As far as video games go, few have had an impact as large as Skyrim, one of the most successful RPGs of all time. As players journey through the rough world Skyrim offers, they'll uncover a host of new questlines, ranging from the Thieves Guild to the Companions, each offering gameplay for a specific archetype of character, unless players toss that notion aside and do every questline on offer.
Of course, the most difficult to avoid is the Civil War questline, which sees the Stormcloak Rebellion try to uproot the Empire's influence from the province of Skyrim. While the technology available led to some lackluster battles in Skyrim's siege missions, it boasts one of the cooler storylines in the game, and considering that Skyrim opens up with the Empire trying to cut off the player's head, everyone has a horse in the race.
But things aren't as simple as they seem. Skyrim presents the Civil War storyline with a sort of David and Goliath vibe, a tale of the scrappy Stormcloak Rebellion trying to overcome overwhelming odds and send the Empire into ruin. The truth is, the Civil War is a lot more complicated than what it seems on the surface, and that has implications not just for Skyrim, but the entire Elder Scrolls series, including Elder Scrolls 6.
The Empire
The Empire has the most straightforward role in The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim's Civil War questline. It seeks to put stop the Stormcloak Rebellion and execute Ulfric Stormcloak, who barely avoided death thanks to Alduin's attack on Helgen. The Empire's defeat at the hands of the Thalmor, and the subsequent signing of the White Gold Concordat, which had some serious ramifications for the Empire, sets up a significant portion of Skyrim's narrative outside of the main quest, and even then it's featured in certain parts of the main story.
What the Empire will look like at the beginning of Elder Scrolls 6 is a major question mark, and will largely depend on how much time has passed between it and Skyrim. Another major question will be the fate of Emperor Titus Mede II, who players kill during the Dark Brotherhood questline. However, players also have the option of killing off the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim, which would, in theory, spare the emperor's life. Players won't really know until Elder Scrolls 6 launches.
Unfortunately, Elder Scrolls 6 is still years away, so players shouldn't expect any definitive answers for quite some time. However, the most interesting scenario would be a timeline where the Empire beats the Stormacloaks, but Titus Mede II is assassinated anyways, leaving the Empire battered, but victorious. This would set it up for another conflict with the Thalmor, one that players could have an active role fighting against or for in Elder Scrolls 6. Of course, Skyrim may not matter in Elder Scrolls 6 either.
It's clear from certain dialogue in the game that that's the ultimate plan. The Empire wants to rid itself of the Thalmor's influence eventually, likely through yet another war, but putting down the Stormcloak rebellion, and any other unrest throughout Tamriel, is a necessity first, otherwise, the divided army would repeat its defeat at the hand of the Aldmeri Dominion.
The discontent with the Empire is primarily driven through its relationship with the Aldmeri Dominion and Thalmor, and if the Empire had managed to win the Great War, the Civil War likely would have been avoided entirely in the first place.
The Stormcloaks
Boasting Ulfric Stormcloak as its leader, the Stormcloak rebellion claims to represent the "true sons and daughters of Skyrim." It's primarily comprised of Nords, with Ulfric Stormcloak's poor treatment of Elves being a particularly sore point for many. The Stormcloak's want to see Skyrim free of the Empire, and by extension, the Thalmor, believing that the Empire has become a puppet state of the Thalmor. The Stormcloaks also want Talos worship unbanned, one of the biggest points of contention for those that stand against the Empire.
While this may seem simple to some, there's an easy-to-miss book in Skyrim that makes the situation incredibly complex. Ulfric Stormcloak, to some degree, is an "asset" of the Thalmor, as detailed in a dossier found in the Thalmor Embassy near Solitude, which players infiltrate in the main questline. It isn't entirely clear how intertwined the two are, but it's clear that the Markarth Incident, a battle after the Great War in which Ulfric Stormcloak and some of his forces slaughtered Bretons native to the region — called Reachmen or later the Forsworn — that had captured the city, but then went on to kill civilians and people that had surrendered. Twenty-six years later, Ulfric would go on to kill High King Torygg and truly start the Civil War.
