Skyrim talk:The Cure for Madness

Letting Cicero Live

I have no clue what happens if you let Cicero go. I will be going back, probably in a few days, and redoing all of the Dark Brotherhood quests in order to tie up all loose ends like this, but if someone beats me to it, by all means, go ahead and add it. Baron 04:06, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

If you come back after the Falkreath Sanctuary is destroyed, he will meet you when you exit. He will act menacing, like you were an idiot to let him go, then laugh it all off. Whoman69

Troll in the Cave

On my experience, doing this quest at level 40, the Troll in the cave was no Ice Troll, but rather a named Troll named Udefrykte. There's a page for it on the wiki, but it's not listed in the quest information. Being a newbie here, is this something i'm allowed to edit and provide a link to? — Unsigned comment by Talant (talk • contribs) at 04:30 on 21 November 2011‎

Good question. Where would you want to link it to? I'm not sure that this troll is the Uderfrykte Matron as the article currently says. When I met it, it was called simply 'Uderfrykte.' As the Matron appeared in Oblivion, she had a found journal associated with her...didn't see anything this time. But it was good of you to include the information! --Irene Metrick 17:29, 25 November 2011 (UTC)

Fighting Back

Cicero is supposed to go down in one hit, isn't he? When I tried to kill him, he immediately jumped up and started fighting. However, the objective to kill him was reported as completed on the first hit. --Koden 06:33, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Lucien's information

It's mentioned in the article that summoning Lucien Lachance adds the information that Sithis doesn't want Cicero killed. Would it be useful to add that the trigger for him saying this seems to be Cicero talking to you about 'sending the best to kill the best'? And also that you have to wait a bit for Lachance to finish saying Sithis doesn't want Cicero killed, that he doesn't say it all right away? Just a thought, as I had to reload a few times until I realized this myself and heard all of what Lachance has to say about it. Obax 03:06, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

I don't know if this happens only to me, but when I read the book in the beginning of the quest nothing happens. I guess I'll have to advance the quest stage with setstage...

I'm playing on PC btw. — Unsigned comment by 189.18.162.45 (talk) at 16:29 on 3 January 2012

You misinterpreted it by the way, he says something like "I will kill the jester if you wish, but the dread rather does not wish it", meaning YOU are allowed to kill it, just not Lachance. 124.191.60.179 14:24, 19 April 2013 (GMT)

Might be a bug

I don't know if this happens only to me, but when I read the book in the beginning of the quest nothing happens. I guess I'll have to advance the quest stage with setstage...

I'm playing on PC btw. — Unsigned comment by 189.18.162.45 (talk) at 16:30 on 3 January 2012‎

You have to actually take the book, reading it isn't enough. — Unsigned comment by 75.42.77.54 (talk) at 08:03 on 7 January 2012‎

No Shadowmere

During the animation where Shadowmere appears, she can get stuck underneath the bubbles. I have had this happen to several characters on the consoles. I heard luring enemies near the bubbles during death incarnate will coax her from the bubbles, as will fast travel to all stables untill she appears for a split second, thus becoming untrapped and waiting at the pool.

My friends said this has half the time worked, has yet to work for me. Ive already gone about a week or so continuing the game and still only bubbles, no shadowmere — Unsigned comment by 65.13.119.80 (talk)

Just had this happen to me (on the PC) as well. Foubister 12:17, 31 January 2012 (UTC)

I was attacked by an Ancient Dragon immediately on arriving in Dawnstar riding Shadowmere, and of course had to get off to fight. When I had finished, Shadowmere was nowhere to be found. --174.6.51.17 14:19, 26 February 2012 (UTC)

stealing ciceros items

i found it possible to steal all of ciceros belongings while he was lying on the floor. but to make it clear, i had fully a developed sneaking tree & almost fully developed pickpocketing tree (missing out only on poisoning & keymaster here). chance to steal his clothes was on some 38 percent, and stealing the hat on 17 percent. rest was all on 90 percent. had to reload just once for stealing his hat in the end.

maybe worth changing the info on this bit on the page. --84.227.225.116 23:45, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

Cicero's hat and clothes CAN be pick-pocketed. (100%)

You need to be able to reverse pickpocket a paralyzing potion as with a trainer and stay far enough away so an invisibility spell makes you hidden. As the potion wears off run towards his feet and click him quickly and his hat and clothes will show up as 0% but are still swipable as is large cash amounts on trainers.

