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Elder Scrolls

The Fallen is a quest available in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. This quest starts immediately after "Alduin's Bane" is completed. However, if the Civil War quest line is incomplete or not started, it will be put on hold shortly after it starts for "Season Unending" to commence.

Background[]

After I defeated Alduin at the top of the Throat of the World, he fled from me. One of his dragon allies may be able to tell me where he's gone. With the help of the Jarl of Whiterun, I've trapped Odahviing in Dragonsreach. Odahviing revealed that Alduin's lair is located in the ancient temple of Skuldafn, which is only accessible by air. Odahviing has offered to take me there, in return for his freedom.

Objectives[]

  1. Learn shout to call Odahviing
  2. Prepare the trap
  3. Call Odahviing to Dragonsreach
  4. Defeat and trap Odahviing
  5. Interrogate Odahviing

Walkthrough[]

"What you're asking for is insane. Impossible! Why would I agree to let a dragon into the heart of my city, after working so hard to keep them out?"
Jarl of Whiterun[src]

After Alduin escapes from the Throat of the World at the end of the previous quest, the Dragonborn will need to track him down in order to defeat him once and for all. The Dragonborn can speak to Paarthurnax, Arngeir, or Esbern to learn that the best way to do this is to trap one of Alduin's dragon allies at Dragonsreach in Whiterun and interrogate him for information.

If the Civil War questline has been completed on either side, the Dragonborn can then speak to the Jarl of Whiterun to get his assistance in preparing the trap.

If not, the Jarl will decline to help while the war is still ongoing; this will start the "Season Unending" quest, in which a peace treaty must be negotiated at High Hrothgar between the Imperials and the Stormcloaks to put the Civil War on hold first. If, however, the Dragonborn had killed Paarthurnax by this point in a quest for the Blades, then the truce cannot be called because Arngeir will refuse to help with the negotiations. In this case, the only way to continue the quest is to bring about peace by completing the Civil War questline before the Jarl will agree to provide assistance.

Once the Jarl of Whiterun has agreed to help, the Dragonborn will learn from Esbern or Paarthurnax (if the Dragonborn had not killed him) that the names of all dragons are actually Words of Power, and that Dragon Shouts can be used to call them. The Dragonborn will then receive the Call Dragon shout which will be used to lure Odahviing into the trap at Dragonsreach.

The trap can now be launched by traveling to Dragonsreach and speaking with Jarl Balgruuf or, if the Battle for Whiterun was completed in favor of the Stormcloaks, Jarl Vignar Gray-Mane. Exiting through the doors behind the throne room to the Great Porch (which Esbern incorrectly calls the "Courtyard") allows Odahviing to be called and trapped, using first the Call Dragon shout to lure him out, and then force him down from the sky. Note that it may be helpful to go up on the small balcony to the right and use the Call Dragon shout from there; the shout button must be held down long enough for all three words of the shout to be completed in order to make Odahviing show up.

Since Odahviing cannot be killed, there is no point in trying to fight him or trying to drain his power. Instead, he can be immediately lured into the enclosed area, and the trap will come down on his neck and hold him in place. He will then speak to the Dragonborn, and offer to take them to Alduin's lair at Skuldafn in exchange for his freedom.

Note: If followers or characters insist on tanking Odahviing and keeping far away from the trap, attack him until he is "KO'd" and then retreat to the doors. When Odahviing's HP is restored (since he is not killable at this point), he should attempt to follow the Dragonborn and get trapped.

At this point, Farengar may come in and start running tests on Odahviing, with amusing results.

When choosing to free Odahviing, a guard on the second floor will help release the trap. Speaking with Odahviing again will allow him to carry the Dragonborn to Skuldafn, which immediately starts the next quest.

