Battle for Windhelm

Next Quest

Hunting down the remaining Stormcloaks

Faction

Imperial Legion

Reward

Sword (Leveled)

Type

Civil War

Quest ID
CWSiegeObj

Battle for Windhelm is a quest available in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Background

I am to join General Tullius in the final attack on Windhelm, putting an end to the Stormcloak rebellion, once and for all.

Walkthrough

The Battle for Windhelm is the final Imperial Legion quest, ordered by General Tullius, who wishes to take over the city of Windhelm to find Ulfric Stormcloak and force him to submit. After liberating all other holds and taking Fort Amol, Legate Rikke will order you to meet them outside Windhelm for General Tullius' speech.

Tullius: All right. It's time to deliver the final blow to the Stormcloak rebellion. You have all fought bravely, and sacrificed much to bring us to this point. Ulfric thinks he can hide behind the walls of his castle. But we will fight our way in and drag him out through the rubble to face justice. Because this is the end for them, the Stormcloaks will fight like cornered rats. They will be fierce and crafty. But they are no match for Legionnaires. You are the best and the brightest warriors in Tamriel. Professional soldiers, fearless and devastating. The Emperor will be paying close attention to what happens here today. Men who distinguish themselves will be well rewarded. Ready now! Everyone, with me! For the Empire! For the Legion!"

After the speech, the Dragonborn will have to fight through waves of Stormcloak soldiers alongside Tullius, Rikke, and the Legionnaires. The Palace of the Kings is then raided, where Ulfric and his right-hand man Galmar Stone-Fist await.

Tullius: "Secure the door."
Rikke: "Already done, sir."
Tullius: "Ulfric Stormcloak! You are guilty of insurrection, murder of Imperial citizens, the assassination of King Torygg, and high treason against the Empire. It's over."
Galmar: "Not while I'm still breathing, it's not."
Rikke: "Step aside Galmar. We're here to accept Ulfric's surrender."
Ulfric: "I'll never surrender Skyrim into the hands of a corrupt and dying Empire."
Rikke: "Skyrim doesn't belong to you, Ulfric."
Ulfric: "No... But I belong to her."
Tullius: "Enough! You are traitors and will die traitors' deaths. Stand down and face public execution, or advance and face summary execution by my hands. It matters little to me. Either way I'll be sending your heads back to Cyrodiil."
Galmar: "Well? What are we waiting for?"

Once Ulfric is defeated, he will request that the Dragonborn be the one to kill him, as it would "make for a better song," although the Dragonborn can refuse and allow General Tullius to strike the final blow.

Tullius: "Well Ulfric, you can't escape from me this time. Any last requests before I send you to... to wherever you people go when you die."
Rikke: "Sovngarde... sir."
Tullius: "Right. Well?"
Ulfric: "Let the Dragonborn be the one to do it. It'll make for a better song."
Tullius: "Song or not, I just want it done."

After Ulfric is killed, General Tullius allow the Dragonborn to keep his leveled sword as a reward.

Rikke: "Talos be with you..."
Tullius: "What was that, Legate?"
Rikke: "Nothing. Just saying goodbye."
Tullius: "Well, the men will be expecting some kind of speech. And we'll need to hand the city over to that Free-Winter fellow."
Rikke: "Brunwulf. Yes, I've sent men to protect him and bring him here. Windhelm will need a government quickly if we are to prevent more violence."
Tullius: "The Legion will be staying here for quite some time. I don't expect there to be any further violence."

The Dragonborn must then follow Tullius and Legate Rikke outside. The Legionnaires will be waiting outside, and Tullius will make another speech:

Rikke: "Attention! General Tullius has an announcement!"
Tullius: "The rebellion is over! Ulfric Stormcloak is dead!"
Imperial Soldiers: (Cheer)
Tullius: "His head will be sent to Cyrodiil where it will adorn the walls of the Imperial City! Let this day be a final warning to those who still call themselves Stormcloaks! We are turning the city over to Brunwulf Free-Winter, an honorable and faithful man! Many of you will be staying in Windhelm to aid the Jarl in restoring order and stamping out any embers of rebellion that may still smolder here! In appreciation for your exemplary service, I am doubling your pay and compensation for the widows of your fallen comrades!"
Imperial Soldiers: (Cheer)
Tullius: "I am proud of all of you! All hail the Emperor! All hail his legionaires!"
Imperial Soldiers: (Cheer)

Upon returning to Windhelm, Brunwulf Free-Winter will become the new Jarl and will offer the Dragonborn the title of Thane of Eastmarch, as well as the opportunity to buy Hjerim, the house available in Windhelm (12,000). At this point the city is now under Imperial control, and thus the Stormcloak guards are replaced by Imperial Soldiers.

Journal

Battle for Windhelm – CWSiegeObj
ID	Journal Entry
1	I am to join General Tullius in the final attack on Windhelm, putting an end to the Stormcloak rebellion, once and for all.
1000	Objective 1000: Get your Orders from General Tullius
4002	Objective 4001: Force Ulfric Stormcloak to surrender
4102	Objective 4101: Execute Ulfric Stormcloak
8999	Quest failed.
9000	We have captured Windhelm, killed Ulfric Stormcloak, and destroyed the rebellion.. [sic] [Do not remove this word. This extra word is how it appears in-game.] Quest complete

