The worst part is that Dijkstra would never try to kill Roche and the others in front of Geralt. If he were to kill them, Geralt would never know it was Dijkstra's doing. And as it stands, it feels extremelly uncharacteristic of the smart and manipulative Dijkstra to do what he does in the game.
That part always feels so incredibly stupid. We return from cutting down 50 fully armed Redanian Kingsguard in a close quarters battle and what does Sigi do? He brings 5 unarmored thugs to fight the dream team of murder in a wide open courtyard. He could've tipped off the meeting location to the guards or Witch Hunters, or lured each individual into an ambush. He could have poisoned the ale. But no, he doesn't do anything remotely clever and the big idiot dies in a really violent way doing the one thing he admits he sucks at: melee combat.
Yeh Dijkstra ho is spy and knows very well Geralt would definitely defend his friends ,So he would perhaps kidnap them or asassinate them and blame it on nilfgard to continue the war
When I thought I got Ciri killed in the good ending, I almost had a panic attack. That feeling of relieve and joy when i saw her alive and well, and chatting with Geralt about the contract, is something I will never forget in my life.
I completely agree with your BaW ending choice, it seems perfect for the Witcher universe. Geralt is blamed for something that wasn’t his fault, Dandelion shows his great friendship with Geralt and it’s a little bittersweet.
Indeed, the Witcher world is characterized (I think, at least) by a fairly cruel and unfair world that crushes most within it and rarely sees true justice served.... but still has enough light and happiness in the ties one has with ones loved ones, that it's all still worth it.
@@amazewolf2494 There's also a tiny treasure hunt side quest where you can read the notes of a man who got exiled from Toussaint for accidentally humming one of Dandelion's ballads in the presence of ''Her Illustrious Highness''. He then tries to gift her a shaelmaar to get back into her good graces, and gets himself and his hired crew killed doing it. Then there's another side quest where you can save Beauclair's barber, and the poet who hires you and goes with you to do it keeps making new verses about/for Anna Henrietta, at one point prompting Geralt to ask why he needs so many to which he'll respond that she is as fickle as can be and may just decide to execute him for not having something to entertain her with if she gets ''bored of her breakfast'' that day. Anna is always on an emotional power trip. A complete tyrant. It's just hard to see her that way due to her personal charm and her looks. Like seriously, she EXILED a man for humming a (super popular) ballad accidentally just because it was written by her ex, a man she cheated on her husband with and was then surprised to find him being a player. The same way monsters are susceptible to silver, Anna Henrietta is susceptible to accountability.
Just finished my first playthrough and did the snowball fight and thought I was going to get one of the bad endings and my heart broke when Geralt went to tell Ciris father she had died. Then had this random mission to pick up a silver sword I thought was on her memory. Then i went to the white orchard inn and behold she was there and Geralt gave her her very own first witcher silver sword. I almost cried of joy.
I literally got the bad ending my first time because I MISSCLICKED. Instead of having a snowball fight with her I had a drink with her and that lead me to have one less "positive point" than I needed to get a good ending. So instead of crying out of joy I was crying out of sadness and emptyness
everytime i see geralt look into the camera and smile at the end of blood and wine my whole heart just melts. i love that dude like a DAD. what an amazing character.
Blood and Wine's main story is very underrated, I argue that it's better than a lot of base game story beats, and there's a lot more to appreciate on a second playthrough. There's a scene that stuck out to me on my second playthrough of B&W in which the two investigate the toy maker's building, and discover the mural painting of Syanna, the camera pans back to reveal a host of puppets on sets of strings, which is a fantastic hint to what's going on. Really, really powerful imagery that you don't quite catch on a first time playthrough. I also just think the smaller scale stories of the DLC expansions are generally more interesting that the overall base game. I guess I'm just more interested in things like family drama and character studies than "saving the world" plots. Regis is also just incredibly based.
for me, Regis is the best addition to the DLC as he is really cool and I kinda like the whole situation that he got involved with deftlaf, so bad that he goes away after the DLC and I really dispise Syanna and the whole fairy tale thingy with her, I personally don´t like that sort of stuff even though I am playing a game about knights and monster.
