Skyrim is one of the greatest games of 2011. You ask most any gamer and they have probably either played it or at the very least heard about it. Its a game loved by many for it's epic quests, life-like combat, and "immerse game play, (a term that many writers have used to describe the game). What you generally wont hear about it though, which I find sad, is the incredible amount of detail and nuances that the developers at Bethesda put into their stories. In particular I find the political allegories in Skyrim to be incredibly impressive with all their subtle references to real life issues such as racism, nationalism, religion, and even things as dark and intense as fascism and religious persecution.
To set the scene Skyrim takes place 200 years after the last installment in the series 'Oblivion'. In this world the continent of Tamriel is divided into multiple different provinces, each with its own race and culture that are all collectively ruled by one governing body known simply as "The Empire". Throughout the series, while not always a popular faction with everyone, the Empire has served as the overall ruling entity. Skyrim takes a particularly interesting turn of events though in that it presents a time in the universe where the Empire has fallen from its glory and has now become a weaker faction. It is a time where things have gotten so bad for the Empire that some territories have gone as far as resorting to secession.
Whats really interesting about the Empire in Skyrim is that they serve as a direct metaphor to the Roman Empire. Their aesthetic designs, as well as the terminology used to describe them, such as their army being called the Imperial Legion for example, serve as very obvious homages to the real life Roman Empire. The Empire in Skyrim though is not necessarily viewed upon as an evil empire, as in works such as Star Wars or Spartacus. Rather throughout the Elder Scrolls Series the Empire has stood out as the overall governing body of the fictional world. In Skyrim however the Empire is now in a state of decay. The reason for the decline of the Empire is largely due to a conflict that greatly resembles the first world war. You see prior to the events of Skyrim the Empire found itself at war with an entity known as the "Aldmeri Dominion". The Aldmeri Dominion were a group of "Elven Supremacists" from two former Elven provinces of the Empire that formed together to start a new age of Elven rule. The war that followed eventually led to a truce highly in the Elves favor known in the game as "The White-Gold Concordant". This truce allowed for a peace between the two nations at the price of the Empire having to ban all worship of one of the gods in their pantheon called "Talos". The reason that the Elves wanted this suppression of worship was because Talos was a man who eventually became a god, and according to their way of thinking that was completely unacceptable, a heresy if one will, for if Elves were supreme how could a man be a god? The reason this back story is so important to the game though is because it serves as the ultimate catalyst for the Empire's new enemy to emerge and that is the Stormcloak Rebellion.
Now just as the Empire served as an allegory to a real world government, the Stormcloaks eerily do the same thing. The Stormcloaks are angry at the terms of the "White-Gold Concordant". They see the Empire as a corrupt and dying force and feel that they are sellouts to their own people. They are the disillusioned citizens of the province of Skyrim who want to secede from the Empire so that they can live free of the Empire's regulations and live according to their traditions. The Stormcloaks want a land free of religious persecution, and a government that stands up for its people's interests. While at first glance the Stormcloaks may sound like a noble group of freedom fighters, just like the Empire upon closer examination the Stormcloaks are shown to be equally, if not more so flawed. Just as the Empire served as an allegory to the Roman Empire the Stormcloaks serve as an allegory to early Nazi Germany. The Stormcloaks just like the Nazi's are screwed over by an unfair treaty after a massive world war. For the Stormcloaks it was the "White-Gold Concordant", with its banning of their hero-god Talos, while for the Germans it was the 'Treaty of Versailles", with its punishing verdicts forcing Germany to pay for the war damages of the first World War along with its strict regulations of how they could run their country. The correlation continues even more so with the Stormcloaks responding in a way very similar as to how the Nazis did. The Stormcloaks just like the Nazi's decide that they need to "retake" their country. They view their race the "Nords", the Elder Scrolls Universe's equivalent to Arians, as the dominant race and care only about their people. As a result the player now has a faction to side with that stands up for Skyrim but who at the same time unfortunately view their people as dominant and supreme.
What is particularly interesting about the way that the developers made this game was that they do not present one side as purely good or evil. Even the Stormcloaks, a group that has many parallels to Nazi Germany, is represented in such a way that they can be viewed equally as valid as the Empire. Part of that could be that the Stormcloaks never went as far as the Nazi's (i.e. attempting to eradicate a race), because that is simply pure evil and would paint a black and white picture, thus destroying the sense of an ethical grey area. Rather I think that a lot of the moral ambiguity has to do with the fact that the developers allowed the complicated scenario to be seen from both sides. A great example of this would be how when playing the game, depending on the side a player chooses, the game presents that side as valid. When fighting for the Empire, the player embarks on a multitude of quests under the title of "The Reunification of Skyrim", whilst if the player decides to side with the Stormcloaks he similarly embarks on the noble sounding series of quests entitled "The Liberation of Skyrim".
Ultimately the level of attention paid by the developers at Bethesda is incredible. Just the civil war alone is full of so many political references. It serves as a fun side plot to gamers who want to just kill bad guys, but for the critical thinking consumer the civil war in Skyrim presents a very interesting ethical dilemma. It asks the question : What is more important? A strong and free society, where people can worship who they chose when they choose; a society with a strong sense of national sovereignty, that stands strong to their traditions in the face of immediate danger even at the expense of others (The Stormcloaks). Or is it a society that is tolerant of different lifestyles; one that values unity and peace over tradition, but is willing to allow its people to be persecuted up to the point of execution for their beliefs if it promotes international peace (The Empire). Freedom, Strength, and Racism or Unity, Compromise, and Tolerance. Its at times like these where I want to ask "Cant we have both?" but the developers at Bethesda decided to make the players make a decision. I for one enjoyed the civil war plot ark immensely. I ended up choosing the Stormcloaks for both the petty reason of not liking the Empire in the previous games, as well as humorously because I thought their armor looked cooler, but also for the more serious reason of disliking an Empire that allowed its own people to be executed for their religious beliefs. At the end of the plot line though I didn't feel a complete sense of satisfaction, because as I have mentioned throughout this blog the Stormcloaks are racist pigs, and I fear that in the game whilst I ended up overthrowing a corrupt empire, the power I put into place may turn out to be much worse. Still the amount of attention paid to detail by Bethesda is incredible and even though neither endings are very satisfactory, (I've seen both), it just adds to the realism of how grey life is sometimes. Thankfully life gives us more ethical choices to choose from than just those that are presented in the Skyrim Civil War.
Just my observations from playing the game and from reading others observations on forums about it online. If you feel differently about it I'd love to hear your opinion.
- A Collegiate Gamer
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