Not exactly ground-breaking but I did feel quite smug. :) The Source 00:24, 21 January 2012 (UTC)

If Cicero becomes a follower, it is possible to steal all of ciceros belongings without any perks in pickpocketing tree.

First, unlock the Dragon Shout: Ice Form. Next, give Cicero a set of items which he will equip. Then, dismiss Cicero and freeze him by Ice Form. Finally, pick what you want when he is standing up (even the chance is 0%)— Unsigned comment by Seleucid (talk • contribs) at 21:19 on 18 February 2012

Some thoughts

Wouldn't the notes section benefit from splitting it up in one notes section and one bugs section?

Would the page benefit from a more detailed description of how the choice of letting Cicero live or die will affect the future gameplay?

Would it be appropiate to mention the queststage "666", "behold Shadowmere" as an easteregg with the connection between the number 666 and shadowmere's appearance in mind? (see the following post in this section)

just thoughts.. and I guess other editors would do a better update to the page than me. 112.5.139.10 17:52, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

The above post is written by me before I had a proper UESP account. The shadowmere is currently under discussion at the easter egg page (where it belongs) so no attention at all for that case seems necessary here. I didn´t know by the time of writing that there was a dedicated easter egg page. --Middleofsweden 17:42, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

i agree with you im reading this trying to see how deffrent it will be to let him live or kill him and the only thing is says is you can get really valuable items or another follower so its better to kill him unless there is more to letting him live.Froggy™ 10:44, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

New Bug

Warning:

If you use coc to get back to the sanctuary, the quest bugs. You will be directed to speak with Astrid, and she will have an arrow over her head, but the dialogue will not be presented ("Tell me more about yourself" is the only option). She will walk around, muttering anti-clown propaganda and other people will have related dialogue, except Astrid.

The jester is still in his room. When approached, he will sound sickly, but when activated will sound just fine. You can take his journal with him present, he doesn't mind. Once you give the journal to Astrid, the clown will be gone, and the quest to kill will be added. — Unsigned comment by 86.126.2.150 (talk) at 15:30 on 9 February 2012

Returning to skyrim

Main article states "you which are blocked by 2 iron bar entrances" followed by a suggestion to sit on a nearby bench to jump through the bars. Alternatively.. you can pull the chain half way down the stairs to open the gate. You are not blocked from leaving, the chain is there for this exact purpose. Sitting on the bench is an unnecessary hack 213.105.26.59 20:11, 1 March 2012 (UTC)

Weapon Finding - Killing Ghosts

I just wanted to note that I added a bit about being able to take the weapons from the ghosts before they disappear. All of the ghosts on my latest run of this quest had glass weapons which made it very nice to be able to gather them up. I hope it was relevant enough information for me to post. Quite a way to make some quick cash for some very easy work!

The G00D Job 04:46, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

Another Bug?

I wasn't able to find anything concerning this bug yet, so I assume I might be the first who found it: The quest works fine up until the point where I am to enter the Dawnstar sanctuary. The Black Door asks its question, but the correct answer "Innocence, my brother" is missing, even though I have read Cicero's journals (I read the final volume several times to make sure - no change. I waited/left the area and came back/slept for a day - no change.). None of the mods I have installed come even close to altering anything related to the door or the questline (aside from the "Dragonborn" waves that the W.A.T.E.R.-Mod adds along Skyrim's coasts, but I doubt that's it). I'll go ahead and try fast-travelling to the door and restarting the game a few times, hell, even disabling W.A.T.E.R. for what it's worth, and will edit the results, but I don't believe it'll help ... -.- -Shyanmar 87.160.122.109 15:02, 16 March 2013 (GMT)

EDIT. Nevermind. For some reason, Arnbjorn didn't show up at the door the first few times, but after fast-travelling there he finally loaded in. After that it worked as it should. -Shyanmar 87.160.122.109 15:06, 16 March 2013‎ (GMT)