The most important for me in B&W is to save Regis from the anger of the vampires because he is the most consistent character who doesn’t deserve the severe punishment coming with the fairy tale ending.
yeah i totally agree especially since he is immortal and has to live with his entire race hating him forever he doesnt deserve that also if he is hated by the vampires doesnt that mean he will have an extremly lonely live
He didnt need to kill Deflat, just imprision him to cool off. Just like what happened to Regis himself after melting against Vilgerfortz. He took a while to regenerate.
@@doodlegoose2262 yeah he does but in the fairy tale ending its even worse geralt will die at some point but he will probably not and then if the other vampires hate him he will be completely alone. He is truly immortal and watching his mortal friends die over and over without having someone who is as immortal as he is must be one of the worst things anyone can go through.
Crazy how this game can tell multiple outcomes of multiple stories and keep them all faithful and the show can’t adapt a story that is already written and keep it faithful lmao
Brother, I also got the bad ending on my first play through, and I feel the exact same way. Literally was so distraught I didn’t even bother continuing to play the DLCs. I just started a new run immediately to right my wrongs. I haven’t finished yet, but great video so far. :)
First time I played i thought I got the bad ending because I was talking to Emhry and told him she died. I was so distraught I just started a save from when you first get ciri and looked up how to save her. If I would have paid attention, I would have realized that I literally made all of those choices but one. (When you meet the lodge I went with her) It always makes me laugh when I think about it , I was so invested
@@stormnp1846 Oh I see. I’ve played through 3 times (including the first play through that I abandoned). Gotten all achievements, 380+ hours. Done for now, but knowing the game I’ll probably go back eventually. Maybe when they release the next gen edition. :)
I really like the ending where Ciri doesn't return because it feels like it's the most book parallel in terms of characters. Geralt returns to his "emotionless killer" facade from the early books, and Ciri continues realm hopping, realizing that she can only do so much to outrun destiny. It feels kind of regressive, but also like something Sapkowski would've written.
So true! It is the one ending which sticks the most to the books. Sapkowski is not known for writing happy endings and I like it that way. Endings like these are hard to bear but linger on the most. For the games witcher ending is my favorite tho. Bcs she is moving on and not falling back into old habits. I want her to evolve.
Sapkowski made Ciri an empress, and hinted that Geralt kept being a witcher, if only to hunt one last escaped monster from some mage lab (I'm kinda too lazy rn to check the book for details).
@@GrimK77 yeah, I read Season of Storms earlier this year. He never officially confirms myself as geralt, but it's obviously him. Tho I think the Empress Ciri you're thinking of is the doppelganger mentioned in the video, not actually her. The last place she's mentioned being in the timeline of the books is the world of Camelot, unless I'm mistaken.
@@mattdanc Yes she returns to world of Camelot as "Lady of the Lake". Bcs Galahad keeps calling her by that name and refused to call her differently. For me she might explore this world for a while and travel through time and space if she is getting restless again. Season of storms plays before the saga If I understood correctly. During a time were Geralt and Yen were separated
Personally the ending I got when I first played Blood and Wine was the Fairy-tale one. I was simply doing what I though was "fitting". What I mean by that is - The whole Toussaint is very picturesque, it allowed me to take a breather and relax after emotion-full endings and hard decisions. I took that DLC as holidays for Geralt, and simply went with the flow and that's how I ended up. I never had the heart to try the other endings though. Yes I am a sucker for fairy tales.
I did...Witcher "Bad"/Tragic endings are always great to see too. My favs is the fairy tale both sister live and forgive then also letting Dettlaff kill Syanna whether I fight or spare him then Geralt goes to prison for "failure". It's great and bittersweet fits the theming a lot. I also got the Fairy Tale good ending first time...I'm not an idiot you always listen to the Vampire Buddy. But I prefer the darker bittersweet I love getting the option to decide if Dettlaff should die or not. Syanna went too far. But the villain's are the parents of Anna and Syanna plus the Knights.
