Lore:Jagar Tharn

Jagar Tharn was the Imperial Battlemage of Tamriel who secretly imprisoned Emperor Uriel Septim VII, and used Illusion Magic to masquerade as the Emperor for a decade.  From   to  , a period since known as the Imperial Simulacrum,  Uriel VII was held captive in a realm of Oblivion while his battlemage reigned over the war-torn Empire.    He was finally killed, and Uriel VII was freed and restored to the Ruby Throne.   The Emperor dubbed the Hero who accomplished this the Eternal Champion, and granted him a place by his side.  It is not entirely known what Tharn's goals and personal accomplishments were during his reign. 

History
:We Tharns have held positions of power throughout Cyrodiil since the days of the Potentate. We are prized for our loyalty to the Empire, our deft political machinations, and our ruthless subjugation or elimination of dissenters within Imperial territories. What we do is grim work, but it is necessary if the Empire is to endure. — Abnur Tharn c.   

The Tharns were a very prestigious Cyrodilic family, which may help explain how Jagar found himself Imperial Battlemage to the Emperor, one of the most coveted and powerful positions in Tamriel. However, Jagar's exact lineage is unclear. According to the historical fiction The Real Barenziah, Jagar claimed he was born in southern Valenwood to a Bosmer mother. The novel series also suggested he was part Dunmer and part Altmer, mixed with human ancestry.

The Theft
thumb|right|The Staff of Chaos
When Jagar began to put his plan into action is unclear. The first known step was the theft of the Staff of Chaos, which was apparently stolen from its sanctuary beneath the city of Mournhold circa  .  Historians recorded that it was stolen by a bard named the Nightingale, a man who Queen Barenziah of Morrowind later recognized to be Jagar Tharn himself.   However, an alternative account later emerged which asserts the bard who stole the Staff was actually a master thief named  , a member of the Nightingale Trinity (hence the name), and that the truth was covered up for political reasons. Nevertheless, this narrative maintains that it was Jagar who commissioned the theft and ultimately took possession of the Staff (after which he unsuccessfully tried to kill Drayven). 

Uriel VII was gravely concerned by the theft. The task of tracking down the Staff and those responsible for taking it was entrusted to his then newly-appointed Imperial Battlemage. 

The Trust
In the decades after Emperor Uriel Septim VII took the Ruby Throne in  , he aggressively expanded Imperial influence, especially in the eastern provinces. As Uriel's close advisor, Jagar brought shrewd council to complement the Emperor's ambition and agile mind in these endeavors. They even formed a sort of master-pupil relationship. The Emperor, and the Empire, greatly benefited from Tharn's arcane powers and wisdom. 

History records that Uriel eventually surpassed his teacher at balancing the skills of threat and diplomacy, and Tharn's role became less important as time went on. But it's also suggested that Tharn was just carrying on the facade of an out-paced counselor, feeding Uriel's ego and earning his complete trust while he executed plans of his own. 

The Betrayal
thumb|right|Depiction of Tharn's betrayal of Ria Silmane (Arena)
Jagar plotted for months to bring his plan to fruition. Finally, he requested to meet with the Emperor to discuss rumors of treachery.   Using the Staff of Chaos, Jagar imprisoned the Emperor (and General Warhaft ) in a dark prison owned by Mehrunes Dagon  somewhere in Oblivion, where he experienced nothing but inexplicable and haunting nightmares   (though others claim that it was a dimension of Tharn's own invention).  Time moved much slower in this alternate plane of existence, thus it would be centuries before the Emperor died. Jagar drained the Staff of Chaos of its power, as it was the only key to releasing the Emperor. He imbued its energy, along with his own life force, into the Jewel of Fire. Then, he divided the Staff into eight segments, which he hid in places of power throughout the Empire. By utilizing Illusion magic, he then took on the guise of the Emperor. Even if someone discovered his deception, they would have to recover the pieces and reassemble the Staff, only to discover it to be useless without the Jewel of Fire. And all the while, Tharn would be able to bring all of his considerable resources to bear against his opponents. He dismissed the Emperor's inner circle and guards and replaced them with loyal servants.  

Several people were reportedly held captive as a result of Tharn's efforts, but one is known to have died by his hand: his own apprentice, Ria Silmane. Jagar's cover story was that he had taken a leave of absence to pursue magical studies, and put his assistant Ria in his place as Imperial Battlemage. But in truth, when Ria learned of what Jagar had done to the Emperor, she attempted to tell the Elder Council.  Jagar reportedly used the power of the Staff of Chaos to kill her.  But death would not silence her.

