Where are the Elder Scrolls Protagonists? Fates Explained

After saving Tamriel, most Elder Scrolls protagonists just vanish from history—but not without leaving clues. The Nerevarine sailed to Akavir and never returned. The Hero of Kvatch became Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness. The Last Dragonborn is likely trapped serving Hermaeus Mora in Apocrypha. Bethesda is famously vague about these fates. But later games, DLCs, and hidden dialogue give us major clues about what happened to the heroes you played.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this article:

• What makes Elder Scrolls heroes special
• The Eternal Champion’s mysterious disappearance
• The Agent’s fate across multiple timelines
• The Nerevarine’s journey to Akavir
• How the Hero of Kvatch became a god
• What probably happened to the Dragonborn

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The Prisoner: What Makes an Elder Scrolls Hero Special

A Shared Origin of Captivity

Every main Elder Scrolls game starts the same way: you’re a prisoner. It’s not just a lazy way to start a game. Being a prisoner is a core part of the lore.

The “Prisoner” represents a special role in the Elder Scrolls universe. Most people in Tamriel have a set destiny. Prisoners don’t. Their choices can actually change history.

Emperor Uriel Septim VII understood this. He had prophetic dreams that showed him when these special people appeared. He used them as his agents to solve crises that normal heroes couldn’t touch.

Agents of Change Outside of Fate

The Prisoner role emerged during Nirn’s creation alongside three other roles: the King, the Rebel, and the Observer. The ancient Ehlnofey served as the original Prisoner, setting a template that repeats throughout history.

What makes Prisoners different? They’re undefined potential given form through consciousness and choice. The moment of imprisonment—whether literal or not—marks when they transform from empty vessel to active agent.

This explains why each hero can reshape reality. They aren’t bound by the same rules as everyone else. Their choices actually matter at a deep level, letting them defy prophecies, rewrite destinies, and alter Tamriel’s structure.

The Prisoner and the Towers of Nirn

Each hero’s adventure ends with interaction with one of Nirn’s Towers—mysterious structures that anchor reality itself. From the Staff of Chaos in Arena to the Throat of the World in Skyrim, these Towers get deactivated or destroyed.

This hints at the Prisoner’s true purpose: to shake up the foundations of reality. It seems to be part of a grand cycle that prepares the world for major change.

Their disappearances make sense in this context. Once a Prisoner completes their task, they transcend mortality. They don’t retire—they move to a higher plane of existence where they serve purposes beyond mortal understanding.

The Eternal Champion: The Hero of Arena

The Quest to Defeat Jagar Tharn

Arena’s hero spent ten years traveling across Tamriel to reassemble the Staff of Chaos. The Imperial Battlemage Jagar Tharn had trapped Emperor Uriel Septim VII in a pocket dimension of Oblivion, then used illusion magic to impersonate him.

To free the Emperor, the Champion had to recover eight staff fragments scattered from Red Mountain to the Crystal Tower. After gathering these pieces, they confronted Jagar Tharn at the Imperial Palace and killed him.

When Emperor Uriel Septim VII was freed, he named the hero “Eternal Champion” and promised they would serve at his side. This meant continued service in a formal role.

A Disappearance from History

But after saving the day, the Eternal Champion just… disappears from the history books. We never get clear references in later games, mostly because Arena‘s story was simpler.

Unlike later heroes whose disappearances are documented through in-game dialogue and books, the Champion vanishes into a narrative void. This silence is probably deliberate—maintaining the mythic quality of Tamriel’s first hero while avoiding continuity problems.

The most straightforward explanation? Natural death due to old age. If the Champion was a normal Imperial citizen, they would have died long before later games. But their potential elven heritage or magical preservation complicates this assumption.

The Ocato of Firsthold Theory

The strongest theory connects the Eternal Champion to Ocato of Firsthold, who served as High Chancellor of the Elder Council under Uriel Septim VII.

Look at the Daggerfall user guide. You’ll see Ocato standing at the Emperor’s right, the exact spot promised to the Champion. He was also promoted to Imperial Battlemage right after Jagar Tharn’s defeat—a perfect reward for the hero who saved the Empire.

The timelines match. Ocato held political office before his elevation, just like the Champion was a council member before Arena’s events. As a High Elf, he wouldn’t age out of the position.

