General Overview

The Civil War Quests automatically begin the moment you meet your ally during the escape from Helgen. From this point, you begin to make important choices with ramifications across Skyrim. You may choose to side with either the Imperial Legion or the Stormcloak Rebellion and complete quests for your chosen faction. Main Quests: The Fallen and Season Unending are affected by your actions within the Civil War; consult those quests for more information.

Picking a Side

Choosing a side can be done quickly or delayed until the very last moment. You can work with the person you escaped Helgen with—either Hadvar (Imperials) or Ralof (Stormcloaks). However, you haven’t officially picked a side until you’ve visited the stronghold of your chosen faction and sworn an oath to the Imperials (in Solitude) or Stormcloaks (in Windhelm).

There is a last-minute change you can make after that: At the very end of Civil War Quests: The Jagged Crown, you can decide to bring the Crown itself to the enemy leader. At this point, there is no turning back!

This shows the important tactical locations of Skyrim and who controls them at the start of the Civil War.