I recently started playing Arena again, though I have beaten the game before. I am trying to re-play through the TES games and pay close attention to all of the lore.

Now, about the emperors.. The way I am understanding the chronology is like this:

1. Uriel Septim VII takes the throne in 3E368.
2. 21 years later in 3E389, an Imperial Battlemage named Jagar Tharn betrays the Emperor.
3. Jagar Tharn transports Uriel Septim VII to an alternate dimension? (Do we know what dimension this is, or what happened to Uriel during this time? Is it Oblivion?)
(How did Jagar Tharn imprison Uriel Septim? Was it with the Staff of Chaos? How did Jagar get the staff, or who owned it before him?)
4. Jagar Tharn kills Ria Silmane, his assistant (why? Does he use the Staff of Chaos to kill her?)
5. Jagar Tharn uses his magic to take on Uriel Septim VII's appearance and rules for 10 years.
6. 10 years later in 3E399, Ria, in spirit form, contacts Talin(the player) who then goes on to collect the pieces of the staff and kill Jagar Tharn.

Confusions
- In what order do 3, 4, and 5 occur?

- Just to be clear, the Emperor doesn't die, right? He is just in an alternate dimension for 10 years.. right?

- What year does Ria die? I'm assuming it is when he imprisons the Emperor in 3E389.

- When does the game Arena actually begin? I am unsure whether it starts immediately after Ria's death (in 3E389?) or whether it starts in 3E399, in which case the entire storyline of TES:Arena would presumably occur within one year's time.

- Didn't Jagar Tharn remove power from the staff, while splitting it, such that if someone reassembles it, it would be useless? If so, does the player need the staff in order to kill Jagar? If this is the case, how does the Emperor ever escape from the alternate dimension?

- Did Jagar CREATE Oblivion as a place to keep Uriel VII? Or was Oblivion already in existence before Jagar Tharn came to power? Do we know how Oblivion was created, or what other dimensions there are?


And one final oddity
-In the opening scene of Arena, there is shown a bit of backstory. One of the screens reads: "Uriel Septim IV, Emperor of Tamriel, stands with Talin, leader of the Imperial Guards."

Is this an error? Do they mean Uriel Septim VII? This confuses the heck out of me, if someone can explain this I would greatly appreciate it.

-Also, on the next screen it reads: "They have been summoned by Jagar Tharn, Imperial Battle Mage of the Empire, on rumors of treachery. "

Does this imply that Jagar Tharn holds a higher rank than the Emperor himself, or just that he is abusing his powers? From this point, Jagar betrays the Emperor who is supposedly standing alongside Talin.

So, what happens to Talin? As much as I can remember, he is imprisoned in the Imperial Dungeon or sewers. Why then, does Ria need to explain to him what happened, since he was there when the Emperor was betrayed?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks

I won't quote your entire post, but here are my answers to your questions in the respective order:

• I believe Ria warns the Elder Council after the Emperor is betrayed, but nothing implies an actual order one way or another.
  
• Yes. I believe in Oblivion pre-release banter they mention how Uriel still recalls his time in Oblivion, remembering it as a series of long, interminable nightmares.
  
• Again, no real idea. In the manual introduction I believe she mentions that her corpse is nearby, decaying, and such is why she was able to manifest herself in the prison without using up much of her energies.
  
• The Imperial Simulacrum is supposed to span ten years, with 3E 389 being the year of Uriel's imprisonment and 3E 399 being Tharn's defeat. Assuming Ria died shortly after the events of the former and warned the hero shortly after, I'd say the entire journey took ten years. You're traversing all of Tamriel, after all - and I'm sure your dungeon delving exploits took quite a while.
  
• He removed the Staff's power by channeling it into the Jewel of Fire. The player touches the staff to the Jewel, restoring its power and, in a surge of magical energy, destroying Tharn and undoing the banishment of the Emperor. Both artifacts are nowhere to be seen afterwards.
  
• Oblivion's been around way before Tharn. Not to mention, according to Battlespire, Tharn made a pact with Mehrunes Dagon before/during the events of Arena, which helps to imply that knowledge of and interaction with Oblivion had been around for quite some time.

This would be a typo, plain and simple.


The Imperial Battlemage is a position more or less equivalent to that of a Vizier in our world. The Imperial Battlemage is the Emperor's closest and most trusted advisor on all matters, so it is not unreasonable for Uriel to have responded to Tharn's calls. No, Tharn is not Uriel Septim's superior.