Ocato played a major role during the Oblivion Crisis, leading the Empire after Uriel Septim VII’s assassination until his own death in 4E 15. While unconfirmed, this feels like the right fate for Arena’s hero—decades of faithful service to the Empire they saved.

The Agent: The Hero of Daggerfall

A Mission in the Iliac Bay

Emperor Uriel Septim VII sent the Agent—a Blade—to the Kingdom of Daggerfall with two tasks: put the ghost of King Lysandus to rest and retrieve a letter. Simple enough, except the Agent got pulled into a complex political struggle.

Multiple factions fought for control of the Totem of Tiber Septim, an artifact that would grant power over the Numidium—a giant mechanical golem the Dwemer built. The Empire, the kingdoms of Sentinel, Wayrest, Daggerfall, Orsinium, the King of Worms, and the Underking all wanted it.

The Agent could give the Numidium to any of these factions. Daggerfall had seven different endings, each representing a different choice.

The Warp in the West: Multiple Fates at Once

Bethesda’s solution? They made every ending canon. They used a “Dragon Break,” an event where time shatters and contradictory outcomes all happen at once.

When the Agent activated the Numidium by touching the Mantella, time fractured in the Iliac Bay region. This created a “crux” where parallel realities coexisted within the same timeline.

• The Dragon Break, known as the “Warp in the West,” meant that:
• The Agent gave the Numidium to the Empire
• The Agent gave it to the Orcs of Orsinium
• The Agent gave it to the King of Worms
• All kingdoms in the Iliac Bay were both conquered and empowered

Seven versions of the Agent existed across different timelines, each having made different choices. The Agent worked for the Empire, betrayed it, championed regional powers, and aided Daedric forces—depending on which timeline you consider.

The book The Warp in the West claims contact was lost with the Agent almost right after the Dragon Break. This suggests they either died or were erased from existence due to their central role in triggering the temporal collapse.

Possible Identities: Caius Cosades or Jauffre?

Two fan theories attempt to identify the Agent.

Caius Cosades served as Grandmaster of the Blades on Vvardenfell during Morrowind. This important post would fit someone whose actions consolidated Iliac Bay under Imperial rule. He’s middle-aged in Morrowind, meaning he’d have been in his prime during Daggerfall. The Emperor would only trust such a sensitive position to a proven agent.

Jauffre led the Blades in Cyrodiil during the Oblivion Crisis and knew the secret of Martin Septim’s birth. The timelines work—the Agent would have been in their 30s or 40s during Daggerfall, making them late 50s or 60s during Oblivion. Jauffre is also a Breton, matching the expected home race for Daggerfall’s hero.

Both theories remain unconfirmed. The Agent could just as easily have died in the Dragon Break’s chaos.

Heroes of the Interregnum: The Spinoff Protagonists

The Apprentice of Battlespire

Between Daggerfall and Morrowind, Bethesda released two spinoff games with narrower scope than the main series.

An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire (1997) took place in the War Academy of the Imperial Battle Mages—a void castle suspended in Oblivion called the Battlespire. Set during Arena’s events when Jagar Tharn ruled as a false emperor, the game followed a young mage sent to study at the academy.

The apprentice arrived to find the fortress overrun by Mehrunes Dagon’s Daedric legions. They had to fight through hordes of Dremora, banish Mehrunes Dagon, and find their way home to Tamriel.

Unlike previous games, Battlespire had canon identities for its heroes. Female players controlled Vatasha Trenelle. Male players controlled Josian Kaid. The other appeared in-game as your character’s friend and fellow candidate.

Despite banishing Dagon and escaping to Tamriel, we don’t know what happened to these characters afterward. They fade from history like their predecessors.

Cyrus the Redguard: The Eternal Adventurer

The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard (1998) was the first Elder Scrolls game with no character creation. You played as Cyrus the Redguard, a set character with extensive backstory.

After spending his early years as a pirate, Cyrus traveled to Stros M’Kai searching for his missing sister. He became a central figure in the rebellion against Tiber Septim’s Empire, helping negotiate more favorable terms for Hammerfell’s provincial status.

