About Paarthurnax, the Blades and the Dragonborn

[gsmanners]

Let's be completely honest, here. The ONLY reason people kill Paarthurnax in this game is because they suck up to Delphine and the Blades, and they've figured out some lame way to rationalize it (with off-point analogies or whatever eases their conscience).

 

The truth is something the Elder Scroll shows you: that Paarthurnax betrayed Alduin. Any "lore" or whatever people say is nothing compared to what you see with your own eyes. If you can turn around and betray Paarthurnax after that, well that just proves what kind of person you are. If you're role-playing a vindictive, despicable villain, then go ahead and kill him. Otherwise, you're betraying your own character.

[DarkwingDirk]

I can't kill Paarthurnax... apparently he's voiced by Mario...

 

Seriously though... Screw the Blades. I think Bethesda could have done a much better job fleshing out Delphine and Esbern's character but I think I only spent a whole 2 minutes talking with them and most of it was them falsely accusing the Thalmor and ordering me around... and then when I finally get to saving the world?

 

Delphine: "That's great but if you don't kill Paarthunax we never want to see you again."

 

Besides, what's not to like about a sagely old dragon that has (seemingly) overcome his destructive nature and actually provides help that's... well, helpful. Kinda bummed that's I'm missing out on some extra content but it doesn't feel right to beat on the old dragon.

 

 

^^^This. I was shocked when they cut ties with me for not killing Paarthunax, it felt like a slap in the face. They pretty much took advantage of you to 'restore' their order (if you can call 2 old farts and 3 sellswords an order), then demand that you kill the only one that has actually given you practical help in defeating Alduin? Brolnir is a Nord, and Nords do not betray their friends so easily. I just wanted to yell at them, "*censored*, I OWN you!" My character has done some unconscionable things, but he is no traitor.

[StealthCookie]

Uhhh... Didn't the Delphine say that the Blades SERVE the Dragonborn?

So why is it that they blow you off when you refuse to kill the creature that basically taught you how to SAVE THE WORLD?

 

Yes they found the info on Aludin's Wall, but aside from that, they helped out very little.

And besides, Paath probably could've told you that stuff anyway.

 

After actually meeting him and talking, I actually felt like I had more in common with dragonkind then I did with some crumbling, old, wannabe samurai duo.

I left them to rot in Sky Haven. Not even worth killing them with the console.

 

Oh, and some may say that his crimes require him to die, so as a counter-argument I give you my favorite quote from Skyrim:

"What is better - to be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?" - Paathurnax

[BrettM]

I don't know about serving Dragonborn in general, but the Blades certainly had an oath to serve the Dragonborn Emperors, along with their oath to exterminate dragonkind. When Delphine and Esbern learned about Paarth, the two oaths were in conflict, since the Graybeards -- including their mysterious leader -- were under the explicit protection of those emperors. (I get the feeling that the Dragonborn Emperors, if not the later ones, knew about Paarth but didn't bother telling the Blades. In fact, Paarth may be the unstated reason why the order of protection was given in the first place.)

 

Delphine and Esbern chose to honor their oath against dragons over their oath to serve the emperor. They couldn't be bothered to do their own moral reasoning, but stuck with the simple logic of "Blades kill dragons, Paarth is a dragon, thus Paarth must be killed." Delphine is a simple warrior, so perhaps we shouldn't expect better of her. But, what about Esbern, who is a man of learning and lore? I am certainly surprised that it is impossible to reason with him on the issue.

[Zinnorokkrah]

Esbern is, above all, loyal to his commander. Unfortunately, Delphine is his friend as well as his direct superior. If you had the option to reason with him, he'd likely come over to your side- well, I hope. Long live Paarthurnax and long live the dov!

[AurianaValoria1]

What the Blades don't seem to realize is that without Paarthurnax and Odahviing both, you wouldn't have been able to defeat Alduin. Paarth tells you about the Elder Scroll, which ultimately allows you to learn the only way to make Alduin vulnerable (Dragonrend), and Odi is the only one who can take you to Skuldafn. If anything, the whole of Tamriel is in debt to those two dovahhe.

