Civil War

While the Civil War questline presents a variety of gameplay challenges and opportunities, its moral component boils down to one choice: to side with the Empire or with the Stormcloaks.  As I hinted in some previous posts, I had been leaning toward the Imperial side since the opening quest, but did not fully commit until well into the game.  I visited Solitude to hear the Imperial argument from General Tullius, then traveled to Windhelm to listen to Ulfric Stormcloak’s side of the story.  Not wanting to rush into anything, I set about earning the title of Thane in as many Holds as possible, which gave me the opportunity to listen to sympathizers on both sides.  While everything I heard and experienced ultimately led me to join the Legion of the Empire, the choice was by no measure easy. What follows is a breakdown of my considerations in choosing a side.

The White-Gold Concordat

There is no question that the Stormcloaks’ disgust at this egregious treaty is completely justified.  The fact the Empire would allow the Aldmeri Dominion to dictate religious practices within the Imperial Provinces is utterly outrageous, and permitting the Thalmor free reign to enforce the ban on Talos worship almost defies comprehension – which is exactly the point.  Having gained the upper hand after fighting the Legion to a standstill, the Dominion was in a position to ask for anything; why, therefore, would they demand a purely ideological concession (rather than another material or strategic one)?  The answer lies in the ultimate goal of the Aldmeri: total domination of Tamriel.  Because they could no longer afford to wage direct war with the Empire, they had to find a way to use the peace to their advantage.  They had already separated Hammerfell from the Empire; if they could sever Skyrim as well, they would effectively cut off the Empire’s supply of skilled warriors.  What better way to drive a wedge between the Imperials and the proud Nord race than by forcing the Empire to outlaw the worship of their apotheosized ancestor?

Ulfric’s primary error is in taking this bait, thereby weakening not only his beloved Skyrim, but the whole of the Empire as well. As I have suggested before, the ideal scenario would be a untied Empire biding its time, rebuilding its forces, and focusing the Nords’ righteous indignation on the real enemy in preparation for a renewed assault on the Dominion.  While I concede that I have yet to hear any Imperial representative suggest such a strategy, there is a strong possibility that this plan is being kept under the tightest of wraps in light of the Thalmor propensity for espionage.  However, even if the Empire did simply roll over to save itself, Skyrim only stands to lose by divorcing itself from Cyrodiil and High Rock.

Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak vs. General Tullius

Because I am playing with an eye toward moral agency, I have to consider not only the moral claims of the warring sides in the Civil War, but also the ethics of the men and women who represent each party.  One of Bethesda's major accomplishments in this game is the creation of morally complex antagonists; both Ulfric and Tullius possess a melange of admirable and lamentable traits, which makes following either one far more complicated than a simple good/evil split.

Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak of Windhelm is obviously the aggressor in the conflict, but his rationale carries a legitimate claim to justification.  The Concordat is a direct violation of the freedom of religion that we in the West tend to view as inalienable.  Furthermore, his speeches reveal him to be a man haunted by the soldiers who laid down their lives at his side during the Great War, and a Jarl unwilling to insult their memory by acquiescing to the Dominion's blasphemous demands.  While not an blatant zealot (such as Heimskr, the street preacher of Whiterun), Ulfric cannot separate his worship of Talos from his love for Skyrim, seeing the abandonment of the former as a betrayal of the latter.  Despite the accusations of his Imperial foes, Ulfric does not appear to be acting out of an inflated sense of self; even his most extreme actions, such as the killing of High King Torygg, come from a deep passion for Talos and for Skyrim.

He did, however, kill the High King.  The question of whether the killing was part of a legitimate challenge according to Nord tradition or a flat-out murder is in some ways irrelevant.  Instead of making his case and biding his time, he plunged his homeland into chaos on ideological grounds.  Furthermore, one cannot ignore the fact that using the Thu'um against an opponent who did not possess that power is tantamount to attacking an unarmed foe.  Throughout history, many honorable men have allowed their devotion to a legitimate cause to mutate into a kind of monomania that excuses any evil in the service of that cause.