Tbh I actually liked the ending where all of them dies. I didn't like Anna, detlaff and Sienna. All of them are so selfish and only see from their pov. So all them dieing because of their foolishness was so good. After repeating to Anna 1000 times that her sister was bad she didn't listen, after trying to clam detlaff down he didn't listen, after trying change Sienna ways she didn't listen. When all of them died I was so happy.
I created a manual save at some point because I was almost certain going to see the Elder was the wrong decision but I really wanted to interact with him. Then I did everything as I thought I should and stumbled on the fairy tale ending.
@@SimuLorddoing that ended up with me getting syanna that stupid ribbon. I figured it may help to show kindness (plus gwent). Let's just say I did not expect the results of that decision.
The picturesque fairytale scenery is superficial tho, it’s a surface level veneer hiding a dark world infested with vampires and monsters just like velen, it just doesn’t rain as much. The main story and side quests are filled with grey decisions, almost every place of interest has a dead body with a note attached telling you a tragic story. I can’t imagine anyone reading the books in tesham mutnar thinking “this is a vacation” lol. I would argue one of the biggest strengths of the witcher as a franchise (books and games) is how it subverts classic fantasy storytelling.
So glad you also see the mental gymnastics required for the empress ending. I never understood why so many people feel she only becomes a Witcher if you force her that way
Ciri cannot undergo the Trial of the Grasses and become a witcher. No matter how skilled she might be, she cannot take potions or endure the hardships of a real witcher. Her life would be short as a witcher. Becoming empress really is the best ending for her.
@@ama9385-w2g Because elder blood doesn't make her invincible. She admits in game that Geralt is a better fighter than her. Being able to warp through time doesn't equal a Witcher's strength, speed, and ability to heal from injuries. Her powers certainly help her in combat and are beyond a mere human, but aren't at the level of a true witcher's.
@@ama9385-w2g Look at how scarred up they are, even the great White Wolf. I don't recall anything about Ciri's powers letting her quickly heal from wounds that would otherwise be mortal.
@@johnschneider298 The thing is, there is nothing preventing her from taking the Trials. So "Ciri cannot undergo the Trial of the Grasses..." is completely inaccurate
I am so beyond glad someone pointed out the problems with the emperess Ciri ending. Ciri was always a non-conformist hell it's about as close to her character core as it gets and out of all the people you meet through the series she might just be the least likely person to ever want throne. Protocol or any power that she can't directly enforce by herself is not something she desires, ever. Very nice breakdown.
Book series I think too much happened for her to ever consider accepting it from him. Considering the reason everybody wanted her to begin with. However her grandmother and her great grandmother almost all the women in her line have fiery spirit like ciri ,they all settled down and became rulers in the end. One of the reasons everybody wanted her was because she is the rightful queen of cintra, then you have the elder blood for the other half. I don't want to give away spoilers for those who haven't read the books so I'm trying to limit the response. I think her fiery temperament if she had a chance to reclaim cintra get revenge on those who killed her family she would. She would reclaim the throne ,however it's simply too late for that. Considering her father is responsible for said slaughter, I can't see her forgiving him and accepting the offer
@@JB-xl2jc She does want to help people, but she isn't a saint. In the books especially, she is shown that she can be selfish, and hurt others as long as she can get her way. And I don't think she would decide to sacrifice all her freedom that she just gained by defeating the White Frost by chaining herself to a throne she doesn't want.
