Don't Be an Ignoramus! Know what you're jumping into.
Overview
This has become lengthy. The abbreviated version is this- In present day Skyrim, the Empire is allowing the Thalmor Elves to stamp out Talos worship in Skyrim although The Empire itself is ambivalent about the question: is Talos a God or just a man, and hypocritically they used to include Talos as the Ninth of the Nine Divines.
The StormCloak rebellion is a group of Nords who control most of Eastern Skyrim and are fighting for Talos worship and are sick of Imperial policies. In the past, the Thalmor had a big war with the Imperials, but achieved a truce based on an agreement to stamp out Talos worship. They may also have designs on taking Skyrim and maybe more. If you don't want to read the rest of this jump to the "No Good or Bad Choice" section. To make an informed decision, there is no need to commit to a side early in the game. It's been a while, but I was thinking you can join both, but I don't think you can, it's Imperial or it's Stormcloak. If you join one, my impression is that the opportunity to join the other goes away.
The 3 major religions in Skyrim and some History:
- Nine Divines: http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Nine_Divines - If you played Elderscrolls 4: Oblivion, remember the Nine Divines are the most important religious order in Cyrodiil. There are 6 gods and 3 goddesses. When you think Empire, think Nine Divines.
- Talos: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:TalosTalos- Tiber Septim, a human hero who became a God, the ninth of the Nine Divines. So if you hear a Stormcloak talking about Talos, they are talking Nine Divines.
- Nordic Pantheon: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Gods-Think Nordic Gods like ancient Greek Gods. See Pantheons link.
- Daedra: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Daedra- From Oblivion, you'll remember the Daedra as mostly nasty things that popped out of Oblivion Gates in Cryodiil. There are Daedra Priests and Priestesses who control the nastiness that enters the world fromthe Oblivion plane.
- The Thalmor and the Empire http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Thalmor waged war during a time before modern day Skyrim known as the Great War. Both sides called for an end to the fighting under the condition the Empire ban all Talos worship, among other things, as conceded in the treaty known as the White-Gold Concordat. Consequently, No, It's Eight Divines is what you'll hear visiting an Imperial Church in Skyrim. To make the Thalmor happy, the official imperial line is that Tiber Septim was a hero and a good guy, but not a God. I don't know why the Thalmor have an issue with Talos Whorship other than they are Elf supremacists who probably resent the idea of a man being elevated to God status.
- The Markarth Incident: http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Markarth_Incident] During the Great War (described above) the Empire forgot about Skyrim. Breton bandits rose up and took over the city of Markarth, from those aligned with the Empire. Nords led by the Stormcloaks, agreed to take back Markarth, if they would be allowed to worship Talos in peace. After being kicked out of Markarth, the Breton's retired to the hills of The Reach, becoming the Foresworn http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Forsworn- However when the truce with the Thalmor was signed, the Empire went back on it's word to the Stormcloaks, banning Talos.
- The Stormcloak Rebellion- http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Skyrim_Civil_War -is the civil war between the Imperials and the Stormcloaks. http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Stormcloaks. Stormcloaks who are Nords, followers of Talos, led by Ulfric Stormcloak, the Jarl of Windhelm, (who you meet at the very beginning of the game). They want to worship Talos and because of Imperial policies believe that Skyrim should no longer belong to the crumbling Empire. However Ulfric can appear to be an egotistical zealot and appears prejudiced against the elves and anyone not a Nord (see the Gray Quarter in Windhelm). Any distain of Ulfric must be tempered with the knowledge that "prejudice" in Human history was the norm, and has only been viewed recently as a negative. In earlier days of humanity, tribe mentality tends to be prejudicial.
No Good or Bad Choice
I've read some historical links online and there does not appear to be a "good" or "bad" choice, just compromises. Overall the Imperials seem to have a stronger infrastructure. Although in Skyrim, the Stormcloaks appear to control more territory, but many of their towns are small villages.
On one hand Imperials try to execute your character at the beginning of the game, have outlawed the worship of
Talos , and begrudgingly welcomed the
Thalmor , Elf supremacists who btw, will cheerfully carry out the death sentence for those caught worshipping Talos. It can be argued the Thalmor have designs on taking over the entire realm.
On the other hand, The Stormcloaks are wreaking the Empire which could easily lead to a successful Thalmor invasion, although this is speculation. Although the Empire agreed to ban the worship of Talos, unofficially it is ambivalent about Eight or Nine Divines, and is not actively involved in stamping it out. That honor goes to the Thalmor.
There is no need to commit to a side early
I'm not going to tell you what to do, but before you join anyone you should run some quests in Stormcloak territory and see how the Jarls strike you and then make a trip way over to Solitude and talk to the Imperial leadership. If you approach the game as an individual would, after coming close to being executed, you might say screw the Empire! However, the big picture conventional wisdom say that the Imperials are humanities best hope against the fascist Thalmori dominion, and if you ally yourself with the Stormcloaks you will only create a weaker Skyrim and a weaker Empire. So do you pick the underdogs, who by undermining the Empire maybe making things easy for the zealot, domineering Thalmor Elves or go with the Empire who are hypocrites for letting Talos worshippers hang out to dry? Lol!
Edit: Corrected this post, you can't join both the Stormcloaks and the Imperials. If you join one, the other choice is not offered. Last time, a decade ago, I joined the Imperials because I used the "big picture" methodology as explained above, but this time I went with my gut as a Briton living in Skyrim almost executed by the Thalmore, because it's ok as far as the Empire is concerned, and chose local rule. Full steam ahead!