Gallery

Trivia

After completing this quest, it is possible that going to the docks causes "Windhelm Docks Discovered" to be shown and marking an icon for it on the map. It should be noted that the icon will not disappear when using the console command tmm.
During this battle, Stormcloak Soldiers will keep spawning if the Dragonborn stays in one area too long, or if the Dragonborn goes into an area without breaking down the barricades for the Imperial Soldiers to join the fight.
After Ulfric has just been killed is a good time to loot the palace if desired. A room upstairs via the first door on the left after entering the palace is filled with the Stormcloak-aligned Jarls and their housecarls, many of whom are tagged as "essential."
After General Tullius is done making his speech, both he and Legate Rikke will leave, but the group of Imperial soldiers will not.
Once killed, the bodies of Stormcloaks de-spawn almost instantly, making looting them very difficult.
It is possible for a dragon to spawn during the battle outside the palace.
If Tullius and Rikke and all the imperial soldiers are killed using console commands after the speech, Ulfric and Galmar's body will not disappear from the Palace of the Kings, but Tullius, Rikke and all the Imperial Soldiers' bodies disappear.
After the quest is over, if the Dragonborn talks to Rikke she'll say she expects them to clear out any Stormcloak camps they come across, however, the Stormcloak officers in those camps will still be essential so they can't be killed.
After General Tullius' speech, Legate Rikke mentions that another war with the Aldmeri Dominion may happen.
There are catapults at the Eastmarch Imperial Camp which can be activated to launch catapults at the city. This has no known effect on the quest, however.
During the siege, the Gray Quarter is blocked off on both entrances by rocks, which means it cannot be entered if the city is entered through the main gate.
- Likewise, it is impossible to climb over the rocks if the city is entered from the docks, though this will still trigger the fighting to start inside of Windhelm.

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to Battle for Windhelm. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:

Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening.
If the bug is still occurring, please post the bug report with the appropriate system template 360 / XB1 , PS3 / PS4 , PC / MAC , NX / PS5 , XS , depending on which platform(s) the bug has been encountered on.
Be descriptive when listing the bug and fixes, but avoid having conversations in the description and/or using first-person anecdotes: such discussions belong on the appropriate forum board.

Click to show Bugs
PC 360 PS3 The option to buy and upgrade Hjerim will not be in the speech list. This only happens in the same sitting as killing Ulfric. Saving and resetting the game will fix this. 360 If all of the improvements for Hjerim are bought except clean up the murder mess, and then the conversation is exited, the mess from the murder will still be there. However, the clean up murder improvement option will not be there. PC PS3 If a dragon appears while Rikke is telling the Dragonborn to meet up with Tullius, the quest may glitch and keep directing the Dragonborn to her. PC 360 PS3 Occasionally, after Ulfric and Galmar have been killed, the replacement Jarl (Brunwulf Free-Winter) will not spawn inside of the Palace of the Kings. Neither waiting for several game days nor leaving and returning to Windhelm have solved this problem. This makes purchasing Hjerim impossible Fix - If this happens, open the console and type "setstage a7b33 10 " without the quotations. The Dragonborn will acquire the house and be able to talk to the steward to purchase decorations for the home, whether the new Jarl is there or not. Alternatively, using the console command "player.moveto 0001B117" will send the player to wherever Brunwulf is located. If this doesn't work, it is possible he was killed accidentally during the quest and therefore, using revival spells may be necessary. Reloding a save before or during the battle and completing it again has also been known to work. PC 360 PS3 When entering the Palace of the Kings, General Tullius and Legate Rikke will be attacked by Windhelm guards, which slowly wear them down-preventing Tullius from talking to Ulfric, which freezes the Dragonborn in place while they are attacked. Loading to a previous save will not help this. Bring up the console with "~," click on a guard and type "kill," then hit Enter. Repeat for the other one. This will enable the dialogue to occur. After Ulfric's execution, outside, the Imperials will be finishing up the rest of the Windhelm Guard, so the two would have ended up dead anyway. PC 360 PS3 Sometimes, during the battle with Ulfric and Galmar, both enemies are still tagged as essential, and Tullius and Rikke will not fight after making their pre-fight speech. Loading an earlier save does not prevent this from happening. 360 (Fix) This has been patched for the Xbox 360. The issue may still persist, even with the patch. PC (Fix) - problem can be solved via console. To make Ulfric and Galmar mortal, type (without quotes): "`setessential 0001414D 0`" (Ulfric) and "setessential 00014128 0" (Galmar). This will make them mortal, and once they are killed, the quest will be completed. If this does not work and Ulfric and Galmar are still immortal after using these commands, add the following lines to Skyrim.ini: [GamePlay] bEssentialTakeNoDamage=0 Ulfric is now mortal after restarting the game, (though he may have to be healed first if he is already kneeling). Remember to remove the ini value afterwards to avoid killing other essential NPCs. PS3 In some instances, there will be no Stormcloak soldiers stationed inside of Windhelm, and the city will be empty with the exception of a few guards. Rikke or Tullius and their forces may not spawn inside of Windhelm. PC 360 PS3 Ulfric and Galmar's bodies may not disappear from the Palace of Kings, even when Brunwulf Free-Winter is Jarl. PC 360 PS3 Sometimes Hadvar will glitch and follow the Dragonborn everywhere. Reload the game to solve this issue. 360 If the quest is completed before starting "Blood on the Ice," the guard one has to receive permission from may not be there. PC 360 PS3 When meeting up with the soldiers, some may already be dead. PC 360 PS3 Days after the Battle for Windhelm, some jarls and their families may be sitting at the long table in the Palace, instead of being in the basement of the Blue Palace in Solitude. If talked to, some of them will engage in their local dialogue, like "If you need a drink, go to [inn in another city]." PC 360 PS3 Right after getting into the Palace of Kings and defeating Ulfric, there is a possibility of involuntarily going into third person mode, (which there is no fix for yet). If the sky outside Windhelm is darkened using a Bloodcursed Elven Arrow, the effect will not persist once the city is entered; NPCs will still comment on the sky, however.