Although not directly related to the Civil War, Ulfric's record as Jarl of Windhelm did not sway me to his side, either.  First, not only did he seem largely unconcerned with the serial killer running loose in his Hold, he had no comment when the killer turned out to be his own court wizard.  Second, when the boy Aventius Aretino was in his hour of need, the childless Ulfric decided to send him back to an abusive orphanage in another Hold entirely, instead of perhaps adopting him and gaining an heir for himself in the bargain.  Lastly, his treatment of the Dunmer was utterly deplorable.  While it is true that I never heard him utter any racial epithets himself, I cannot ignore the fact that he consigned the Dunmer to a ghetto and allowed the racial harassment going on in front of his own palace to go unchecked.  None of this should be a surprise, however; a quick perusal of the Markarth Incident raises the question: if Ulfric was willing to wage a nearly genocidal campaign against other races of men (Breton/Reachmen/Forsworn), what can we expect him to do to the non-human races?  Add his experiences as a prisoner of the Aldmeri Dominion to the mix, and we have a recipe for a racially-intolerant Jarl whom I could not follow in good conscience, regardless of his other virtues as a warrior and a leader of men.

As much as I liked Jarl Ulfric personally, I found his political views impossible to support; quite the inverse is true of General Tulius, whose repellant personality failed to dissuade me from the Imperial cause.  Tullius is a culturally insensitive boor who routinely, if unwittingly, insults his faithful Legate Rikke's homeland with dismissive comments such as:

What do you mean, "You people"?

Nevertheless, Tullius is on the right side of this conflict.  The Empire had a hard choice: sign a treaty that insults the Nords and defames its own progenitor, or risk annihilation after a long and bloody war with a seemingly implacable enemy.  While it may be noble to sacrifice one's own life for religious freedom, committing an entire Empire to that cause is another story entirely.  Tullius, who is no fan of the Thalmor,  understands that signing the Concordat was the bitter pill that saved the Empire.  What Tullius lacks in personal magnetism and tact, he makes up for in judgement.

Perhaps the best indicator of Tullius's leadership qualities is his second-in-command, Legate Rikke.  A proud Nord "daughter of Skyrim," Rikke bears Tullius's slings and arrows for the good of the Empire, and in return, Tullius looks the other way when Rikke expresses sympathy for Ulfric's cause or lets a "Talos guide you" slip out.  Rikke agrees, as I do, with the justness of Ulfric's outrage, but believes, also as I do, that a unified Empire is the best solution to the Thalmor problem.  That Tullius is willing to overlook the fact that his most trusted lieutenant is not only clearly violating the Concordat but also is apparently an admirer of his enemy speaks volumes about his priorities.

This tendency among supporters of the Empire to ignore the most offensive element of the Concordat is one of the main reasons that I feel good about my choice.  Yes, the Temples of Talos have been closed in Solitude and Markarth, but beyond that, no one seems to be enforcing the ban.  Balgruuf lets Heimskr preach in front of his Shrine all day every day in public.  Tullius knows that Rikke worships Talos, but says nothing beyond "Excuse me?"  In fact, the only character who ever reported any Talos worshippers was, well, me -- which I did in order to gain Ondolemar's trust, then promptly assassinated him and returned the Amulet of Talos to Ogmund.  The Imperial laxness in enforcing the Concordat beyond the bare letter of the law undermines Ulfric's claim that the Empire has become the lapdog of the Dominion.

