Argonians. Remember, the dunmer refugees control an entire quarter of the city - was he expected to provide an argonian quarter as well?

Argonians living with dunmer would certainly have been a disaster. The two have arguably the greatest racial tensions in the entire lore, due to the fact that in Morrowind, DUNMER KEEP ARGONIAN SLAVES.

The fact that the expulsion of argonians was in response to the influx of dunmer is further backed by the fact that they are allowed in every other stormcloak city.

Was nord racism, either by Ulfric or by the local nords, a part of this? Sure. But none of this would happen if not for the empire bungling the red year.

This is further emphasized by the fact that Khajiit are allowed in the city, despite also being a member of the beast races.

Now, we've shown that Ulfric is neither personally especially racist nor a thalmor asset. Still though, the question remains: why should he be supported?

One common argument is that ulfric would leave the door open for a thalmor invasion. This however is untrue.

Let us look at this map of Tamriel. The aldmeri dominion controls the Summerset isles, Valenwood, and Elsweyr.

To invade the nords by land, the dominion would need to
1. Cross Cyrodill, which would be a long trek with a lot of attrition and local hostility. This would also be impossible to do as a surprise attack; Ulfric would surely hear about an incoming thalmor invasion.

The second option would be to go through Hammerfell, which is even more absurd. They would need to either sail there or go through a part of Cyrodill, and keep in mind that the Redguards hate the thalmor as much as the nords do.

A naval invasion is also an impossibility. Even if they launched from Falenesti, they would need to:
1. Totally sail around Hammerfell and High Rock without any aid whatsoever
And, assuming they manage to do that:
2. Brave the glaciers of the sea of ghosts with a full fleet

Skyrim is naturally almost impenetrable at this point in time, and an invasion would likely be weakened by Hammerfell anyways. Even if they managed to reach the nation, it's not easy to fight there:
Look at this topographic map of skyrim for reference.

The third question is why Ulfric? Why not the empire? The heart lies in one key figure: Talos.

Talos was, simply put, a man who became a God. Tiber Septim, The Dragonborn, Ysmir...

Rather than defend his worship, the empire conceded to the Thalmor, who deny his apotheosis. Why?
To assert elven supremacy.

The White Gold Concordat was a spit in the face of the thousands of nords who gave their life for the empire, and Ulfric sees this.

The empire has also been intentionally the nordic culture. Ulfric rightfully succeeded the previous high king in a Nordic tradition, a decision marked illegitimate by the empire.

A possible counter to this is that the nords have been oppressive to the "reachmen."

This comes from Ulfrics campaign's in Markarth pre war, when he put down an uprising by the reachmen.

You can argue he was wrong to do this, but:
1. Even if the reachmen had a right to rebel, Ulfric had a right to put them down
2. The reachmen massacred civilians in their uprising

Fight imperial suppression! End the age of oppression! Join the Stormcloaks!

How is this evidence? Of COURSE it would. https://twitter.com/DasChickenNuggs/status/1319298099291082752?s=19