General Tullius had made it back to Cyrodiil and relayed the situation in Skyrim personally to Emperor Titus Mede III. In response, Titus Mede led every available Legionnaire to Skyrim to deal with the madness of High Queen Elisif once and for all. And so it was that 30,000 Imperial soldiers marched to Skyrim and found the small town of Winterhold under siege.
Elisif had hoped for a quick end to the war, but she hadn't counted on Master Wunfarth. The old Greybeard stood upon the walls of Winterhold and blasted any soldier who got near away with his Thu'um. Even the Dwemer automatons lay in heaps of scrap metal in the snow. When the Emperor arrived, they found him surrounded by healers. His throat was cracked and dry, but he still managed to whisper the words of power so as to hold off an entire army.
"Elisif!" The Emperor's voice boomed out across Winterhold, and even Master Wunfarth stopped his barrage. For the first time in days, Winterhold was silent. "Stand down. I order you."
Elisif sat atop her horse and wheeled around to face the Emperor. Her hair and eyes were wild, and even Titus Mede III flinched at the sight of her depravity. "These rebels must be killed! I am on the cusp of finishing this."
"The rebels will be dealt with as I deem fit," boomed the Emperor.
"No!" Elisif shrieked across the battlefield. Her voice broke at the scream. "You will not stop me. No one will stop me. Kill them," she ordered her soldiers. "Kill the Imperials. We cannot stop the siege of Winterhold."
Not one soldier lifted a weapon. Not one soldier was foolish enough to attack the Imperial Legion. Elisif screamed at her armies to act, but not one man did a thing as the Imperials walked up to Elisif, dragged her from her horse and bound her in chains.
Emperor Titus Mede III did not want to hang Jarl Korir, but he was a rebel, and he needed to show how rebels were dealt with. So it was with a heavy heart that the Emperor watched Jarl Korir be dropped from the walls of Solitude with a rope tied around his neck. Both Korir and Elisif had been dragged to Solitude and trialled. Korir had been judged for a rebel, and Elisif for necromancy and treason. Both had been found guilty. Titus Mede felt nothing as Elisif dropped from the walls. He carried on staring at the lifeless body of Jarl Korir. It was strange. He didn't defend himself during the trial. It was like he wanted to die.
Queen Mirtil and Jarl Laila were released from prison after the Imperial Legion took control of Solitude. Emperor Titus Mede III requested an audience with Queen Mirtil to offer her citizenry into The Empire. She refused. She had seen what the surface had become, full of treachery and deceit. A land without honour. As soon as she was released she gathered what was left of the Falmer and retreated back underground. Even Arch-Mage Colette could not contact them. No Falmer were seen again for many, many years.
A week later a Moot was convened in Solitude. A new High King or Queen needed to be decided soon or Skyrim would descend into chaos. The Jarls were now truly free from Elisif's spell of fear, and they all saw the crimes they had committed. They knew that Jarl Korir needed to be executed to make an example, but they no longer believed him to be the enemy. In sight of this, and in reparations for her imprisonment, Laila Law-Giver was named High Queen of Skyrim.
High Queen Laila turned out to be a fair and just ruler. She instated Brina as Jarl of Dawnstar and officiated Thaena as Jarl Regent of Winterhold until her son came of age. After a fair trial attended by many residents of Dawnstar, Jarl Siddgeir was found guilty for the murder of Jarl Skald and those who died in the siege of Dawnstar, and thus he was sentenced to death. His uncle, Dengeir of Stuhn, became the new Jarl of Falkreath. Elisif's last surviving heir, Bjornrick, was sentenced to life imprisonment, and the dungeons of Castle Dour became his new home.
Maven Black-Briar confessed to plotting against Laila and Winterhold. Elisif had promised her Falkreath and Windhelm if she helped betray Laila and Korir, and so she hatched a plan to take both Holds while still under the guise of an ally. Laila spared no time in executing her and shutting down the Thieves Guild once and for all. High Queen Laila's only surviving child, her son Saerlund, became Jarl of The Rift.
