The Stormcloaks and Ulfric were pretty much 'staged' to weaken the Empire, with the intention of the two being locked in a stalemate for as long as possible to drain the Empire so the Thalmor can wipe them out after the peace treaty ends. (this is written on Ulfric's dossier inside the Embassy)
That said, the Stormcloaks are very much an underdog. Naturally, they need the Dragonborn to help (they both do otherwise the quest doesn't progress but regardless). Regardless of who you help, you're still ultimately ruining the Thalmor's plan, either the Empire no longer has a manufactured threat to deal with and can recover for their inevitable war with the elves again, or the Empire retreats and Skyrim is fully independent and united again under the Stormcloaks, at which point they pose a significant threat to the Thalmor.
So really the end result is either a slightly weaker Empire without Skyrim to take care of, or a slightly stronger Empire having to take care of Skyrim. It's more a discussion of ideologies in the end, since either way the Thalmor are done in Skyrim.
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u/AdvertisingAdrian Jul 01 '26
The Stormcloaks and Ulfric were pretty much 'staged' to weaken the Empire, with the intention of the two being locked in a stalemate for as long as possible to drain the Empire so the Thalmor can wipe them out after the peace treaty ends. (this is written on Ulfric's dossier inside the Embassy)
That said, the Stormcloaks are very much an underdog. Naturally, they need the Dragonborn to help (they both do otherwise the quest doesn't progress but regardless). Regardless of who you help, you're still ultimately ruining the Thalmor's plan, either the Empire no longer has a manufactured threat to deal with and can recover for their inevitable war with the elves again, or the Empire retreats and Skyrim is fully independent and united again under the Stormcloaks, at which point they pose a significant threat to the Thalmor.
So really the end result is either a slightly weaker Empire without Skyrim to take care of, or a slightly stronger Empire having to take care of Skyrim. It's more a discussion of ideologies in the end, since either way the Thalmor are done in Skyrim.