A Minor Maze Content . Labyrinthian ' s modern notoriety was gained in the early part of the Third Era . Part of the Staff of Chaos was recovered from the Labyrinthian , which became instrumental in the overthrow of Jagar Tharn , ending the Imperial Simulacrum . The site has since become embedded in the minds of all subjects of the Empire , and the ruins are occasionally visited by Loyalist pilgrims , re - tracing the steps of the Eternal Champion . The namesake of Labyrinthian is somewhat less commonly known , however . The foreboding ruins were originally built as a temple to the Dragon . This grew into Bromjunaar , a great city of that era . Bromjunaar is believed by some to have been the capital of Skyrim at the height of the Dragon Cult ' s influence there . Little historical record exists to verify or refute this , but it is known that the highest ranking Priests of the Cult met at Labyrinthian to discuss matters of ruling . Bromjunaar crumbled , however , along with the rest of the Dragon Cult , and the site lay abandoned for many years , a deteriorating reminder of those benighted days for the Nord s . Not until the days of Shalidor would the ruins come into use again . Shalidor the Archmage was famous for his exploits in the First Era . Various tales tell of him battling Dwemer legions single - handedly , building the city of Winterhold with a whispered spell , stealing the secret of life from Akatosh , or constructing Labyrinthian himself . While many Shalidor legends are hyperbole or outright fabrication , we can discover some truth behind his involvement with Labyrinthian . Shalidor stood at the forefront of a movement to enact higher standards among mages , and to discourage spell - use among the common castes . This effort is dubiously credited with the original organization and formation of the schools of magic and the foundation of College at Winterhold . Consistent with this mentality , Shalidor constructed his Labyrinth deep within the ruins of Bromjunaar to test new Archmages . While navigating the destroyed city itself was not explicitly a part of the test , many candidates did not survive the journey . Shalidor valued both academic knowledge as well as practical skill , and simply getting to the Labyrinth required the latter . Shalidor ' s Labyrinthian is actually two intersecting mazes , in an hourglass pattern . One maze could no be competed without exiting the other first , which makes the only existing instruction for the test especially mysterious : Enter Twice - Exit Only Once Alteration will lead you to Destruction Only Illusion shows the way to Restoration Conjure not , but be conjured instead . We can only guess at what the solution to the test may have been as Labyrinthian became notorious not only for the number of potential archmages who died there , but for the intense secrecy of those who succeeded . Labyrinthian eventually ceased to be used , and is regarded as a symbol of a more brutal age by modern institutions for magical studies . The ruins lay empty again , overrun with wild animals avoided by travelers . The long history and legacy of this place , however , seems as likely to be erased from our minds as the ruins themselves are likely to sink into the sea .