How come the psijic order protected summerset isle against the Maormer invasion but not the oblivion crisis? Was the maormer more of a threat to the isle then the crisis itself? or maybe there are some books that tells us what happened with the order during the crisis?

I remember reading that the Psiijic Order protected Summerset Isle against the Maormer because Potema the Wolf Queen had basically tricked them into it. But not 100% if that version is canon or not.

They typically do not interfere in events on Tamriel, politically or otherwise, it's against their order. During the College of Winterhold quest the Psiijic you meet basically tells you this, and implies that he could get into trouble with other Psiijics just for showing up at the College and talking to the Dragonborn.

After which a few more of them show up and take the Eye of Magnus away... Which clearly shows that given the right circumstances they do act.

I can only imagine the Psijic order was busy enough themselves, and there is a difference between defeating an army coming from the sea and multiple armies spread out across an entire nation appearing at random. Or perhaps they were going into Oblivion to try and persuade Mehrunes he was being an idiot.. Don't know, and we'll probably never find out as they aren't the most outgoing organization there is.

I guess this is probably the best explaination.

Also, spoilers!

Yes, but I don't think we got the whole story on why they acted during that quest. Only 3 guys show up, and no one who introduced themselves as being the head of the Order or really anyone with authority. My impression (and this is just my own opinion) is that there are likely factions within the Order, and it's possible that the ones who showed up were doing something against what most of the others would have wanted.

This was mentioned on a previous thread, but one suggestion is that the quest wasn't just to take the Eye of Magnus away, but to assassinate a member of the Thalmor.

Sorry, it's the Lore forum. Spoilers are implied. You should be really careful reading this place if you don't want spoilers, cause most of the time spoiler tags are just not used.



I seriously doubt it, that Thalmor guy wasn't important enough to warrant assassination, after all he was an emmisary to a backwater mages guild like thing, with no real power at all... That probably means the Thalmor wasn't that great either. Wereas the eye of Magnus demonstrated clear power... As for the different factions, it could be. I have absolutely no idea on how the order works. They seem to me like a more open order with a headmaster to judge in case things go wrong or conflicts arise. But that's just an assumption.

Well, there has no doubt been alot of research done on the realms of Oblivion by the Psijic and just general mages alike. If the Psijic order didn't do anything (which we don't know) then maybe its because they knew that a hero would eventually step up and stop the Crisis. But nobody except maybe the Psijic know what the Eye is - so they took it upon themselves to keep it. Maybe the Eye is more dangerous than an invasion from Oblivion. We just don't know.

I do agree, however, that if the Psiijic Order did do anything during the Crisis, we probably will never find out. As fishy said, they don't exactly go around trumpeting their actions and intentions for the world to hear.

He had access to a power that could un-make the world (The Thalmors end goal) and he wasn't important enough to warrant an assassination ?

I assume if they weren't busy kicking Daedra ass on Artaeum, that they either had enough foresight to know that the crises was a) inevitable inevitably not going succeed or c) wanted Mehrunes Dagon stomping around Nirn to combat the inevitable return of Alduin.

That or you know ... They're just to badass to care.

He had the power to unmake the world because of the eye, which just makes it more likely that the Psijic order wanted the eye. Without that the guy wasn't important at all. So if I would have to make a guess to their purpose I'd say they would want the eye before anything else.

Seems kinda silly to wait till someone tries to misused the eye, and only after he kills two people with it...

If they knew where it was, they could've just taken it before the whole mess started; but no winterhold quest line.

does the eye have something to do with the original falmer attacking the og nords from atmora when they settled skyrim? ( apart from seeing how they were breeding like rabbits ( well to them ) and preceiving them as a threat ) Maybe they sensed the Orb's power and they fought over it?... there's way more to this eye of magnus and i wish we knew some more about it

Doubtful, it's probably more related to immigration land ownership issues.


They say earlier on in the quest that they are not allowed to intervene. They in the end do because it has gone to far and the risk is to great, but they tried to avoid it...