September 28, 2013 11:58 AM EDT
in the topic
Civil War in the forum
Elder Scrolls
This smells of Daggerfall. Of course, there's a simple answer to this that I predict will be true: Doesn't matter. Remember those leftover camps that everyone complains about you being unable to wipe out after the Civil War has ended? It's pretty obvious why those guys remained essential: Because in the next game, no matter which side the Dragonborn sided with, there will still be parts of each side in Skyrim. Those parts will likely not mean anything except in reference, though; I'm thinking the next game will happen after the Aldmeri Dominion has already "destroyed the Empire and unified the warring provinces of Tamriel." Whoops, suddenly, who cares which side won the war? Even if the Stormcloaks win the Civil War, remember that the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion are still the plot-relevant major powers of Tamriel, with the Argonians likely comparably powerful at this point but unlikely to make a plot impact at this point. Perhaps after the Dominion either wins or loses, everyone can suddenly notice that Black Marsh has dominated three or four provinces; but until then, I don't think they'll have finished their Major in politics and come in.
Anyway, long answer short, they'll try very hard to make it seem like either side could have won, in order to make fans happy. That, or they'll say very vaguely "The Stormcloaks rose in Skyrim, but were brought back in line by the Empire, who came in from Cyrodiil". Suddenly you don't know if the Stormcloaks won the war but were re-taken later by the Empire, or if that would refer to the Empire having simply sent in troops and winning the first time. Hooray for forced internal consistency through vagueness.