Esbern (Skyrim)



Esbern is one of the last remaining Blades - the powerful order of knights and warriors that served as the bodyguards of the Septim Emperors, and were known as the eyes and ears of the Emperors throughout Tamriel.

Early life
As the last of the Blades, Esbern has been monitoring the ancient prophecies of Tamriel, and had predicted the return of the Dragons under Alduin, the Nordic God of Destruction whose return will lead to the destruction of Nirn. He also has the title of Blades Archivist, and knows a great deal about the nature of the Dragon Threat in Skyrim. He is closely associated with Delphine, another Blade operative. He is being persecuted, and as so is very cautious.

Present
Esbern is the guide and advisor of the Dovahkiin (Dragonborn); a chosen one among many who had been ordained to fight Alduin and his servants, after the release of Alduin and the dragons back into Tamriel nearly two centuries after the Oblivion Crisis.

Known Bugs
NOTE: On PC you can disable the door, the re-enable it through the console command by clicking the door with command open, then entering disable, then enable. Or just leave the door disabled
 * For many people Esbern will be buggy; his voice acting files will not load, for example which leads to subtitles lasting about half a second on-screen and no sound coming from him when you first encounter him, as well as a few other problems, like a certain door not opening when it should. The door bug can be solved by quick-saving and then quick-loading while in front of said door. If this doesn't work, you can no-clip inside through the console by entering "tcl" in console. Esbern will then open the door.
 * If esbern continues to glitch and stop you from completing the quest like with Alduin's Wall, just keep making conversation with him. Other npcs will eventually carry on and allow you to complete the quest. (finished the quests involving esbern by a combination of killing him via console and then resurrecting him as well as continuously engaging in conversation with him) If you have the chain lighning spell you can also use it to kill esbern from across the door until the AI forces him to open it. When entering the Inn in Riverwood, let him enter first to potentially avoid the glitch inside the inn where he doesnt go downstairs.
 * This bug can be fixed if you unpack the Skyrim - Voice Extra.bsa files into the data folder, or download it already unpacked here with instructions inside. (For now, only confirmed on PC).
 * Without unpacking Skyrim, It is possible to skip his conversation through normal walkthrough especially in between NPCs speeches or when you're not able to interact with him. For example in the peace council hosted by the Greybeards, by first targeting him in console before you sit down, once his speech stuck, open console and typein "disable", Esbern will disappear and other NPCs will continue their conversations, you should immediately open console again and typein "enable" with Esbern ref code still on. So that Esbern will appear. (note: you can still learn the shout Dragon Call in this way) (Confirmed on PC)
 * Another bug is for the misc quest where you bring him one of each part of a dragon to make a potion, while the game guide says that you will get the "dragon infusion" perk it does not give it to you (Xbox 360, PS3 and PC confirmed) and leaves the quest to bring him the parts in your journal but you can no longer give him any parts to make another potion. On PC you can get the perk manually through console with the command "player.addperk 000E6DF0". The Quest will still appear in your journal.
 * As a main quest character, many players will encounter these bugs, and they are especially troubling on Consoles as you cannot use the console commands to fix them.

Behind the Scenes

 * In Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Esbern is voiced by the Swedish actor Max von Sydow. He is famed for his acting in movies such as The Seventh Seal, The Exorcist, Minority Report, Flash Gordon, Robin Hood and Shutter Island. In the trailer, Max von Sydow voiced Esbern as the narrator.
 * It is Esbern's voice that is heard speaking in the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim official trialer. The carvings seen in the trailer are also seen in the Quest Alduin's Wall.

Appearances

 * The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim