Paarthurnax
Quest Giver	Esbern or Delphine
Prerequisite	Season Unending
Next Quest	None
Reward	Allies with the Blades Ability to recruit followers for Blades
Faction	Blades
Type	Side Quest

Background

Delphine and Esbern have learned of Paarthurnax's position as leader of the Greybeards. They inform the Dragonborn of Paarthurnax's role as Alduin's second-in-command during the Dragon War, and his responsibility for the atrocities committed. Bound by their oaths as Blades, they cannot offer the Dragonborn further assistance until Paarthurnax is slain. This quest is optional; it does not need to be completed in order to finish the main quest.

Overview

This quest is purely optional. In order to continue Blades storyline, it must be completed before the conclusion of the Main Quest. However, doing so will prevent any further communication with the Greybeards, including the radiant quest to locate Words of Power. Players who decide not to kill Paarthurnax, however, receive a different conclusion to the main storyline.

Trivia

• Speaking to Arngeir regarding the Blades' request, he will tell the Dragonborn about Paarthurnax's reason for siding with Alduin and later, his rebellion which brought to Alduin's first demise. You are also given the option to tell Arngeir, Paarthurnax must die or that you are going to spare him. This will affect the conversation between Esbern and Arngeir if in Season Unending, you are forced to negotiate a treaty.
• Should the Civil War questline be complete (thus bypassing Season Unending) and the player proceed directly to the endgame, Delphine and Esbern will remain in Sky Haven Temple, however, they remain in disapproval and the quest disappears from your log.
• There is no actual way of denying the request of the Blades, other than console commands/mods on the PC.

How NOT to kill Paarthurnax (PC only)

It is possible to complete this quest without needing to slay Paarthurnax by using command:

setstage MQPaarthurnax 100

This way, Paarthurnax will remain alive, the Greybeards will still be hospitable and the Blades will talk to you once more.

There are also mods available to bypass this quest or the player could use the console command (setessential <baseID> 0) and kill the Blades instead.

Bugs

•  PC   360   PS3  Paarthurnax is invincible, immediately after receiving the quest because he is perched on the altar. However, this can be exploited to level up one's skills. Possible solutions are as follows:
  • Solution: Reload a previous save. Also, do not engage in conversation before killing him.
  •  PC   360   PS3  Solution: Get your follower to attack him. Paarthurnax will fly up and get into an attack position; from there you can kill him.
    •  360   Follower says that attacking Paarthurnax is "not possible" so the above option may not work.
  • Solution: Use Dragonrend and attack a few times.
  • Solution: Keep attacking Paarthurnax until his health runs out, even if he never leaves his perch. Once his health runs out, it will start regenerating. Fast travel somewhere, and, when it loads, it should say that you killed Paarthurnax.
  • Solution: Do not use Dragonrend on Paarthurnax; let him fly off. If he doesn't fly off, try using ranged attacks (magic may work more often).
  • Solution: Attack Paarthurnax with Mehrune's Razor (possibly due to the instant kill enchantment on the blade) which entices him to reciprocate combat and attack you.
  • Solution: Attack him with Paralyze while not sneaking. He will leave the altar and will then become killable.
  • Solution: Get Paarthurnax off of the altar.
  •  PC   360   PS3  Solution: Once you have returned to the Throat of The World after defeating Alduin, speak with Paarthurnax. After a brief dialogue, he will begin to fly away. Once he is hovering in the air saying his final farewells, attack him a couple times, and he will become a killable target and will try to fight you. This method allows you to complete the main quest line and also continue the Blades quest line at the same time.
•  360   The quest will disappear from the journal.
  • Solution: Attack and kill him. However, in some cases Paarthurnax will remain invincible even after the quest has disappeared, preventing further progress in the Blades storyline.
•  PC   360   PS3  After the first fight with Alduin, you must speak with Paarthurnax; after initiating dialogue with him, he may randomly fly into the air and spin in circles while dialogue remains active. He will get too high and you won't know what he is saying without subtitles.
  • Solution: Exit the dialogue and go back to Paarthurnax later.
  • After you have finished the main dragon questline, you will most likely still encounter this glitch although his dialogue will vanish.
• If you finish the civil war quests and skip Season Unending you must go to Sky Haven Temple and talk to Esbern or Delphine for this quest to trigger. (DO NOT think this is a way to be able to talk to both Blades and Greybeards forever; the second you walk into Sky Haven Temple after The Fallen you are not a member and taking items is theft.)