My current character has reached level 58 but had only done a few of the MQs. Finally, after doing almost everything else, I decided to begin it again. So I did the Thalmor Embassy quest and then went and saw Delphine. But since I've been through it twice already, I finished up the dialogue with her ASAP. She did tell me about Esbern and that I should go there, but the prompt for "Cornered Rat" never popped up. I didn't sweat it because sometimes you have to talk to Brynjolf first before getting the quest.

But it didn't happen. I'm already the Guildmaster of the TG so all Brynjolf ever says to me is "Can't talk now lad..."

So I went and found Esbern anyway but he wouldn't open up the door. I waited 48 hours, hoping it would change something, but nada. Then I went back and talked to Delphine again, hoping that it would prompt the quest; nope.

So I figured I'd just reload to some point at the Thalmor Embassy because it's not too long and it is kind of fun. Instead though, the most recent save that would get me back to before "DIplomatic Immunity" is when I was in Windhelm at some point at Level 53. No way am I going back that far. And what's really weird about that is that I save after almost every fight. I'd probably performed dozens of saves since Level 53 but not a single one is in there. Ugh. This is my first major complaint about the buggery that goes on in this game. It's completely unacceptable.

I'm on Xbox so I can't just do some computer magic and fix it. Anyone have any solutions? If so, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

Can't you also talk to the bartender in the Flagon?

How about using a none TG route to Esbern from a save when you got the direction to find Esbern or shortly before.

Try talking to the barowner in the Ragged Flagon. Bribe him. Act like you have nothing to do with the TG. Maybe the association is bugging it out.
If you take one of the 3 none TG options, which they don't even tell you about ingame, it might work.

That's the thing. There are no saves from that time. There should be, but there isn't.

But what do you mean when you say non-TG routes?


I think I may have tried that but I'm not sure. I did talk to Vex, Delvin, and Tonnila... I'm pretty sure I talked to him. But I'll give it another shot. After having so many hours in the game going back and spending a few minutes more trying won't kill me.

Whether it works or not, thanks to both of you for the advice.

I have had the exact same problem for a few weeks now. I was hoping 1.4 would fix it as it is a major flaw. I have over 300 hrs now and no saves from the period in question which was a long time ago. I've just kept playing, exploring and regularly popping back to Riften. Even got myself arrested to see if that'd reset things. Nothing works. I've spoken to everyone in Riften. Bit of a game breaker. I'm not going to restart now as ive invested a great amount of time in this character.

Talked to the barkeep in the Ragged Flagon... Nothing.

This svcks bigtime.

Is there an upper limit on number of save games on console? If the answer to that is yes, did you perhaps run into that limit and that's what happened to "the games that didn't save"?

What about asking the female argonian ( bar keeper) at the Bee and Barb? I never talk to Brynjolf, I talk to her instead, when asking about Esbern.

It's worth a shot anyway.

Cool. I'll give it a shot. Thanks.