Comparing the Stormcloak and Imperial Jarls

[New Willinium]

So over the years on this thread and other forums I've seen the Civil war, well, cause a Civil War inside of the forums fighting over which side has the right of it. Though opinions change and now find myself tending to be a Stormcloak myself nowadays, I do still hold some respect for the Imperial side of the Civil War.

With this in mind, and to see something different when discussing the Civil War for once, I have decided to create this here thread discussing and comparing the Jarl's of both sides starting with the loved Balgruuf and Vignar Grey Mane.

Jarl Balgruuf is. . .A good man who does not hold himself above his people, a man who rewards you for slaying a Dragon (Granted who the hell wouldn't reward you for slaying the first Dragon seen in Millennia) and grants you your first and often favorite House Carl Lydia. On the Downside? The man seems to be a god awful father, all of his children are just AWFUL dear god, and has allowed the Walls of Whiterun to degrade.

Jarl Vignar Grey-Mane is an honored warrior of the Companions and is a good man(why do I feel like that phrase is going to be used a lot here), cares for the people of Whiterun immediately ordering for stores of water and food to be made in case of a siege as well as repairing the walls of Whiterun, the man took in a bad way and nursed him back to health, the man also is a man of the people same as Balgruuf. Downsides? The man is old and likely only has a decade or two left if I have his measure right, and he may or may not have some bitterness towards the Battleborn clan.

Moving onto Winterhold: Jarl Korir: A proud and stern Jarl, Korir blames the Great Collapse on the College of Winterhold a suspicion strengthened due to the School's relative undamaged state, he set out to hire a steward and court wizard that was connected with the college (though he made a mistake in choosing that one). The man is stubborn and refuses to abandon his hold and home, to make Winterhold important again. He is one of the few Jarl's who sends you out to retrieve an important artifact in order to become Thane. Cons? His distaste and bitterness towards the College is rubbing off onto his son and he has a general distaste for Wizards overall when they can be a great asset to his hold.

Jarl Kraldar is an idealistic man who is sure that one day Winterhold will rise in prominence again and is greatly interested in fostering relationships with the College of Winterhold. Cons? The man is a bit of a gossip, in a three house town this is rather amusing, and does little else BUT try to contact the College to no avail.

Jarl Igmund is. . .complicated for me to describe. On the one hand he seems to be a good man who hates the Forsworn and truly wishes to wipe out their threat from the Reach. However he also seems blind to the fact that the Silver-bloods control everything in Markarth and that his own guards are bought and payed for. Cons? He has to rule Markarth the most morally inept city in Skyrim.

Jarl Thongvor is a proud man, veteran of the Great War, who is spoken well of by the Hold's blacksmith also a Great War Veteran. It is unknown of how much of his Brother's dealings are known to him or how culpable he is of his brothers shady dealings.Cons? He has to rule Markarth the most morally inept city in Skyrim.

Jarl Siddgeir is. . . a piece of ♥♥♥♥ who allows bandits to prey upon his own people for a cut of the profits. He completely and utterly abuses his power and position in want of petty things and he is quite possibly the most detestable Jarl in Skyrim. There is no Pro moving on.

Jarl Dengeir a paranoid man whose views on Ulfric, who sends you after a real and true threat to the people of Falkreath in his personal quest, and is a improvement over his nephew in every single way except for his age. Moving on.

Jarl Laila Lawgiver is a mixed bag for me. On the one hand her steward is bought and payed for and despite wanting to mingle with her people she is talked out of it by said steward. She is ignorant of how bad the crime situation in Riften has gotten which is not helped by those in her court intentually keeping her ignorant of it. Despite this however even when her steward downplays and ignores a Skooma dealer as a danger in her city she hires the player to track down dealer and his source as a danger to her city and citizens. She is a mixed bag for me.

Jarl Maven Black-Briar is one of the most hated people in Skyrim, or at least by the playerbase, A very rich woman with ties mercantile ties to Cyrodil and the rest of Skyrim Maven Black-Briar is ready and willing to keep the Thieves Guild afloat and under her beck and whim and has no compunctions against using the Dark Brotherhood to assassinate her rivals. Her family sans Ingun are detestable, Sibbi most of all, and putting her in power would only make it official.

Jarl Skald the Elder of Dawnstar is a brat in an old man's body who bleeds Dawnstar dry to feed resources into the Stormcloak cause without regards for his people. Though I suppose to be fair I don't know just how long he and Dawnstar have been suffering through Vaermina's Nightmares so perhaps that can be given a pass. The man sends you after a Giant who was attacking travelers so he at the very least takes his duty seriously as Jarl.

Jarl Brina Merilis of Dawnstar is a Veteran of the Great War and . . .I'll be honest here she is better for Dawnstar in every single way. She is a reasonable authority figure, she understands her Court Wizard's PTSD and she doesn't belittle her servants.

Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak of Windhelm. blows air through mouth The big issue right here. Ulfric is a good man who is fighting a just cause against the Empire. I also believe that the man is a Depressed Veteran with severe PTSD who is trying to make things right and return to how Skyrim was before the Great War. Does little for the Dunmer living in Windhelm, even if they legally are not citizens of the hold freeholders if you will. He understands and trusts the advice of his friends. Cons? Ulfric is a Xenophobe and his Severe PTSD and depression can be used against him. May be why he " has a temper".

Jarl Brunwulf Free-Winter is a good man. Another veteran of the Great War, Brunwulf came out of it just as badly as Ulfric did sans the torture and has Major Ptsd over sending men off to their deaths and all the killing he had to do over the war. The man cares for the plight of the Freehold Grey Quarter and says that he will talk to Ulfric about it, despite us never seeing him do so. I have no real issues with Brunwulf.

Jarl Elisif has no counterpart so I can't argue anything there. Suffice it to say Elisif is an inexperienced and yet she is also a Jarl who takes her position seriously and will in time I think grow to be one of the best Jarls in Skyrim.

Jarl Ingrod Ravencrone is a eccentric old women whose family is plagued with visions and is not looked well upon by her people it seems. She does however seem like she takes her position seriously and cares for her people despite her eccentricity.

Jarl Sorli the Builder . . .does not care about Morthal seeing only as a way to advance her ambitions and as a stepping stone to greater ambitions. She also seems to have no real side in the Civil War. She is the only Jarl to have an non-Nord Housecarl so that in itself it interesting. I do not like her.

So hopefully this little thing will create some new discussion, and I'd love to see what y'all think of the Jarl's yourselves. I must say that I did not go as indepth as I could have so it will be interesting to see what folks think here.

[conatushawk]

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing that. I mostly agree with you critique of the Jarls. You mentioned many things I had not thought about. One mistake though is that Jarl Sorli is not the only Jarl with a non-Nord housecarl. Jarl Balgruuf housecarl is also non-Nord.

[New Willinium]

Originally posted by conatushawk:

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing that. I mostly agree with you critique of the Jarls. You mentioned many things I had not thought about. One mistake though is that Jarl Sorli is not the only Jarl with a non-Nord housecarl. Jarl Balgruuf housecarl is also non-Nord.

*facepalms* How did I forget about Irileth? And my thanks on your appreciation of this.

[Docsprock]

Jarl Igmund has a Redguard Housecarl.

Overall, its a fair assessment of the Jarls.

One odd thing I have noted is the lack of Jarls spouses.

Single Jarls:

Balgruuf

Siddgear

Igmund

Ulfric

Laila

Skald the Elder

And of course Elisif

I did the Civil War questline exactly 2 times. One for each faction. And I have never played it again. Literally hundreds of characters and I will never waste my time on that questline again.