Okay, be ready for a lengthy ponder.

Not even 24 hours ago did I just actually finish the Mages Guild the first time. I have played it near to its ending with two characters before, but just now did I actually complete it. Some happenings in the end left me completely puzzled, and what I'm now wondering is: is it some fashion phenom in Bethesda to rush through the mage faction's storylines so that everything just doesn't make sense, plain and simple?

The questline never felt particularly interesting (compared to, say, main quest and Dark Brotherhood) in the first place, but the outright downhill, in my opinion, started somewhere around Traven's quests. Okay, Count Hassildor was one being giving Mages Guild some valuable information about the Necromancer Cult, and Mannimarco in particular. Traven, though, also mentioned other sources that he couldn't name at that time. Well, clearly they were just very poor plot devices, since never did they flesh out these mysterious informants, never were they even mentioned again! Besides, how come Hassildor know about the rise of Mannimarco when even the Guild doesn't? This makes the Guild and its intelligence look like a joke. Even some guy who hardly ever leaves his room knows about Mannimarco, yet the Guild doesn't? Right. (There's talk earlier in the questline that Hassildor somehow feels the presence of other vampires, and vice versa, but that doesn't explain necromancers/liches.)

Where it gets really bad is when the Councilors take away two relics from the Arcane University. Like Traven just let them do it, yet he hires his number one lackey (my char) to get them back? "On second thought, no, let's not let them have them AT ANY COST! Bring them back!" Doesn't the guy just have any spine or something to control his subordinates? (I'll get back to this assumption / possible bad writing later.) There's a tiny bit right here in the writing that I actually like very much: to my knowledge, it didn't get revealed why Irlav Jarol took the Bloodworm Helm. Did he really just try to escort it to safety (even though the best safe, according to Traven, was the University all along, duh), or was he with the Necromancers, too? Or did he even have his own agenda? This was a great bit not to be revealed. It's obviously easy to see why Caranya took the Necromancer's Amulet, as she turned out to be a traitor. The way this was done was poor though, it made Traven look like a complete maggot. "Don't take them! Okay, take them. ;_;" It would've been cool if they had actually pretended to obey Traven, then taken them anyway. It would've worked if the player character (or some other mage than Traven) was the one who found out they were stolen in the first place, then told Traven about it. This way, these things that still puzzle me would've had to be revealed:

- where exactly WERE these relics of the Mages Guild contained? I ought to know; I'm the current Arch-Mage, ffs!

- are there more? It was said that "two of the Mages Guild relics" have been stolen, so that implies there are actually more in their possession.

- where are they NOW that I've returned them? In that same stash still kept hidden from me, the Arch-Mage?! (I know they're actually just removed from the game. A sad decision that tells me the devs were in a hurry, like many other things in this storyline.)

Moving on. The concept of the quest "Ambush" sounded good. I was going to oversee a group of battle mages (on Traven's behalf though; why doesn't he do anything himself?! Maggot.) Knowing these games, though, it was clear that it isn't going to be that simple, that my character would still end up being in the center of things. So it went. It was good, great, even, to the point where I even got to be a battle tactician, although minimally. Yeah, I figured, now we're getting it! Let's put the one who favors melée up front with myself, and let the healer and spellcaster remain at back to do their job. Okay. Then out came like five necromancers, and the NPCs went nuts. They didn't hold their positions or anything, but just ran around aimlessly. That's okay, I thought, as of course the mission was about to continue as Falcar returned to the ruin. (I like how they managed to build Falcar a bit. After all, you had already talked to him, he had given you a quest. He was a basic guaranteed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov%27s_gun in the MG questline, yet you had half forgotten him since his absence from the story lasted for so long. It was great to have this guy back; he felt like the biggest enemy you've yet to face.

Okay, so here comes the complaint: why in the (un)living hell didn't the battle mages follow me (or rather I them) into the ruins?! I was only supposed to escort them, if you will, supervise them. Yet the only thing they said after the fight on the outside was, "Now go get that Ultra Version of the Black Soul Gem of Doom, and make haste, or all this has been in vain!!1". Like, okay, why don't you follow me, then? You were the ones that were supposed to be doing this job in the first place! You still aren't coming? *sigh* Alright, alright, I'll do it. Like I always do. Alone. Seems nothing gets done around here if you don't make it yourself...

Let's just skip the fact that the ruin was like any other ruin in the game and that Falcar was a huge disappointment, even if he was built up a little, unlike about every other character in this questline... It might be because my character was rather overpowered, though. Or more like I had exploited the game / learned the mechanics and timing of a seemingly flawless battling style involving a Rage spell (for multiple opponents), Paralysis, and some strong Destruction spells. Anyway, there wasn't even dialogue with this guy! Or maybe I just skipped it; he just rushed at my sneaking character from behind a corner.

