“The Mind of Madness” Walkthrough for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

How to escape Pelagius’ mind and resolve the Daedric quest

Co-authored by Glenn Carreau

Last Updated: July 17, 2024 Fact Checked

Hoping to score the Wabbajack in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ? The Mind of Madness quest is all that's standing in your way. No worries, though—we've put together a simple walkthrough for this quest so you can get your hands on this Daedric artifact as soon as possible. Read on, and we’ll explain how to navigate the tormented mind of Pelagius III, finish each trial, and complete The Mind of Madness with no fuss!

Quick Walkthrough: Mind of Madness

Talk to Dervenin in Solitude and accept the Mind of Madness quest.
Get the key to the Pelagius Wing from Erdi, Una, or Falk in the Blue Palace.
Explore the Pelagius Wing and talk to Sheogorath in Pelagius’ mind.
Complete the 3 trials: Confidence, Paranoia, and Night Terrors.
Tell Sheogorath you fixed Pelagius’ mind after completing the trials.

1

Speak to Dervenin and agree to help him.

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Dervenin wanders around the streets of Solitude. You can usually find him between the Bard’s College and Blue Palace. He’ll request your help when you find him. Ask him, “What do you need?” followed by “How can I find your master?” to accept the quest. After that, he’ll give you Pelagius’ hip bone and direct you to the Blue Palace’s Pelagius wing. ^{[1]
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- Before getting this quest, you might hear a rumor from an innkeeper about a mad beggar wandering Solitude.
- You may also hear Dervenin himself saying things like, “Please, take pity on an old madman!” or “You! You’ll help me! You help people, right? That’s what you do?”

2

Enter the Blue Palace and find one of the servants.

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Erdi or Una can be convinced to give you a key to the Pelagius Wing. Select “I need to get into the Pelagius wing,” and then say, “Falk asked me to check it out.” You’ll need to pass an easy Speech check, after which either maid will agree to give you the key. Alternatively, if you've already helped Falk Firebeard, you can ask him for a key. ^{[2]
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- To help Falk Firebeard and get on his good side, you’ll need to complete the quest “The Man Who Cried Wolf.”
- Talk to Falk and offer to investigate Wolfskull Cave to start The Man Who Cried Wolf quest.

3

Enter and explore the Pelagius Wing.

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Upon reaching a lighted corridor, a loading screen will occur. When you first enter the wing, it’ll be unkempt and in disrepair. Then, when you walk through some cobwebs and into a lighted hallway, you’ll be transported into Pelagius’ mind. There, your character will be wearing a set of Fine Clothes (and you won’t be able to access your inventory to re-equip anything). ^{[3]
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- All of your normal items will be returned after you complete the quest and exit Pelagius’ mind.

4

Speak to Sheogorath.

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In Pelagius’ mind, you’ll see 2 people at the table: one is sitting on a throne (Sheogorath), and the other is Pelagius III. Tell Sheogorath to come back from vacation. He’ll agree to leave if you can escape Pelagius’ mind and give you the Wabbajack, a powerful Daedric Artifact. ^{[4]
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5

Complete Sheogorath's trials.

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Sheogorath will ask you to pass 3 trials to fix Pelagius' mind. Each trial is located beyond an arch, and they can all be found in the area around the dining table. The Arch of Confidence is southeast, the Arch of Night Terrors is northeast, and the Arch of Paranoia is northwest. See the steps below for a detailed overview of each trial! ^{[5]
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- Although the trials are numbered here, they can be completed in any order.

6

Help Pelagius’ confidence.

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In this trial, you’ll see Pelagius’ anger battling his confidence. “Anger” will take the form of a large soldier, while “Confidence” will look like a tiny person. Use the Wabbajack on Anger twice until it becomes tiny, then use it on Confidence twice until it’s as big as Anger used to be. This will allow Pelagius’ confidence to overcome his anger! ^{[6]
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- Try to enlarge Confidence and shrink Anger quickly; Confidence will shrink again every time it gets hit by Anger.
- You’ll also see two ghostly figures called “Self Doubt” appear, although they’ll only fight one another; you don’t need to worry about them attacking you (or Confidence).

7

Get rid of Pelagius’ night terrors.

