Astrid's true intentions (Spoilers)

[Cherry]

So I noticed something pretty obvious I haven't heard people talk about. When you killed the gourmet and about to go cook at solitude, Astrid says "..left the honor to you." meaning she doesn't want to do it. And she gives you the jarrin root, a poison that has an immediate effect.

Now why would you, be the chef that cooks the Emperor his meal, serve him the food, get him to eat it, and witness his death immediately, which will obviously result in your arrest and execution if the people in the room aren't stupid?

Astrid knew you would become the leader because you're the Listener and other members would choose you over her so she decided to get rid of you, receive all the payment from the contract, and continue to lead the Dark Brotherhood.

I say, she deserved to die, but unfortunate for the others.

[Eternie]

Yes the Jarrin root that you will die if you eat it .. but in order to learn it's effects you need to eat it! Very strange plant.

Put your self in her shoes for a minute. She was molested by an uncle... and that drove her to kill him. Which she tells you she liked ... so she kills again, then she was recruited into the DB.
At the same time as you take a contract of the dark brotherhood ... she has a notification of a keeper coming with The Night Mother.

She has worked her way up through the ranks of the DB .. by all means at her disposal Slept with some, befriended or beguiled others. She had made it to the top of the DB and had not needed the Tenets of the guild; either didn't need them or didn't relate to them. If their chapter didn't have a listener then they couldn't get messages from the night mother. So she had grown into the group using her and all their talents which she was able to control.
Then you and Cicero appear almost at the same time .. Cicero says you helped him .. so astrid thinks there's a connection and sees you and cicero vieing for her job at the top!

She is a simple assassin who in trying to turn her world back to the way it was before you and cicero came along. She does what to her seems natural doing shady deals. Where her whole world falls apart is she thought the Penitus Oculatus would be honour bound to follow through with a struck deal and she trusted that! She obviously has had many dealings with all sorts of groups from delvin in the thieves guild to connections in solitude.

Did I want to skin her alive for betraying me as well ..of course! I charged back fully with that intent ... obviously as you get there you then try to save as many of your guild members as you can and fighting off the Penitus Oculatus!

So if you were in her shoes and wanted to keep control of the guild that you feel is slipping away from you .... No that you have lost !
What would you do?

[Bomb Bloke]

Originally posted by Fayy:

Now why would you, be the chef that cooks the Emperor his meal, serve him the food, get him to eat it, and witness his death immediately, which will obviously result in your arrest and execution if the people in the room aren't stupid?

Because you're an elite assassin with an escape plan all layed out for you. The idea is everyone should know who did the deed - but in the moment it takes for them to figure that out, you're out the door and off across the rooftops. What's the point in doing such a high-profile, "let's bring the Brotherhood back into the lime-light"-type-assassination quietly when you can do it in style?

What you don't know is that the arrangements Astrid made for your "escape" actually involves running you into Maro and his men. Not that that annoyed me much. I find it kinda cute when NPCs underestimate the player character like that, as though they ever expect it to work... And it's even more difficult to take offence when it's an assassin trying to kill you. It's kinda in their nature.

I bet the majority of players end up finishing her off with a healing spell.

[Shelt]

One of many plotholes in the DB storyline if you ask me. Astrid "making a deal" with the authorities should never happen to begin with because it's so far out of character for anyone associated with the Dark Brotherhood. The DB would take care of you themselves before turning to the police. Stupid.

[Bomb Bloke]

Originally posted by Shelt:

The DB would take care of you themselves before turning to the police. Stupid.

Except that the Dark Brotherhood doesn't have the slightest desire to "take care of you" - only Astrid does. If the rest of the crew found out she was trying to knock you off she'd be in real trouble, hence why she tries to get Maro to do it for her. Make it look like you botched the assassination yourself, which was believable, as it was obviously a high-risk operation that you had good reason to attempt willingly.

[Shelt]

True, it's just Astrid, but it still doesn't make sense. Obviously the authorities would double cross her and attack the outpost whether or not you were defeated. Use your head.

[Bomb Bloke]

Why would she think they could? It's not like she'd hand over the info needed to find and enter the sanctuary as part of their arrangement.

As it happens, Maro had it before you ever joined, but how would Astrid know that?

[Eternie]

In Oblivion we the newly joined member of the dark Brotherhood had to do the Purification of the Cheydinhal Sanctuary for the black hand. But that was with the night mothers instruction from the listener Lucien. Which is how the DB used and broke it's own rules "the Five Tenets" and breaking any DB rule would invoke the Wrath of Sithis!

Excerpt from elderscrolls wiki :http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/The_Five_Tenets
"Curiously, the Tenets seem to have been created by Sithis. They say that killing a Dark Brother or Sister will invoke the Wrath of Sithis, so, if these were created by Sithis, Astrid would technically be violating her master's rules by revoking the Tenets.
Interestingly enough, Astrid breaks all the Tenets during the Dark Brotherhood quests.
Tenet 1: She dishonors the Night Mother by her reaction and attitude to having the Night Mother's corpse reside in the Falkreath Sanctuary.
Tenets 2 and 5: She betrays the Dark Brotherhood, and directly leads to the deaths of most of the members.
Tenet 3: She initially disobeys and refuses to carry out the Night Mother‘s wishes for the Dragonborn to seek out Amaund Motierre at Volunruud.
Tenet 4: By having you take Cicero's journals in The Cure for Madness.
It is possible that perhaps she did in fact invoke the Wrath of Sithis. In the end she realizes this and invokes the Black Sacrament on herself, fulfilling Sithis' Wrath. "

[Firsty]

This is the Dark Brotherhood without authority from the Night Mother or Sithis. The reason that there's no widespread discussion about it on the levels of the horrible Civil War quest is that it should have been painfully obvious that Astrid would betray you.

[Eternie]

I agree she wanted to make it like her private club ... and she was going to betray anyone who stood in her way. I'm not surprised by that at all. All her actions pointed to that, and also comments from others that they were syrprised astrid is sending someone else out to deal with contracts ... because that was Strictly Astrid's job.

In a way I'm surprised that Astrid didn't face the Wrath of Sithis much earlier; if there's such a thing. In Oblivion Lucien was hounded by the Black hand and we were told he would face the Wrath of Sithis ... But that was by a very disgruntled member of the black hand using rhetoric as a threat.