Thieves Guild quest line incompletable: Karliah never shows up at Ragged Flagon

In Skyrim Special Edition, I broke into Riftweald Manor earlier and stole Mercer's plans, before I did much with the Thieves Guild. Now when I try to start that quest, which starts out with Karliah appearing at the Ragged Flagon, she doesn't appear. I've tried laying Mercer's plans back on the table, getting rid of them entirely, etc.

The Thieves Guild questline was the first thing I wanted to do with this character, but it's also the character that I wanted to complete everything with. This is the one questline that I cannot do. I really need a way to fix this. I am completely okay with using console commands.

I've tried using resetinterior RiftenMercerFreyHouse and resetinterior 00037CC6, both while in and outside of the house. Neither worked.

5

1 Answer

I broke into Riftweald Manor earlier and stole Mercer's plans, before I did much with the Thieves Guild.

If you don't have the Unofficial Skyrim Patch (original / Legendary Edition - PC) / (Special Edition - PC) / (PS4) / (Xbox One) installed, you will encounter a bug with The Pursuit quest if you steal Mercer's Plans before completing the Hard Answers quest (prerequisite quest to The Pursuit). The UESP Wiki's The Pursuit - Bugs article provides various solutions:

• If you loot Mercer's Plans from Riftweald Manor prior to completing Hard Answers you will be unable to progress through The Pursuit . Instead Karliah will stand outside Snow Veil Sanctum and not move or speak with you.

  • If you down her she will go to reenact the events at the end of Speaking with Silencewhich will affect you as well if you are present. When you "awake" again you will again be prompted to speak with Karliah but she will be hostile. She will reset after a week and you can speak to her as if you never completed Hard Answers. Returning Mercer's Plans to his home prior to completing Hard Answers again will restore the quest chain.
  • This issue has been addressed by version 1.0 of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch; The barrel people were using to gain early access to Mercer's House has been moved away to avoid this very situation from happening.
  • This bug happened because Mercer's Plans is in your inventory. Drop it and enter console command setstage tg07 10 will start the quest normally.

There is also another similar bug where Karliah will not be at the Ragged Flagon during The Pursuit quest. Also from the UESP Wiki's The Pursuit - Bugs article:

• Karliah sometimes is stuck at Winterhold Inn instead of being in the Ragged Flagon at beginning of the quest. This may happen if you leave the cellar before Karliah does or complete other quests before continuing with this one.

  • A possible solution is to go to the Flagon and move her via console commands: prid 00058F1A to select Karliah, followed by moveto player to move her to you. You may need to manually advance the quest as well with setstage tg07 20 .

  • It is possible to re-enter the Dwemer Museum in Markarth. This will reset the previous quest; run all the way back up and get the translation off the stone in Calcelmo's tower again, and return to the inn in Winterhold. The conversation with Karliah and Enthir should now be reset. This time, when Karliah tells you to meet her at the Ragged Flagon, wait until she leaves the cellar, and then wait there for a day or so just to be sure. At this point the quest marker should appear in Riften, indicating that Karliah is now where she should be.

  • This bug may lead to conversation options allowing you to own more than one Nightingale Blade.