What was the role of Mehrunes Dagon and Martin Septim

[rEDNESS]

If I have understood this correctly, Dagon had an Oblivion gate open in Kvatch to kill Martin . But there were a few survivors, and Martin was one of them. Having an Oblivion gate open is not a guarantee that the one person you want to kill actually gets killed. In addition, this has drawn a lot of attention towards the gate, and made guards willing to fight the Daedra and protect the survivors, making it even more difficult to finish off those who are left. What I don't understand, is why Dagon didn't tell his Mythic Dawn agents to quietly assassin Martin before opening any Oblivion gate. Thus no one would be alarmed and on guard, no one woul suspect that anyone was after Maritn as no one yet knew who he really was. Only then, after Martin was killed, could Dagon have opened gates and be sure that there were no way to stop him.

[Patrician]

Wasn't it the whole point that Martin's true lineage was a secret? Jauffre comments that Dagon may be aware of his existence, but I doubt he knows exactly who he is. Perhaps Dagon had some information where to look first Kvatch having been attacked before by him), but I find it unlikely that he knew that Martin was the Priest of Akatosh there. That would imho make an(other) assault the better option than sending in assassins with an unknown target.

[Federer]

I don't think Dagon would have changed his plans, if he would know where Martin is. He is a Daedra Lord, they think in other spheres as mortals like us. He assumed that the heir is in Kvatch. So the first target will be Kvatch. What will the citizen and soldiers of Kvatch will do against an daedric invasion. Assassination is not Dagon's style it's not a part of his sphere - that's more Boethiah or Mephala's shtick. I'm not sure it would even occur to him, or if it did, he would even choose it. He can't act contrary to his nature. That's why I think he went with the big, showy, destructive gates rather than the subtle but possibly more effective assassination.

[Logistical]

I think that Mankar is the commander-in-the-field of Dagon's forces, anyway. As Jearl's orders suggest, Dagon seems only to allocate resources and perhaps have the final say. Although I agree with the above poster when he said that Dagon and Mankar aren't that close as far as associates go. Mankar may well have his own motives. Dagon's motives of 'reclaiming' Nirn may be Dagon's motives, as described by Mankar, but if Mankar is the man who ordered the attack at Kvatch then it is less likely that he knew of Martin's existence and was just sacking the city as his father had done.

[Jacinte]

According to the lore, there were Mythic Dawn soldiers at Kvatch, as well, possibly making up most of the forces as they needed their own commander who may well have had authority over the Daedra as well. We can only assume that these soldiers fled the field, whereas if they were under the command of Dagon they would have stayed to thoroughly destroy everything, especially as they, unlike the Daedra, could probably go on holy ground and overrun the chapel. Mankar wants the return of the Mythic Era, or perhaps the First Era, and Dagon wants to reclaim Nirn for whatever reason. Both of them need each other, but it doesn't mean they trust or are close associates of each other.

[Gajendra1]

I would imagine that Talos or Akatosh would've moved to have kept Martin secret. Either Talos in order to ensure that the Empire dies but Mundus does not or Akatosh in just a 'keeping all of my direct followers protected somewhat from the nefarious Daedra. In this way, my namesake would've probably known he existed and been working to ascertain where he was, but didn't and so until he could find and kill him, he would move to spread fear and discontent among the general populace to try to shatter as much support as Martin's allies could get. Never discount the resistance the Daedra have to come up against with the Aedra whenever they're dealing with the Mundus. Normally I can cite the barriers between Mundus and Oblivion but in this case I can't.

[Cajetan]

From what I have read about Mehrunes Dagon, I don't think he would be able to do anything but what he did in Kvatch. Namely complete and utter destruction. I don't think the Daedric Prince of Destruction would be capable of even trying to use an assassin. The very nature of the realm he has been given control of would force Mehrunes to do what he did. He probably knew who Martin was and where he was at, but he took the only action that would make sense to him. He saw a target, and sent an army to destroy it.That would explain it, if you don't actually know who your target is but know where to find him, a full assault might be more effective than a lone assassin. Also, I don't think Meruhns Dagon is really the subtle type, to us, assassinating Martin might seem like the best idea, but we have to consider Dagon's personality here, I'm sure that to the Prince of Destruction, destroying the city must have seemed like a very good idea, just as Sheogorath takes great pleasure in messing with people's heads and so on.