Legends tell many stories about Cyrus after Redguard’s events:

• He went to Black Marsh seeking the Eye of Argonia
• He sailed to the sunken continent of Yokuda
• He met Lord Vivec in Morrowind
• He traveled to Molag Bal’s realm of Coldharbor
• He even visited Masser, one of Nirn’s moons

Whatever actually happened, Cyrus probably kept adventuring until the end. He doesn’t seem like someone who’d settle for a quiet retirement.

The Nerevarine: The Hero of Morrowind

Fulfilling the Prophecy

You started Morrowind as a prisoner sent to Vvardenfell by Emperor Uriel Septim VII’s orders. You reported to Caius Cosades, Grandmaster of the Blades, and began carrying out missions for the spymaster.

Eventually, you learned you were a candidate for the Nerevarine—the reincarnation of Indoril Nerevar, the greatest Dunmer hero. You had to fulfill seven trials and defeat Dagoth Ur, the mad god who stole the power of the Heart of Lorkhan beneath Red Mountain.

After defeating Dagoth Ur and destroying the Heart of Lorkhan, you broke the power of Morrowind’s living gods forever. But your fate after this victory remained unclear.

The Immortal Wanderer’s Journey to Akavir

In Oblivion, you can overhear a rumor: the Nerevarine left Morrowind on an expedition to Akavir and hasn’t been heard from since.

Why Akavir? The mysterious continent represents the unknown in Elder Scrolls lore—home to dragons, serpent-men, and other entities at the margins of Tamrielic understanding. The Nerevarine’s journey positions them as an explorer of deep mysteries, continuing their role as a bridge between mortal and divine realms.

The continent of Akavir has a history of invading Tamriel. It’s possible the Nerevarine sensed a new threat from the east and traveled there to stop it.

There’s also a practical reason: it gets the Nerevarine out of the way for Oblivion’s story. If they could solo Dagoth Ur and the entire Sixth House, a few Oblivion gates wouldn’t give them much trouble.

A Never-Ending Journey

The Nerevarine’s immortality sets them apart from other heroes. They contracted Corprus disease, then were cured of its negative effects while retaining immunity to disease and aging. The second trial of the Nerevarine prophecy states “neither blight nor age can harm him.”

Thanks to that immunity, the Nerevarine isn’t just on a short trip. They could be on an endless journey, still alive and exploring Akavir thousands of years later.

Former Bethesda developer Michael Kirkbride’s unofficial writings (particularly C0DA) suggest the Nerevarine represents part of a cyclical pattern—Nerevar reborn in the Fifth Era following Nirn’s destruction. While not official canon, this implies the Nerevarine’s departure to Akavir is just one phase in a cycle of death and rebirth.

They appear whenever reality-threatening crises require intervention, then disappear until needed again.

The Hero of Kvatch: The Hero of Oblivion

From Champion of Cyrodiil to Prince of Madness

The Hero of Kvatch has the most thoroughly documented fate among Elder Scrolls heroes. They didn’t just disappear—they became a god.

You started as a prisoner in the Imperial City dungeons, released by Emperor Uriel Septim VII. After his assassination by the Mythic Dawn, you had to track down his secret heir, Martin Septim, and ensure his elevation to the throne.

You led the defense of Bruma, traveled to Paradise to kill Mankar Camoran, and witnessed Martin Septim sacrifice himself to banish Mehrunes Dagon. High Chancellor Ocato named you Champion of Cyrodiil.

But your story didn’t end there. That same year, a door opened in Niben Bay leading to the Shivering Isles—Sheogorath’s realm of madness.

The Story of the Shivering Isles

In the Shivering Isles, you worked to stop the Greymarch—the advance of order’s forces led by the Daedric Prince Jyggalag. You learned that Jyggalag was Sheogorath himself.

Long ago, the Prince of Order grew so powerful he threatened to dominate all of Oblivion. The other Daedric Princes cursed him with madness, transforming him into Sheogorath. Every era, Sheogorath reverted to Jyggalag during the Greymarch and leveled the Shivering Isles.

Sheogorath deliberately invited you into his realm to create a champion capable of breaking this cycle. Throughout the questline, you underwent trials designed to align your consciousness with madness itself, gradually adopting the mannerisms and responsibilities of the Daedric Prince.

Mantling a God: Becoming Sheogorath

When Sheogorath reverted to Jyggalag, you took up the mantle of the Mad God and defeated the Prince of Order in single combat, banishing him from the isles.

