Skyrim:Alduin's Bane

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Exploit the Time-Wound to learn Dragonrend and defeat Alduin at the Throat of the World. Quest Giver: Paarthurnax Location(s): Throat of the World Prerequisite Quest: Elder Knowledge Next Quest: The Fallen Reward: Dragonrend shout ID: MQ206

The Nord heroes battling Alduin in a vision produced by an Elder Scroll

Quick Walkthrough

1. Read the Elder Scroll at the Throat of the World.
2. Learn how to use the Dragonrend shout.
3. Defeat Alduin.

Detailed Walkthrough

The Time-Wound

As soon as you claim the Elder Scroll from the Tower of Mzark, this quest starts and points you back to the Throat of the World where Paarthurnax awaits. Exit the tower by using the lift to the east and pull the handle on the surface, thus providing yet another shortcut to Blackreach. You will find yourself a long way from Alftand where you initially entered and may be attacked by the inhabitants of the camp just outside the tower entrance. Travel back to the Throat of the World and Paarthurnax will be quite impressed with your efforts: "You have it. The Kel - the Elder Scroll. Tiid kreh... qalos. Time shudders at its touch. There is no question. You are doom-driven. Kogaan Akatosh. The very bones of the earth are at your disposal. Go then. Fulfill your destiny. Take the Scroll to the Time-Wound. Do not delay. Alduin will be coming. He cannot miss the signs."

Make your way a few feet to the northwest and you will see the Time-Wound, an unnatural ripple of air that distorts light passing through it. Go into the middle, find the Elder Scroll in your inventory, and read it:

A Glimpse into the Past

"Know that Gormlaith sent you down to death!"

"Which is why I brought the Elder Scroll."

"Alduin approaches!"

"Begone, World-Eater!"

"You are banished!"

After a temporary blindness, you will regain your vision and find yourself in the Merethic Era, unable to move and forced to watch past events. The strange carvings on the Elder Scroll are still visible and your vision is blurred and tinted red. You will watch as the ancient Nords, Hakon One-Eye and Gormlaith Golden-Hilt, fight a dragon atop the Throat of the World. The battle begins with Hakon on his own, until Gormlaith comes rushing in and jumps on top of the dragon:

Hakon: "Gormlaith! We're running out of time! The battle..."
Dragon: "Daar sul thur se Alduin vokrii. Today Alduin's lordship will be restored. But I honor your courage. Krif voth ahkrin. Die now, in vain."
Hakon: (attacks) "For Skyrim!"
Gormlaith: (joins the attack and kills the dragon) "Know that Gormlaith sent you down to death!"

After killing the dragon they will sheathe their swords and walk past a desecrated corpse, talking about their many victories. Gormlaith is clearly the killer of the two, while Hakon is more laid back:

Gormlaith: "Hakon! A glorious day, is it not!"
Hakon: "Have you no thought beyond the blooding of your blade?"
Gormlaith: "What else is there?"
Hakon: "The battle below goes ill. If Alduin does not rise to our challenge, I fear all may be lost."
Gormlaith: "You worry too much, brother. Victory will be ours."

At this point, Felldir the Old will emerge behind you, obviously the third in the trio of Dragonslayers:

Hakon: (To Felldir) "Why does Alduin hang back? We've staked everything on this plan of yours, old man."
Felldir: "He will come. He cannot ignore our defiance. And why should he fear us, even now?"
Gormlaith: "We've bloodied him well. Four of his kin have fallen to my blade alone this day."
Felldir: "But none have yet stood against Alduin himself. Galthor, Sorri, Birkir..."
Gormlaith: "They did not have Dragonrend. Once we bring him down, I promise I will have his head."
Felldir: "You do not understand. Alduin cannot be slain like a lesser dragon. He is beyond our strength. Which is why I brought the Elder Scroll."

Felldir then pulls out the ancient Elder Scroll, much to the surprise of Hakon:

Hakon: "Felldir! We agreed not to use it!"
Felldir: "I never agreed. And if you are right, I will not need it."
Hakon: "No. We will deal with Alduin ourselves, here and now."
Gormlaith: "We shall see soon enough. Alduin approaches!"
Hakon: "So be it."

While the Nords draw their weapons, Alduin will land atop the word wall and speak:

Alduin: "Meyye! Tahrodiis aanne! Him hinde pah liiv! Zu'u hin daan!"
Gormlaith: "Let those that watch from Sovngarde envy us this day!"

At this point, the Nords will release the Dragonrend shout. When they shout, you will automatically learn the shout. In the skies, Alduin will feel mortality rise through his body and will immediately be forced to land:

Alduin: "Nivahriin joorre! What have you done? What twisted Words have you created?! Tahrodiis Paarthurnax! My teeth to his neck! But first... dir ko maar. You will die in terror, knowing your final fate... To feed my power when I come for you in Sovngarde!"
Gormlaith: "If I die today, it will not be in terror. You feel fear for the first time, worm. I see it in your eyes. Skyrim will be free!"