After Tharn is destroyed, Ocato replaces him - he accompanies Uriel during the Daggerfall introduction, is mentioned in Morrowind, and also seems to lead the Elder Council by the time of Oblivion (perhaps the Imperial Battlemage is the de facto head of the Council, which more or less means they're the most powerful person in the Empire beneath the Emperor himself).


This confuses me as well. In the Arena manual, the player character is referred to as "Talin", but this may not be canon. Some say it was just Bethesda's way of telling the player to create their own backstory and identity for their characters, by providing their own example. Interestingly enough however, the fellow in that section of the introduction looks just like http://uesp.net/wiki/File:Warhaft.png, who is imprisoned in Oblivion alongside the Emperor (and later rescued with him in the ending sequence, or at least the floppy version).

To make matters worse, if you decide to generate your class at the start of the game by answering questions, one of said questions refers to your father as "Talin". He's either an all-purpose name Bethesda used several times throughout the game (but kept forgetting he had been previously used), or something's horribly wrong with the world and there's multiple people named "Talin". :ahhh:

If I understood the introduction movie of Arena correctly:

The Emperor and Talin (should be Warhaft) of the Imperial Gaurd are summoned by Jager Tharn to discuss rumours of treachery. The Emperor and Talin (Warhaft) are then zapped into Oblivion.
Ria Silmane was either present or found out shortly after and was zapped by Jager Tharn before she could inform the Elder Councel.

From the manual however it seems that Talin (you) was under Ria Silmane tutelage and now thrown into prison after she had been killed. It also seems more likely that she found out after, since she thinks it happens at Mid Year’s festival..

The use of Talin is rather excessive, could it be some sort of title for a rank or faction? At least that's one explanation i can think of.

From what I can gather, the Imperial Battlemage is probably both the highest ranking commander of all the Legions as well as the superior of all the Archmages of the various provinces, even higher than the Archmage of Cyrodill. Probably the third most powerful position in all of Tamriel behind the rank of Emperor itself, and Chancellor.

It is a separate office from Chancellor, however, which is also a very powerful office. A new Imperial Battlemage has taken over when Ocato ascended to Chancellor. (I believe. Somebody please confirm this for me. I doubt he kept that office when he ascended, as both of them are full time occupations.)


To say the least, of course, the Imperial Battlemage (whomever it is at the time) is a very powerful person, both politically and literally. Not a person you want to cross. A master of war as well as diplomacy. It is possible that in the political upheaval following the death of Martin, with no clear heir to the throne, a situation may arise wherein the various generals of the military may vie for leadership, as happened in ancient Rome more than once. In these cases the most charismatic general who can rally the most troops usually takes the throne. I'd set my watch and warrant an Imperial Battlemage could attract just such a following. It's all conjecture of course but it's fun to imagine.

According to the UESP, in Oblivion he carries with him the "Staff of the Battlemage". This doesn't necessarily have to imply Imperial Battlemage, as he's still a Battlemage after all, but I'm not sure. I always assumed he held both offices. Then again, he regrew his hair in Oblivion! Certainly it's a much more friendly appearance than the one he held in Daggerfall, FMV aside. I could imagine him switching to this less imposing appearance in attaining a more diplomatically-oriented position. Who knows.


History has shown that Imperial Battlemagi tend to get involved in all sorts of mayhem (Arctus, Tharn...). I can already imagine Ocato addressing the populace from the top of White-Gold Tower as the Legion soldiers march through the streets to the tune of Horst Wessel-Lied. :hehe:

Jagar Tharn (The Nightingale) Stole the staff of Caos by tricking Barenza to follow him into a old Daedric shrine where it was located. there is a very in-depth description in Queen, but i can't find the correct link right now.

I never understood the Imperial Battlemage title. for example: isn't that also the name of the wizard soldier guarding the arcane university? I think it might be the person in charge of the Imperial Legion besides for the Emporer, but i thought it was Adamus Phillida.

I though Adamus Phillida was in Charge of the Imperial Guard. The Dedicated Defenders and law-keepers of the Imperial City, if not Cyrodil. Whereas the Imperial Leigion are the standing army. (Offense AND Defense, if needed.)

Adamus was the Captain of the Imperial Watch. He mostly manages the Imperial City watchmen. The main Legions themselves are probably handled by Ocato or one of the empereror's secretaries.