The Rise and Fall of the Blades Content . There are many that still remember the Blades . There are fewer that can pass down and tell their stories , their origins and their downfall . My father could . In his proudest moments he said to me , " You keep secrets like the Blades . " The Blades were very good at keeping secrets . They hardly wrote down information . They normally passed information carefully between their spies in every province , to their elite members that protected the Emperors . Even amongst their members , they kept much secret . Most associate the Blades with their ceremonial Akaviri armor and curved longswords . One can trace the Blades back to the fiercest warriors of Akavir , the Dragonguard . It was there , just as they would do in Tamriel , that they protected rulers and their kingdom . But recent discoveries show it to be much more than that . Many classic texts tell us of adventures to Akavir , known as the dragon lands of the east . Many from Tamriel have attempted to conquer it , most famously Emperor Uriel V and his Tenth Legion in 3E288 as documented in the Imperial dispatch " . " Dragons have long been legend in Akavir , and many believe that their brief appearance in Tamriel ' s history are those that escaped Akaviri , for it was there they were hunted and killed off by the Dragonguard . The Dragonguard would follow those that fled to Tamriel in the late 1st Era . Invading from the north , the Dragonguard met not only dragons , but the men of Skyrim , who don ' t meet invasions with pitchers of mead . The Dragonguard cut a path through Skyrim , and it was not until they were stopped by Reman Cyrodiil during the battle at Pale Pass that the invasion came to an end . It was Reman who united the human lands of Cyrodiil and defeated the Akaviri invaders . Reman is one of the first documented , and widely accepted , of the mythic Dragonborn ; those anointed by Akatosh and Alessia themselves . " Born with the soul of a dragon " is what his followers would say . Reports differ widely on the nature of the battle at Pale Pass . But the end result is the same , that the remaining Dragonguard , upon hearing the voice of Reman Cyrodiil , knelt and swore their lives to him , their conqueror and savior . Fragments of from late 1st era texts refer to the warriors dropping to their knees saying " we were not hunting " ( or " did not intend " , author - rough translation ) , continuing " we have been searching , for you . " They protected Reman with their lives , as well as his descendants , as the Reman Dynasty ushered in Tamriel ' s 2nd era . It was through these years that their reach extended , and their order grew to become the Blades . Their conquest of the dragons complete , they only sought to protect the Dragonborn , and through him , the Empire . They reached their height late during the 3rd era under the rule of the Septim emprors [ sic ] . Despite their numbers , they kept their secrecy . The most visible and well documented were the members who personally guarded the Emperor , still wearing the original Akaviri armor . But that was the just the tip of the spear , for the Blades were a larger organization , stretching to every corner of Tamriel . These agents were of every race . They were merchant s , thieves , craftsman , mages , and warrior s , all acting as spies , protecting the Empire as needed , and operating in secret . They often acted alone , but some fragments speak of them meeting in secret fortresses across the continent . The most famous being Cyrodiil ' s Cloud Ruler Temple , where they hung the swords of those slain protecting the Dragonborn . Other maps speak of Wind Scour Temple under the great expanse of Hammerfell ' s Alik ' r desert , Sky Haven Temple in the mountains of Skyrim , and Storm Talon Temple east of Wayrest . They were known to have a " Grandmaster " , who often lived amongst the people , unknown to others . The nature of their communications , meeting places , and missions were known to only a few elite members . The only two to know all were the Grandmaster himself and the Chronicler , whose only job was to make sure the group ' s mission was never known , but never lost . With the death of Uriel Septim VII and his son , Martin , the 3rd era came to a close with the Blades fortifying themselves deep within Cyrodiil ' s Cloud Ruler Temple , as they waited for a Dragonborn to return when they would be called upon again . The Empire of the 4th era no longer saw the Blades openly protecting it , or the Emperors . That role is now filled by the Penitus Oculatus , a purely Imperial organization . But the Blades continued their secret work , to watch for the Dragonborn and guard against future enemies . The Blades were among the first to see the signs that the Thalmor of the Aldmeri Dominion would not remain isolated within their borders forever . They could do what the Penitus Oculatus , servant to Imperial policy , could not , and thus earned the lasting hatred of the Thalmor . The warnings of the Blades were proved right , as is well known to all . The Great War between the Empire and the Thalmor consumed the Empire and nearly destroyed it . Emperor Titus Mede II eventually brokered peace with the Thalmor , but at a price many of us still bear . The reach and destructive nature of the Thalmor is known to many ( author ' s note - in my family firsthand ) . They are not fools . They knew early on that the Blades were an enemy . So they hunted them throughout the Great War . Some were killed defending their Temples , others as they slept in their hideaways , alone . Some fought , some ran , some hid . But the Thalmor found them all . There are those that say the Blades still exist around us , in hiding from the Thalmor . Waiting as they have done time and time again , for a Dragonborn to return . For one to protect , for one to guide them .