Skyrim talk:Paarthurnax (quest)

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Archive 1: Nov 2011 - Sep 2012

no audio

I have a bug that causes his dialogue to be inaudible? Tried extracting his audio files to no avail. I also had the Esbern bug but with Paarthurnax the quests are still completable as he is simply inaudible, mouth moves, subtitles change at normal pace. Also tried removing the .ini files as with Esbern, didn't help. Any help would be greatly appreciated. — Unsigned comment by 88.114.220.189 (talk) at 10:21 on 22 February 2012

Dragons attack script.

This has been marked as a question that needs to be answered.

I'm just asking around if there is some script changing the probability of a dragon spawning after Paarthurnax. I finished the main quest, and dragons kept spawning a lot, each time I fast traveled. I killed Paarthurnax, and suddenly the dragons decreased in number. It might be only a coincidence, or maybe leveling up has something to do with it, but does someone know more? I am on PS3 so I can't acces the CS or console to check myself. — Unsigned comment by Yunvich (talk • contribs) on 7 May 2012

I'm on XBox, so I'm in the same boat as you with regards to CK, but I don't think there is a link. Dragons for me seem to come in waves, and although I've never killed Paarthurnax after completing Dragonslayer, all of my saves where I did side with the Blades seem to have about the same number of dragons overall. I'm guessing this is a coincidence. --Morrolan (talk) 20:44, 12 April 2013 (GMT)

Cant get a new follower because of Esbern

Esbern wont stop following me, even after he said "you wont receive help from me until paarthurnax is dead" or something to that nature, Now I cant get a follower because "it appears i have someone following me already". If i fast travel he appears with me then walks away. How can i get a new follower with this pest following me everywhere. I don't want to kill paarthurnax. I did the peace counsel too, it didn't help. Somebody help me please. PS3 — Unsigned comment by 173.175.80.63 (talk) at 21:28 on 12 June 2012

Starting this quest

You also get this quest after completing the entire storyline (after Dragonslayer), if you go back and talk to the Blades. In this case it just stays in your quest log if you don't do it. Of course this is only if you haven't talked to them earlier. I did the Civil War questline before finishing the The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller quest, so I never did Season Unending and I didn't go back and talk to them when I had the option after Alduin's Wall, so I never got any of the Blades recruitment quests either. I doubt many people will play this way, but if you go back and talk to the Blades after getting back from Sovngarde and the last time you talked to them was Alduin's Wall, you'll get the Paarthurnax quest. — 24.120.185.25 17:14, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

Paarthunax/Blades Quests

hey so i found this on the skyrim wiki. hope it helps!

"It is possible for the Dragonborn to complete the Blades quests without having to kill Paarthurnax. Once you have completed the main storyline quest: Alduin's Wall , immediately ask Delphine about the poor condition of the Blades. This will open the options necessary to continue the Blades storyline. from this point do not continue the Main quest-line until you have completed the Blades. ( But Delphine still will ban you when you have reached the point when you are requested to kill Paarthurnax and you still refuse.)

Alternately, completing the Civil War Questline before Alduin's Bane is completed will skip the Season Unending peace treaty. The Blades, not ever being to High Hrothgar, will not learn of Paarthurnax's existence. Thus they will never tell you to kill him, and you can maintain a good standing with both the Greybeards and the Blades."

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Blades_(Skyrim) — Unsigned comment by 68.184.251.226 (talk) at 03:44 on 18 October 2012‎

Those are both 100% false. Directly after completing Alduin's Wall, I tried to help the Blades, but they tasked me with killing Paarthurnax. Since I hadn't reached Season Unending, this disproves both.

