Following the main quest and roleplaying a good guy.
Reached the Cornered Rat quest where I have to talk to Brynholf to find Esbern.
I can't get any option to work where he tells me where Esbern is without doing his dodgy pickpocketeting/thief task.
So how do you get through this and stay squeaky clean?

Fed up being forced into things I don't want to do!

Well first thing good guys always do is read the forum rules... After that they would post a topic like this in the spoilers forum... Cause you know good guys post stuff in the right place

After that, you would realize you have no choice and accept it. Because saving the world is probably more important.

You can just fail and get caught by Madesi, and go back to Bryn. He'll then say something like, "Not the thiveing kind, eh?"

My Altmer mage had a soft spot for Brand-shei and had done his quest. She got by without doing the favour for bryn

I'm pretty sure you just have to talk to the bar tender at Ragged flagon. I'm not sure why everyone is saying you need to talk to Brynjolf. But then again I had already finished the TG so it may have been a different story.

Any time somebody talks to you, walk away! Really, that's the only option. I don't know of any quest line in the game that doesn't have you involved in some shenanigans. Sure, you can You can't win.

Different story... You might still have the ability to talk to the bartender but your journal tells you to talk to Brynjolf.

Would it be that if you had already done the TG you didn't need to do the pickpocket task from Brynjolf to gain access?

It's the one 'bad' thing you have to compromise with.

I do agree with you, though. I was first off playing as a Nord Spellsword type. I was the good guy. I finised The Companions and Mage College questlines, before starting The Thieves Guild...

And I couldn't do it. As a good guy the Thieves Guild just isn't right. Or the Dark Brotherhood, either. It's why I ended up creating new characters to cover those questlines...

There...

talke to the bar tender at Ragged Flagon (The Lizard) EDIT: BEE AND BRAB

and ask about RATWAY / Hiding Place in Riften

after that, you may skip the Brynjolf quest.

By the way... you cant be forever good guy at this game

You must completed the quest "DIPLOMATIC IMUNITY"

you were TRESPASSING and KILLING Thalmor... you were a bad guy...

Likely, I don't know... Only finished the TG once and I didn't finish the MQ with that char...

My first character was an upstanding citizen and I can assure you that I most certainly did NOT do the task in question and was able to complete the cornered rat with my reputation intact.

Pro tip: The journal isn't your boss.

Seriously, don't read if you don't want information your character perhaps shouldn't have.

Nevermind, already ninja'd without a spoiler tag. I don't know.

Talk to the bartender of the Bee and Barb. She'll give you the direction to the Flagon, where you can try to convince I don't remember who to tell you where is Esbern.

The quest tells you that you have to talk to the guy, but you don't. You can talk to the bartender there instead.

Also, to clear up some potential confusion from the posts above, the tavern with the "lizard" owner is the Bee and Barb, not the Ragged Flagon.

Edit: Apologies. Zhag was on the ball.

I don't see what's wrong with stealing in that situation.

The one that really bothers me is that you have to kill someone to take on the Dark Brotherhood. There should be a "good" way to trigger that questline. It wouldn't even have been a strain on the lore to have allowed it.

Well nobody knows where they are, or the password in case they randomly come across the sanctuaryso you have to find a way to lure them out...

The DB purge start, while requiring a killing, definitely has a good case for calling it justice served, rather than murder.

You dont need to talk to Brynolf or the bartender, just explore the ratway and find him yourself, it really isnt hard .

Thank you all for the various alternative solutions

Like people have said, just explore The Ratway yourself, no ones gonna stop you

i agree at laest after the first you are only killing the assasins themselves if you chose to. defiantely gona go thise way on my next playthrough.

lol ong u tried to play the good guy and u joined the theives guild??

i must live in bacwards land coz in my land theives arent teh good guys!!! lmao

On one of my playthroughs I was a Heavy Armored Orc warrior. Telling me to sneak and pick pockets and I was like "what?". I had to use potions and such to buff my rogue skills just to get the task done. He didn't mind doing it, it was the being able to do it part that got him. Nice to know there are other options.

There have been very long threads on the DB start. I honestly wanted to find a way to get that nice woman that worked there the job by discrediting the old lady somehow. No option at all for that. The DB won't bring you to the shack unless you kill. Honestly I don't see how Bethesda could have made it more obvious that the old woman was evil but it still felt wrong just murdering a defenseless old lady.

Skyrim justice I guess.