The three Nords will then proceed to attack the World-Eater, but to no avail. Alduin will pick up Gormlaith between his teeth and fling her to the right, killing her:

Hakon: "No, damn you! It's no use! Use the Scroll, Felldir! Now!"
Felldir: "Hold, Alduin on the Wing! Sister Hawk, grant us your sacred breath to make this contract heard! Begone, World-Eater! By words with older bones than your own we break your perch on this age and send you out! You are banished! Alduin, we shout you out from all our endings unto the last!"
Alduin: "Faal Kel...?! Nikriinne..."

A surprised Alduin will then disappear into the flow of time, to an unknown era. Felldir, however, knows that the defeat was only temporary:

Felldir: "You are banished!"
Hakon: "It worked... you did it..."
Felldir: "Yes, the World-Eater is gone... may the spirits have mercy on our souls."

Alduin

Directly after the cutscene, when you arrive back in the present, Alduin will appear at the Throat of the World, shouting: "Bahloki nahkip sillesejoor. My belly is full of the souls of your fellow mortals, Dovahkiin. Die now and await your fate in Sovngarde!" Parthurnax will then interfere, saying: "Lost funt. You are too late, Alduin! Dovahkiin! Use Dragonrend, if you know it!"

Alduin battles Paarthurnax at the Throat of the World

Paarthurnax and Alduin will take flight, attacking each other in the air. Paarthurnax tells you to use your Dragonrend shout if you can, and indeed, when the chance arises, use Dragonrend on Alduin, forcing him to the ground. It can be rather difficult distinguishing between the two dragons if the battle is done at night or while it is snowing. The quest arrow on your compass always points to Alduin, so use that to distinguish between them.

When Alduin is grounded, you must attack him as much as you can before he takes flight again. This may take a few tries, since he has a huge health pool and does reasonable damage. Be wary of Alduin's "Dragon Storm Call" shout, which causes fiery meteors to rain from the sky, causing both fire and physical damage. Note that Clear Skies will cancel the meteor shower, and has such a short recharge time that it won't interfere with using Dragonrend on him. In particular, using Dragonrend immediately when it recharges will keep Alduin grounded for the whole fight. When Alduin's health drops to zero, he says: "Meyz mul, Dovahkiin. You have become strong. But I am Al-du-in, Firstborn of Akatosh! Mulaagi zok lot! I cannot be slain here, by you or anyone else! You cannot prevail against me. I will outlast you... mortal!" He will then fly off, completing the quest.

Notes

• It is not possible to harm Alduin while he's in the air. He is immune to all forms of damage except when he's under the Dragonrend shout effect (i.e. grounded). Therefore, you cannot defeat Alduin without using Dragonrend on him, regardless of how powerful your weapons and spells might be.
• Inadvertently using Dragonrend on Paarthurnax and therefore grounding him often makes Alduin hover in one place in the air while attacking Paarthurnax, thus making it easier to strike him with Dragonrend, although it is better to ground Alduin alone.

Bugs

• If you obtain the Elder Scroll before first meeting Paarthurnax, and use the dialogue option "I have the Elder Scroll" immediately after receiving a quest to get the Scroll, you will advance the quest but the time anomaly will not be present and the quest marker will not appear. You have to leave by foot or fast travel and return once the quest marker appears at the Throat of the World. ^?
• If you take a follower to the fight with you before you read the Elder Scroll, when you come back to the present, your follower can get "stuck" in the past. ^?
  • This can be fixed by typing into the console prid <follower refID> and then enable.
• If you save during Alduin's dialogue, he will just continue to flap his wings and hover. Nothing will happen and you cannot continue the quest. A fix is to load the autosave from coming out of the past and the scene will play out as normal. ^?
• Alduin may become invincible during the fight with Paarthurnax.
  • This bug is fixed by version 1.9.26.0.8 of the Official Skyrim Patch.

Quest Stages

Alduin's Bane (MQ206)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		I've located the Elder Scroll that was used to cast Alduin forward into our time by the Nord heroes of old. If Paarthurnax is right, if I read it near the Time-Wound I will get a vision of the past, when the ancient Nords used the Dragonrend Shout against Alduin. (Objective is assigned): Read the Elder Scroll at the Time-Wound
20		(Objective is assigned): Learn the "Dragonrend" Shout from the Nord heroes
100		I read the Elder Scroll near the Time-Wound, and learned the Dragonrend Shout in a vision of the Nord heroes fighting Alduin in the distant past. Now I need to use Dragonrend to defeat Alduin in the present time. (Objective is assigned): Defeat Alduin
220		I read the Elder Scroll near the Time-Wound, and learned the Dragonrend Shout in a vision of the Nord heroes fighting Alduin in the distant past. When I returned from the vision, Alduin attacked me, and I used Dragonrend to bring him down and defeat him.

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 1, 5, 15, 30, 32, 33, 35, 40, 42, 48, 50, 52, 60, 70, 75, 80, 82, 85, 87, 88, 89, 90, 120, 140, 160, 180, 200, 230, 240.

 

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage MQ206 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest MQ206.

Prev: Elder Knowledge

Up: Main Quest

Next: The Fallen