Journal[]

The Fallen – MQ301
ID Journal Entry
10 After I defeated Alduin on the top of the Throat of the World, he fled from me. I need to locate his lair so I can finish him off, once and for all.
  • Objective 10: Talk to Paarthurnax
  • Objective 11: Talk to Arngeir
  • Objective 12: Talk to Esbern
25 After I defeated Alduin on the top of the Throat of the World, he fled from me. One of his dragon allies may be able to tell me where he's gone. I've learned that Dragonsreach, the Jarl's palace in Whiterun, was once used to imprison a dragon. I need to persuade the Jarl of Whiterun to help me trap a dragon in Dragonsreach.
  • Objective 20: Talk to the Jarl of Whiterun
30 After I defeated Alduin on the top of the Throat of the World, he fled from me. One of his dragon allies may be able to tell me where he's gone. I've learned that Dragonsreach, the Jarl's palace in Whiterun, was once used to imprison a dragon. If I can arrange a truce in the civil war, the Jarl of Whiterun has agreed to help me trap a dragon in Dragonsreach. Then I can interrogate the dragon and learn the location of Alduin's lair so I can finish him off, once and for all.
  • Objective 25: Get Greybeards' help in negotiating a truce
50 After I defeated Alduin on the top of the Throat of the World, he fled from me. One of his dragon allies may be able to tell me where he's gone. The Jarl of Whiterun has agreed to help me trap a dragon in Dragonsreach. Now I need some way to lure a dragon into the trap. Esbern or Paarthurnax might be able to help.
  • Objective 30: Learn Shout to call Odahviing
After I defeated Alduin on the top of the Throat of the World, he fled from me. One of his dragon allies may be able to tell me where he's gone. The Jarl of Whiterun has agreed to help me trap a dragon in Dragonsreach. Then I can interrogate the dragon and learn the location of Alduin's lair so I can finish him off, once and for all.
  • Objective 30: Learn Shout to call Odahviing
70 After I defeated Alduin on the top of the Throat of the World, he fled from me. One of his dragon allies may be able to tell me where he's gone. The Jarl of Whiterun has agreed to help me trap a dragon in Dragonsreach. I've learned a Shout which is the name of one of Alduin's allies, which should serve to bring him to the Dragonsreach courtyard so I can trap him there. Then I can interrogate the dragon and learn the location of Alduin's lair so I can finish him off, once and for all.
  • Objective 40: Prepare trap for Odahviing
120
  • Objective 50: Call Odahviing to Dragonsreach
150
  • Objective 60: Defeat and trap Odahviing
200 After I defeated Alduin on the top of the Throat of the World, he fled from me. One of his dragon allies may be able to tell me where he's gone. With the help of the Jarl of Whiterun, I've trapped the dragon Odahviing in Dragonsreach. Now to interrogate Odahviing and learn the location of Alduin's lair so I can finish him off, once and for all.
  • Objective 70: Interrogate Odahviing
220 After I defeated Alduin on the top of the Throat of the World, he fled from me. One of his dragon allies may be able to tell me where he's gone. With the help of the Jarl of Whiterun, I've trapped the dragon Odahviing in Dragonsreach. Odahviing revealed that Alduin's lair is located in the ancient temple of Skuldafn, which is only accessible by air. Odahviing has offered to take me there, in return for his freedom.
  • Quest complete

Trivia[]

  • When the Whiterun Guard (or Stormcloak Soldier, if the city was won for the Stormcloaks in the Civil War questline) is killed and thrown off the building by Odahviing, their body can still be looted by going to their last standing position.
  • Once the Call Dragon shout has been used to call Odahviing to Dragonsreach, there is no cooldown time, so Dragonrend can be used to bring Odahviing down immediately.
  • The quest entry "Defeat and Trap Odahviing" can sound misleading, as Odahviing cannot be truly defeated. The player must bring him down to the porch and then walk backwards toward the entrance so that the trap can be sprung. However, since Odahviing is immune to damage in this quest, but still appears as a valid target, he can be used to indefinitely level combat skills without repercussions.

Bugs[]

This section contains bugs related to The Fallen. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:

