Stormcloaks Or Empire (One Of The Three Certainties Of Life)

[Keltest]

I don't think the Support of the Stormcloak-aligned Jarls is all that important, none of them are particularly impressive. This is a rebellion that lives and dies on popular support, not the nobility.



The thing is that the Thalmor were looking for that excuse, and if they didn't get it from Markarth they'd have tried to find it somewhere else, and I fully believe they would have. The Thalmor weren't passively hoping a bad treaty alone would cause things to turn hostile in Skyrim, they were actively stoking the flames.

Sorry, but "The Thalmor would magically be able to achieve the same result under all circumstances" isnt that compelling an argument to me. Ulfric already had a personal militia for like 20 years before he killed the king. The logistics for a civil war don't just happen over night.

Beyond that, even if another populist leader does emerge, theres nothing that says that he's as politically unsavvy as Ulfric. Surely "the elves want us to fight" would be a very strong idea if it were actually able to penetrate the Stormcloak psyche.