Saadia or Kematu

[Jurazon]

^ According to this Wiki, the order of execution business is scripted and independent of any actions taken in game.

I find it hard to believe because with that playthrough, the only quests I had done at that point was the initial startup of the game, Bleak Falls Barrow, and Dragon Rising, and of course In My Time of Need. I hadn't even had ANY contact with the Thalmor or any agents at all. A short time later, I was just hunting some deer with my bow and I get attacked by the Thalmor that had the execution order. The point is moot though, because in my opinion, I still think Saadia is lying and betrayed Hammerfell to the Aldmeri Dominion. Therefore, I will continue to turn her over to Kematu in future playthroughs.

[Timberwolf012]

I think no one is telling the truth. Saadia is obviously lying because the idea of Aldmeri Dominion sending a group of Alik'r warriors after her to Skyrim makes no sense (I could probably buy that if this was happening in Hammerfell). Also, why would the agents of Aldmeri Dominion hide in some cave with bandits, when the Thalmor have visible presence in the province and run around kidnapping dissidents?

And I don't believe Kematu, because Saadia could get help from the Thalmor if she's their agent. After all there's plenty of them in Skyrim and they clearly have the power to protect her. I guess it's possible that they won't help her, because she's useless to them now, or maybe she screwed something up, but it still doesn't explain why she didn't stay in Tanneth in the first place. It is now under AD control and their agent responsible for them capturing the city would be not only safe there, but probably in a position of power and protected from retribution.

I completely agree with you and from a roleplaying standpoint I am in a real pickle because I just made an Altmer pure mage and I am playing like he is a Dominion sympathizer. Both stories Kematu and Saadia tell you to try and get you on their side is that the other person is siding with the Thalmor (with the assumption that in this Nord continent I would just automatically hate the Dominion.) From my standpoint I should just kill them both since they are badmouthing my people.

In the end I'll probably side with Saadia because all my characters in Skyrim have a soft spot for women.

[dzio]

I only complete either side when I'm playing a bad guy - I either kill Kematu because a contract is a contract and that's what I've been hired to do, or I side with him, because I expect the organized group of mercenaries to pay better than one woman on the run. With other characters I usually ignore the Redguards in Whiterun completely, or kill the bandits, listen to Kematu and leave, deciding that I don't want anything to do with this mess. It means leaving an unfinished quest in my journal, which can be annoying, but it works well with my role play.

[BetaB17]

Ironic.. I complete both sides due to a loop hole.. Turn her in<_< kill him after the trade, I end up the happiest of all
In truth, I do favor Saadia, simply due to the aggressive questioning by the opposition at random. Still, I can't say which side is wrong or right, thus I assume both. As with the cat in the both, until proven the cat is both dead and alive<_< you won't know till you check. I apply the same. Both sides are equally true and false, we won't know unless all the questions are answered.. which never will..

[philfredobob]

The one thing that turns me off is the whole ''they are assassins sent by the dominion'' stuff. so the Thalmor hired a group of people from the country that despises them to dispose of a woman living in a city in which they have influence? this convinced me to go with Kematu.

We've seen that the Thalmor have their own people to deal with things. I can't see why they would waste time hiring a bunch of Alik'r Mercenaries to kill her off, when they could do the same thing themselves without difficulty.

[moonsugarkind]

Usually in these situations, I tend to go with the one laying low, but there's really no way to know who's telling the truth. Do I believe the group of men that's holing up with bandits and pestering Redguard women on the major roads or do I believe the woman that held a dagger at me and aggressively questioned me? For all we know, they could be lying over the Dominion and Thalmor talk and it could be something totally domestic. How do we know that she didn't run away from him specifically?

[Marelo]

^ According to this Wiki, the order of execution business is scripted and independent of any actions taken in game.

I find it hard to believe

I have verified this before with the Creation Kit, looking at the actual game data. It happens randomly regardless of any other quest completion, starting at level 8.

