True. I love the Civil War questline, despite the bugs and programming oversights. I loathe the MQ beyond opening up Sky Haven, and since no one aside from the Blades even cares about Alduin, there's no point in taking it further. I don't have issues with them hating dragons - experiencing the attack on Helgen was sufficient to put me in their camp.

Uh.... you know, I play games to escape the real world. I certainly don't "mantle" them with RL crap, nor vice versa.

truth be told, Paarthurnax does not give you dragonrend, the shout that was used to defeat Alduin the first time, that was created by humans specifically for that purpose and was lost to time. he only told you about it and the college pointed you in the right direction. he does not give you the elder scroll either, in fact, he explicitly says that he has no clue where it is. so he only redeems himself on one account teaching humans the thu'um. the only way he helps you is by allowing you to meditate on certain words, words wich have no real use to certain playstyles:

• Force without effort=warriors will most likely use the fire-breath shout and whirlwind sprint so knocking a target backwards is not useful as a warrior wants to be close to the enemy
  
• fire within=if you do not want to use it, its not useful to you.
  
• eternal spirit=same as fire within.

what i am saying is it is up to how you want to roleplay your character.

Actually, the Blades tell you about Dragonrend, not Parthanaax. Parthanaax only gives you a hint in how to learn it - and beyond the "Cool, a talking dragon factor", there was no reason to use him as a source of information on the matter.

If not for Paarthurnax, you would not know how to learn Dragonrend. He told you about the Time Wound. He told you that you could use an Elder Scroll to look back through the Time Wound to learn Dragonrend from its creators.

Furthermore, he helps you defeat Alduin at the Throat of the World, and resolves to teach the Way of the Voice to other dragons. Paarthurnax is a far better influence on the world than the two idiot Blades that remain.

Edit:
If the Blades tell you about Dragonrend, how to learn it, the Time Wound etc. I did not see that in game. If this is true, then some of my above comments are wrong. Still, the Blades are genocidal. Where Paarthurnax would teach dragons self control, the Blades would simply murder them all, simply for what they are.

You're assuming that the dragons would even accept Paathurnax's teaching (the game suggests otherwise) and forgetting that the dragons are busy waging a genocidal campaign of their own.

I've done the MQ on two different characters. If you kill Parth, then another dragon named Odhaving takes his place. If you don't kill Parth, then Esbern and Delphine ignore you. My first character, I got into the Blades role, donning the armor and acting the role, so felt obligated. It was a waste of time. Esbern and Delphine are useless, and Sky Haven remains an empty dump. On my second character, I pretty much ignore the Blades, and Parth lives to this day.

like i said, he does not give it to you, he directs you to either arngeir or esbern to learn more about the scroll you need to meet the heroes that teach you to use it, and point you to college for help in finding it. and you do realize that Alduin flies away after the fight, so even with the shout and everyone's favorite lazy dragon, which would, if he wanted to help would actually help you kill Aldy's buddies, but claims that he needs to stay in case Alduin returns to the top of the T.of.t.W, you are not able to kill alduin, only in sovngarde alongside the heroes of old do you actually stop him, at least for a while.

(this does not come from personal experience, but from research so i can be prepared to build a character to take down Alduin)

No, I'm not assuming that. I'm not talking about dragons, I'm specifically talking about Paarthurnax and how the Blades are wrong for trying to have him killed. Whether the dragons accept his teaching or not, Paarthurnax still has good intentions. Even if most other dragons need to be killed for being at war with mankind (which they are not), Paarthurnax doesn't.

As for the game suggesting that other dragons won't follow Paarthurnax, where is this? I remember Paarthurnax believing some dragons would follow him, and Odahviing specifically not wanting to follow him. That's all I remember about it.

Edit: n/m misread in my original edit

In fact, if you're a member of the College, you come up with the relevent information yourself. Paarthurnax was too busy telling my PC what he already knew to be of much help against Alduin - by the time he got off his ass, Alduin was giving his spiel.