Rikke and Balgruuf the Greater

The two characters I most admire in the Civil War quest both side with the Empire, which certainly influenced my decision.  I have already mentioned the long-suffering yet formidable Legate Rikke who, unlike Galmar Stone-Fist, her Stormcloak counterpart, resists the urge to demonize her opponents.  I cannot say this strongly enough: the fact that Rikke sympathizes with the Stormcloaks but grudgingly fights against them because she believes they are wrong is evidence of a moral character that approaches Kohlberg's Principled stages (5 and 6).  Galmar, on the other hand, relishes the prospect of savaging the Legion he and Ulfric once served.  Even if I sided with the rebellion, I would find Stone-Fist's taunts about "Deadking Torygg" tough to abide.

The other character who swayed my choice was Balgruuf the Greater, the Jarl of Whiterun.  Unlike Legate Rikke, Balgruuf has no real love for the Empire; his primary concern is the welfare of the people in his Hold.  As much as he hates the Concordat, and as much as he resents Imperial interference, he lambasts Ulfric for throwing Skyrim into chaos.  He knows that the Thalmor are the real enemy and, above all, he really wants people to focus on that pesky dragon problem.  He remains neutral as long as possible, because he knows that his decision will hasten a full-blown civil war.  When he finally chooses a side, it is because Ulfric forces his hand;  Balgruuf makes no secret of his reluctance to garrison Imperial troops within the walls of Whiterun and makes it abundantly clear to Tullius that he has no intention of giving up control of his Hold to the Legion, even as he sides with the Empire.

Rikke and Balgruuf demonstrate that one need not love the Empire nor agree blindly with its actions in order to see that seceding from the Empire would weaken Skyrim and further strengthen the Aldmeri Dominion's hand.

The Death of Ulfric Stormcloak

Once I chose a side, the individual quests in the Civil War line were morally simple. A band of Legionnaires and I would take a fort from the Stormcloaks, then I would be called in to do a more stealth-oriented quest (lean on a Stormcloak sympathizer, steal plans, etc), then take another fort, and so on.  There were very few serious ethical decisions to make until the end of the Battle for Windhelm.

The final battle of the Civil War took place in Ulfric's own Hall.  Legate Rikke, my Solitude housecarl Jordis, General Tullius and I faced off against Ulfric, Galmar, and a small band of Stormcloaks.  After Galmar fell, we forced Jarl Ulfric to surrender.  When Tullius offered him the chance to face the formal execution he had escaped after the dragon attack on Helgen, Ulfric refused, saying that he wanted me, the Dragonborn, to have the honor of killing him.

To be perfectly frank, I had no desire to kill Ulfric; as I said earlier, he is a good man with a bad idea.  Ulfric's death, however, was inevitable, and I sympathized with him enough to spare him the humiliation of dying by Tullius's hand.  In fact, when Tullius offered me his sword in order to do the deed, I refused.  Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak of Windhelm was a great man who committed great crimes, and his death needed to reflect both of those realities.  I therefore decided to kill Ulfric in the same manner he had killed High King Torygg -- a Dragon Shout.  A fitting end for one of Skyrim's greatest warriors.

The World of Skyrim: History and Politics

Because they create and populate entire fictional worlds, science fiction and fantasy games often give rise to complex back stories that, while they do not directly impact gameplay, provide a sense of context and continuity for dedicated players.  In fact, these players often act as "historians" themselves, working hand-in-hand with the game designers to weave a coherent story for the games proper.  The Elder Scrolls series is no exception; the first title in the franchise, Arena, takes place in the year 399 of the Third Era, which means that at least 4000 years of history have unfolded before the game even starts (for an outline of this history, click here).

Since this study focuses on one aspect of one title in the series, a detailed account of Tamriel's history would be both tedious and unnecessary.  Those who would like more information are encouraged to explore the lore contained on the wikis listed in the right-hand column of this blog. A brief overview of the political landscape of Skyrim will suffice for an examination of moral agency.

Tamriel is composed of nine provinces that correspond neatly to nine of the playable races in the game:

Province	Race
Cyrodiil	Imperial
Morrowind	Dunmer
Skyrim	Nord
High Rock	Breton
Hammerfell	Redguard
Summerset Isle	Altmer
Valenwood	Bosmer
Elsweyr	Khajiit
Black Marsh	Argonian

[Orcs (Orsimer) hail from a small area in High Rock called Orsinium that has never been able to establish itself as a true province.]