Brelyna had managed to escape the battle with the use of her magic and returned to Winterhold after hearing the news that Emperor Titus Mede III had liberated the town and college. There she found a very much living Colette Marence as well as Urag, Phinis and Drevis. She soon learned that she was not the only mage to survive, and the next few days after the siege saw mages slowly trickle back into Winterhold. For the first time in months, the College of Winterhold was a thriving centre of learning under the wise guidance of Arch-Mage Colette and Master Wizard Brelyna.
Phinis never returned to Morthal. Instead, he stayed at the College of Winterhold along with Drevis and rebuilt his school from the scant few students he had left. He felt happy once more. Finally, Conjuration could be great again.
Emperor Titus Mede III had made the decision to spare Irontooth. He needed only to make an example of Jarl Korir. Irontooth returned to Winterhold and offered his services to Jarl Regent Thaena as her general. He decided to keep the truth of Faralda's death to himself. He wanted to leave the past well and truly behind him. Irontooth found he had no difficulty in recruiting new soldiers and guards. After finding out that their orders had not in fact come from Laila, the soldiers of Riften had realised the crimes they'd committed. To make amends, many of them moved to Winterhold and offered to help the town in whatever way they could. In a few months, Winterhold's population had boomed, and the city was beginning to look normal again.
Irontooth always kept an eye on Brelyna, and the two became very good friends. Their friendship helped hold the city and college together in a nigh unbreakable bond.
Many people had died in the final betrayal. Thane Hoarik had refused to surrender, and after a valiant fight he had been cut down. Kai Wet-Pommel died trying to defend Jarl Korir. Thaena prayed that they would meet in Sovngarde.
Peric and Onmund did not survive the battle. They were taken by surprise when the Riften soldiers turned and were killed almost instantly. Their bodies were found days later, Peric's hand in Onmund's.
The College of Whispers was condemned by the Emperor and banished from the Imperial City. This paved the way for the Synod to become the authority of magical affairs in The Empire, but they never ventured into Skyrim. Instead, the College of Winterhold opened up magical embassies in every city in Skyrim so that people could learn and understand magic without travelling so far from home. College membership tripled in a month.
Slowly, Skyrim began to return to normal. Windhelm was rebuilt, and in an unprecedented move Master Wunfarth was named Jarl of Windhelm. Jarl Brina rebuilt Dawnstar from the ground up with help from Jarl Regent Thaena and High Queen Laila. This time a high stone wall was constructed. Winterhold expanded at an exponential rate due to the influx of mages and the soldiers from Riften. Silver and gold still flowed from the mines, and trade boomed. Within a few years it had increased in size passed what it was before the Great Collapse. Winterhold was now a powerful and respected Hold.
Jarl Idgrod of Morthal gifted the ruins of Labyrinthian to Jarl Brina of The Pale. Many of the refugees there now considered it their permanent home, so Jarl Idgrod thought it only fit that Labyrinthian should be part of The Pale. Labyrinthian became a much used trade route between Whiterun and Hjaalmarch, and so with the new trade Labyrinthian became one of the greatest cities in Skyrim.
Scholars debated for many years over who the true victor of the Winterhold Rebellion was, however no clear answer could be found. There were only a few things they could agree on. Neither side came out of the war without lasting scars, and both sides committed great crimes. Many scholars reasoned that there was no victory, because at the end of it all both Jarl Korir and High Queen Elisif hung from the walls of Solitude. Side by side.
A/N So that's it. This has been such a long and amazing journey, and I really feel that I've accomplished something here. A massive thank you to every single one of you who have read this to completion. You are who this story is for, and I'm so glad you liked it enough to sit through it all.
If there's something you think I've missed out or want me to clarify upon then please feel free to review or PM me. Now you have the finished product, I would LOVE to know what you all think about it!