[Kurosu93]

well i did not slay him.the main reason is that i dont like delphine at all.esbern is better but he aint a saint either.the reason is they forgot what their duty is : serve the dragonbonr.well if they serve him then why deplhine says : u slay parthulax ,if u dont we wont help u.yeah to me is sounds like they want to USE dragonborn and i aint a servant of nobody.on the other want parthulax did help dragonborn but i am still trying to decide his motives.like some1 said in this post its very possible he did it to save himself from alduin ( u can see how angry alduis is when he discovers parthulax helped mortals create the shout dragonmend.but i also think that he did betray alduin before all that so maybe he truly had a change of heart.

 

but to help u decide : think of what each of them provides.blades just give u a blessiong to fight dragons,parhulax gives u the meditation on words.but most importantly if u slay him the greybeards no longer help u find the words of power.so after that u have a long solo search to do.so i did not help the blades ( 2 bad i cant slay them as well.)

[ZvS]

For me it's not about pity. I don't pity Paarthurnax. But the Blades are simply wrong. They're not giving me an option to make my case to defend Paarthurnax, and why he should live. They're stubborn old bigots, who have already forgotten the ways of their order. They offer me no wisdom, no logic for their demand, only to tell me some hundreds of years old vengeance and tale about a once evil dragon. Paarthurnax actually helped me in my fight agains Alduin, where were Delphine and Esbern ? Paarthurnax shared me his wisdom on dragons, dovahkiin, and the way of the voice. Delphine and Esbern only gave me some history lecture about a long disbanded organization which I could even get the info from many common books in the game. They tried to use me to rebuild the Blades, what they have lost, what they couldn't defend against Thalmor. Delphine stole an artifact Greybeards sent me to find, only to be able to contact me. Even then she didn't trust me and made me prove it. Then she used me to rescue her deserter friend Esbern from the Thalmor and from his own cowardice. Then they used me to secure their long lost Temple. And then they tried to use me kill Paarthurnax for their own egotistical revenge. If they were so resolved for that as they claimed to, they would try to kill him themselves instead of ordering me to do it.

 

Delphine and Esbern's attitude is unacceptable. They are obliged to help me and support my decisions. I am the Dragonborn, I am the one their order taken vows to serve. I saved the world from destruction and yet they have the guts to order me around. That was preposterous.

 

This is an old thread, but I'm guessing it's going to be of interest to more and more folks like me who recently completed this quest line.

 

I completely agree with the quoted response above and when Delphine first demanded that I kill Paarthurnax, I didn't consider it for a second. I only wish that siding with Paarth had more closure to it, like ultimately leading to a battle with Delphine or somehow convincing her otherwise. It annoys me to see the "Kill Paarthurnax" quest sitting in my journal -- it should instead be "Side with Paarthurnax or Side with the Blades", each path ultimately leading to a final battle.

[BrettM]

The sad thing is that the Blades seem totally useless now. No way they could even reach Paarth, but there are still regular dragon attacks all over Skyrim even after Alduin's defeat. Where are the Blades? Why do you never see one of them out there actually trying to do what Delphine says is their oath-sworn duty?

 

The Companions are out and about at odd times, why not the Blades? (I ran into a couple of Companions on some Divine-forsaken cowpath up in the mountains east of Dushnikh Yal in the middle of the night. Gave me a huge surprise since I had just had a run-in with a small group of Forsworn camping out up there, and I almost filled them with ebony arrows from my hiding spot before I recognized them.)

Edited February 28, 2012 by BrettM

[Spectre05G]

I don't want to kill paarth but i killed him in the end just so i can continue with the blades quest (after using the old people to show me the word walls ofc). My character's an evil manipulator assassin who is now head of the dark brotherhood, blades, companions and college of winterhold. My thieves guild is bugged, brynjolf never goes down to the flagon hence i haven't done their questline yet XD. Edited February 28, 2012 by Spectre05G