Quest: Light the Dragonfires!

As per usual, you'll have a phalanx of guardsmen to help you out, so take advantage of their willingness to go into battle.

In order to prevent a wholesale invasion of Tamriel, you have to get Martin to relight the Dragonfires in the Imperial City. Doing so will prevent the opening of further Oblivion Gates, shut down any that have already been opened, and prevent Mehunes Dagon from retaking Tamriel. Note that you're going to have some very tough encounters coming up here. It'll be worth your time to buy (or make) some healing or magicka potions, as well as stock up on repair hammers if you happen to need them.

When you think you're ready for a fight, warp with Martin to the Green Emperor Way and speak with Captain Steffan outside the Palace. Head inside after Martin and speak to Ocato. Before anything can actually take place, though, Ocato will be interrupted by a soldier bearing grim news: the final Daedric assault has begun, and Oblivion Gates have been opened directly inside the Imperial City. With an Emperor and the Amulet of Kings, though, you can still light the Dragonfire again; you just have to get Martin to the Temple of the One!

Through The Streets

As you and the Imperial Guard escort Martin through the streets, you're going to be besieged by Dremora and other daedra desperate to halt your progress. There isn't much you can do here; there are going to be far too many enemies for you to really handle yourself, but luckily there'll be plenty of other soldiers around to do you bidding. While the game presumably ends if Martin takes lethal damage, he'll be capable of healing himself, like most critical characters, so this probably won't occur. As in the fight outside of Bruma, try to stay back and keep your shield up while the other soldiers deal with the Daedra. In Green Emperor Way, at least, their numbers are not infinite, so stay back and let your allies deal with the Dremora that are attacking. When everything is dead, the men will confer with the Emperor and agree to help escort him to the Temple of the One.

After you into the Temple District, immediately save your game: things are going to get somewhat tricky here. Two Oblivion Gates are open in this area, and both will be issuing forth daedra as you attempt to maneuver through the area. The key here is speed: don't bother fighting the enemies or worrying about Martin. Just sheathe your weapon and head around the circular path to the right, where you encounter...Mehunes Dagon!

'No! Those guards were three days from retirement!'

That's right, the dark Daedric prince of destruction and the bloody scourge has finally come home to roost. As soon as you notice him and get the journal entry regarding his presence, Martin will make a beeline towards you and attempt to speak to you. His plan? Well, the Dragonfires won't help now that Mehunes has entered Tamriel, but Martin has an idea. It still involves getting into the Palace of the One, however.

Unfortunately, that involves getting past Dagon himself, and the guy isn't exactly easy to maneuver past, since he's around 50 feet tall and can deal an exceedingly large amount of damage with his axe or by stomping on you with his feet. Before you attempt to run past him (on the left), be sure you're at full health. If you've got a good amount of Endurance to begin with, then you might not need to do anything other than just run past him. It's unlikely that he'll be able to kill you in one hit, so just unequip your weapon and blast past him, using a potion of speed if you happen to have one.

'Dammit! What'd I say about hickies?'

Dagon will attempt to stomp on Martin, too, as he runs past, but with his auto-healing mechanism in place, he should survive the blow. With that done, go into the Temple and let Martin do his thing. From this point on, the game is on auto-play, so enjoy the "ending"!

Obviously enough, the final cinematic doesn't mean that you have to stop playing; there are probably still plenty of quests to undertake out in the world. What it does mean is that the game's main storyline has been completed, and that all of the Oblivion Gates in the world will have shut permanently; no more Sigil Stones or Daedra Hearts for you!

If you're looking for more information on the various side-quests in Oblivion, then stay tuned to GameSpot; we'll have details on many more aspects of the game in the coming weeks.