This page details Alduin’s Wall main story quest in Skyrim, including how to find Sky Haven Temple with Delphine and Esbern, how to lower the bridge in Karthspire, and how to deactivate the floor trap.

Quest Overview¶

1. Escort Esbern to Riverwood.

2. Talk to Esbern.

3. Gain entrance to Sky Haven Temple.

4. Learn the secret of Alduin’s Wall.

How to Find Alduin’s Wall¶

Escort Esbern to Riverwood¶

If you haven’t done so yet, you’ll need to escort Esbern to Riverwood. You can do this on foot by leading him through the landscape, or just fast travel to Riverwood. If you choose the latter option, he’ll be waiting for you at the entrance to the village. Take him to Delphine at the Sleeping Giant Inn to be briefed on the next move.

Travel to Sky Haven Temple¶

The road to Sky Haven Temple is fairly simple, but you’ll probably meet a number of enemies along the way if you haven’t been to the northwest of Skyrim before. In particular, you’re likely to encounter a number of dragons in the wilderness, so you’ll want to make sure that you’re well prepared with appropriate gear, potions, and other useful consumables.

As before, you can choose to travel through the landscape with Esbern and Delphine, or you can make your own way. You’ll likely find it much faster to make your own way, since you can climb over obstacles without having to wait for the clunky pathing that Esbern and Delphine are restricted to. Either way, once you reach the marker for Sky Haven Temple, Esbern and Delphine will soon show up.

You’ll find Sky Haven Temple at Karthspire, which is just east of Markarth, or west of Rorikstead. As we mentioned earlier, you’ve probably fought at least one dragon on your way up here if you went by foot rather than fast travel, but you’re not done with adversaries yet. The camp just outside the entrance to Sky Haven Temple is filled with Forsworn, so you’ll need to take these out before you can enter. If you don’t, you may find that Esbern and Delphine will be stuck outside as they battle the Forsworn alone.

The Forsworn enemies outside the temple can be fairly brutal if you’re relatively low level. The ice magic wielders are especially damaging, so be sure to avoid their ice attacks at all costs. Kill them quickly to eliminate the possibility of being hit from afar while fighting others, and summon allies to serve as distractions if you’re able to.

Enter The Karthspire¶

After the fighting, head over to Karthspire (the cave entrance) and enter it. You’ll find more Forsworn enemies in here, but not so many as outside and thankfully no ice mages. After taking out the Forsworn, you’ll eventually reach a raised bridge with some stone pillars to your right. Your companions will hint that you need to do something with the pillars to lower the bridge, with Esbern in particular noting the meaning of the symbols on each pillar.

To lower the bridge, all you need to do is make sure that all three of the stone pillars reflect the symbol for the Dragonborn. This should be achieved by moving the first and second (from left to right) pillars just once each, but if you have a different configuration you’ll notice the Dragonborn symbol easily by the arrow at the bottom of it.

After lowering the bridge, the next puzzle is a continuation of the first. You’ll come to a room with numerous platforms on the floor, each one with a symbol that you found on the pillars previously. To avoid the fire, walk along the platforms with Dragonborn symbols only, until you reach the chain on the other side. Once you pull the chain, the fire will be deactivated, allowing Esbern and Delphine to walk on the platform unharmed.

Enter Sky Haven Temple¶

From the platform puzzle, head further in to discover the entrance to Sky Haven Temple. Esbern will note that a blood sacrifice is required to gain entrance. As Dargonborn, you can approach the Blood Seal and interact with it to trigger the sacrifice.

Once you’re inside there will be some commentary from Esbern and Delphine. Listen to this, then be sure to loot the temple thoroughly. You’ll find a unique Blades sword named Dragonbane, which deals 20 extra damage to dragons and 10 extra shock damage to anything else. The sword is located on a table in an atrium just off to the left of the main chamber, along with a full set of Blades armor. There’s also a Skillbook called Mace Etiquette by Dragonbane which increases your One-Handed skill by 1. This place also has a room full of beds and chests, which can be worth looting just for things to sell.

Once you’ve looted everything in the temple and listened to Esbern’s interpretation of the wall, the quest will be complete and you can make your way to the Greybeards to continue the main story.