This triggered a process called “mantling”—when a mortal becomes so similar to a deity that the universe stops telling them apart. The phrase is “walk like them until they must walk like you.”

You didn’t just replace Sheogorath. You became Sheogorath through deep alignment of consciousness and behavior. The change created a hybrid entity combining aspects of both the original Mad God and the Hero of Kvatch.

This explains why the new Sheogorath demonstrates more heroic tendencies than his predecessor, as seen in Skyrim’s “The Mind of Madness” quest.

Proof in Skyrim

The Sheogorath you meet in Skyrim is the transformed Hero of Kvatch. He drops several hints that only your old character would know:

“I was there for that whole sordid affair.” He talks about witnessing the Oblivion Crisis and Martin Septim’s sacrifice—something only the Hero of Kvatch saw.

“Butterflies, blood, a Fox, a severed head…” This isn’t just random madness. Each one is a direct reference to Oblivion:

• Butterflies: The entrance to the Shivering Isles
• Blood: Collecting Daedra and Aedra blood for the main quest
• A Fox: The Gray Fox of the Thieves Guild
• A severed head: The head of Mathieu Bellamont’s mother from the Dark Brotherhood questline

This is the only hero whose fate is absolutely confirmed. Out of all the mainline games, we know exactly what happened: the Hero of Kvatch became a Daedric Prince.

The Last Dragonborn: The Hero of Skyrim

An Uncertain Destiny

Because Skyrim is the most recent game and we’re still waiting for The Elder Scrolls VI, no fate has been confirmed for the Last Dragonborn. Everything here is educated guesswork based on patterns and the Dragonborn DLC.

Bethesda has a problem: the Dragonborn is too powerful. To make room for a new hero in The Elder Scrolls VI, they need to write your old character out of the story, just like they always do.

First, it would interfere with player headcanon about their character’s fate. Second, the heroes become absurdly powerful by the end. The Last Dragonborn could probably take on the entire Aldmeri Dominion single-handedly. They need to disappear so the next hero can shine.

The question is: how will Bethesda write them out?

The Servant of Hermaeus Mora

The most likely fate? Trapped serving Hermaeus Mora in Apocrypha.

At the end of the Dragonborn DLC, Hermaeus Mora says: “I have found a new Dragonborn to serve me.” He warns you to “serve me faithfully and you will continue to be richly rewarded.”

Mora has a track record of breaking champions who defy him, as Miraak’s fate demonstrated. The Dragonborn’s future likely involves either willing service or forced compliance.

The Dragonborn is uniquely weak to Mora’s power. Since dragons are tied to time, Hermaeus Mora—the prince of fate and knowledge—has a special hook into the Dragonborn’s soul. Each absorbed dragon soul gives Mora more leverage.

The Dragonborn DLC heavily emphasizes gaining forbidden knowledge and power from Mora. Those deals came with strings attached. The Daedric Prince of Forbidden Knowledge doesn’t give gifts freely.

Other Paths and Why They’re Less Likely

Alternative theories exist. The Dragonborn could retire to a simple life among the Skaal, whose traditional wisdom resists dark influences. But this requires assuming the Dragonborn has enough willpower to resist Mora’s temptation forever—questionable given their pattern of seeking greater challenges.

Another option: following the Nerevarine to Akavir. That continent’s connection to dragons makes it a compelling destination. Or traveling to Atmora, the frozen northern continent and supposed homeland of the Nords.

But these feel less likely than Mora’s servitude. The Dragonborn DLC sets up that fate deliberately, and Bethesda rarely wastes major story threads.

The approaching Second Great War between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion creates narrative necessity for the Dragonborn’s absence. Someone powerful enough to defeat Alduin can’t be around for the next crisis. Some form of disappearance or change is inevitable.

We’ll find out in The Elder Scrolls VI.

How Heroes Disappear: The Lore Behind It

Mantling: Walking as a God

Mantling is one of the Walking Ways—different methods for mortals to achieve godhood in Elder Scrolls lore. Vivec described it as “the steps of the dead.”

The core principle: “Walk like them until they must walk like you.” You become so similar to another being that the universe can’t tell you apart anymore.

This isn’t simple replacement. It’s a genuine fusion incorporating elements from both beings while maintaining the essential nature of the mantled role.