  1. Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
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  • When the captured dragon is released, he may attack and cannot be spoken to.
    • This can be solved by walking out the door, waiting for one hour, then walking back in. All of the characters should be calmed down and it should be possible to talk to him.
  •  PC   Dragonrend may not activate the encounter with the dragon and instead it circles above.
    • Hitting the dragon while he passes extremely close usually triggers the event.
    • Re-loading the quest, from the moment before entering the hall, also helps.
    • Another way to fix this problem is to exit Dragonsreach, then wait for 20 hours and reenter.
  • Odahviing may not speak to the Dragonborn when trapped.
    •  PC   This can be resolved by typing "setstage MQ301 200" into the console when Odahviing is trapped. This will remove his hostility.
    • This may happen because the Jarl wasn't at the Porch before the dragon was called. If Vignar Grey-Mane becomes Jarl as a result of the Stormcloak questline, then he's likely sitting in Jorrvaskr. This situation can be resolved by doing the first Companions quest "Take Up Arms". Upon returning to the Porch, Vignar should be waiting and the Dragonborn can proceed.
    • If the first Companions mission has already been completed, simply reloading the autosave and recapturing Odahviing should now cause him to offer to talk.
  • Odahviing may randomly stop halfway and cease to move and attack like there is an invisible wall where he can't move, attack or speak.
  • If Farengar is killed before Odahviing is captured, conversations will still continue between the Jarl, Odahviing, and Irileth as if he is performing tests on the dragon.
  • If the Dragonborn fast travels from Dragonsreach before the dragon walks onto the Porch, he may disappear from the game entirely. The game will prompt the Dragonborn to go out the dungeon, but there will not be a dragon in sight.
  •  PC   360   There is a bug where the Jarl of Whiterun doesn't return to Dragonsreach, instead standing outside at the bottom of the stairs. The Dragonborn cannot tell him that they are ready for the trap to be set. Whenever he is spoken to, he says, "I'll have my men ready as soon as I return to Whiterun".
    • This can be fixed by reloading a previous save.
    •  PC   This can be fixed with the console command "moveto player" after selecting the current Jarl.
    • This bug is sometimes triggered by entering Dragonsreach and leaving again without talking to the Jarl. The next time the Dragonborn returns to Whiterun he might stand somewhere around the city, which does not allow the quest to continue.
  •  360   If the Frostbreath Shout is used on him while he's flying, he may fall to the ground below the porch and the quest will be uncompletable.
  • When using a sneak attack that "one hits" Elder dragons on him, it may bypass his health completely killing him and making the quest uncompletable.
  • When calling him after the quest, he has the option to be talked to, yet no dialogue will appear.
  •  360   If the Dragonborn runs back to the edge of the balcony as the trap falls, Odahviing may appear to be trapped with his tail where his head would be. Fire will still shoot out when the mage tries his experiments and dialogue will still occur as if talking to his face. This is fixed after Odahviing is released.
  • If the wrong Shout is used, the Shout may not regenerate.
    • Possibly fixed by reloading a previous save.
  • During the battle with Odahviing, he may land on top of the roof and remain there without attacking. He won't move at all and nothing happens when his health is brought to zero.
  • If there is a bounty in Whiterun and guard(s) have been bribed to ignore it, when trying to set Odahviing free by talking to the guard, the guard will only say 'Wait, I know you' rendering the quest uncompletable.
    • This can simply be ignored by pulling the lever next to him.
  • Occasionally, Odahviing will not take any damage from either the Dragonborn, any followers, or even any guards that assist in the fight.
    • This can be fixed by simply leading Odahviing into Dragonsreach, which activates the trap thus continuing the quest.
  •  PC   Odahviing may not respond to the Shout.
    • This can be fixed by going to the edge of the Drangonsreach Balcony and doing the following:
      1. Typing the console command "help odahviing 4".
      2. A list of values will show up which says something similar to "NPC: 00052130".
      3. The first value should be "000045920".
      4. Typing "player.placeatme 00045920" should automatically teleport Odahviing to the Dragonborn. At this point he will fly away. He should not be stopped.
      5. Using all three words of Call Dragon when he flies far enough so that he can't be seen.
      6. He will return from the side of Dragonsreach, allowing him to be fought and trapped, which allows the quest to continue.
      7. If this still does not cause the encounter to begin, killing the Whiterun guard standing in the middle of the balcony should cause the battle to begin.
  • Sometimes, for the objective "Prepare trap for Odahviing", the quest marker may lead the Dragonborn directly to the Great Porch instead of to the Jarl. The quest cannot progress without first speaking to the Jarl.
    • This can be fixed by simply waiting any amount of time. The Jarl should appear in Dragonsreach and the quest marker will redirect to him.
  •  360   Rarely, if the Dragonborn stands under Odahviing's wings while he is trapped, he may glitch through the ground and fall out of the world.
    • Only known fix is to revert to a previous save.
  •  PC   Odahviing killing the guard upon appearance is a scripted event necessary for the quest to proceed. If Odahviing's health is reduced to 50% before the guard is killed, the guard may survive while Odahviing will land on the porch and stay there doing nothing along with all the other characters.
    •  PC (Fix)   Reload a previous save and let the guard die.

Appearances[]

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