Rescue the Queen

Rescue the Queen is the mainline quest to free Anora, King Cailan's wife, from Arl Howe at the Arl of Denerim's Estate. After completing Arl of Redcliffe and gathering the other allies, the Warden travels to Denerim with Arl Eamon Guerrein. After arriving, Arl Eamon arranges for Anora's handmaid, Erlina, to meet with the Warden. Erlina tells the party that the queen is being held prisoner by Arl Rendon Howe at the Arl of Denerim's Estate.

General Outline

 * 1) Arl of Denerim's Estate
 * 2) * Travel to the Arl of Denerim's Estate
 * 3) * Meet with Erlina, who helps you sneak in
 * 4) * Explore the main level and find your way to the dungeon
 * 5) Dungeon
 * 6) * Confront Arl Howe
 * 7) * Converse with other prisoners
 * 8) Main level reprise
 * 9) * Fight interior guards
 * 10) * Rescue Anora
 * 11) * Escape or surrender

Exterior
Travel to Arl of Denerim's Estate from the City Map and meet with Erlina. She will explain that, due to peasant unrest, only the back entrance is open. Sneak past the crowds at the main entrance and follow the path to the back of the estate. If you are spotted, fight the four guards who appear; they will not sound the alarm.

When you meet up with Erlina again, she will warn you that the door guards will recognize your party as impostors, so let her distract them. (Take a few steps away from the door to trigger the cutscene.) Advance towards the door to enter the main level. Should you choose to fight the guards outside, the disguises will no longer work and you will have to fight your way through the estate.

Interior
Once inside, search the western part of the main level, thieving and looting as you might anywhere else. Eventually, you will end up at the Queen's room, which has been magically sealed, forcing you to find the mage responsible and thus—most likely—the Arl himself.

You can continue to loot the remaining rooms with impunity except for one belonging to Bann Vaughan. You can blow your cover now or save that room for later. Either way, trouble is on its way. If you do enter, you will interrupt a maid and a guard enjoying an intimate moment. He recognizes that you are not one of Howe's guards and sounds the alarm. Although he is easy to kill, the remaining guards will turn hostile.

In the last hallway before reaching the dungeon you will find a locked door that requires Mechanical Expertise to unlock. Improved Tools with a high enough level of Cunning will work as well. Behind it lies piles of treasure, including Howe's Shield and a lot of money. In the last room before the dungeon, note that there's a chest that contains some mildly interesting Grey Warden documents.

Dungeon
As you arrive in the dungeon, one of the prisoners takes advantage of the distraction of your entrance to overpower his guard. Riordan is a Grey Warden from Orlais who has a brief conversation with you before heading out.

Your disguises will no longer work, so get ready to start fighting. Eventually, you will find your way to to Arl Howe, who offers very little conversation before attacking. His corpse has Biteback Axe and some keys, allowing you to free the Queen as well as taking a shortcut back to the main level.

Before you leave (or on your way to Howe), you also have an opportunity to chat with (and perhaps free) some of the other prisoners. Take special note of Bann Vaughan, who can be spared in exchange for his vote at the Landsmeet.


 * See also: Arl of Denerim's Estate - Dungeon

Reprise: Interior
There are two exits back to the main level: the entrance closer to Howe requires fighting larger numbers of guards simultaneously; returning the way you came involves more walking, but smaller confrontations. Area of Effect spells, traps, and bombs are very helpful in controlling the masses and choke points. Regardless of the path, fight your way back to the Queen's room, where you will find her disguised for travel back to her estate.

Note that these guards are likely the ones that you would have otherwise fought and killed on way your to completing this quest if you had chosen not to wear the disguises.

Alas, for all your subterfuge and prowess eliminating Howe's guards, the exit is blocked by Ser Cauthrien, who offers you the choice to surrender or die.

Choosing to surrender
You can decide to surrender to Cauthrien, which causes the Warden (and Alistair, if present) to be locked up in the jail at Fort Drakon and activates the quest Captured! (see the main article for details).

Not all companions think surrender is a pragmatic choice: Sten will react with approval and Oghren with  approval.

Choosing to fight
Cauthrien's team presents one of the toughest challenges in the game. Winning is rewarded with The Summer Sword and the freedom to walk out. If the party loses, the Warden (and potentially Alistair) will be captured.

Best XP and Loot Scenario
If you surrender to Ser Cauthrien, you miss the XP and loot from her and her guards. If you fight and win, you miss doing the entire "Captured!" part of the quest. The option that gives the most loot and XP is to fight and kill Cauthrien and her party except for one guard. Loot the bodies, then proceed to suicide using AOE spells or similar so that you will be captured by the single remaining guard. This way you get the XP and loot for both fighting and surrendering.

Furthermore you will meet Ser Cauthrien again later and get yet another chance to kill her and a different set of guards, earning a second Summer Sword. This is presumably because Ser Cauthrien will be revived after the first battle, just like you would if you fell in battle but one of your companions wins the day. She obviously has a second Summer Sword in her armory, and an extra head to replace the one you can chop off via a 'messy kill' in the first fight.

Result

 * Queen Anora is rescued (no matter how you played it) and can be found at Arl of Redcliffe's Estate.
 * Elven Alienage is unlocked; Unrest in the Alienage is activated.
 * Miscellaneous loot includes: Howe's Shield, Biteback Axe, The Summer Sword, 40 from Vaughan (or 80 on the PS3), and a pile of treasure.

Bugs

 * Morrigan can sometimes lose her upgraded armor when the Guard disguise is automatically removed; instead of her Robes of Possession, she ends up with Morrigan's Robes. To work around this, equip Morrigan with any other armor before beginning the quest or choose not to disguise yourself.


 * Alistair can sometimes lose his upgraded armor when the Guard disguise is automatically removed; instead of his Blood Dragon Armor Set, he ends up without any armor except for his helm. To work around this, equip Alistair without any armor before beginning the quest or choose not to disguise yourself.


 * Another possible bug is to end up with the "disguised" equipment permanently, including the battle with Howe and beyond. This bug can even extend itself to Fort Drakon, rendering your actual play-run useless (disguised equipment cannot be removed). (present in 1.04 patch, known as the 'Armor Disguise Bug' in Bioware's official forums. Recommended workarounds are the "runscript zz_economizer" console command, and blowing your cover by entering the room with the guard and the maid sharing an intimate moment.)

Trivia
Warden - "Death first!" May be a reference to Humberdinck and Wesley's encounter in the Fire Swamp.
 * Ser Cauthrien - "Surrender and you may be shown mercy."
 * The Grey Warden's dialogue option to disguised Queen Anora "Aren't you a little short to be a guard?" is taken from Star Wars.