Door Bug

I got this quest, and proceeded through it like normal, up until the end. When I try to exit, the door isn't there, only a rock wall in the doorway, similar to the rest of the walls, but black and shiny. The edges of the doorway still have the "Open: Skyrim" option, but it only plays the sound of a door closing and does nothing. I've tried everything I could think of, sparing Cicero, killing him with a sneak attack, letting him get up and fight back before killing him, not looting him, everything. I thought it might be part of the quest, but the arrow always points to that spot, with the door not there. 66.213.15.60 19:11, 26 August 2013 (GMT)

Regarding the follower bug

It's listed on the front page that your follower(s) won't come with you into the Dawnstar Sanctuary. I'm on the 360, upgrade 1.9, and I had Lydia and Serana just come right along behind me after Cicero. I've also gone later into the game, where I go back to the Dawnstar Sanctuary after finishing the questline, and my girls just kept right with me. Perhaps this was changed, or is it because I'm using the two followers glitch? Note that the would NOT follow me into the regular Sanctuary. -- Agmen (talk) 16:17, 28 August 2013 (GMT)

Is this another bug? I cannot find it on the 'bugs' section of the main article.

Hello to all reading this. I am own Skyrim on the PS3, so no I cannot fix this with some nifty console commands. When I enter the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary after killing Gaius Maro, all is well until Astrid tells me to enter and search Cicero's room. The only journal in his room is his 'Final Volume', i.e. the one that allows me to continue. I can't find any of his other journals anywhere, even in the Dawnstar Sanctuary when Cicero is hiding out there and the Falkreath Sanctuary after returning and finishing the quest. I know it isn't exactly essential to have his other journals, but to be frank I would really like them just as reading material and reference points. Other than this, I have encountered no other bugs on this quest. — Unsigned comment by Farenthor (talk • contribs) at 10:48 on 24 May 2014\

Yeah, sounds like a bug to me. Everything I've seen indicates that the journals should be there. --AN|L (talk) 15:49, 24 May 2014 (GMT)

Bit of a late reply but this begs the obvious question is there any way to fix it? At the moment I'm trying out of desperation to wait the amount of in-game days it takes to respawn items in the Falkreath Sanctuary (A part of me knows this is almost futile, so any ideas?). — Unsigned comment by Farenthor (talk • contribs) at 16:26 on 26 June 2014 (GMT)

Ran into the same problem on Switch, would be interested if a fix has been found since! SaltInstitute (talk) 23:33, 30 January 2023 (UTC)

Astrid Conversation Ends Too Soon

Playing on PS3, the conversation with Astrid ends before it's complete and the quest won't advance. After retrieving the journal, the conversation with Astrid begins normally. However, after she says the line about Shadowmere ending in "he's one of us...", no further conversation dialogue happens. The conversation eventually times out and ends with the quest still wanting me to speak to Astrid. Talking to her again leads to the same shortened dialogue loop again and often causes the game to freeze. No waiting fixes this, waiting after the conversation with Astrid has timed out once actually causes the game to freeze up. Is there any fixing this? If not, I can't complete the questline. — Unsigned comment by 70.15.12.87 (talk) at 16:55 on 22 February 2015

Cicero Didn't leave...

He's still in his room, standing by his bed and the journal you're looking for. Quite willing to tell me about himself. Probably a freak accident. Won't add it to the bugs page because it looks like no one else has ever seen it so I must just be special.Vainamoinen -Talk -Stuff 02:33, 23 September 2015 (UTC)

Well, after the first few generic lines when initiating dialogue with him now he's acting like I've found him dying, but still the only choice is to ask him about himself. I always knew he was loony...Vainamoinen -Talk -Stuff 02:35, 23 September 2015 (UTC)

I am special because I found him again... I am going to add it to the bugs section because I did everything by the book this time with no mods and fresh install of Skyrim and everything.Vainamoinen -Talk -Stuff 21:55, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

Suggested level

It says suggested level 8, no way. I'm level 27 with over 200 hp. The ghosts blow right through LaChance and my follower. With scale armor at superior level and a shield, their glass weapons take more than half my hp when blocking. Whoman69

There is no reason to kill Cicero

He's a hard, easily skippable fight. If you spare him, he becomes available as one of the most powerful followers in the game, especially since he's essential outside of this quest. So is there really any reason to even bother killing him?