Firstly, I haven't done the Civil War quest line and I'm on PS3 so the console command solution is not an option for me.

The problem: I'm at the point in the quest where I'm supposed to return to Eltrys and the guards send me to Cidhna Mine. Instead of 3 guards in the Shrine of Talos, there are two guards and Legate Emmanuel Admand. The Legate approaches me and proceeds to talk about the Imperial Legion and then he exits. The quest marker remains on the pillar behind the guard on the left. Speaking to either guard does nothing and I'm unable to get framed for the murder of Eltrys and advance the quest.

I've tried waiting inside, outside, and a combination of the two. I've tried doing another quest in Markarth and coming back only to still find the Legate approaching me. I've tried getting arrested and sent to jail and advance the quest from there but to no avail. I've also tried serving my sentence and going back to the Shrine but the Legate is still there.

I have no previous saves and I'm 67 hours into this character. Does anyone know of a fix or a workaround to get this quest to work properly?

that's strange. I know the civil war can cause conflicts but only if your part way through or finished the civil war. You have done every single part of the conspiracy? Talked to both Nepo the Nose and Silver-Blood? It almost sounds like something is missing. Is Eltrys dead? Is his body on the ground?

Have you attacked the Legate? What does he actually say? Are you Thane of Markarth?

No, I'm not the Thane of Markarth.

Yes, I've done every part, killing the Forsworn agents in the Treasury House and then Nepos and his lackeys. Everything proceeded as expected and updated accordingly, until I go to the shrine for the objective "Return to Eltrys."

I enter and Eltrys is dead at the base of the shrine with two guards and the Legate in the middle. I walk up and the Legate greets me saying the generic Imperial quote, "The Legion's always looking for...."

Attacking the Legate and sheathing my weapon causes the Legate to say, "You have committed crimes against Skyrim..." giving me the option to pay off my bounty, submit, or continue fighting.

do you submit to the legate?

If that does not work... try starting the civil war. at least by talking to General Tullius or Ulfric Stormcloak should stop the dialog "The legion is always looking..."

Submitting to the Legate just takes me to jail but doesn't advance the quest. I'll try joining the Legion and see if it changes anything. Thanks for the help.

Just joined the Imperial Legion and had that quest taken off the journal. I went back to Markarth and entered the shrine again, but the Legate was still there and said the same thing, i.e. "The Legion is always looking...."

well... you might need to progress it further. If you actually want to do the civil war then take the task Legate Rikke gives you and then swear the oath to the Imperials. This should remove any "the legions is blah blah blah" dialog.

Normally I would say reload an earlier save but I did read that you don't have one. I'd warn against not keeping multiple saves but having played Skyrim on the PS3 when it first came out, I recall save games take a lot of space.

Gave it a break for a bit then came back to it and took the oath. Now the Legate drops the recruiting act and instead says the "I can't wait to kill another one of Ulfric's boys" line or some other variant of Legion pride speak, and proceeds to walk out. I hope Alduin eats that Legate after making him extra crispy.

try killing him and his men and then going outside and submitting the guards out there if you have not already done so.

But I think its safe to say this quest is really bugged. Do you happen to have any other active quests in Markarth?

He's just gone to a knee all the times I've tried to kill him, but I haven't tried doing it after taking the oath so I'll give that a shot and see if anything happens.

No, no other active quests in Markarth, just that one. But yeah I think it may just be stuck for good, unfortunately. On my other characters the quest always worked as it should, idk what happened with this one.

He should not be essential. Something is keeping him alive and what ever that is, might be why the forsworn conspiracy won't advance.

Although I don't know what else he is ever used for.

OP: You've hit an unsolvable bug; there's no way to fix this problem without a previous save. The Legate isn't supposed to be one of the guards that appears in the shrine; this is an old and unsolvable bug that occurs for "unknown" reasons.

Also: FYI, the Legate is always marked as essential due to a bug. Unless you play on the PC and use the Unofficial Skyrim Patch, the essential tag is never removed on the military commanders after completing the civil war quest line, like was intended.