Turn Delphine and Esbern over to the Thalmor

[kimota720]

I know that many people share my disdain of Delphine for good reason but I wanted to suggest something new. I've already ran the Paarthurnax Dilemma mod which puts Delphine in her place many times in past playthroughs but I found it more satisfying to simply remove her and Esbern's essential tags with console commands and kill them after the main quest is over.

I thought it was time to change things up a bit. While I'm not a fan of the Thalmor I'm even less of a Delphine fan and the only reason I'm targeted by the Thalmor is my association with the Blades. It was high time that the Blades were finally put to rest and the organisation is nothing more than a failure especially after they failed to keep the last Septim emperor and his family safe in Oblivion.

This can be done in a number of ways, the player can give their location to the Thalmor for a small reward or kill them personally and collect their heads to give to the Thalmor, receive a higher reward and an end to the Thalmor hit squads (at least until the player starts killing Thalmor patrols escorting Talos worshippers).

When I last killed Delphine, the barkeeper at the Sleeping Giant Inn Orgnar would refuse to serve me and tell me to get out. It would be interesting to throw him into the mix as a Blades conspirator and put in a replacement barkeeper.

[BlazeStryker]

Hell, how about the Penitus Oculatus? The Mede line's successors to the Blades would be quite pleased to absorb/arrest the remaining Blades now that they've served their purpose. It's important to remember that the Blades were taken in by the Septims because they were useful tools, leftovers of the Akaviri conquest.

[kimota720]

To be honest I don't think I would trust the Penitus Oculatus not a put the key to their cell in their food then later say "Oh no. The prisoners escaped. How did this happen?". Absorbing them into the Penitus Oculatus wouldn't work either because the Empire has to deal with representatives of the Thalmor. Imagine a Thalmor agent seeing Delphine in her new armor. It would be a repeat of a city guard's lines when they come to arrest the player. "Wait a minute. I know you." "There's no mistake, you're a wanted woman." "You've committed crimes against the Aldermeri Dominion. What say you in your defense?"

We have to remember that when the Empire signed the treaty to end the Great War and ban Talos worship, the Empire would officially ban Talos worship and close down churches dedicated to Talos but unofficially they didn't care if people chose to worship Talos at a small shrine in their basement. We see the Thalmor in Skyrim because they knew the Empire was turning a blind eye to some Talos worshipping in their backyard.

I only suggested handing over the remaining Blades to the Thalmor because it was a more evil option. Handing them to the Penitus Oculatus wouldn't have the same kind of impact.