Then begins the part that didn't make any sense whatsoever to me. Traven just decided that he's going to retire, or something, leave me in charge, and finally send me to that Echo Cave we've known to be Mannimarco's location for a long time. I know, I know, only now did I have the soul gem which, in some way (that didn't get explained, surprise, surprise...), was supposed to prevent Mannimarco from enthralling me. Umm... shouldn't he maybe kill me first? Or can he actually enthrall living humans? Well, he didn't even try, as long as I know. I expected his dialogue being in the veins of, "MWAHAHA! You got this far, but now I'm going to enthrall you, I'm going to... *gasp* It's not working! Why isn't it working?! You must have the Ultra Version of the Black Soul Gem of Doom that I entrusted to Falcar, and you must know its secret! Damn you! Well, then, I'm going to fight you to death instead, remove the soul gem from you, and reanimate you all the same!" I didn't get even a mention of that. Instead some (good, I admit) philosophy about good and evil. Anyways, what Traven did was - suicide?! Just WHAT?! I understand it was just a way to remove him from the game and to make the player the faction leader, but... damn! I can't figure out why was it executed like this; I just can't intuitively get what it means, what else a way would that symbolize but an actual suicide. Was this guy just so plain miserable and pathetic that he just couldn't take the pressure of the situation anymore, even if he never visibly did anything himself to make it any better? He couldn't control his Councilors, he was "unable" to do things "at this time", he didn't get to know as many things as a Count who never exits his castle, and he always sent someone else to do his bidding. Was he a powerful mage at all, or just a phony? Maybe severely weakened by his age or something, much like Dagail?

Anyway, I came back victorious. Raminus Pollus said congrats n' all, and he told me that as the Arch-Mage I was now entitled to some privileges. What privileges? All I got was a damn chest that was in Arch-Mage's room even before the quest! (We didn't know how to use it by then, though, or maybe it didn't even work for us then.) Great privileges indeed... Also, he said that he had sent a word to the Guild halls that I was no in charge. Okay, so, I visit the Guild halls and get nothing. No greetings like "Hail to the new Arch-Mage!" or anything. They just treated me like air like ever since their quests were done... After the MQ, you get some minor recognition. Even after Dark Brotherhood, you get some minor recognition. With MG, apart from Raminus' little speech right after I come back - nothing! The guy at the gate, the Imperial battle mage-thingy chap, still greets me as "the Arcane University's newest member". What the hell?! I'm the Arch-Mage now! Or haven't you guys STILL been able to hire anyone after me? Well, maybe everyone just knows the reputation of this place and know to steer clear from us. I would've, had I known what's it like in here...

Here's a little roleplay about my character's thoughts. I actually play Hierem - the Minister from the Elder Scrolls novels said to be the former head of the Mages Guild!

4E 26* (*The actual year is that, what, 3E 433? I just felt like, you know, as if the Oblivion crisis was taken care of by some other guy(s), and some time had actually passed, so that it would be more credible for Hierem to have advanced a lot in the guild - and, of course, to get to console edit him into a greyer guy in between the quests!)

So it happened that finally Traven told me to go to Echo Cave and put an end to this whole madness. I wouldn't say I was afraid, seeing as I'm quite an extraordinary mage myself, but let's say that I was well prepared. Mannimarco of the legends, while battling Valus Galerion, has been said to crash mountains. Raise whole undead armies. Well, Traven said he cannot touch me that way now that I have the Colossal Black Soul Gem. I can't see how he could anyway, as long as I was still breathing. But on I went, alone again. Maybe this time - this one time - it was wise, since there was supposed to be Mannimarco there waiting for us, and for everyone of us that died he could've reanimated into enemies of the survivors.

What was there I deem as a yet another Altmer mage that thinks a bit too much about himself. I bet this crazy old coot had just taken the name Mannimarco from the great lich-conqueror of the old. For one, he certainly wasn't a lich. While, even with his supposedly considerable magickal powers, he couldn't even sense me sneaking on him, I made some arcane anolysis on him. He definitely responded to 'Human', not 'Creature' type of spells. He seemingly had his weaknesses for elemental damage like the Altmer are known to have, and liches don't - vice versa! He didn't even seem to have any resists nor reflects to my magicks as I definitely expected him to have. Every time I bothered to freeze him with my Mage's Staff of Paralysis, he actually did freeze. The rare times he got to respond to me, he summoned the same Headless Zombies as his minions had. Nothing more, nothing less. This man was nothing but a fraud. Quick in his moves, endurable, but absolutely, utterly paling in comparison to all the texts there exists for the legendary Mannimarco. What a weak fool, what a disappointment for a worthy opponent that I had thought of facing at last!

When I gazed at his burnt, dead body, feeling disappointed, I got to ratify what my anolysis had already told me: he didn't even wear any enchanted relics that I thought he would have, to make him look like much better mage than he actually was, something that has been rumored of, for example, Nelacayne, the legandary Archmagister of the former Vvardenfell branch of House Telvanni, now thought to have been swallowed by the Red Year.

The only item of interest on Mannimarco's corpse was his Staff of Worms. Granted, the enthralling enchantment I revealed it to have is type of magicka already forgotten - or at least not my area of expertise, and not supported by the Guild in my time with them, thus not something to be talked about and taught anymore.

My anolysis showed that the staff's enchantment only lasts for a short period of time, though.The enchantment doesn't last long, nor is it by any means Constant Effect, thus ruling out it being a Daedric artifact. It's not possibly even from a particularly powerful sorcerer. The Manimmarco fraud might've found an ancient spell tome himself and enchanted a staff with the knowledge from that tome. Maybe I should delve more into its secrets, as right now it is only I (and what remains of the Council) deciding about the Guild's policies.

Other than the staff and who exactly this "Mannimarco" was, and will there be a threat of the real Mannimarco, or other powerful sorcerer, I should proceed carefully on whom to fish into my puppet Council. That crazy old Dagail is bound to be there, for one; the Leyawiin Guild Hall will be very happy to finally get rid of her, they will support me for sure. She's guaranteed not to pose any threat to what I'm going to do with the Guild, even, not to speak of my even bigger plans for the future...