I finished the Alduin quest last night and was undecided as to either go kill Paarthanax (sp) and return to the Blades or let him live and return to the Greybeards. Not sure, I went ahead andI did both and made seperate saves. But now I have to continue from one of the saves. Are there real consequences for either - any benefits from being with one or the other group?

As long as you don't kill Paarthurnax, you will still have full and unfettered access to High Hrothgar and will be able to ask Arngeir to tell you where additional words of power can be found. You lose that if you kill him. And obviously you can no longer climb to the TotW and ask P. to help you meditate on the three shouts that can be buffed with his assistance.

If you kill Paarthurnax, you will be able to continue recruiting new members for the Blades (up to three if you haven't finished that already), and you will be able to ask Esbern for the locations of dragon lairs so you can go on a dragon hunt. If you wish, any recruits that you have already brought to them can be ordered to help you go kill the dragon at whatever lair Esbern tells you about. There is also something about Esbern making you a special potion for protection in a fight against dragons if you bring him a dragon bone and scale, but IIRC that used to be glitched so the potion did nothing and I'm not sure if he would do it more than once or if it was a one-shot deal. As long as you refuse to kill P. on the Blades' behalf, you will not be able to get any of that assistance from the Blades.

So if you don't care one way or the other whether or not P. dies, it's all about whose continuing assistance is more valuable to you. Personally I didn't kill P. and it had nothing to do with what I gained or lost in terms of help from one group or the other... but even so if I'd decided on that basis I would've let him live. By the time I get to that point in the MQ I don't really need the Blades' help killing or finding dragons and that's about all the Blades are good for at that point, except for giving me a place to dump annoying and unwanted housecarls to get them out of my way permanently and I've usually given them the max number of recruits before then so it would be a no-brainer either way.

I always kinda miss Esbern, at least he was an interesting dude to be around even if we disagreed on that one small point. The less I have to see of Delphine, the better.

The trouble is that there's another glitch that won't LET you kill Paarthy. I'm stuck with this in my current game - the main questline is long done (as are every other major questline) and Paarthy is STILL unkillable. It doesn't matter that I never told ANYONE that I wasn't going to kill him - just the opposite, in fact. So while you may think you have a choice, you also may not.

Edit: As the above poster mentioned, you get far more out of letting him live than killing him. That is, until you get all the shouts. Then it's open season!

I've never once thought of killing him. I went to and listened to the blades the whole MQ, then Delphine asked me to kill ParthNaxty. No way, Blades are dead to me. Esbern is just and old codger that follows Delphine around.

Same here, let the dragon live,he's cool and doesn't hurt anybody,the Blades are the ones giving you the ultimatum. I'd rather have a dragon for a friend than recruit followers for people that want to make me do stuff i don't want to do.Besides if he ever gets out of line I'm the slayer of the World Eater,he'd be no problem.The Blades can go meditate on my grotmulag

This! I want to kill Esbern and particularly Delphine for that. But I did miss out on the whole Blades thing, with both of my characters. I didn't realize I could do all that Lyn1964 said (above) before you're told to kill Paarthunax. I just ignored Skyhaven Temple after taking Esbern and Delphine there, thinking there was nothing else to do there until later. My loss, until the next character, I guess.

Greybeards. I like the Blades, but not enough to kill Paar. Its unfortuante they force that choice, but there it is.

Even playing an amoral or downright evil character, I don't think I could kill Paarthurnax. I feel like he's the only NPC in Skyrim who doesn't constantly want, demand, or require something from the Dragonborn. He does what he can to advise you and point you in a direction that will help you finish the job you're trying to do but he doesn't hand out ultimatums or refuse to be your friend because you're not following his marching orders. He treats you more like an equal than any other character you meet, he sees you and accepts you for what you truly are. He observes and assists but he does not judge. He's got a real Zen Master thing going on, if you told him you decided not to do anything about Alduin he'd probably just say "Is that so?" and offer you some tea. My characters often go back to the TotW just to sit there and be at peace in his presence when things down below get too crazy.

Kill him. He tells he is fighting his Dragon nature everyday. Which means he is still evil. What if he suddenly breaks? More people might get killed because you didn't want to akt earlier.

