Savlian Matius Charge the Courtyard: How to Fix the Most Annoying Bug in Oblivion Remastered

You’ve finally closed the Oblivion Gate. Your character is covered in Daedric blood, the sky is turning back from that sickly red to a nice Cyrodilic blue, and you think the hard part is over. You run over to the gate of Kvatch, ready to lead the charge and reclaim the city. But then you meet Savlian Matius.

He stands there. He stares. And then he starts screaming.

"Charge the courtyard! Leave none of them standing!"

Fair enough. You kill the Scamps. You smash the Clannfears. You look around, and there isn't a single demonic entity left breathing. You go back to Savlian, expecting a hero's welcome or at least the next set of orders. Instead, he just looks at you and yells it again. And again. Savlian Matius charge the courtyard becomes the only phrase in his entire vocabulary, and suddenly, your main quest progress is deader than a Kvatch guard.

Why Savlian Matius Gets Stuck in a Loop

If you’re playing the Oblivion Remastered (released in 2025), you’ve probably realized that while the lighting is gorgeous and the textures are crisp, some of the 2006-era jank is still very much alive. This specific bug is a "soft-lock." Basically, the game’s script is waiting for a specific "trigger" to tell Savlian that the courtyard is clear.

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Sometimes, a single Scamp has clipped through a wall or fallen under the map. Other times, the game just fails to realize the combat has ended. Because Savlian is "in combat mode" technically, he won't initiate the dialogue required to move the quest, The Battle for Castle Kvatch, to the next stage. It's frustrating. It's immersion-breaking. Honestly, it’s enough to make you want to join the Mythic Dawn just out of spite.

The "Hidden Scamp" Theory

Most players assume the quest is broken. Often, it's just a physics issue. Check the following:

• The Well: Look around the stone well in the center of the courtyard. Enemies love to get stuck behind the geometry there.
• The Gatehouse: Sometimes a guard and a Daedra are "fighting" through a closed door, and the game won't progress until one dies.
• The Walls: In the Remastered version, the increased draw distance sometimes aggros enemies on top of the castle walls that you can't even reach yet.

How to Fix the Savlian Matius Charge the Courtyard Bug

Don't delete your save. You don't even need to restart the quest, though having a backup save before you entered the city gates is always a "pro gamer move" in any Bethesda title. If Savlian is stuck in his "Charge the courtyard!" loop, you have to take matters into your own hands.

Method 1: The "Manual Progress" Workaround

The most reliable way to fix this is to ignore Savlian entirely. Yes, he’s the captain, but he’s clearly having a moment.

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1. Leave Savlian screaming in the courtyard.
2. Walk directly into the Kvatch Castle Great Hall (the big building northwest of where he’s standing).
3. Kill everything inside. You'll likely face some Fire Atronachs and Scamps.
4. Navigate through the hall, past the throne, and into the Duke’s Quarters.
5. Find the body of Count Ormellius Goldwine next to his bed.
6. Loot the Colovian Signet Ring from his corpse.

Once that ring is in your inventory, the game’s quest logic usually "wakes up." When you walk back out to the courtyard, Savlian should stop shouting his battle cry and finally acknowledge that the Count is dead.

Method 2: The Fast Travel Reset

If you aren't "in combat" but Savlian is still bugged, try fast-traveling to the Kvatch Refugee Camp at the bottom of the hill. Wait or sleep for an hour, then walk back up. This forced cell reset can sometimes snap the AI back into its proper routine.

Method 3: Console Commands (PC Only)

If you're on PC, you have the ultimate power. Open the console with the tilde (~) key. You can try to force the quest stage forward, but usually, just moving Savlian to you works.

• Type prid 00028A7A and hit Enter.
• Type moveto player and hit Enter.
  By teleporting him away from his "stuck" spot, you often break the loop.

What Most People Get Wrong About This Quest

There’s a common misconception that you must have Savlian with you to enter the castle. You don’t. In fact, if you’re playing on a higher difficulty, Savlian and his men are basically paper weights. They’ll get knocked unconscious every ten seconds anyway.

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Another weird detail: The Kvatch Cuirass you get as a reward. A lot of players think they missed out on it if the quest bugs. As long as you bring that ring back to Savlian—even if he was glitching earlier—he will still hand over the armor. It’s enchanted with Fortify Strength and Endurance, which is a massive help early in the game.

Making the Most of the Battle

The Battle for Castle Kvatch is one of the few times in Oblivion where you actually feel like you’re part of a war. If you want the "best" outcome, try to keep the named guards alive, like Berich Inian. If Berich dies, you have to loot the Guard House Key off him to get to the gatehouse lever. If he lives, he actually leads you through the Undercroft. It’s a small narrative touch that makes the world feel more alive.

Survival Tips for the Courtyard

• Use the high ground: There’s a sniping perch near the well that lets you rain arrows down on the Daedra.
• Watch your friendly fire: It's incredibly easy to accidentally hit a Kvatch guard. If you do it too many times, they’ll turn on you, and then you’re fighting the Daedra and the people you're trying to save.
• Speed is key: The longer the fight drags on, the more likely the AI is to glitch out. Use those scrolls you've been hoarding.

Final Thoughts on Saving Kvatch

At the end of the day, Savlian Matius charge the courtyard is just one of those quirks that gives the Elder Scrolls its "charm." It’s annoying, sure, but the fix is straightforward once you know that the game just wants that Colovian Signet Ring.

If you’ve handed over the ring and Savlian is still acting weird, your next step is to head back to the refugee camp and find Brother Martin. Sometimes talking to him is the "final" trigger needed to clear the Kvatch questline from your active journal and get on with the business of saving Tamriel from Mehrunes Dagon.

Actionable Next Steps:

1. Check your inventory for the Colovian Signet Ring; if you don't have it, go back into the Castle Great Hall immediately.
2. If the ring is in your inventory but Savlian won't talk, fast travel to the Imperial City and back to reset the NPC's state.
3. Check the "Find the Heir" quest in your journal to see if the objective has already shifted to "Talk to Martin," which happens automatically if Savlian is too bugged to finish his dialogue.