I guess I have to give up. I've spent a lot of time in Markarth doing things for the Jarl and the people and still he keeps saying to be good to his people and he'll be good to me but doesn't make me Thane so I can have Argis the Bulwark as a Housecarl/Follower. From the wiki, it says to do things for the Jarl and 5 things for the people of Markarth. I've done more and still nothing. I did 2 or 3 Bounty letters for the Jarl too and recovered the family shield for him and own Vlindrel Hall. Does anyone know what I need to do to trigger the Thaneship dialogue? This is the second game this has happened...I must be missing something. Thanks for any help.

X = done

-- Completing the quest Mourning Never Comes.
X Deliver spiced beef to Voada for Banni
-- Steal the Dibella statue for Degaine.
X Find The Last Scabbard of Akrash for Ghorza.
-- Complete The Forsworn Conspiracy killing Madanach in the mine.
X Clear the hall of the dead for Brother Verulus.
X The second part of The Book of Love Quest.
X Kill Nimhe for Calcelmo.
X Deliver the Stallion's Potion to Raerek for Bothela.
X Retrieve Lisbet's stolen Dibella statue.
X Deliver a ring to Calcelmo for Kerah.
X Talk to Mulush gro-Shugurz for Omluag

Sounds like you may have a glitch.

Here's an idea:
If you side with the Stormcloaks for the Civil War, the Jarl in Markarth will be replaced by a new Jarl.
Any city who's Jarl has been replaced after the war will allow you to become thane of that city for a 2nd time. Maybe the new Jarl will have the dialogue.

Worth a shot.

I had a similar glitch on another character where my housecarl never showed up in Riften.

Becomming Thane in Riften and Markarth seems glitchy. I think they fixed Riften with the last patch (the last major patch that is, not the mini-patch yesterday) but Markarth is still iffy.

I think its related to the order in which you buy a house and become Thane. In my case in Riften I bought the house, then instead of talking to the Jarl about becomming thane right away I went and visited my house. Then after looking the house over I came back and tried to become thane and no dialogue option came up.

I luckily had a save before buying the house so I reverted to the save, bought the house, and then immedietly asked the Jarl about becomming thane without leaving the keep or visiting the house, and the dialogue showed up at that point and I was able to become thane properly.

Unfortunately, if you've already long bought the house and don't have a save before that point there's no way to fix that.

Of course, I'm not sure if thats the actual problem or not. It could be some completely different glitch. Did you do the quest that involves getting back the Jarl's family shield?

In Riften, the Jarl and her Steward do not actually tell you what you need to do to become Thane. Markarth might be similar. Have you done Cancelmo's quests in the ruins under the city?

I did and Calcelmo's quests too. I'm wondering if not doing this one...,

-- Complete The Forsworn Conspiracy killing Madanach in the mine.

could be a problem? I saved the woman at the market and she never died so there was no investigation about her death and so I never went to the temple to meet the man who gave me the note...he still gives the note even though she lives. I don't really like to do that one and haven't done it. I'm wondering if anyone else who isn't having a problem becoming Thane of Markarth has become Thane without doing the Madanach quest?

Thanks for the hints at the Riften situation. I'll have to test different things in my next game. Since I'm on PC, I can just make Argis appear and he'll call me Thane but I'd like to get there by earning it as they intended. I just don't know the way unless it's the Madanach route. I did that in my first game (and became Thane) but didn't kill Madanach; I helped him escape...maybe the Jarl liked that? I don't think he likes the Silverbloods.

That's not it.
I became thane of Markarth before doing the Forsworn Conspiracy.



To become Thane of http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Markarth_(City) the player needs to kill groups of http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Forsworn for the Jarl and his steward, and then retrieve http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Hrolfdir%27s_shield (this quest is only given when the player is level 20 or higher). The player must then help five citizens of Markarth and own http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Vlindrel_Hall to become Thane.

There is a quest you have to do for the Jarl. Have you done this?

I gave a few coins to beggars and helped everyone that asked and when I went Riften Jarl she said I was such a help to her people she had to offer me Thane but I must buy a house...

Thank you. I didn't think it was necessary to do that quest so I haven't done it. I've been looking through the strategy guide and it's possible I bought Vlindrel Hall too soon. I was offered the option to buy property so I did and then went about doing the rest of the tasks for the Jarl and the people. Next game I'm going to test this and buy the property last. It's the only thing I can think of now since the Conspiracy quest wasn't required. I've done almost everything else so maybe it's the order. My level was the high 20s when I started on Markarth so that wasn't it either. Thanks everyone and if anyone still has suggestions, I'm all eyes. I'd sure like to travel with Argis now because his health is way high and he's a beast in those ruins.