After the blades causing me nothing but trouble, no I did not help them.
And also the "all dragons must die" mentality doesn't fit the way I want my character to be.
Lets look back at it.
Greybeards:
all you have to do is show up and they would teach you some words.
Doesn't cause any trouble in any way, and helps you all the time.
Blades.
They take the horn you were looking for claims to be friends when all they do is command you around, sends you into a Thalmor embassy just because (well I kindof enjoyed that I suppose).
They [censored] about pretty much everything.
Helps you find Odahviing, and read alduins wall (probably the only useful things they do)
Visits the Greybeards for the peace treaty thing, and insult the greybeards just about the moment they walk in the door.
Wants you to kill Paarthurnax even though he has turned to the good and is probably the only creature that can help other dragons do the same.
Gives you some rant about justice.

greybeards give ya shouts and tell ya where word walls are, parth lets ya change meditations. Helped out if ya didnt side with anyone parth shows ya where to use the elder scroll. Also help ya point ya in the direction of where to find elder scroll.

Blades help ya kill a dragon that alduin rezes from the dead. Get u into a party to find out whos behind the dragons coming back. Rescue esbern whos very knowledgeable about dragons and dragon lore. Show ya where an old blade temple is that has the info on what was used to take down alduin and also yhe name of the dragon to summon to get u up in the mountains. Give ya gear, train and lvl up your followers. Give ya perk also. Show ya where to find dragon lairs. Point ya in the direction that u can find the elder scroll.

The blades do more for ya.

Blades want you to kill the most powerful dragon alive who goes off recruiting dragons Fyer you take care of alduin.
Greybeards want you to do nothing at all. At all.

Paar only helped ya to get rid of alduin bc it wasnt his place to rule dragons. Thats all.
Blades want to destroy dragons so thT there isnt a repeat of what happened in the past.

I don't know, by the time I got to the point where the question of killing Paarthurnax came up, seemed pretty clear to me that I was doing more for the Blades than the other way around.

Delphine deliberately interfered in my training with the Greybeards in order to force a meeting designed to recruit me for her own purposes. She was so convinced that the Thalmor were behind the dragons' return that she had me risk *my* life trying to get information that didn't exist. Yes, it led to the discovery that Esbern was still alive, but that was an unexpected bonus that we wouldn't have gotten if I hadn't gone snooping around for stuff she didn't bother to mention or even suspect might be there. She's supposedly killed off I don't know how many Thalmor assassination squads, but sends me off unassisted to find and bring him back safely while she hides out in Riverwood. I'm a complete stranger to him, but it's left up to me to convince him I can be trusted and that I'm Dragonborn when she could serve as an eyewitness to that fact. And even though Esbern knew the location of Alduin's Wall, that would've been useless to the Blades if I hadn't been able to open the seal at the temple with a sacrifice of my own blood.

They can't offer me any help with learning Dragonrend other than to grudgingly admit that I'll probably have to ask the Greybeards about it. The only way they can rebuild themselves as a fighting force of any kind is for me to find and bring them new recruits, because despite being these supposedly fearsome peeps they can't be arsed to leave the temple on account of the Thalmor might come after them. That being the same Thalmor that have been after me and dying by my hand on a regular basis while I was out running their errands.

The Greybeards don't require anything of me after naming me Dovahkiin - they only seek to provide counsel when called upon to give it. They don't expect me to commit to their way of thinking and living, they don't make any demands, they only advise me to be mindful of the power I have and how I use it. They make it possible for me to meet Paarthurnax for the express purpose of learning (or learning about) a shout that they themselves don't know and are wary of, at the behest of a faction that despises them and all they stand for.

Their whole attitude is, "you are who are you, live well and choose wisely."

The Blades' attitude is, "you have something we don't and you'll do what we want with it or get lost."

When all is said and done, I feel no remorse for using the Blades exactly the way they intended to use me. I got what I needed from them, and when they were no longer useful and their demands became repugnant, I waved a cheery "buh-bye" and left them to stew in their own juices. I feel bad about Esbern, and wish I'd had the option to at least try and convince him to come around on the Paarthurnax issue... a convo between him and P. would've been utterly awesome to witness, IMO. Delphine, on the other hand, can bite me.

