Board Thread:Skyrim/@comment-11618741-20150726035340/@comment-11618741-20160313063231

Undaril wrote: The Crusader of Truth wrote: No. There is no way to befriend the Blades again and spare Paarthurnax alive. Hmm. I could have sworn that someone found a way around it a while ago.

Without console commands or mods? Unlikely. My work-around came from tinkering with other questlines and then applying that knowledge to this quest. If you do go with mods, might be best to use Nexus-you tend to get more complete stuff that way.