Also, considering that article has a clean up tag mentioning that it is very poorly written in some spots, I wouldn't rely on it being accurate (until it's cleaned up, which may take a while) • JA^T 05:41, 18 October 2012 (GMT)

maybe it is a hit & miss sort of thing, because my first round on skyrim i completely finished the civil war questline & obviously skipped season unending. i went back to the blades hideout and talked to both delphine & esbern. delphine told me to start recruiting new members, which i never actually did (game glitched from another quest) & esbern offered to let me have to dragon potion and i was also able to sell dragon bones & scales to him. i did this on xbox 360 if that makes any kind of difference. — Unsigned comment by 68.184.251.226 (talk) at 23:12 on 18 October 2012‎

Considering you mentioned that your game glitched when you were able to do that, I'd guess that it's not something that normally happens. — ABCface^◥ 08:49, 19 October 2012 (GMT)

if you would have read my last post correctly it was due to a glitch from another quest, one of the dark brotherhood quests. — Unsigned comment by 68.184.251.226 (talk) at 18:56 on 19 October 2012‎

I didn't just skip over the whole part in parentheses, I read that part and regardless, I still don't think it's something that normally happens. If your game glitched so that you never recruited members (because of a DB glitch or otherwise) but you still did the next part, then it's not the way the game normally functions. — ABCface^◥ 19:04, 19 October 2012 (GMT)

i hear ya. im going to try doing it this way again & if it works with no glitches or does not work at all, either way ill repost for everyone. :) — Unsigned comment by 68.184.251.226 (talk) at 22:02 on 19 October 2012‎

that's right. it is possible to solve the 3 blade-quests before the paarthurnax-quest starts - at least if you didn't start the fallen before (not sure if this makes any difference).

some bonus informations (which i'm not sure of, if they make any difference at all): my civil war still was not over. i won at greenwall, but did not ask tullius for my next orders. i play on PC. 92.201.75.171 17:49, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Automatic start

I noticed someone removed the bit about how this quest starts automatically at the end of Season Unending if you avoided talking to the Blades up until then; I re-inserted it, since it definitely does (Delphine approaches you at the end of the cutscene to give you the ultimatum.) I went back into the game and tested it, since I was specifically trying to avoid the quest and had a save just before then from trying the conference several times in an attempt to avoid getting it auto-started. My guess is that since Season Unending is skippable (if you already resolved the civil war, you don't have to do Season Unending and therefore avoid the scene that would have auto-started the quest) someone who didn't do that quest didn't understand what that sentence was talking about and removed it. But just to be sure, can someone else confirm that:

• The quest starts automatically if you do Season Unending and haven't already started it, with Delphine approaching you as part of a cutscene, and,
• The quest doesn't start automatically if you already resolved the civil war (and therefore don't have the peace conference.)

It's possible that there is also a bug or some other odd situation that makes it sometimes fail to start automatically the way it should. --Aquillion (talk) 04:52, 12 March 2013 (GMT)

Delphine is scripted to approach you, but you can run away, so the quest can be avoided during Season Unending. Silence is Golden^{Break the Silence} 14:03, 12 March 2013 (GMT)

Avoiding this quest altogether

Is it possible to keep everyone talking to you by getting this quest, then finishing the main quest to get this to disappear? I didn't realize until now that finishing the main quest doesn't keep Delphine and Esbern from giving it to you. It's a testament to their lack of importance for me that once they were in their new life of utter isolation with three recruits that I basically forgot that they existed, but I would still like to avoid this thorn if possible with my second character. I'm on 360, so console magic isn't available to solve this problem by basically doing the same thing that I think a lie should be able to do in dialogue with them. You can save a psychotic jester with no consequence, but not a single dragon that never even makes it tempting to kill him. They don't make you kill or disown your other two dragon friends (the two you can summon with shouts), and they aren't bothered by you using generic dragons for transport and sometimes combat buddies. I just feel like there are some holes here.--Playerseekingbugs (talk) 19:07, 12 March 2013 (GMT)

There is no way to avoid this quest if you want to keep talking to the Blades, do quests for them, etc... As Delphine and Esbern will automatically start conversation on the subject after you defeated Alduin at the Throat of the World. Either you slay Paarthurnax and get the benefits from the Blades (including sure locations for Dragons and therefore souls, scales and bones), or you keep him alive and your only benefit is the possibility to change the word of power on which you want to meditate. While I personally don't appreciate Esbern and Delphine (especially because of this quest) I can't deny that rooting for them brings much better bonuses. 92.134.123.139 08:30, 13 March 2013 (GMT)