[tplink3r1]

3 thalmor are sent to kill you if you help Kematu...

[CBR JGWRR]

3 thalmor are sent to kill you if you help Kematu...

That's a separate event unrelated to this quest.

[The SheoDovah]

The Thalmor will always come after you due to it being a random encounter. It makes no sense at times depending on what you have done.

[LordAshton]

Both are truthful and neither are. It all comes down to what you, the player, decides.

[Black_Dog]

I side with Saadia because Kematu offers a fine duel.
He whiffs his dual power attacks a lot, though...

Both are truthful and neither are. It all comes down to what you, the player, decides.

Agreed. That's how the quest was intended. I think.

[House of the Wolf]

I was waiting to see what Bethy was going to do with any DLC before completing this one; alas, I side with Saadia--out of principle.

[Mattbott]

Saadia because bounty hunters are not the law

shame you cant marry her really

[House of the Wolf]

If you side with Kematu, Saadia's name ends up in Whiterun's Hall of the Dead.

[Elune]

Saadia's name could end up there because she disappeared without warning and is presumed dead.

Regardless, I believe Kematu, why? Because he has no reason to lie. That may sound weird off-hand but think about, if he was the betrayer why is he hunting her and not being hunted himself? Why would the Thalmor send Redguards, who successfully rebelled against them, to hunt down someone who spoke out against them, in a distance province? If Saadia spoke out against the Thalmor she could have stayed in Hammerfall.

They can't both be lying, because both have relatively similar stories (with key differences being whose on what side), obviously without consulting each other.

As for the argument about her age: The game has no Age slider as in Oblivion, no race has different ages. The elders are a separate race, called Elder and it only supports Nords. Making any guess on her age, when Redguards can only be one age because of gameplay restrictions is silly.

[Br3admax]

I don't know, the complexion slider can do wonders.

Anyway, a fifty year old women doesn't necessarily have to look really old.

As to what HotW said, that's not supposed to happen. It's a bug I think.

All in all, I never pick Saadia. The first thing she tries to do is pull a knife on you, only afterwards to go into a sob story about how she spoke out against the Thalmor, while none of the Redguards would even hunt her for this. They should have picked a much more believable story for her.

[cybrxkhan]

With my current playthrough I just ignore them all.

I can just get my cool redguard clothes with mods anyways.

[House of the Wolf]

If the Alik'r were telling the trutch, it would actually make much more sense for them to let Skyrim, or at least the Empire, know what she had done and, thus, why they were in Skyrim looking for her; they wouldn't co-mingle with a group of bandits in a cave far removed from any city/settlement, nor would they go sneaking around in Whiterun without at least trying to talk to its watch. What also diminishes their credibility is their harassment of random Redguard women along the roads--it'd be far more plausible that they'd know what she looks like, and not have that issue (the only reason they'd have that issue is if they were simply mercenaries, which would lend to the idea that they were, indeed, hired by the Thalmor [who, like all enigmatic organizations, use proxies to conduct their dirty-work]).

Saadia, on the other-hand, takes the more believable approach: she flees Hammerfell, where she doesn't know who she can trust (hired Alik'r can blend-in more easily [plus, it seems that she fled sometime during/just-after the war, which would lend to the fact that Hammerfell wouldn't be as safe a place, what with it being occupied, and all); she doesn't flee directly to the Empire because of an inherent distrust after the Thalmor get their foot into the door of the affairs of the Empire (a high-born seeking asylum from a then-occupied Hammerfell would get plenty of peoples' attention) and because of the Empire already having capitulated during the WGC; she flees to the safest place she can, for her, where the Thalmor are hated and she is geographically protected.

I don't believe it's a glitch that her name pops-up on an urn--I think it's symbolic/indicative.

[CBR JGWRR]

With my current playthrough I just ignore them all.

I can just get my cool redguard clothes with mods anyways.

Or just buy them from Radiant Raiment...

