Stained Cedar, Prime?

Still on the brick and cedar frame house.

The HO told the contractor that the stain (paint?) is peeling even though it was just done. Contractor calls in a Cabots rep. He determines that the original job wasn't done properly. Suggests complete strip and prime before using Cabots stain. It's white so I can't tell how old it is by the fading.

The Contractor agreed, but has since amended the contract to just scraping except for the dormers and rails on the deck, those are going to bare wood using stripper.

Since working on it, I've determined that the original job was fine and all the failure looks natural to me. I didn't ask how long ago it was done but it's just the same as any typical cedar needing stain.

Whats the school of thought on priming cedar before stain?

Personally, I wouldn't do it. If you're going to prime, you might as well use paint. I don't think the HO understands the properties of cedar or stain.

Cedar needs to breathe. Stains soak into the pores and hairs, it doesn't fill and seal, like paint does. Tanin or other chemicals can leach out past stain without removing it. Whereas, paint will probably peel. I'm suspecting that this house was painted rather than stained. What we're scraping off is one layer and it's too thick to be stain IMO. I could be wrong.