The civil war that rages through Skyrim is probably one of the most underwhelming parts of the game (at least in the vanilla version) considering how much potential that it had not only for the quests and characters it could introduce but also all of the story that could happen due to and surrounding it.

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The Empire, one of the factions involved in the war, had a ton of potential for intrigue considering the unique situation that it found itself in being forced to fight a war basically against its own people. That being said there's a lot of weird things that the Imperials do during the course of the game that just makes the player wonder "what are they doing?"

10 The Imperial Legate In Helgen Is Mad With Power

It's best to start with one of the most hated characters in the entire game, who somehow manages to maintain that title with the very few lines of dialogue that she has, along with some pretty stiff competition.

The Imperial Legate you meet at the beginning of the game is very quickly informed by Hadvar that the Dragonborn isn't on the list to be executed, she says she doesn't care and just tries to kill him anyway. She clearly enjoys her job too much and it's probably a good thing that she dies in Helgen.

9 Why Would The Dragonborn Go With Hadvar

Speaking of Hadvar, after Auduin crashes the execution party and accidentally seals his own defeat in the process by saving the Dragonborn, Hadvar escapes the initial attack and ends up meeting both the Dragonborn and Ralof who are still trying to escape the chaos.

Hadvar calls to the Dragonborn and asks him to come with him instead of Ralof, which exactly no one chooses to do their first playthrough as Hadvar is literally part of the group that just tried to murder you for no good reason and Ralof is a rebel who fights against those people and was the first person to talk to you in the game.

8 The Empire Doesn't Ask For The Dragonborn's Help

It is important to note that this is a weird thing, but it is a little bit understandable considering how awkward it would be to call for the help of someone you just tried to execute unjustly before. That being said the Dragonborn is just such a huge asset to either side of the war that seeking them out instead of hoping that they come to you is a good idea.

The way that the civil war for Skyrim plays out in the vanilla version makes it seem like the Dragonborn is the deciding factor so even if you did try to kill them, you basically need to ask for their help and take it when it is offered.

7 The Empire Doesn't Try For A Truce

Both sides will claim that they tried multiple times to come to a peaceful solution to this war but that the other side of just too stubborn and that it had to come to violence.

That all makes sense but all that negotiating was before Dragons were freely flying the skies in Skyrim and treated to literally destroying the entire world and everything in it, including the afterlife, so maybe renegotiating with the new circumstances would be a good idea.

6 Why Is Tullius In Charge

Though the answer is obvious to most: as Tullis is a long-established veteran general of the Imperial Army and on paper is best suited to leading the Imperial forces in Skyrim to take on the rebellion.

The problem is that he is an imperial and that doesn't make him any less qualified than anyone else, but it does kind of prove the Stormcloaks point in a way because you have some foreign imperial sent in to lead the native people of Skyrim against other natives of Skyrim to fight basically on the behalf of the Thalmor.

5 Bending The Knee To The Thalmor

Speaking on the Thalmor and the wider Aldmeri Dominion, a big part of a lot of peoples reasons for joining the Stormcloaks instead of the Imperial Legion, aside from the whole nearly getting killed by them thing, is that the Imperials in Skyrim are basically just puppets to the Thalmor and literally nobody makes even the slightest attempt to hide it.

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This is what makes the Imperials look weak to a lot of players, maybe some in-fighting about the role of the Thalmor would have made them more interesting but most just bend the knee.

4 Unbothered By The Death Of The Emperor

Something that can happen throughout one's playthrough of Skyrim is that they are likely to end up joining the Dark Brotherhood, the series' group of assassins.

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The main storyline with the Dark Brotherhood ends with the Dragonborn completing the ultimate job and assassinating the leader of an entire empire. This should be a massive event that should affect basically all of Tamriel but people, especially imperial troops and leaders, barely react to it. Seriously there should be accusations about who did it thrown at everyone, especially the Stormcloaks.

3 Stormcloaks Remain Post Civil War

Something that one would think would happen after the conclusion of the Civil war in Skyrim is that in the case of an Imperial victory, the Empire would do there best to make sure any surviving rebel collectives would be taken out, so they could avoid any further rebellions starting or any guerilla strikes from the current rebels.

The problem comes in with the fact that there are still Stormcloaks openly roaming around Skyrim and they have bases that are known to the Imperials that they don't take actions on.

2 Why Is Maven Black-Briar Put In Charge Of Riften?

If you complete the civil war for the Imperials a few things will change, the first being that a few of the Jarls in charge of the large towns in Skyrim will change. One of these towns that will have a change in the Imperials win the war is Riften who's original Jarl, Jarl Laila Law-Giver will be traded out for Maven Black-Briar.

Maven is well known to be working in and with the criminal underworld and regularly works with the Thieves Guild that is stationed under Riften, putting her in charge of The Rift doesn't make the Legion look too legitimate.

1 Why Are Stormcloak Sympathizers Kept In A Palace

If one plays through the civil war to its completion for the Imperials, the Jarls that are supportive of the Stormcloaks will be displaced, which makes sense, executing them is probably a bit too much, they aren't the Dragonborn at the beginning of the game after all.

The problem is that they aren't asked to step down or put into prison cells for working with a rebel group, rather they are all kept in the Palace of Kings after the war, along with any stewards and strong supporters.

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