@@JB-xl2jc What a load of bollocks by yet another clueless individual... Ciri couldn't care less about "helping the people". There's NOTHING, not in the short stories, not in the saga, not in any of the games, that suggests all ciri thrives to do with her life is to "help people". I also fail to see how governing millions of subjects with an iron fist ( still nilfgaard, you know) constitutes as helping anyone but Emhyr's desires to stabilize and legitimize his empire. " Part of growing up and being a strong person is accepting duty and helping others where you can". I hate this. Proper whataboutism. Generalizes a specific, set character with random 21st century standards of a "grown up". Who gives a shit what you think "people" do? We already know what ciri will do, and its not what you're suggesting...
@Kuygh Wow. In only two paragraphs you were rude, ignorant, opinionated, and wrong. Even if your argument was right you'd still be a dipshit. The fact that it's wrong is just a cherry on top. You didn't even have an argument, just "Nuh uh, I disagree!!" So it merits little response past mockery.
I truly wish the witcher ending epilogue was more like the Empress epilogue. The whole crew together, snow in White Orchard, a small side quest reflecting on the outcome of the war, spending time with Ciri, and a bitter sweet conclusion. It's just so perfect in my opinion. But I think I agree with you that story wise it doesn't make much sense.
Ciri becoming a Witcher is a more true too the book ending for anyone tell me Ciri can not become a Witcher sword of destiny page 344 Conversation between Ciri grandmother and Geralt Do you believe a Child of Destiny would pass through the Trial.with out danger Do you We believe such a child would not require the Trials' So yes the Witcheress ending is more too the book and if anyone has actually read the last book it basically ends with Ciri saying this king should have a job for a Witcher girl
@Mike Kabakov Well they probably didn't have to trick Emhyr. He has no qualms with any of them, other than maybe Geralt for not bringing Ciri to him, but he doesn't seem upset about it in the actual ending. There's also no real reason he would do anything about Ciri's decision. Sure he tries to buy her (as she puts it if you visit Emhyr with her) but he doesn't force her. My interpretation of the Empress ending is that Ciri realises that she can do a lot of good by being a just ruler, not that Emhyr somehow forced her. (book spoiler) Another reason to believe that he wouldn't force Ciri is because at the end of the books he had the perfect opportunity to use her against her will, but changed his mind and let her go and spared Geralt and Yen.
@@sanzau8669 I think the Witcheress ending is best for Ciri and Geralt would "pick" it canonically. I think the Empress ending is best for everyone else in the world.
I want to say 'thank you' for explaining that it's still possible to get the Witcheress ending even if you tell Ciri about Emhyr. I fell for the 'gotta keep it a secret' rumour hook, line and sinker. This makes me very happy because I always felt dishonest hiding the truth from her.
Geralt may have his conscience clear, but as the player you know Emhyr tells her something that makes her reconsider the Witcher path and choose the Empress instead. To be honest I enjoy all the endings, and think the Witcher path is more consistent for the series as a whole, but the Empress ending has a bitter sweetness (especially if Geralt tells Ciri they're likely never to see one another again) that I really enjoy and I think "fits better" if Witcher 3 was a stand alone story.
My favorite blood and wine ending is definitely the bitter-sweet one, although I've never taken the last card from the beggars to the Duchess and I much prefer it that way. I've always figured there was no need to tarnish her memory of her sister, and that so-long as Detlaff is dead, I'm happy for the Duchess to blame Geralt a little for Syanna, because like you said she really knows "he did what he could". Also, I'm pretty certain that when you choose not to show her, Geralt says something like "I've had enough of politics for one day" and him and Regis go for a drink, and personally I can't think of a more fitting ending.
Yeah and it mirrors the short story of the Lesser Evil when he met Renfri. In that story, he left the town after becoming 'The Butcher of Blaviken' rather than double down and attempt to explain that he had just saved many lives. He didn't think he would succeed and chose to accept they now viewed him as the monster, and he walked away. After barely making it out of prison (and only with Dandelion's help) due to the Duchess blaming Geralt for what happened, it makes sense he would walk away rather than try to explain himself again. Better to cut his losses and live with the knowledge that at least he did what he thought was right, regardless of how the world sees him.
