Skyrim:Unfinished Quests

This page lists quests that were meant to be included in Skyrim, but didn't make it to the finished version of the game. All that remains of the quests now are journal entries that can't be triggered. They can still be accessed by using console commands. However, since these quests are locked for a reason (like incompatibility with other quests), it is best not to access them. Some quests involve unused NPCs. For information on unused content in general, please see the related page.
 
Daedric
Boethiah's Bidding
This would have been a second quest given to you by Boethiah, which functioned more as a secondary task. The "quest" would start immediately after completing Boethiah's Calling by killing her previous champion and equipping the Ebony Mail. Instead of Boethiah congratulating you, she would instead inform you of your new objective, assassinating the Jarl of Solitude, Elisif the Fair using stealth, deceit and guile. 

Boethiah would've spread rumors of an assassin coming for the jarl, and she would lock herself into her private chambers out of paranoia. The whole Blue Palace would go on high alert. You would not be able to walk around inside without constant supervision. Due to this, a guard would constantly accompany you while walking around, unless you could convince a friend inside the Palace to escort you instead. Access to the jarl's private chambers could be granted in two ways. You could either get a key to the door from either Erdi or Una, the two servants, or you could request help from a friend who would convince Elisif to let you inside her chamber in order to function as her personal bodyguard.

Possible friends that could help you with the latter option include steward Falk Firebeard, court wizard Sybille Stentor, housecarl Bolgeir Bearclaw, thane Bryling, her personal guard Irnskar Ironhand, thane Erikur's personal guard Melaran, but also Erikur's sister Gisli (who normally doesn't set foot in the Blue Palace under any circumstances) and the Palace's cook, Odar.

Once Elisif was slain, Boethiah would use her body as a conduit in order to speak with you. She would tell you that you've earned her respect and will be allowed to keep the Ebony Mail. With Solitude's jarl dead, many events would be set in motion. Many of these events had dialogue already recorded for them and include: 
An alternate version of a scene between Bryling and Falk, discussing Erikur.
New comments for both Solitude guards and Stormcloak-aligned guards.
An alternate version of the scene where Legate Rikke and General Tullius discuss the Jagged Crown.
An alternate version of the conversation prior to killing General Tullius during Battle for Solitude, where Galmar Stone-Fist says that he has sent men to round up Erikur.
Erikur pledging allegiance to Ulfric Stormcloak during the final victory speech during Liberation of Skyrim, in place of Elisif.

The most important consequence to the act would've been the fact that a new jarl would need to be chosen. Thane Erikur would be the one to replace Elisif, with him gaining new dialogue related to this as well. He would also give you the ability to, for one time only, completely erase your bounty in Haafingar by just talking to him.

In the final game however, Elisif will always be essential, and Boethiah's quest will have no influence her at all.

Notes
It seems that at one point, Gisli was considered as a steward for Solitude, this may explain her inclusion as one of the possible "friends" who are almost always found at the Blue Palace.
Outside of the examples mentioned above, no replacement scenarios exist for other quests where Elisif would've been involved, for example Season Unending.
Both Erdi and Una have dialogue in relation to the scene that would've played out if you took the bodyguard route, instead of their route. This is odd since they do not have recorded dialogue for the other dialogue options.
Script notes indicate that Erikur would've been aware that it was you who assassinated Elisif. How he would be aware of this is never specified.

Bugs
 

 

The Cause
Some of the later objectives of the quest were removed, and some were moved to the next quest.   was intended to be the boss, but was replaced by Valkyn Methats.
 
 

College of Winterhold
Filling Soul Gems
This would have been a quest to buy, find, or fill a grand soul gem for Sergius Turrianus.  
 

Research Thief
This would have been a quest given by Nirya to steal Faralda's research notes from an unspecified location. After obtaining the notes, it could have been given to Nirya in return for 100 gold or you could have reported Nirya's request to Faralda. The quest is fairly complete, however the scripting is incorrect, and Faralda's notes do not appear anywhere in the game.
 

Rogue Wizard
This would have been a quest to kill a rogue wizard. The wizard could have appeared in any warlock lair or draugr crypt that had a boss in it. In its current state of development, there is no reward for the quest.
 

The Missing Apprentices
This was to be a quest to find the four missing apprentices of Phinis Gestor. The four students, Borvir, Ilas-Tei, Rundi, and Yisra, can be found dead around Skyrim. They each have an item which identifies them (e.g. Rundi's Dagger), which you would have had to bring to Phinis to prove their fate. The students' corpses and items appear and Phinis Gestor will talk about them, but bringing the items to him has no effect. 
 

Miscellaneous
A Bad Trade
This quest involved placing a burial urn in Yngol Barrow. Birna in Winterhold should have sold the burial urn and wanted you to place it back in the barrow. Upon replacing the urn, you would have received 200 gold. Birna currently sells a Coral Dragon Claw, purchasing it advances the quest to stage 20, but nothing else can happen. 

The quest objective is not set to display at any time.
 

Animal Pelt Collection
This quest would have had you collecting animal pelts for Aela the Huntress, however several parts of the quest are incomplete and it does not appear in the list of radiant quests that the game can run. Unlike most other quests of this type, the amount of pelts required would have been random, ranging from three to seven.
 

Collecting the Edda
This quest would have seen you collecting pieces of the Poetic Edda from bards you meet across Skyrim. The Poetic Edda is a living history of Skyrim, written by each bard studying at the Bards College. This quest would most likely have been acquired after finishing Tending the Flames.
 

E3demo
This quest was used in the E3 demo. The parts of it are: a scene about a fox and a hare, some wolves, and a dragon attack. After that is a part very similar to the dungeon portion of the quest Bleak Falls Barrow. Finally there is a giant which gets carried away by a dragon after which a second dragon is attacking. This quest was used in the official gameplay video released by Bethesda.
 

Lod's Lot
This quest would have been similar to this quest, but the two quests are actually separate. In this quest you would have bought a book off Lod that has something in it that is of interest to Kust, so you would give him the book. Whatever this book is, it is not found in-game and there is no way of starting this quest.
 

Runil's Dark Past
This quest would have had you talk to Runil after hearing that his friends feel he's troubled. After he revealed that he'd been a Thalmor battlemage during the war, you would have had the option to either tell him that his secret is safe with you or tell Kust, Indara Caerellia, and Mathies about his past.
 

Supply Line
This quest was supposed to have the College of Winterhold apprentices Rundi and Borvir open up Frost River Farm, a meadery to the east of Dragon Bridge in Haafingar. The objective was to bring their popular Frost River Mead to Candlehearth Hall, The Bannered Mare or The Frozen Hearth for a reward of 50 septims. However, the quest was not completed and Rundi and Borvir both ended up dead in the final game.
 

Trius' Trinket
This would have been a quest where, upon meeting Trius outside a shipwreck, he asks you to search it for a jewelry box. Returning it to him would have given you a new spell. However, Trius does not appear in-game.