I remember on my 1st run I was so pissed off by the Warden acting all smug I just slaughtered her there and then. She got curb-stomped so hard that she couldn't even move to activate the levers, then I killed all the guards and the eye in the basement. Then looked around, found Wulbren's hammer and rest flowed naturally... never even encountered such difficulties. wink

On my 2nd run I did the opposite, killed everyone and saved the Warden for last. But yeah, there are few different approaches (other than taking the boat at the back of the cave) to this quest, but that also requires clearing the docks (at least there are tadpoles in that one barrel). wink