If you’ve ever played Skyrim AE, you’ll know the original Saints and Seducers quest chain. It starts with a note from Ri’saad, the wandering Khajit caravaner, and sends you to purge four bandit camps before delving into the Solitude sewers to kill a naked man with a funny helmet. (Yes, I know “delve” is a hallmark of AI writing. I promise you guys I used it literally.)
Unless you read all three of Thoron’s journals, you’ll never know what’s actually going on in this quest. Worse, even with the journals, the story is mid at best: Thoron happens upon a clump of Sheogorath-shaped amber, sees a glimpse of the realm of Mania, and hires a bunch of bandits to pilfer magical artefacts for him so he can go back there. The only thing of note in said journals is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it hint at the Greymarch:
Another vision. A long march through the gray. Crackle of boots, pressed on misshapen throats. In the fog, a whistle, marking time.
Other than that, it’s bandit killing all the way, except when you go to the sewers and kill a bunch of bugs.
Skyrim Extended Cut – Saints and Seducers is a fully-voiced, lore-friendly mod that takes the original premise of the Saints and Seducers quest and makes it not suck. While you’ll run into some familiar faces like Thoron, Staada, Kinthal and Svarig, you’ll step into…
…the Shivering Isles, first seen in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, for a polished, high-quality adventure through a new region of the Realm of Madness. Will you save the Shivering Isles from the threat of the Exile revolt? What secrets will you uncover within the mysterious Asylum? Meet a fresh cast of characters, explore a handcrafted new world, and immerse yourself in true madness.
Note that there are mild unmarked spoilers for both version of the Saints and Seducers quest below.
The Daedric Lord of Madness and Cheese
I like Sheogorath. Not just because Bethesda made him Scottish, but because it’s ever so rare to see a true chaotic neutral character. You never know what you’re going to get with Uncle Sheo. Except cheese. There’s always cheese. Speaking of cheese, if you really like Sheogorath and collecting stuff, do yourself a favor and add Cheesemod for EVERYONE to your next playthrough. You’re welcome!
The Shivering Isles is a brand new zone that contains the reworked Saints and Seducers quest chain, along with a few new side quests and NPCs. All new additions are fully voiced. The scripting and voice acting are AAA quality, matching and even surpassing Skyrim’s vanilla offering. The story, too, comes together in a way it never did before. For one thing, Staada exists (rather than popping up out of nowhere and demanding your stuff once you’ve finished the quest). Thoron’s motivations make sense, and he’s much more of a jackass in this one. By the time you finally get to kill him, you don’t just do it for the loot; you kinda want to.
A word of warning: If you’re doing a Legacy of the Dragonborn playthrough, is that you might run into a bug where you can’t get the Sword of Jyggalag at the end of the main quest (you can still spawn it using console commands).
Other than that, there’ll never not be a good time to take a stroll through the Shadow Isles. Don’t forget to stop by the Near Corgi Shop and have a chat with Theodor Gorlash. That is all.
TL;DR
- Quests: 👍👍
- Gameplay: –
- Rewards: 👍👍
- Music: –
- Voice acting: 👍👍👍
- Story: 👍👍
So, should you play Skyrim Extended Cut – Saints and Seducers?
Yes. Absolutely. It’s an upgrade from the original Saints and Seducers questline in every way, and it’s about ten times more fun. Just keep some console commands handy in case you need to brute-force your way through some of the bugs you might run into.
