138 replies to this topic

[OozyGorilla]

My very first play though I killed him. It was part because I didn't trust him at all at that point and part because I didn't realize you didn't have to kill him.

Now, unless I play a really evil character, I let him live. He's crazy and shifty but he's loyal to the Dark Brotherhood and the old ways.

[sisterof]

I loved the dialogue when you enter the Dawnstar Sanctuary to kill him! His voice actor had a moment to shine there - when Cicero goes "This isn't what Mother would want. You kill the Keeper or I kill the Listener?! Now that's... madness!". He starts so angry and then his voice falls to this pathetic little whimper. Even if I didn't have Lucien Lachance telling me in plain certainty that killing the Jester was against the will of Sithis, that moment alone would have made me spare him. He is crazed as usual, plotting a treacherous last stand if it comes down to it, but he is entirely faithful to the Dark Brotherhood. He'll only kill someone he respects (and later comes to worship) as the Listener if the Listener really showed himself a traitor by serving Astrid instead of the Night Mother.

So I think his despair is quite honest in that moment - he is appealed that the DB fell so low that the Listener would kill someone who held a sacred position, the Keeper, and also agonizing over having to kill the Listener himself after so many years looking for him - and look at how fiercely he was worrying about finding the Listener, just read the journals. I think that no character that is loyal to the Night Mother would obey Astrid instead of her, when Astrid has made the DB her personal fiefdom. The DB without the absolute loyalty to Sithis is not the Dark Brotherhood, it's just a band of hired killers. Like him or hate him, Cicero is the only true member of the Black Hand other than your character, and he's just as "sacred".

Killing him out of sheer annoyance is strange, too. Astrid is clearly plotting against the PC and dying with jealousy from the beginning and the PC doesn't attack her. So why execute the only member of this mercenary group that is loyal to the Night Mother and who acknowledges you as the leader? Because he's suffering from some extreme hyperactivity? That sounds like bad management if the new leader of the faction starts off by eliminating his only subject.   Though I can see why so many people hate him, since he does plan to kill you if you don't stand back -  I certainly don't. He's BFF with my Khajiit Listener, who is such an abusive egocentric bastard that he does love having this entirely faithful puppy of a man jumping around him and obeying blindly.

Also, what annoyed my said Khajiit was the fact that you cannot denounce Babette for treason or at least punish her somehow. I mean.... she was around when the DB was still the DB, and she saw how Astrid did not represent the Family at all, and still laid aside her faith in Sithis and her devotion to the Night Mother (which she had at some point) and did nothing to stop it. Quite the contrary - when you meet her, she's more than glad to just tag along with Astrid like a happy little servant.

 

[mikeprok17]

Did you kill Cicero during the dark brotherhood quest or decide to let him live? And what was your reasoning behind the choice?

 

I need another option, because my character's tend not to join the Dark Brotherhood but usually destroy it.  I have played the DB quest line through and killed Cicero, but I usually never get past the initiation.  I hate being handed ultimatums and my character's are usually a Vampire Lord or a Werewolf.  When I am told that I cannot leave until someone dies, it seems natural to eat the Assassin that kidnapped me.  At least she tells me, "Well Done" as she croaks.  I then take out my petty vengence on rest of the DB.

 

Now that I think about it, I guess I let Cicero live most of the time because he is not in the DB HQ when I tear through it as Vampire Lord or werewolf.

[Amoryenar]

I let him live

 

I love his craziness and randomness.  Poor Astrid, died without knowing the truth.

[SpockST]

I killed him the first time but then saved the game to keep the quest point and then reloaded an earlier save. He is just too valuable as a follower. I almost never have to get my hands dirty anymore.

[DarkwingDirk]

Oh, I killed him without hesitation.

[Foulfrost]

I helped him transport his dead mother. Then slaughtered the Dark Brotherhood XD

 

I assume he's now living in a cave with some trolls or something.

[billyro]

From the start I wanted to kill Cicero, and when I was finally given the option... stabby stabby. 

 

I've come to appreciate his uniqueness though, so if I ever replay the DB I'll probably let him live. 

[StayFrosty05]

I helped him transport his dead mother. Then slaughtered the Dark Brotherhood XD

 

I assume he's now living in a cave with some trolls or something.

As do I.......Now if only someone made a Mod that gave our unwitting Dovahkins the heads up that Cicero is a DB member and carrying that most sacred to the DB....I know I would LOVE to kill Cicero and Incinerate the Nightmother in her Coffin on that road....alas, though I could remove Cicero's Essential Tag, that would just make my Dovah nothing more than another cold blooded Murderer himself, no different to the DB if he just killed some weird little man standing on the road without knowing who he really is....Would love to get my hands on Babette too and REALLY wipe the DB out, that would be awesome!.... :dance:

[TheObstinateNoviceSmith]

On the rare occasion(s) the character I make joins the Dark Brotherhood, I have let Cicero live every time.

 

1.) Astrid wasn't following the old ways and I didn't like how she ordered me around.

 

2.) I'm the Listener so whether Astrid likes that or not is not my problem, it means that I am the mortal in charge and I serve the Nightmother who serves Sithis and not the person who serves Astrid.

 

3.) Cicero only attacked her for disrespecting the Nightmother and if it weren't for the Nightmother, there would be no Dark Brotherhood.

 

4.) Cicero's death was not what the Nightmother wanted.

 

 

Keep in mind I hate the Dark Brotherhood typically, but when my character is with them, they are with them and so letting Cicero live was the only option from that perspective.