The Simulacrum
:''[O]ld troubles resurfaced, forgotten grudges rekindled, and wars flared throughout the land. In the east, Morrowind attacked Black Marsh in the Arnesian War; in the north, Skyrim battled High Rock and Hammerfell in the  ; in the south, Elsweyr took arms against Valenwood in the Five Year War; in the west, Valenwood also lost land to its old ally Summerset in the War of the Blue Divide.'' — A Pocket Guide to the Empire, 3rd Edition: All the Eras of Man
thumb|right|Drawing of Tharn on the   (Arena)
Jagar Tharn's "neglect and mismanagement of Imperial affairs" was later attributed to be the root cause of the notable decline in the Empire's economic prosperity during his ten-year reign, which was subsequently labeled the Imperial Simulacrum.  However, little is known of just what Jagar sought to accomplish during this time.

Jagar apparently had associations with devotees of Mehrunes Dagon, but details of these relationships are not known.   In  , he and another mage, Pergan Asuul, vied to gain control of the Umbra' Keth, a "Shadow of Conflict" which was created by the ongoing War of the Bend'r-mahk. Jagar evidently bribed many prominent Hammerfell families to support Skyrim, and sought to use the conflict to advance Imperial influence in the area. Ultimately, both mages were foiled when the Umbra' Keth was destroyed. 

Xivilai Moath helped engineer Jagar Tharn's involvement in the Battlespire's fall.  Indeed, from the resulting bargain, Mehrunes Dagon and his forces were free to invade the Battlespire, and in exchange they were required to slay all five of the mighty battlemage administers who governed it. This was to free Jagar from the troublesome competition for his position as Imperial Battlemage of Tamriel, as the Battlespire administers were traditionally selected for his own position.  The facility was ultimately destroyed, and almost all who had been upon it were killed, although an apprentice managed to banish Dagon. 

The Fall
The spirit of Ria Silmane appeared in the dreams of Eadwyre, King of Wayrest, and told him of what Jagar had done to her. She also told him of a friend of hers, who was then a prisoner of Jagar's, but who had the potential to help stop him. Eadwyre enlisted the help of Queen Barenziah, and together, the monarchs worked out a plan. Barenziah charmed Jagar, and managed to not only learn the locations of the pieces of the Staff, but arranged to give the prisoner a fighting chance to escape, and to reassemble the Staff. Ria also entered the dreams of the prisoner, passing along this knowledge and what had to be done to foil Jagar's plan.     

Ria's champion proved unstoppable at every turn, recovering piece after piece of the Staff despite the hordes of   and other minions Jagar threw in the way. Using magical visions to communicate, he sent periodic threats to the champion demanding surrender. However, he grew more desperate as the champion continued to defy all his expectations. He began making offers of power, eventually even eternal life, but to no avail. That Jagar had drained the power out of the Staff proved to be a surprising obstacle, but not an insurmountable one. With the last of her energy, Ria got her champion into the Imperial Palace in search of the Jewel of Fire. Despite the extraordinary amount of defenders, including Jagar himself, the champion was able to touch the Staff to the Jewel, releasing the energy within. This both freed the Emperor, and destroyed Jagar. 

Legacy
Upon retaking the Ruby Throne, Uriel VII commenced the Restoration to heal the Empire, although he did so through more subtle means, no longer displaying the brashness he had before his captivity. The audacity and scope of Jagar's plot captured the public imagination, and he went down in history as one of the most infamous, insane villains ever to walk Tamriel.    Speculation abounded on the things he had done. Decades later circa  , it was still widely rumored that the Emperor's own heirs had been replaced by Tharn's doppelgangers. Many people were killed when the Imperial Guard charged a mob which had been demanding destruction of the "false heirs".  Circa  , the last of Jagar's known associates were prisoners awaiting their deaths in The Rose, the infamous dungeon in Black Marsh. 

Heritage

In The Real Barenziah, general Symmachus describes Jagar Tharn as "part High Elf, part Dark Elf, and part of the gods only know what".  However, the Tharns are known to belong to old Nibenese nobility.  This is not explained and could be a product of the book author's imagination.

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Notes






See Also
For game-specific information, see the Arena and Shadowkey articles.

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