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Lore: The Eye of Magnus Lost and Found

Tags: #Skyrim  #Lore  #Saarthal  #Eye of Magnus 
  • March 14, 2017

    This is a shame to admit and I'm shocked by how this hadn't caught my attention in the past playthroughs of Skyrim, but now that it has I cannot help it but bring this here for someone, maybe to help me unravel this inconsistency or mystery whatever it is.

    While investigating the nature of the magical orb known as the Eye of Magnus which we find during the questline of the College of Winterhold, we learn that the Eye, apparently, has been sealed away in the depths of Saarthal since the times of Ysgramor, and also that, at least at the time when the book Night of Tears was written, the location of Saarthal had been unknown. And I have an assumption, supported by words of both Savos Aren and Urag gro-Shub, that the aforementioned book has not been written at least until the late Second Era.

    From this, and the fact that in 4E 201 we find the Eye still there. it would be relatively safe to assume that no one has found it since it was sealed away back in the Merethic Era.

    But when we were back in Saarthal... we've encountered this fellow.

    Jyrik Gauldurson, the eldest son of the Arch-Mage Gauldur a part of whose amulet we loot from Jyrik's body after his second (albeit not yet final) death, and who, as we learn during the related quest, had lived in the Fist Era. Also we find there the Writ of Sealing, and judging by the paper's location right next to the chair/throne where Jyrik was seated, it's quite apparent that the mages sent by the King Harald to seal him away for his crimes, who wrote the paper, not only knew the location of Saarthal, but also had, at least once, entered the room. Which happens to be the very same room where the Eye of Magnus was, absolutely impossible to ovelook, located.

    Oops...?

    Is it possible that none of those mages, or others who might have been to Saarthal, ever got curious as to what that strange magical sphere might be? That none tried to take it away and study it? Seems somewhat unlikely, huh?

    What do you people think?

  • March 14, 2017

    There is a possibility that they knew full well what it was, or at least were aware of it, but had the sense to leave it alone. Night of Tears says that they Nords had discovered something in Saarthal and that the elves responded to that discovery. 

  • Member
    March 15, 2017

    Well spotted, Thorien! I interpret all this in a different way than you do, for me looking at it through a historian's eyes is very hard because we are dealing with things that happened in the Mythic Era. So my interpretation is that the events of 4E Skyrim are like a chorus in a song.

    What was that MK quote? Something like, "Tamriel, the Starry Heart... the whole fucking thing is a song"? When we look at the similarities between the events of the Mythic and the events in TES V, how many of the same boxes are checked?

    Dragons? Check

    Dragon Priests? Check

    Alduin? Check

    Man vs Mer like in Ysgramor's day? Check.

    War? Check.

    When I look at it like that, it seems the song of the Starry Heart is entering a chorus phase. Last time The Dragon saw this happen, men took the Eye of Magnus from the mer and locked it away. This time mer have taken the eye from men and sealed it tight. The Dragon drops a few notes from time to time, but the rhythm remains almost intact.

    The Eye, then, is present now because it was present then. There is nothing else it could be. Time. Time-Wound. Schrodinger's Cat. When men last looked under Saarthal, was the cat living or dead?

     

  • March 15, 2017
    Or the Eye just didn't want to be found. :)
  • Member
    March 15, 2017

    Or maybe there was some daedric/aedric hocus-pocus going on. I mean how do you even explain a 4th Era book found inside a hundred thousand year old tomb?

  • Member
    March 15, 2017

    Or maybe there was some daedric/aedric hocus-pocus going on. I mean how do you even explain a 4th Era book found inside a hundred thousand year old tomb?

  • March 15, 2017
    Probably the same way as 2nd Era book mentioning 3rd Era author.
  • March 15, 2017

    There is a possibility that they knew full well what it was, or at least were aware of it, but had the sense to leave it alone.

    Indeed, it is possible, but... How many precedents we can find in history, of people, especially humans, having the sence to leave such a thing alone?... The only case when it could be would be the one where they have already had tried to do something with the Eye and had seen the consequences just like Ysgramor had (as is mentioned in Kirkbride's KINMUNE). Which may as well be the case, who knows. On the other hand it seems that at that time the location of Saarthal was a relatively common knowledge and it is impossible for every mage who lived at that time to have that sence.

    Oh, Phil, but we have a slight notion about the events that unraveled in the Merethic Era. The doubtful part we are speculating is the First Era, and the people involved are rather historical figures than mythic))) No dragons seem to be involved in the incident and their cult long forsaken, Alduin trapped in time and no actual war seemingly going on, unless I've missed something)) The question is, when the men looked under Saarthal between those epic times, in what state had they found the cat?

    Or the Eye just didn't want to be found. :)

    Are you suggesting that it had made itself invisible? And why wouldn't it want to be found, judging by what we know of it, it seems to be always up to some adventure))

  • March 15, 2017
    No god damn clue, Thorien. I don't know how human mind works, so knowing how some AI from 9th Era works is absolutely beyond me. Maybe it wasn't active, maybe it just waited for 4th Era. Who knows?
  • Member
    March 15, 2017

    Justiciar Thorien said:

    Oh, Phil, but we have a slight notion about the events that unraveled in the Merethic Era. The doubtful part we are speculating is the First Era, and the people involved are rather historical figures than mythic))) No dragons seem to be involved in the incident and their cult long forsaken, Alduin trapped in time and no actual war seemingly going on, unless I've missed something)) The question is, when the men looked under Saarthal between those epic times, in what state had they found the cat?

    I get you. For me, it's like that which Arngeir says: "it is no coincidence that a Dragonborn should appear at this moment in the turning of the age" or something to that effect. The time to for the Eye to be discovered again was not in the First Era during Harald's reign, which is why it wasn't spotted then.

    Is it a coincidence that the last time the Eye was seen by man or mer was during a period of time which looks almost identical to the time of TES V? Skyrim circa 4E is like Merethic Era 2.0.