Missing in Action is a side quest that starts in Whiterun (Whiterun Hold) and drags you into the feud between the city’s two great clans. Fralia Gray-Mane refuses to believe her son Thorald died fighting for the Stormcloaks, and she is convinced the Imperial-friendly Battle-Borns know more than they admit. She is right, and the trail ends in a Thalmor prison.
How to start
- On a daytime visit to Whiterun’s market (typically your second), you witness Fralia arguing with Olfrid Battle-Born and his son Idolaf about Thorald. Speak to Fralia afterwards and she asks you to come to her house to talk in private.
- Alternatively, walk into House Gray-Mane and talk to Avulstein Gray-Mane directly. He will first accuse you of working for the Battle-Borns, but can be talked round.
Walkthrough
Meet Fralia in her home
Inside House Gray-Mane, Avulstein greets you with his weapon out until Fralia vouches for you. He explains that Thorald was captured, not killed, and that the Battle-Borns must be holding some sort of proof. He no longer dares to leave the house himself, so the search falls to you.
Find evidence of Thorald’s fate
The evidence is an Imperial missive. There are three main ways to get it:
- Lockpicking: the missive lies in a small office next to a bedroom on the ground floor of the Battle-Born house, on your left as you enter by the main door. The office has an Adept lock and no key exists, though occasionally it is left open when a family member has just been inside.
- Pickpocketing: lift a letter from Olfina off Jon Battle-Born. Confront him about his secret romance with Olfina Gray-Mane and he agrees to bring you the missive at the statue of Talos.
- Speech: pass a very hard persuasion check with Idolaf (the source puts it at Speech 75). Idolaf was once Thorald’s friend and looked into the matter himself; he reveals that the Thalmor hold Thorald at Northwatch Keep and hands over a copy of the missive.
Entering the Battle-Born house is legal if the family considers you a friend. You can earn that by helping Lars Battle-Born with the girl bullying him (see Bullying Braith), answering “Battle-Born” when Idolaf asks which side you are on, or selling crops to Alfhild Battle-Born.
Deliver proof to Avulstein
Take the missive back to House Gray-Mane. If the door is locked, Eorlund Gray-Mane comes home around 9pm. Avulstein is horrified to learn the Thalmor are involved and wants to assault Northwatch Keep in Haafingar with his friends Geirlund and Vidrald. You can agree to meet them there, or tell him to stay hidden while you try to handle it yourself.
Rescue Thorald from Northwatch Keep
The guard at the gate will not release Thorald, and General Tullius refuses any request for a release order, even after the civil war is over. One way or another, you are going in. Pick your approach:
- Direct assault: fight through the Thalmor, who use fire and shock magic, leveled weapons and Elven light armor. Thalmor archers may kill Geirlund or Vidrald before they even reach the keep.
- Stealth: on the north side, an open gate in a wooden palisade (watched by one guard) leads to a side door with a Master lock. This route means fighting through only a couple of rooms. Watch out for a patrolling guard and a lookout on the north wall; if they turn hostile they tend to bunch up at that door, which is a fine moment for a Shout.
- Pacification: the Harmony spell calms most of the garrison. Only the Thalmor mage and the Interrogator resist it, and once they are dealt with you can walk Thorald out untroubled.
Thorald is chained to the wall at the back of the prison area. Kill the Northwatch Interrogator to free him; Thorald grabs a weapon and follows you. If Avulstein came along, the brothers have a brief reunion.
Lead Thorald to safety and speak to him
Escort Thorald outside. He thanks you, explains that the Thalmor will now hunt him and that Whiterun is the first place they would look, and decides that he and Avulstein will disappear into the Stormcloak ranks. He gives you a message for his mother: “Suffer the winter’s cold wind, for it bears aloft next summer’s seeds.”
Return to Fralia Gray-Mane
Fralia is overjoyed but wants proof that you are not just telling her what she wants to hear. Repeat Thorald’s message and she knows it is true. She gives you the weapon Eorlund forged as a homecoming present for her son.
Choices and consequences
- Evidence: stealing, pickpocketing or persuading all lead to the same result. Stealing the missive may lead Bergritte Battle-Born to send hired thugs after you, even if you were not caught.
- Assault with Avulstein or go alone: with Avulstein you get extra blades, but his friends may die. Alone you can pick a stealthy or peaceful approach. Either way, Avulstein leaves the game once you report back to Fralia.
- Eorlund’s fate: if Eorlund has died before you finish, Fralia can only offer 200 gold instead of the weapon.
Rewards
- Leveled enchanted steel weapon, or 200 gold if Eorlund is dead
Tips and notes
- Imperial-aligned characters can complete the quest with no extra trouble, even though the Gray-Manes back the Stormcloaks. Thorald and Avulstein still refuse to come home even if Whiterun is in Stormcloak hands.
- Do not attempt the rescue in werewolf form: Thorald frees himself and turns hostile.
- If Thorald does not follow you after being freed, he may have no weapon to pick up; dropping one at his feet usually solves it.
- If the escort stalls after you leave through one exit, try the other one. The Interrogator carries a key to the side door.
- Geirlund and Vidrald may stay in the Northwatch courtyard afterwards if they survive. Followed after the rescue, Thorald heads for the Palace of the Kings in Windhelm.
- A cut path would have let you obtain a release order from General Tullius after The Jagged Crown; it never made it into the finished game.
- The quest journal includes failure stages, so avoid getting on the wrong side of the Gray-Manes while it is active.
