I noticed this many years ago but the issue couldn't be reproduced at the time. However, I now am able to repeat it consistently:
It is possible that actors leaving Dragonsreach can spawn in the water under the bridge, near to the stairs on the left side (from exiting) instead of in front of the door on the bridge as they should do.
I have figured out this only happens when the player is located far from the Dragonsreach door when the actors transition through it. If the player is close to the door, the actors spawn in front of the door as they should. This appears to reproduce 100% of the time.
In the save file provided, remain still until Irileth transitions through the door, (this takes a while as she waits for the guard in front of her) then sprint to the door and open it. irileth and the guard she walked through with will have spawned in the water beneath the bridge. This seems to work every time for me. (Only unofficial patch installed). Playing around with this save file I have also witnessed commander Caius also spawning in that weird location, but this only happens when deviating from these specific instructions. Remaining still until irileth goes through the door should only work on her and the guard.
Also, as i was making this, i just noticed that there is a guard spawning in the air in the middle of the district and falling to his death near the tree outside the temple. This isn't 100% reproducing but the same method mentioned above is triggering this on occasion.
Attached Files:
Save6_DAB60382_1_4A617273687561_WhiterunDragonsreach_000158_20250422184242_4_1.ess
Dead guard.png
Issue Data
Issue #35196: Actors leaving Dragonsreach can have incorrect spawns if player is far from the door