Id say it depends on if you think Parthurrnax is a being or an animal. If he is an intelligent being then he can be forgiven his past. If he is an animal then he cannot be trusted not to revert to his base animal nature.

actually i consider Paarthurrnax a living, thinking being but also those he killed while, even though he was forced to serve Alduin, need to be avenged (have justice brought). it all depends on how you roleplay your character: as a lawful warrior who believe in bringing justice to the dead, or a kind soul who believes in second chances

I killed Paarthurrnax. He was super easy. An elder dragon is harder to defeat then him. I felt regret after I consumed his soul though.

He saved more than he killed though.

would you kill a murderer if he murdered another murderer who killed more people than his murderer did to save other people? (like if his family or whatever but also everyone else, even unintededly)

Yo dawg

Paarthurnax is the one who convinced me to kill him: he is a dragon, and dragons exist to dominate. Awfully convenient that his benevolence just happens to result in himself being left as Alduin's heir apparent? He's just using the Dovakiin to take down his boss so he can rule in his place.

His entire history, betraying Alduin, teaching men the Thu'um, helping the dragonborn, it all seems more likely his goal was simply to usurp Alduin as king of the dragons than any sort of benevolence towards mankind. My money says he waits for the dragonborn to die of old age while he consolidates his power over his own kind, then moves in to rule.

He saved the world. I think that earns him a lot of karma. Plus I like him a lot more than those grumpy Blades. They can step off.

Put simply, if not for Paarthurnax teaching the Nords the Voice thousands of years ago (he said he's been waiting there thousands of years, if I'm not mistaken), Alduin would've destroyed the world already. In retrospect, the Blades owe their very existence to this one guy, so there's that

Also, the guy's been meditating there for so long he would've been bored to death already. Give him a break and take him for a walk

like i said RP it, you can even roleplay that your character started to join the blades but then went out to do his own thing, outside of the sight the older blades, who been at this longer than you have so they may have a right to boss you around.

I haven't gone back to the Blades, so didn't know about this requirement from them. It's just stupid. I thought the Blades were directly pitted against the Thalmor, and I was willing and ready to wipe the Thalmor off Nirn, but killing gentle Parthanaax? No way!

Killing the dragon will make the Greybeards faction hostile to you (not in the sense that they will attack you on sight but you'll loose their favor).

Consider this: the mighty blades are two ostracized individuals who outlived their usefulness once the MQ is over. The greybeards are a buch of very powerful old geezers who possess the knwoldege of the Voice. There's no point in aligning with the weaker faction

but if you explore and have the net/guide, the greybeards become obsolete as well.

besides the quest is more of a logical decision to me anyways: whether or not it makes sense to kill Paarthurnax even though he helped you out after you found out that he was Alduin's Top Lieutenant. Delphine and Esbern seem to think so.

Killing someone because of what he might want to do later, before he wants to do it, is a fairly severe decision even if you have a solid basis for assessing the odds. If you have a lot of experience with reformed tyrants relapsing, for example.

There is also the matter of the powerful, most likely blood-bathing, two-legged dragon who understands mortality too well to be stopped by Dragonrend currently being hailed as your hero and let inside your fortresses.


Edit: If you're playing an assassin, it's not so much a moral dilemma as a professional one.

Of course, Paarthurnax's motives are just one side of the coin. True, this was all probably his plan for domination of Dragonkind, perhaps even the world.

But on the other hand, he and the Greybeards are what's protecting the last Tower from the Thalmor. Paarthurnax is defending the very existence of the world. Of course, a truly resurgent Blades organization could actually take the fight to the Thalmor.

Yes, it's a dilemma, but I still err on the side of the Blades. Their motives are clear and selfless, and we have a reasonable expectation of their continued benevolence, whereas Paarthurnax himself admits he's likely to become a tyrant once again.

IMO, this is one area where I'd like to see a third option: an investment in speechcraft should allow you reconcile both parties. Terms of the treaty could include blades stationed at High Hrothgar to keep an eye on Parthurnax, and over time as hard feelings fade we might see the Greybeards teaching Blades to use the Thu'um. Thu'uming super-samurai? Yeah, dem elves wouldn't stand a chance.