Saadia or the Alik'r?

[Drachenwulf]

so I am just curious for the quest "In My Time of Need" who do you guys help?

[Sora]

Well I asked a friend and he said

"You see, first she said that she didn't even know that the Alik'r were in the city looking for her, yet she directed you to the member of your group that was in the city prison in hopes that you would shake him down for information.
Secondly, she said that she was being hunted be the Aldmeri Dominion for speaking out against them. But I did my research, and by that I mean I asked someone who knew, and I found out that Hammerfell is not allied with the Dominion or their Thalmor whatsoever, so the idea that they’d send assassins to hunt her down for speaking out against them in Hammerfell is completely ludicrous because everyone in Hammerfell hates them anyways.
Furthermore, I learned that the Alik’r fought against the Thalmor during the war; there’s no way they’d try to send the Alik'r to do their dirty-work, and no way they’d ever agree to work for them even if they did."

So with all the contradictions in her dialog it seems Saadia is the guilty party here.

[Dux]

I sided with the Alik'r in my favourite save. Reasons have been stated by many in this topic already, I'm anti-Thalmor basically and believe Saadia has to pay for her betrayal. I do believe the Alik'r are in the right for two reasons mainly: 1) They are the ones hunting Saadia, not the Thalmor themselves. The Thalmor have a lot of influence in Skyrim and can do basically whatever they want, I'm sure if they wanted to kill Saadia they would not need any help from Redguard mercenaries. 2) The Alik'r are mentioned in the great wars stories, they're the desert nomads the books refer to and that put a great fight against the Thalmor invasor army led by Lady Arannelya after the main Imperial Army of the Hammerfell province was defeated. Of course could be that they're lying about who they really are, but I find it highly unlikely concerning the circumstances. They're desert nomads who know nothing about Skyrim and don't even know what Saadia looks like, why the hell would the Thalmor use them? They have far better intel gathered by a massive spy-network, if they wanted to find Saadie they would have no problems doing so while the Alik'r are struggling to find her and need the help of the player.

But yeah Saadia looks like a cool character, pity she has to die.

[albert flensson]

Sadia is my choice

[Invertin]

Here's my logic- Saadia says she 'can't trust anyone in whiterun' because they can buy the guards and the jarls... The guards and jarls that /won't let the Alik'r into the city/, why would they bother waiting in a cave for some random unknown schmuck they ran into by chance to find Saadia for them if they have all this supposed power?

[Anelace]

They don't actually have power, but Saadia is rightfully paranoid, no matter who she's really hiding from. The Alik'r thus ask people who can travel freely into the cities for aid. They don't just sit in a cave and wait--their agents are frequently seen investigating the roads and such.

[kevinshow]

IIRC, the swords that the Alik'r carry are basically the equivalent of Sky forge steel weapons.

I took the side of Saadia and so far, the impact of that decision hasn't been too noticeable. I did see a random encounter of Alik'r and another Redguard woman but neither of them fought each other and none of them were hostile to me. In fact, when I approached them, they just something to the effect of "We thought you were someone else" and walked away from the Redguard woman. Talking to all of them reveals nothing about how I already have saved Saadia or killed some other Alik'rs.

[Anelace]

It's possible that scouts wouldn't have heard of Kematu's death and thus would continue with their mission until they realized. Heck, Japanese soldiers sometimes stayed at their bases for decades, not knowing the war had ended. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_holdout

[pacman9371]

she is a traitor to hammerfell which fight the aldmeri dominion as we speak she betrayed them by selling a house to a thalmor associate so yeah i didnt care sbout getting served because i dont drink in that game nor do i eat much so if your like me you would turn soadia in hands down

[maboleth]

The thing is, we don't know for sure if she's a real traitor. That's the beauty of this quest.

[Walkingshark]

Big Chief Devil Hawk Fireball eredeti hozzászólása:

Fear2288 eredeti hozzászólása:

However personally I'm inclined to actually believe Kematu since Hammerfell and the Redguard are no friends of the Thalmor having refused to surrender to them and then push them out of the province.

Fun thing about mercenaries is that they aren't particularly loyal to anyone, and don't have to live up to or serve their nations ideals.

Personally, the last two times I did it (Two separate characters, obviously) I sided with the Alik'r. After the second time through, though, I got curious and looked up the quest details. I realized the Alik'r never back up what they say, and despite their claims that Saadia is a cunning liar and manipulator, they could very well be doing the same the same to you, and ultimately no side can really be proven right with any of the evidence that can be found in-game.

So then I decided that every subsequent character I roll would side with the hot chick.

And that is why we can't have nice things.

[maboleth]

Did anyone actually go to the Whiterun catacombs after giving them Saadia? Because people talk about her urn being there (as she is supposed to be killed by Alik'r, the biggest reason people give NOT to be sided with Alik'r), but I didn't find it anywhere. Nor any Elder scrolls wiki mentions it. I think Saadia's urn is not there and will never be there, it's just a rumour that she's killed and nothing else.

[QuinsY]

This thread is a fun read! Thank you everyone = )

[maboleth]

It is confirmed from the creator of the unofficial skyrim patch - Saadia does NOT die after Alik'r promises to take her back to Hammerfell. Her burial urn is said to be seen at the hall of the dead means that a) someone (you) killed Saadia before finishing the quest or b) someone made up the whole story - there's no urn, no mysterious death.

Meaning that - Alik'r are probably right and keeping their promises. But leaving her alive makes the Bannered Mare so much more fun, as there will be no "Saadia, wake up dear" and her lovely voice if sided with Alik'r. Can't miss that, sorry! :)

[A Disappointed Horse]

Alik'r just seem more trustworthy to me, Kematu's story seems more believable than Saadia's. I reckon it's more likely Saadia betrayed Hammerfell than the entire redguard government.

[Shrapnel]

Shin Dan (Da Boss is Back) eredeti hozzászólása:

The alik'r are set up to look like villains, but they're definitely the good guys, i guess it depends on whether or not you want sadia serving you drinks at the bannered mare.

Its so funny to read 'the alikr are meanie, I no likey!!' so I guess Beth did their job in fooling the simple. But when you really analyze it.
Alikr
Approach you, state their business, tell you how to get her out of Whiterun unharmed and back to Hammerfell alive.
Sadia
Draws a knife on you, gives you some shim sham story about persecution, then asks you to kill everyone chasing her.
She is totally not to be trusted