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The goal of this trial is to wake a sleeping Pelagius the Tormented. You’ll see a bed in the forest with Pelagius sleeping on it. Use the Wabbajack on him, and use it on the monster that spawns afterward to transform it into something tamer. Keep repeating this process (shooting Pelagius, then the spawned monster) until Pelagius wakes up. ^{[7]
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- If you take too long to use the Wabbajack on each monster that appears, you’ll have to start over—so be fast!
- In order, the monsters that spawn are:
  - A wolf (which turns into a goat)
  - A bandit chief (which turns into a young Pelagius)
  - A hagraven (which turns into a beautiful maiden)
  - A flame atronach (which turns into a bonfire)
  - A dragon priest (which turns into an inaccessible chest)
- You don’t need to use the Wabbajack on the tamer creatures—only the monsters that spawn initially.

8

Defeat Pelagius’ paranoia.

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This trial features an arena with two fighting storm atronachs. On the opposite side of the arena, you’ll see Pelagius the Suspicious sitting with 2 bodyguards. Sheogorath will inform you that your monster must win the fight—but instead of targeting an atronach, shoot Pelagius’ bodyguards with the Wabbajack. They’ll transform into wolves and kill Pelagius. ^{[8]
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- The atronachs fighting in the arena are just a distraction; you can ignore them. If you shoot them with the Wabbajack a few times, Sheogorath will say, “Methinks your aim is off!”

9

Speak to Sheogorath after curing Pelagius.

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Sheogorath will allow you to leave when you finish all 3 trials. Tell him you’ve fixed Pelagius’ mind, and he’ll summon Dervenin. From there, he’ll let you keep the Wabbajack and return to the Shivering Isles (with Dervenin in tow), while your character will magically appear back in the Pelagius Wing with all their items and abilities restored. ^{[9]
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- Congratulations—the quest is now complete! It should resolve and register as complete in your quest log as well.
- There’s a copy of the skill book Surfeit of Thieves in the Pelagius Wing, so pick that up before leaving! It’s down the hall, at the bottom of the stairs.

Community Q&A

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Question

My sister is having trouble with the Madness quest, we tried 7 times and we can't get through this. Can someone help us?

Community Answer

Find Dervenin in Solitude (near Proudspire Manor and Hall of the Dead). Agree to help him and head to the Blue Palace. Request to enter the forbidden wing (Falk) and go upstairs to the misty hallway. Sheogorath will bring you to his realm and give you Wabbajack. Use it to complete the trials. Arena Trial: Hit one of the guys sitting in the chairs across the arena - they turn to wolves. Nightmares Trial: Hit Pelagius with Wabbajack and strike each enemy to turn them into something non-aggressive. Confidence Trial: Shrink the soldiers attacking Pelagius and increase Pelagius' size, using Wabbajack. Check out UESP.net if you need more help.

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I am stuck on this quest. As I was playing, I couldn't figure it out, so "fast traveled" back to Blue Palace. The problem is, my character is still in the clothes and carrying the Wabbajck staff, and I cannot access items or maps. I cannot figure out how to return to Pelagrius M. What do I do?

Community Answer

Problem: You fast-travelled, which therefore caused an error in your game, and it is now unable to be completed. Do not leave the area until you've completed the trials. Check UESP.net for a walkthrough if you need a tip or two. Solution: You will need to reload an older save from before you fast-traveled.

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What do I do if my game freezes at a certain part?

Community Answer

Freezing is common in TESV. Quit and reload an old save, then save before reaching the freezing point.

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Tips

The Wabbajack's effects are random. Effects range from disintegration of the target, transformation, spell casting, or even healing the target. Don't use it as your only weapon!

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When targeting Dwarven Centurions, the Wabbajack has a slightly higher chance of instantly killing the target or turning it into sweet rolls.

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Fortify your character’s Destruction skill to reduce the amount of charges needed to work the weapon. But even if you don't have a high skill, this is a great staff to use because it has so many Destruction spells.

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“The Mind of Madness” Walkthrough for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Quick Walkthrough: Mind of Madness

Steps

Speak to Dervenin and agree to help him.

Enter the Blue Palace and find one of the servants.

Enter and explore the Pelagius Wing.

Speak to Sheogorath.

Complete Sheogorath's trials.

Help Pelagius’ confidence.

Get rid of Pelagius’ night terrors.

Defeat Pelagius’ paranoia.

Speak to Sheogorath after curing Pelagius.

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