Because betraying Alduin and betraying the mortals are two ENTIRELY different things. Paarthurnax was made to serve Alduin. His instincts tell him to kill. He fights against his purpose and against his instincts in order to help and protect mortals. He is possibly the most benevolent character I've met in The Elder Scrolls series. He's like the Vivec of Skyrim, so many people don't trust him and only see his dark past, ignoring his benevolent present-and-future.

My entire experience with the blades towards the end game... has made me hate the blades.

If they are never opened up to be killed later on, I'll remove their essential status my self ;\.

Pisses me off you have no way to truly "go against" the blades

No, not his death. The complete lack of options involved in that quest is what people disagree with. Bethesda has always been about allowing us to create our own characters, so why are they limiting us to a, "Hey, kill that dragon because you're Dragonborn and want the Blades to like you!" role? It's stupid.

The first problem I had with this quest is that it is illogical. There is a much more recent mass murdering right hand of Alduin dragon who you can call up as your buddy and they just seem to ignore that fact even though they killed him long ago.


Everyday for the last couple eras. Really? I don't know but that's a pretty reliable atoner if I saw one. Starting the most passive diametrically opposite type of group to what they claim him to be and then they go and complain that they do nothing with the power they have. hmmmmmmm there something loose in their brains or something.

HAHAHAHAH! so that crazy blond that wanted me to kill the dragon! when i went to sky ruler temple she was in the courtyard upstairs. an elder dragon attack and we killed it after that she told me i gotta kill him so ya know what i did? attacked here and moved her close to an edge, after that waited an hour and forcepushed her asss off!!!!! hahahahahahahahaaaa that will teach her!

i wish their was a option just to say screw you to delphine and kill her and the old man and restart the blades. the game does a great job showing how the blades were destroyed not only by the thalmor but due to their own arrogence. the game just fails to follow through with it tho and add the extra bit sorta simmilar to the civil war.

Well i think the decision was made really easy since Delphine was a [censored] all along, i dont want to restore the blades, i hate you and the blades. And you cant do anything about it, you cant permanently kill the dragons without my help, so what do i care if you dont want to talk to me anymore.

Yeah, that really pissed me off too.

Delphine and Esbern turned out to be some ungrateful, arrogant, unworthy leaders.

Oh, I'm sorry. I just reunited the last two members of your organization, found your lost temple, helped you rebuild your order, and stopped the end of the world. Yet, you refuse to talk to me because of some B.S. "oath" that you swore to. I don't ever remember I, the Dovahkiin, swearing any oath to do anything. You want Paarthurnax dead, you go right ahead and try. If I could, I would have wiped out the Blades and built it anew as others have suggested.

I don't think Esbern and Delphine are the only remaining Blades, but yeah, they aren't exactly putting their best foot forward with that one...

Ole P did more to save the world than those blades ever did.
In fact, we could have done it without them entirely.

And now he teaches the remaining dragons the Way of the Voice and so making sure that at least some of them will no longer be cruel killing machines, so even now he is working for a better world.

That daft old man and that silly barmaid can sit in that empty old temple in the middle of nowhere staring at that wall until the end of time for all I care.
Im not killing my friend the dragon.

Kill Paarthurnax? I don't think they liked my answer .... http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/595829056195239684/3DB863F213DEADA26AB8A1103A014E300996C1B7/

I'm currently on this quest, but can't see myself doing it. Esbern is completely bugged in my game, it took me like an hour to escort his ass from the sewers. Delphine is mean [censored]. There's just no way I'm going to kill that nice Dragon. I think it's much more likely that those Blades find themselves headless in some dark dungeon.

Killing Paarthurnax was out of the question for me. He'll live forever. He is a [censored] legend.

Killing Paarthurnax was out of the question for me. He'll live forever. He is a [censored] legend.

Who needs the blades anyways? I mean, you saw how great they were in oblivion protecting Uriel...

I'm tempted to kill Esbern and Delphine- if they are non-essentials, that is

Personally I feel that they are both full of it with their 'serve the dragonborn' stuff, but then order me around as if I owe something to them, while they are living in a place I essentially handed to them for free

~edit

maybe I'll show all of 'em who's boss and kill Paarthurnax, then off Esbern and Delphine too. Hey if the dragon's got to pay for taking lives, then those two need to pay for breaking their covenant by not doing anything for me AND not going out killing dragons themselves. That's starting to be my preferred path actually

<3 that!

In my game when Esbern and Delphine got bugged I resorted to the command console to skip broken steps then this apparently got them even more buggy because after the end game they seem to have packed up and left the world even sold their claim on the Sky Haven Temple as it's ownership is reset. I liked how the bugs fixed them for me.

Paarthurnax is a weak kind of dragon anyways, hes not an elder dragon im sure. I dont think it would be very difficult for common humans like delphine to kill him and is likely the reason why the greybeards were trying to protect him. It looks to me that the reason why delphine wants me to kill him personally is to prove my loyalty and make the dovhakin her puppet. Betrayal doesnt seem right for a blade, caius cosades would have never asked me to do something like that. Also, someone in the game says that it was the blades lust for glory that made the dragons side with alduin (instead of with humans like akatosh did) and in the end the blades seem to be at fault as much as Paarthurnax. Also Delphine was a really clever person at the beginning of the game, but midways became a dimwit coward so its possible that the final par of the game was rushed and delphines backstory lost somewhere in development.

I agree with the OP. I'm the [censored] dragonborn, your [censored] leader! I choose not to kill Paarthurnax, now shut the F up and give me more quests!

Actually, thats exactly opposite. Paarhurnax "tyranny of the Way of the Voice" among dragons is in the best interest of humanity.

This again. Jesus Christ.

Here's a thought, maybe the Dragon-Slayers really find it hard to trust their leader when a cheery smile is all he needs to trust a dragon; I mean [censored] isn't that everyone's problem on here? Maybe you should empathise with other characters perspectives instead of just whining.

edit: The Blades have questiong and disobeyed orders in the past, notably when the Emperor was trying to us them as common soldiers in an uprising. They have the right to question some orders.

Actually, thats exactly opposite. Paarhurnax "tyranny of the Way of the Voice" among dragons is in the best interests of humanity.

...And he's NOT significantly different from other dragons. Not like "immortal" Alduin, so his "threat level" isn't any higher then of regular, albeit strong, dragon.

Yeah, we all know that good ideologies can never be corrupted or simply fail because the Dragons have a biological urge for fighting and supremacy.

There is as much reason to suspect that Delphine goes crazy and turns the blades into a marauding bandit group than there is to assume ole P will go back to his behaviour from the dawn era.
Namely zero.