According to the Dossier, however, Ulfric was captured by the Thalmor during the Great War and was made to believe that information gained from him during an interrogation was crucial to the Thalmor's victory, despite the Thalmor already being victorious before learning the information. He was then allowed to escape, though the Thalmor made contact with an unspecified time after the Great War ended, and he "has proven his worth as an asset."
That may come as a surprise to many, after all, Ulfric stands directly opposed to Elves meddling in Skyrim's affairs, and the ban on Talos worship is a direct result of the Thalmor's victory over the Empire. It's implied, however, that the Thalmor are offering Ulfric some type of aid, not enough for a victory over the Empire, but enough to keep the Stormcloak rebellion in the fight. This doesn't seem to be information that anyone other than Ulfric – and possibly his closest confidants – are aware of. If the public did know of the dossier, it would likely be highly damaging to Ulfric's position in Skyrim.
The Thalmor
Easily the most complicated of the three factions, the Thalmor essentially use the Civil War in Skyrim as a way to better their own position. The group is a branch of the Aldmeri Dominion, a major faction ruling over the Summerset Isles and other areas. The Thalmor want the Empire to remain weak so that it remains docile, and eventually, want to use that weakness to have an even greater presence in Skyrim, with the end goal of forming a single governing body over every province in Tamriel. Specifically, the Thalmor want to launch a new Merethic Era, where Elves rule over the other races.
By indirectly aiding the Stormcloaks, the Thalmor are able to keep the Civil War running until the Dragonborn comes along and picks a side, eventually putting an end to the conflict. Despite that, the Thalmor aren't immediately hostile to the Dragonborn, only attacking them if they assault Thalmor patrols or wear an Amulet of Talos. This may be because of the Thalmor's interest in Dragons returning to Skyrim, and the Dragonborn's connection to the incident.
The Thalmor aren't meant to be directly involved with the Civil War, but they do occupy cities with a heavy Imperial presence. They're in Skyrim primarily to root out Talos worship. Talos, one of the Divines, was not originally a god but ascended to godhood after his death. The Thalmor take issue with this because Talos wasn't an Elf, and the idea of a non-Elf ascending to godhood is against the Thalmor's stance of Elven supremacy.
However, the Thalmor will take political prisoners. One of Skyrim's quests task players with attacking a Thalmor prison holding Stormcloaks captive and freeing them. These actions are likely meant to maintain the impression that the Thalmor is working alongside the Empire, a sort of front to ensure that the Emperor and Imperial Legion remain oblivious to the ulterior motive of keeping them in line.
Additionally, the Thalmor want to hunt down any remaining Blades, a key group in the Elder Scrolls series tasked with protecting the emperor, though the group was disbanded as part of the White Gold Concordant and subsequently hunted to the brink of extinction. The Blades serve the Dragonborn, who traditionally was also the emperor, though that clearly isn't the case in Skyrim.
Still, it seems safe that the Blades, had they remained at full strength, would have served the Empire in Skyrim's Civil War, possibly stopping the Dark Brotherhoods assassination of Titus Mede II – though they didn't stop the emperor's assassination in Oblivion, so if they really would have made a difference at the end of the day is up for debate. Regardless, the Thalmor enforcing the Blade's disbandment does seemingly harm the Empire one way or another, perpetuating the Civil War.
The Thalmor can also be found in areas with no relation to the Civil War or Talos worship, with the best example of this being the College of Winterhold questline, which features a Thalmor agent as a key player in unraveling the secrets of the Eye of Magnus. However, even then the end goal for the Thalmor's involvement is to gain power for Elves, and again, help usher in a new Merethic Era.
If all of this sounds incredibly complicated, it's because it is. While Skyrim is criticized for being overly simplified from a gameplay standpoint, there's an incredible amount of lore in the Elder Scrolls series, and a lot of stems from the sociopolitical intricacies of the major factions. Whether Elder Scrolls 6 will continue that trend is a mystery, but there are certainly a massive number of places Bethesda could choose to take it, based on the events of Skyrim. The Civil War questline just happens to be one of the most influential events.
Skyrim is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.