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This is a major, game-breaking problem in Skyrim. In the Alduin’s Bane quest, I go to the Time-Wound with the Elder Scroll and enter the vision, but nothing happens. Everyone just stands around and the dragon doesn’t show up, which is to say I was transported back in time (hence entered the vision), and the characters speak their lines, but Alduin never appears. The game effectively ends.

What is the fix for this? It has supposedly been patched on Steam, so why is it showing up on the Nintendo Switch? The only fixes I have found require the console, which is not available on the Switch.

References:

Does anyone know how to fix this?

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  • So you also already tried doing other quests first?
    – Joachim
    Commented Sep 25, 2022 at 15:44
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    According to en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Alduin%27s_Bane "The cutscene in the Merethic era may not trigger or complete, leaving you stuck there. — Doing other quests and then returning may fix this."
    – galacticninja
    Commented Oct 15, 2022 at 2:21
  • I'm going to try it and post the results here but it strikes me more as ignoring it and hoping it'll go away than as any kind of an actual fix. Maybe a workaround...will follow up with an update.
    – Jonathan Strange
    Commented Oct 15, 2022 at 5:41
  • Can you edit your question to clarify what you mean by "Everyone just stands around and the dragon doesn't show up"? Were you blinded by the Elder Scroll and then transported back in time? Or did that not happen? Also, according to the OP of reddit.com/r/skyrim/comments/vmgex3/… - "fast traveling away and then back" fixed the issue for them.
    – galacticninja
    Commented Oct 20, 2022 at 4:04
  • The problem has been remedied. I uninstalled Skyrim, reinstalled Skyrim, performed an update, rebooted. When I launched Skyrim there was a "survival mode" prompt. Then when I attempted to use the elder scroll to learn "dragonrend" the scripted scene played out correctly.
    – Jonathan Strange
    Commented Oct 23, 2022 at 22:00

1 Answer 1

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According to the UESP wiki's "Alduin's Bane" article, there's a known issue where the cutscene in the Merethic Era may fail to trigger or complete, leaving you stuck there.

If you encounter this problem, here are some potential solutions:

  1. Try completing other quests and then returning to the Time-Wound.

  2. Fast travel away from the area and then back again. A Reddit user reported that this simple action fixed the problem for them in a similar situation.

For PC players (not applicable to the Switch version), there are additional console command solutions:

  • Open the console and use these two commands to move Alduin to the landing position: prid 4377e followed by moveto cda03
  • Another possible fix, after getting stuck in the cutscene, is to open the console and type in setstage mq206 32. This should let you regain control of the camera and a dragon should land, enabling the cutscene to continue. You could also type setstage mq206 70 into the console to learn the Dragonrend shout directly, then type in setstage mq206 100 to end the cutscene and start fighting with Alduin.

Unfortunately, as the Nintendo Switch version doesn't have access to console commands, the options for fixing this bug are more limited. If the suggested non-console methods don't work, consider reloading an earlier save.

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    You didn't mention how the OP fixed it, as said in comments? Uninstall and reinstall and update?
    – Malady
    Commented Oct 12 at 11:37
  • @Malady No, I think this solution is simpler. ☺️
    – galacticninja
    Commented Oct 12 at 12:31

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