I would argue to the contrary. Once they have their recruits and you have your special potion there's is no use for them beyond locating dragon lairs versus locating word walls. If you don't care to wander every bit of the map locating places, dragons come to you fairly frequently anyways. The Greybeards further break this tie with those somewhat interesting meditation bonuses. Even if you ignore the quest, you can still use any of the recruits as followers. I also just went to try to answer my own question by going to the temple after getting the objective to go see the Jarl of Whiterun. All the conversation that they want to give at this point is an option to tell them that Alduin escaped. Maybe this is just temporary, but I wasn't expecting some friendly (though ambiguous) advice in place of a sudden bipolar shift in feelings.--Playerseekingbugs (talk) 09:11, 13 March 2013 (GMT)

The locations of the Word Walls are found everywhere on the web, and even without the Greybeards there are those mysterious letters "from a friend". Dragons are not uncommon, but it's still nice to have a sure way to find one if you don't know where to look, and the meditation bonuses are permanent so you can just chose one. Anyway, the defeat of Alduin is the only moment Esbern and Delphine will start talking about something else but be wary that they will bring back the subject of Paarthurnax once this dialogue option is over. Elakyn (talk) 13:08, 13 March 2013 (GMT)

Error in the article text

"After you complete the main questline and defeat the World-Eater in combat, you may return to Sky Haven Temple and find Delphine and Esbern outside the temple. Esbern will tell her about his nightmare." This is not completely true, as I have found Esbern telling his story before completing the main quest (just after bringing the second follower with me). Not sure what triggers Esbern to tell his tale to Delphine, but this text should either be rewritten or completely removed. --Witchunter (talk) 19:02, 21 April 2013 (GMT)

My mistake, I added this section into the page. This is my own game experience. Obviously, we need to know the right time to trigger this scene now. Unfortunately, I have deleted many previous saves. Could anyone give me a hand? Please check it as soon as possible. Dreamshadow (talk) 23:24, 21 April 2013 (GMT)

Sentimental Issues

This isn't a real game problem, but I can't decide what to do. I personally don't want to kill Paarthurnax. I am getting attached. I still want to be able to meditate. Can I just keep asking the Greybeards about word walls before I kill him? The only value of the Greybeards to me is word walls.

I never got Delphine's recruitment quest, so that doesn't affect me. I can do almost everything before I kill him, if I do.

If I do those before all that benefits me from killing Paarthurnax is

 1.taking from Sky Haven Temple
 2.help on dragon hunts.

The benefits of keeping him alive are

 1.meditation bonuses
 2.the cutscene. 

The consequences of life are:

 1.not having contact with the Blades 
 2.taking from Sky Haven Temple being counted as stealing,

Of Death:

 1.Retraction of Greybeard hospitality
 2.no meditation bonuses
 3.no ceasefire meeting.

I apologize. But this really did help me to write it all out, so I hope it can help someone else?

I have come to the decision of completing everything with both, then killing Paarthurnax. Thanks for reading if you did. Hope I helped someone. --anastasia0812 (talk) 03:18, 14 July 2013 (GMT)

May be imprecise

The article clearly says: "It is possible to still have the Greybeards remain friendly to the player by finding every Word of Power within Skyrim before killing Paarthurnax". Well, I did find every Word of Power, then walked into High Hrotgar just to be scolded and sent away by an irate Arngeir. So, uhm... It really isn't the case, eh? OR, perhaps, words from DLC shouts have to be considered as well? I am missing only the three ones of Battle Fury, acquired all together on Solstheim (Dragonborn). I will now discover those as well, then verifying once again. If the Greybeards won't be friendly, the information has to be cropped from the article as imprecise. --87.19.175.134 16:45, 9 August 2013 (GMT)

"**It is possible to still have the Greybeards remain friendly to the player by finding every Word of Power within Skyrim before killing Paarthurnax."