Throughout the history of Tamriel, the provinces have formed and dissolved several alliances and empires, the most important of which in TES V: Skyrim is the Tamrielic Empire, founded approximately 600 years before the events of the game.  The Empire was established by the apotheosized Nord hero Talos (birth name: Hjalti Early-Beard; Imperial name: Tiber Septim) when he unified the nine provinces under his rule.  The Septim Dynasty lasts for about 400 years, coming to an end during the events of the previous game, TES IV: Oblivion.  The Mede Dynasty succeeds the Septim line, but suffers a number of problems relevant to TES V: Skyrim.

The first challenge to the survival of the Empire is a powerful group of Altmer racial purists known as the Thalmor.  Believing the Mer to be superior to the races of Man, the Thalmor use political strategy and military subterfuge to wrest control of Summerset Isle, Valenwood, and Elsweyr from the Empire.  This elven alliance, called the Aldmeri Dominion, fully secedes from the the Empire and begins to war against it (about thirty years prior to the start of Skyrim).  The conflict is costly to both sides, and after retaking Imperial City in Cyrodiil, Titus Mede II negotiates a treaty with the Aldmeri.  The terms of the treaty severely weaken the Empire in several ways, but most importantly for the game in question, it outlaws the worship of Talos, the Nord hero, as one of the Nine Divines, and allows Thalmor agents to hunt down and punish "heretics" inside the provinces, including Skyrim.

This Imperial concession causes a rift in Skyrim between those who wish to support the Empire and those who wish to fight for the traditional Nord way of life.  The political structure of the Nord province lends itself to the foment of dissent.  Although subject to the Empire, Skyrim is directly ruled by a High King, and each of its nine holds is ruled by a Jarl -- a type of simplified feudal system.  When Skyrim opens, the player discovers that High King Toryyg has been killed by the Jarl of Windhelm, Ulfric Stormcloak, over the Talos/Thalmor issue.  A civil war brews on the horizon, pitting the Imperial Legion (many of whom are Nords themselves) and the jarls who are loyal to the Empire against the Stormcloaks and the jarls who want to defend their Nord way of life from persecution by a sworn enemy.

This internal conflict, exacerbated by the return of the dragons, forms one of the most important questlines in the game.  The PC is invited from the start of the game to choose a side in the conflict, and while one may ultimately choose neither, one cannot avoid the conflict entirely.  Because it pits the rule of law and multinational cooperation against freedom of religion and national identity, it invites a high degree of moral  engagement, particularly in the consideration of justice in Skyrim.

The World of Skyrim: Race

Race has been an essential component to the TES series since the beginning of the franchise, with each humanoid race featuring distinct gameplay advantages (Nords have a high resistance to frost-based attacks, while Argonians can breathe underwater, and so on; for a convenient summary of these attributes, click here).  This use of racial attribute differentials is a time-honored part of the RPG legacy.  In fact, many of the races of Tamriel are unapologetically based on the Tolkien/Gygax paradigm: high elf, wood elf, dark elf, orc, dwarf, goblin.  Some races, while not necessarily unique to TES, are less "canonical" in RPGs: Khajiit (cat people) and Argonians (lizard people).  What separates TES from other RPGs in the fantasy genre is the interpolation of real-world human ethnic groups into distinct races (as opposed to a single race called "human") for PCs and NPCs: Nord, Imperial, Breton, and Redguard.  This incorporation of real ethnicity in a virtual setting has had an impact on the way players (and perhaps the game designers themselves) see the purely fictional races of Tamriel -- an impact which can best be seen in the latest title, Skyrim.