The Hero of Kvatch’s change into Sheogorath is the clearest example. But others exist. Tiber Septim mantled Lorkhan to become Talos. The Tribunal may have mantled the Anticipations.

This flexibility raises questions about whether other heroes underwent similar changes that remain undocumented. Did the Eternal Champion mantle someone we don’t know about? Does the Last Dragonborn’s service to Mora lead to mantling the Prince of Knowledge himself?

Dragon Breaks: The Fracture of Time

Dragon Breaks represent a different form of ascension through literal shattering of time and causality. Multiple contradictory realities exist at the same time within the same timeline.

The Warp in the West demonstrates how this affects hero fates. The Agent became distributed across multiple realities, achieving immortality through temporal multiplication rather than singular change.

These temporal disruptions create “cruxes” where different versions of the same person make different choices, and all versions are equally real. The Agent delivered the Numidium to different factions across parallel timelines that somehow coexist.

This could explain some hero disappearances. They didn’t die or transform—they fragmented across multiple realities, making them impossible to track in any single timeline.

The Walking Ways: Paths to Godhood

The broader framework of the Walking Ways includes six different methods for achieving divinity. Mantling is just one path.

CHIM is another—achieving conscious awareness that goes beyond the influence of Anu and Padomay, the core forces of stasis and change governing reality. No hero has been confirmed to achieve CHIM, but the theoretical possibility exists.

The pattern suggests hero changes aren’t random. They’re orderly applications of supernatural principles. Each disappearance follows established rules.

This means future heroes will likely undergo similar changes. The Walking Ways provide a framework for understanding how mortal champions ascend beyond normal death and historical continuity.

The Pattern: Each Hero’s Fate Gets Weirder

A Cycle of Crisis and Intervention

Each hero appears during a reality-threatening crisis and disappears once their job is complete. This isn’t coincidence—it’s the Prisoner role functioning as reality’s immune system.

The Eternal Champion appeared when Jagar Tharn’s dimensional imprisonment of the Emperor threatened imperial stability. The Agent emerged during political fragmentation in the Iliac Bay. The Nerevarine showed up when Dagoth Ur threatened to spread the Blight across Morrowind.

The pattern continues through each game. The Hero of Kvatch stopped the Oblivion Crisis. The Last Dragonborn defeated Alduin the World-Eater.

These crises escalate in intensity. Jagar Tharn’s threat was relatively localized. Alduin literally threatened to eat the world. This pattern suggests reality is becoming less stable, requiring more powerful interventions each time.

The Prisoner emerges, resolves the crisis through Tower interaction, then disappears. Reality stabilizes. The cycle repeats when the next crisis arrives.

Escalating Fates

Think about how each hero disappears. The pattern gets more intense with every game.

• The Eternal Champion: Simply vanishes from the history books
• The Agent: Is shattered across multiple timelines during the Warp in the West
• The Nerevarine: Becomes immortal and sails to a mysterious continent
• The Hero of Kvatch: Literally becomes a god
• The Last Dragonborn: Is likely now the eternal servant of a Lovecraftian horror

The stakes of what happens after the game keep getting higher. It shows how the series lore has gotten deeper and more bizarre over time. And it raises the question: what kind of crazy fate awaits the hero of The Elder Scrolls VI?

What Comes Next?

The established patterns create expectations for future games. Each new Prisoner must operate at higher levels of power and strangeness than their predecessors.

The increasing complexity suggests The Elder Scrolls VI may explore ideas beyond traditional fantasy frameworks. Direct manipulation of reality’s core principles. Interaction with forces that go beyond conventional divine and Daedric power.

The unresolved fate of the Last Dragonborn represents a narrative challenge. Their immense power makes continued existence incompatible with future scenarios requiring new heroes. How Bethesda resolves this will establish precedents for future hero changes.

One intriguing option: hero encounters. The meeting between the Last Dragonborn and the transformed Sheogorath demonstrates this can work. Could other heroes appear in altered forms to guide or challenge future champions?

The heroes may disappear from normal history, but their changes ensure continued presence as forces shaping Tamriel’s evolution. They don’t retire. They ascend, serving purposes beyond mortal comprehension in an ever-expanding supernatural framework.

The question isn’t “where did they go?” It’s “what did they become?”