What were the Blades doing during the Simulacrum : The Elder Scrolls Series Discussion

» Wed Aug 18, 2010 6:42 pm

Hello,

The Arena manual states :

Talin looked around, "Why are you here? I am but one, and not skilled in much of anything. Why not go to General Warhaft, or the Imperial Guard?"

Ria shook her head, "They have been captured along with the Emperor, and Tharn has transmorphed others to take their places, those who are loyal to him only. I cannot trust anyone else with this Talin. As you said, Tharn will not search for you as he would someone he considered a threat. Most of them are dead already. You can see the disdain the Wizard has for you, not even bothering to even bind you in this cell. He does not see you as threat, and in that arrogance he has made his first mistake." For the first time the ghost of Ria Silmane smiled, and to Talin it was as if the sun had come from behind the cloud.

Were the Imperials Guard members of the Blades ? Can we safely assume most of the Blades were either captured or killed during the Simulacrum ? As both Jauffre and Caius Cosades are quite old, they probably already were members of the Blades in 3e398. Were they imprisonned with Uriel ? Was general Warhaft the master of the Blades at that time ?

Thank you for your answers
Cogite

» Thu Aug 19, 2010 2:59 am

You have to keep in mind that Arena is quite old, the Blades made their first appearance in Daggerfall¹. If you really want the Story of Arena to be consistent with that you'll have to retcon it for yourself.

You can assume though that the Imperial Gaurd and Blades are not the same organisation as the Blades are best compared to a secret service rather then a military one. Considering the deception of Tharn, you might as well assume the Blades too were tricked.

1. Aside from a being an fighting team in Arena in a very early development stage that is, see http://www.imperial-library.info/goblades.shtml.

» Wed Aug 18, 2010 12:12 pm

Thank you

» Wed Aug 18, 2010 1:24 pm

Those closer to Uriel Septim and who might notice a troubling change in manner (like Jauffre) probably was assigned abroad. Of course, who's to say that Jauffre was the Grandmaster of the Blades at the time? That whole baby Martin thing? Maybe he's just the last surviving Blade who was tasked to spirit him away?

» Thu Aug 19, 2010 3:58 am

The Blades are loyal to the Emperor and the Royal Family, over the Empire itself; they worship the Septim line as the decendents of Talos, and as such they could never doubt the Emperor or seek to undermine him -Jagar Tharn, being The Imperial Battlemage, would have known this very well and would have played into this (and any internal threat to him could have been dealt with swiftly, suspects being executed for treason, etc).

» Thu Aug 19, 2010 4:19 am

As the introduction mentions the transformation of demons into "twisted counterparts of the Emperor's guard", I assumed most high-ranking officials who would notice Uriel's erratic behavior/question his orders were sent away, and then Tharn's minions assumed the guise of most officials in order to help maintain the illusion.

Warhaft lead the Imperial Guard which I would not consider to be the same as the Blades. Interestingly enough, he was named "Talin" in the introduction, but as such a name also appears in the character generation quiz and the manual, I assume it's just an all-purpose placeholder name Bethesda used repeatedly throughout the game's development, often forgetting that it had been previously used.

» Wed Aug 18, 2010 11:50 am

Thank you for these answers.

Those closer to Uriel Septim and who might notice a troubling change in manner (like Jauffre) probably was assigned abroad. Of course, who's to say that Jauffre was the Grandmaster of the Blades at the time? That whole baby Martin thing? Maybe he's just the last surviving Blade who was tasked to spirit him away?

It's very unlikely that Jauffre was the Grandmaster of the Blades in 3e388. He was too young then. We don't know wether Martin was born before or after the Simulacrum. It was probably after, since Uriel got rid of Gemile in 3e417.

Warhaft lead the Imperial Guard which I would not consider to be the same as the Blades.

Yet Jauffre says, when asked about Uriel's Son :

I am one of the few who know of his existence. Many years ago, I served as captain of Uriel's bodyguards, the Blades. One night Uriel called me in his private chambers. A baby boy lay sleeping in a basket. Uriel told me to deliver him somewhere safe. He never told me anything else about the baby, but I knew it was his son. From time to time he would ask about the child's progress. Now, it seems that this illegitimate son is the heir to the Septim Throne. If he yet lives.