Don't free Thalmor prisoner

[Neo-Rey]

So I was walking along the road to Riverwood when I stumbled upon a bunch of thalmors with a nord prisoner. Since I play a Nord warrior ala Conan the barbarian I thought it was a good idea to free the prisoner and thought he would surely be thankfull.
Well no... as soon as I killed the guards the prisoner ran off to riverwood and send all of the good folks of Riverwood after me who wanted either to kill me or arrest me.

So next time I see a prisoner, I just look the other way (although I really hate those Thalmor nazis)

[gnewna]

Hmm, never had that happen, did you free him using the 'dialogue' option? Normally they get killed, but if not, they just run away, never had a bounty or anything from doing it.

[Neo-Rey]

Yeah, i talked to one of the guards, he told me to mind my own bussines and move on....so i killed him naturally

[gnewna]

Oh, yeah, if you assault them, it's assault/murder. You have to goad them into attacking you or free the prisoner (give him a spare sword if you've got one) and they'll attack, too.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

You have to free the prisoner from his bonds by talk to the prisoner and you can also trade him weapons at that time. The prisoner will fight the Thalmor and you can help without consequence once the guards become hostile.

Your other alternative is to talk to the Thalmor leader and talk to him about Talos and they will attack you for Talos worship.

Just attacking the Thalmor when they are not hostile will result in a bounty.

[Neo-Rey]

Ah ok, thanks for clearing that up.

[gnewna]

(Also, don't bother giving him armour unless you're feeling charitable, he won't equip it so it won't increase his chances in a fight. Do give him a spare weapon though, I keep a couple of pieces of steel on me for this purpose.)

[Neo-Rey]

ok, thanx for the tip gnewa :)

[SkinnyDipper]

I let the Thalmors attack me then I kill them all and in most instances the prisoners give me a thank you and up to 50 gold pieces for their rescue., once in awhile one would run off. Could this be a rfesult of the "gift of charity". I usually give the wineheads in each town a gold piece or a bottle of ale