Pffft. Blades are wussies.
I took their armor and weapons, and though it's good stuff, I can make much better on my own, even without enchanting.
I don't need them to find and kill dragons.
And they have the NERVE to tell ME that I have to do what THEY want?

Besides, Parth is a cool dude. I'd have a brew with him any day.

Wish I could snuff the blades. They need a beatin'.

Pretty much this. Paarthurnax and the Greybeards were humble, and eager to help me, and help me they did. The Blades wanted me to do their dirty work, then kill my at that point friend/mentor (paarthy) or they wouldn't help me, despite doing all that [censored] for them.. It's like what the hell do they think I am, their [censored] boy? Heck no.

I wouldn't mind keeping Esbern. Like Lyn said, a discussion between Esbern and Parthy would be amazing, and I bet Esbern would come around. Delphine is just a back seat driver though, trying to assert her pseudo authority over everyone with logic or reason, alternately, I would like to see Parthy eat her for lunch.

This

I killed old Parthy, but not for the Blades. I did it for him, as he knew it had to be done, and for the rest of the dragons who weren't looking forward to his leadership, especially Odahviing. Arngeir was especially angry but my Redguard was now leaving Skyriim and heading back to Hammerfell after he acquired all the power and knowledge he could from the Nords.

I would like to add that he also deserves a death from his Dovah-bro.

I killed Parth with my 1st character. The results just werent worth the 1 soul gained.
I'm just going to repeat the concept: the blades svck. THey may have been cool once, not now.

If it were possible, my current character would actually kill both Esbern/Delphine and the Greybeards (along with Paarthurnax) after she defeats Alduin. But things being as they are, she'll have to settle for killing Paarthurnax, also because I have not experienced the side of the Blades in the game yet, as I have spared him with my two previous characters.

a bonus, delphies no longer an [censored] to ya afterwards lol, i think maybe she had trust issues seeing the last group they served and defended threw them to the wolves.

I liked Esbern until he asked me to kill 'ol Parthy. It's a pity they're still essential after the main quest, because I would have loved to have gutted him and Delphine for a taste of their own medecine.

I find it funny that the most common responss to the quest to kill paar is to kill them instead. People are appalled that their asked to kill someone so instead they try and get mad you cant kill them lol. The irony..

Half and half. I just kinda don't bother with either of them.

The Blades are trying to help you to some degree, however it seems that whenever they try to help it just kinda blows up in their faces. In fact I thought the Thalmor were behind the dragon attacks too mainly because with Ulfric out of the picture the Empire would have a greater hold over one of the more powerful countries in Tamriel. It seemed to coincidental that Alduin showed up when he did, right when Ulfric and the Dovahkiin were about to be executed.

The Greybeards also help out, but were reluctant until Paarthurnax intervened.

As for Paarthrunax, I like him, but I don't trust him.

I have no interest in killing Delphine and Esbern, given that I don't really need to interact with them at all once I get that far into the story. I can understand why they want what they want, and why they think it must be done; I just happen to think they are wrong and very foolish to believe that they have the kind of leverage necessary to demand it from me.

Believe it or not I agree 100% with this staement. Theres valid reasons for letting him live and for killing him, its the execution of how tje quest was given. The reasons are there but barely, u have to look hard for them, its like its outta know where the ultimatum. Iys not a surprise they want him dead, its when they give the ultimatum thats like outta nowhere.

Its like smoothsailing and right as ur on ur way to trap a dragon to find out where and how to get to the place to finish alduin off, they slide it in there. The ONLY justification I can see that they want you to get rid of paar so strongly is IF they have intel or documentation from their ancestors that they strongly suspected paar only helping out to take over alduins spot in the heireichy of dragons WHICH is purely a theory I think is going on, BUT if so theres no mention of it whatsoever, only that he has to pay for his crimes, which woulda been so better handled IF its purely for justice that it shoulda been brought up AFTER alduins demise.

Yes I believe paar is a future threat but thats only on theory, but I fully agree with the lack of reasoning or lame escuses that coulda waited, the blades delivery of the quest was done horribly.