help or kill madanach

[Raven rock hero]

Do the forsworn and their king Madanach have the right to kill and rebell against the nords in Markarth? which side has the right to rule over the reach? who are the bad guys? the nords who invaded and drove the indigenous people out ? or the forsworn who rob and scavenge the current population? should the dragonborn help the king in rags escape? or kill him?

[Crepe the Ashlander]

Do the forsworn and their king Madanach have the right to kill and rebell against the nords in Markarth?

Well the Forsworn are the native Reachmen of the province, so yes I suppose they do have the 'right' to rebel against those that took their land away from them. Whether they should do it peacefully or violently is down to debate, should they attempt to fit into the new Nordic society that has been built on their native soil or should they aggressively put down anyone who opposes them is down to question.

which side has the right to rule over the reach?

Depends what viewpoint your taking, if you're not a fan of imperialism I would say the Forsworn have the right to rule over The Reach, but if you prefer leaders taking what they want and doing what they want to the land the Nords should, after all they claimed the land after a fair war, right? And to which Nords have the right to rule The Reach is another question, should it be the Stormcloaks after Ulfric liberated Markarth from Forsworn several years ago or should it belong in the hands of the Empire?

who are the bad guys? the nords who invaded and drove the indigenous people out ? or the forsworn who rob and scavenge the current population?

This is a very hard question to answer, as you clearly state the Nords downright strutted into The Reach and claimed it was theirs, destroying what culture was their belonging to the Reachmen all in the sake of expansionism, but on the other hand the Reachmen brutally kill hundreds of helpless citizens in the name of their cause and effort to liberate their country, if you look at i from a black and white perspective the Nords are the bad guys here and Forsworn vice versa, but after all the Nords do help develop the area in what ways the Forsworn are unable to and the Forsworns guerilla tactics are questionable at best providing a vaguely morally grey area to look at.

All in all, I haven't really answered the questions you have provided as they all typify something that comes with a viewpoint. I'll provide a brief summary:

Do you support the Nords and kill Madanach and thus allow a lot more peaceful, economic and democratic state to exist in Skyrim, or do you support the Forsworn and help Madanach and thus support an indigenous people who are desperate to claim back their land, their city and their culture.

On the negative side the Nords in Markarth lead a highly corrupt settlement where the Silver-bloods dominate the economy and the people, as well as the Nords not actually being the natives of the Reach. On the negative side the Forsworn brutally kill hundreds of innocents every year in an ttempt at a guerilla war with the Jarl.

I really don't think i've helped more than stir the debate if anything.

[Raven rock hero]

Well, thanks for giving the debate a nice start, with all that good information. I agree with the point of view thing that you say. My character is kind of this traditional hero, who dont meddle in politics or war. He tends to be heavily inspired by what the graybeards have thaught him, like the way of the voice, aswell as I let the peace truce between Tulius and Ulfric stand, and not take any part in the civil war. First I took Madanachs advice by listening to Braigs story. I really felt for him and the rest of the forsworn families, when I heard about the brutal killings. However I ended up killing Madanach, since I believe the very nature of the forsworn is savage and low productive wen it comes to society. I wish I knew more about how the reachmen lived before the nords came. Were they a peacfull people? or did they fight against eachother in tribes?

Anyway I think Madanach and Nepos are poor and coward like people, since they take advantage of loyal young forsworn members by sending them to their deaths.. I hope that by killing Madanach and his servant, the rest of the forsworn will slowly adapt, and become citizens of skyrim.

[Eltee]

I would certainly say that the better option is the Forsworn. Back furing the Great War, the Forsworn put into place an effective and peaceful government that was fair to displaced Nord landowners. By contrast, Ulfric committed something close to genocide when he retook the place, and to present day the Reachman majority are forced to work in mines and live in squalid conditions. I would not agree that the Nords bring peace and economic stability, just oppression and economic exploitation.

[kunimitsova]

Yeah but the Forsworn kill and raid random citizens walking down the street, so they've effectively become terrorists and pirates.
Since Ulfric and his men are gone (convenient!) the Forsworn aren't doing anything to help their cause by these actions. Also, it seems like most of Markarth likes to ignore the problem and assume it's just on the side roads and back country. I don't know if that's because they just don't know because the guards keep it all hush-hush, or like the conversation between Igmund and the steward, they're actively ignoring it even when evidence persists.

The Forsworn were displaced, but it doesn't seem like they were displaced by some of the individuals currently living in Markarth. So they just seem violent when they get out of the mine if you side with Madanach. Random violence. Meanwhile, you can avoid random violence by only taking out Madanach with none of his followers seeing you. I'm not saying that's fair to the prisoners who were wrongfully imprisoned in the Forsworn conflict, but at least you aren't just a random murderer. You're a carefully selective and precise murderer.

That's not to say the original Reach-people don't deserve more, but they'll probably never get it as long as the Forsworn credo is to kill all the Nords in the Reach. I guess I'm taking a really long-winded approach to agreeing with Raven rock hero.

This is probably my favorite subplot in the whole game. It really does ask you to give your character personality, because there are so many results at the end of the quest. I always do this questline in every playthrough. And I don't always choose the same outcome

[FredTheGreat]

I personally help the forsworn because I believe that they are justified in their cause. And I do believe that the killings are justified because I believe the government in Markarth is corrupt.

[philfredobob]

i always killed Madanach.
i just dont like him, especially his voice. what a dissapointing meeting ...

im not a supporter of the Forsworn, my character is a Redguard who isnt even from Skyrim, why the hell are you attacking me ?
when they figure out who their supposed enemy actually is, then i might consider helping them out.

[Redguard_Master]

I helped him only because I figured I needed his help. I killed him immediately upon getting to the cave and intended to from the start. I had no idea he respawns.

[cybrxkhan]

In my first playthrough I just killed Madanach and then Fus Do Rah'ed Thoronar off a cliff because I didn't like him either but there was no way to do him in in the normal quest.