I'm moving this here. If it requires the other shouts then that means the ability to do so comes from an expansion or patch and thus should be mentioned. Also I bet the person just did that and there are fewer ways to tell that they won't help you if the only thing they do for you is no longer needed.--69.136.59.17 16:56, 9 August 2013 (GMT)

Nothing to do. Completed "Lost Legacy", retrieved the three words of the last Dragon Shout in all of Skyrim, killed Paarthunax (again), and got the very same result. The information is imprecise, and your observation, 69.136.59.17, is most probably the right one. Now I will simply have to deal with my morals and decide whether to kill a honorable and old Dovah who managed to overcome his evil nature through great effort, lose the allegiance of the revered men who have revealed me as the Dragonborn, and finally rebuild the Blades; or to remain in this sort of limbo, with Paarthunax alive, friendly Greybeards, but with my compatriots Delphine and Esbern who refuse to talk with me! Not to mention the inability to rebuild the order... Dammit! :\ --87.19.175.134 17:31, 9 August 2013 (GMT)

My Paarthurnax bug experience and how I overcame it

This particular quest has been giving me serious trouble for around an hour now, as I was simply unable to completely kill Paarthurnax (as if he were essential). I've finally managed to get past the bug that I thought would render this quest broken for my game. I will describe exactly what happened and what I did so that if any other users out there have the same problem, he or she will find my documenting helpful.

When I arrived at Sky Haven Temple and went outside to talk to Delphine, a legendary dragon appeared out of nowhere while I was in mid-conversation with her. She became hostile towards the dragon and disrupted our dialogue. Once the dragon was dead, I proceeded to finish my conversation with Delphine so that I may continue the quest. For some reason, I learned the shout to call Odahviing from Delphine this time around -- this should not have happened. Only minutes before beginning this quest, I finished the civil war (sided with the Empire {ran into many bugs there, too}). From what I've read, you should only learn the shout from the Blades if the "Season Unending" quest is triggered. This quest will not be touched by me, as I have already completed the civil war quest line. I then headed up to the Throat of the World to rid Skyrim of the once-trecherous Paarthurnax, and was unable to do so. I reloaded and tried again.

I loaded the autosave that was created when I went outside Sky Haven Temple to receive the orders to kill Paarthurnax. This time, I anticipated the legendary dragon's appearance and disposed of him before beginning dialogue. I did not learn the shout, and thought that I had already gotten past the bug. At the Throat of the World and after all the dialogue with Paarthurnax, I learned the necessary shout and attempted to kill him. Again, same thing. His health just would not completely deplete, and in fact, it regenerated at almost the same rate as Shadowmere's. In an vicious fury, I sliced away at him until his health bar had absolutely no red in it, but still did not maim him.

I then fast traveled to Solitude and back to the Throat of the World to see if that could clear anything up. Sure enough, there was Paarthurnax dead as a doornail. At no point did I ever receive a quest update, so I checked my log. It showed "Kill Paarthurnax" completed and "Talk to Delphine" as my current objective.

I hope this helps anyone who has the same problem I had. 72.177.49.25 11:39, 22 November 2013 (GMT)

EDIT -- After typing that last bit out, I fast traveled to Sky Haven Temple to finish up the quest by talking to Delphine. As I exit my loading screen, I notice that I'm surrounded by an orange-purple aura. Then BAM! Dragon Soul Absorbed. I felt that was an entertaining tidbit to share with you folks. :-)

72.177.49.25 11:44, 22 November 2013 (GMT)

Creation Club Survival (No Fast Travel)

The usual solution to the "Paarthurnax won't die" issue is depleting his health and fast travelling away. With Survival mode (which AFAIK is considered "official" content) this isn't an option.

Finishing off Paarthurnax with the Storm Call shout gives you enough time to (carefully) hop down to the Greybeards' courtyard and enter High Hrothgar when his health is at zero, which serves the same purpose as fast travel would, causing the quest to update and allowing you to progress.

I don't know where UESP draws the line for official/unofficial when it comes to CC content or whether this particular problem/workaround merits a note on the quest page, so I figure a note on the talk page will do. 86.155.163.169 01:57, 19 March 2018 (UTC)