With the release of Skyrim in November 2011, gaming forums have been speculating with increasing frequency on the identification of all of the playable races (both human and non-) with racial stereotypes in the real world.  When discussing a fantasy RPG, even one with such a long history and voluminous lore, the thoughtful player should bear in mind that the game designers are utterly free to combine elements from disparate real-world cultures, ignore important aspects of ethnic history, and invent racial attributes out of whole cloth.  To complicate matters, Bethesda has remained largely silent on the issue, so there are no "right" answers; however, even a cursory examination of the races of TES V: Skyrim yields a few obvious, albeit superficial, connections. 

The human races are, not surprisingly, the easiest to read.  Nords, as suggested by the name, are most like the Norse of Scandinavia; their physical appearance, personal names, political structures, architecture, warrior culture, and religious beliefs all contribute to a Viking motif.  Imperials, with their Latin names and legionnaire armor, are most likely based on ancient Romans.  Bretons seem to be a loose interpretation of the Gauls and Celts that populated Western Europe during the Iron Age -- some Breton NPCs lean toward the Irish/Scottish/Welsh end of the spectrum, while others appear to be more proto-French.  Redguards have dark complexions and frequently possess scimitars and flowing robes, so they seem to represent North Africa and perhaps the Arabian Peninsula -- the Medieval Moor. From here, ethnic correspondence becomes more tentative.

Skyrim posits two non-human racial groups: the Mer and the Beast races (although some of the lore implies that these two groups are themselves distantly related).  Drawing connections between these races and real-world ethnicities is a bit more difficult.  The Mer are the collected Tolkien-esque races: Altmer (High Elves), Bosmer (Wood Elves), Dunmer (Dark Elves), Orsimer (Orcs), and Dwemer (Dwarves).  The Altmer physically resemble the Feudal Japanese, but their voice actors speak in a high British accent, and the behavior of their main NPC faction in Skyrim (the Thalmor) combines the Nazis' fixation on racial purity with the Inquisitors' zeal for hunting religious heretics.  Bosmer, with their woodcraft and animal skills, seem to be based on Native American or other Aboriginal groups (the role of the Breton subgroup the Forsworn and the introduction of the mysterious Snow Elves complicates this identification).  Dunmer clan systems mimic Chinese family groups, but many of their names and words borrow heavily from the Assyrian and Babylonian languages.  Orsimer names and cultural traditions evoke Mongolia during the time of Ghengis Khan.  The architecture and scientific achievement of the lost Dwemer people resembles the ancient Greeks with a overlay of Aztec and Sumerian touches.  The Beast races, the Khajiit and the Argonians, are even harder to nail down.  The feline appearance of the Khajiit, along with their merchant caravans, suggest an elision of the ancient Egyptians and the apocryphal etymology of the term "gypsy."  The reptilian Argonians are probably the most difficult, as their physical appearance provides no solid foothold; some argue that their role as a topical seafaring race corresponds to Southeast Asian or Polynesian ethnic groups; this identification, like most others of its type, is highly debatable.

This salmagundi of racial and ethnic attributes, while potentially confusing, actually provides a boon to the examination of moral agency.  Because the fictional races are reminiscent of real peoples, the player sees them as familiar and is therefore more likely to engage in the story.  Because the fictional races are not exactly equivalent to real peoples, the player is less likely to bring his own outside history and prejudices into the story.  The overall effect encourages the player to adopt the race of his PC and experience issues of race within the confines of the game, free from the tyranny of historical accuracy. 

Aside from the racial bonus mentioned above, race does little to impact the PC's gameplay.  A few NPC interactions may be affected (Hadvar's dialogue during the Unbound quest, the ability to enter an Orc stronghold uninvited, and so on), but for the most part, race mainly affects the "feel" of the game.  An American Caucasian player running a Dunmer PC, for example, might experience the racial segregation of Windhelm differently from the way he experiences the racial segregation in his own country's history.  Skyrim's nuanced employment of racial identity grants the player unprecedented access to issues of justice, and therefore opens up an area of moral agency often underused in gaming.