[Elune]

If the Alik'r were telling the trutch, it would actually make much more sense for them to let Skyrim, or at least the Empire, know what she had done and, thus, why they were in Skyrim looking for her; they wouldn't co-mingle with a group of bandits in a cave far removed from any city/settlement, nor would they go sneaking around in Whiterun without at least trying to talk to its watch. What also diminishes their credibility is their harassment of random Redguard women along the roads--it'd be far more plausible that they'd know what she looks like, and not have that issue (the only reason they'd have that issue is if they were simply mercenaries, which would lend to the idea that they were, indeed, hired by the Thalmor [who, like all enigmatic organizations, use proxies to conduct their dirty-work]).

Saadia, on the other-hand, takes the more believable approach: she flees Hammerfell, where she doesn't know who she can trust (hired Alik'r can blend-in more easily [plus, it seems that she fled sometime during/just-after the war, which would lend to the fact that Hammerfell wouldn't be as safe a place, what with it being occupied, and all); she doesn't flee directly to the Empire because of an inherent distrust after the Thalmor get their foot into the door of the affairs of the Empire (a high-born seeking asylum from a then-occupied Hammerfell would get plenty of peoples' attention) and because of the Empire already having capitulated during the WGC; she flees to the safest place she can, for her, where the Thalmor are hated and she is geographically protected.

I don't believe it's a glitch that her name pops-up on an urn--I think it's symbolic/indicative.

Mercenaries aren't exactly known for being classy. But at the same time I can't imagine any band of Redguards working for the the Thalmor. They did try and talk to the watch, as for harassing women on the roads - the women do look similar, have you heard of anyone who was civil with perceived traitors? Again your average mercenary is a step above common bandits.

As for the Thalmor hiring mercenaries, why? Someone mentioned the group of Thalmor dispatched to kill you, I realize it's a random event and not related to this quest, but the fact they dispatch actual Thalmor warriors instead of hiring out local thugs or help should tell you something. The Thalmor are notoriously arrogant and wouldn't trust others to get the job done.

The Redguards eventually forced a stalemate with the Dominion, leading to Aldmeri forces withdrawing completely from Hammerfell.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Hammerfell

So, why isn't someone who spoke out against the Thalmor in Hammerfell enjoying her hero status?

[Travalanche]

i usually roll with Saadia because if you hand her in they never really replace her at the inn, I saw Vignar grey mane stirring the pot of stew and it just seemed weird because he is the grey mane patriarch and above that.

[Taters]

What gets me is that Saadia claims the Alik'r could easily pay people off, and yet one Alik'r ends up in jail, and the others are forced to leave Whiterun and retreat to a cave. If they had such deep pockets, why not just pay to find her, or at least have the Whiterun guards look the other way? Add to that the fact that it's(to me) inconceivable that a woman who spoke out against the Thalmor would be hunted by her own people, who just won a war against them.

[godsmack]

I side with Saadia. The concept and principle is called “reasonable doubt”. I’m not siding with a mercenary to abduct a citizen of a city I’m Thane of. That’s called “kidnapping”. Nor am I siding with a group of hired thugs that can’t offer or produce the first shred of credible evidence or proof that they are who they say they are, or are acting in any official capacity. I’m just supposed to “take your word for it”? Sure, buddy, what ever you say. Not. To me that would be akin to sitting on a jury and convicting someone of a crime for which there is no solid evidence or proof of wrongdoing other than sketchy circumstantial evidence or hearsay. That’s not justice. I’m not going to chance turning over a potentially hapless or innocent woman, again, a citizen of a city I’m honor bound to defend and protect on a hunch or a whim without solid evidence that they’re actually guilty of some crime to some foreign mercenary cutthroats that may or may not be who they claim.

[Yaije]

I don't think Saadia is even a citizen of whiterun... she just showed up and got a job at the Inn.

edit: Is it revealed that Saadia isn't even her real name?