I got the Fairytale Toussaint ending on my first playthrough. Thought it was the best! Everyone is alive and happy, a bit sad about Detlaff dying because someone he loved played him, but overall a good ending. When I realised we basically sentence Regis to a lifetime of being hunted and hated by his people, long after Geralt is dead, I went back and let Detlaff live. If Geralt knows Regis is going to suffer forevermore, he'll choose Regis over avenging the people that died because of Detlaff's invasion. Letting the world burn if the people he cares about are safe is a very Geralt move.
I did feel a little bad for Dettlaff too. It sucks when someone who supposedly loves you is just using you. It kinda makes me wish there was an alternate way where he didn't outright declare war on Toussaint with an army of vampires. Where we help arrange a meeting between him, Anna and her sister so they can talk face to face. Regis there to stop Dettlaff from outright slaughtering the women if they got pissed and Geralt acting as the wall between the two sides to keep things on track. But he started a war and killed who knows how many innocents because syanna was using him and never loved him. He crossed the line and Geralt had to slay the Beast
On my first playthrough of BaW I did absolutely everything for the fairytale ending. Except when I spoke to Syanna at the end, she annoyed me, so I called her a venomous snake (among other things) and so I got the "bad" ending. Which I think is the best. I hated both sisters by the end of the DLC and I thought Detlaff, ultimately, had to die as well. Sad that Regis had to leave and essentially go into hiding for a while, but hey.
Regardless of how problematic the empress ending is from a story perspective, I still usually go for it just for the feel of it.The scenes all the way up to the ending are just so well done, and I like the bitter sweet feel of finally saving Ciri just for her to leave. That’s kind of the whole feel of Witcher that makes me love it. Welp now I’ve gotta go replay the game for the fifth time just to scratch that itch.
I wish it was possible if you got the Ciri becomes Empress ending, that when you get the jail ending in B&W, her or Ehmyr come to Toussaint to pardon/acquit you and put the Duchess in her place. Would be a great tie in.
The perfect ending, or the Canon I choose to live by in my head, is that Geralt and Yennefer are retired in Toussaint, and every so often Triss, Dandelion, Empress Ciri, and Zoltan pop in for a holiday reunion. Perfect.
I personally ike the ending where you let Dettlaff kill Syanna and spare him afterwards the most. Firstly, we can see remorse and doubt in Dettlaff's actions (in his flashbacks), making me believe he won't trust people this easily anymore, therefore won't end up manipulated into killing innocents. And secondly, what is even more important in my opinion, we don't get Regis, who is very good friend of Geralt, involved, by making him literally kill the guy who saved him and later get end up chased by Toussaint's vampire "community", making him leave this lovely place. Nevertheless, thank you for another great Witcher 3 video!
Regis ending off better is a common reason for preferring the ending where Detlaff is spared, but in my head, there's one reason why it's somewhat fair for Regis to take some sort of a hit in the "good" or intended ending (intended being that most people would naturally go for it). Regis continually underestimated Detlaff, possibly due to the connection they've shared, to the point that he vowed to Geralt that "not a hair on Syanna's head will come to harm" which fell apart in a matter of seconds after meeting with Detlaff. It was probably unconscious on Regis's part, but still a pretty big fuck up if you ask me. Therefore, Regis did get involved in a big way - it's unlikely that Geralt would've accepted a meeting between Syanna and Detlaff if Regis couldn't assure him that nothing bad would happen.
Detlaff for being hundreds (if not thousands) years old is way too petty and childish. One woman betrayed you and you unleash hell upon a whole town. I don't think he deserves sympathy. I dislike Syanna as well.
I always tried to be understanding to Detlaff but let's be clear, he's a total psycho. Trying to murder a whole city because a girl played with you? Detlaff is dangerous and letting him go isn't a moral choice. He's gotta go.
Personally I was going to side with Detlaff until he had hundreds or thousands of innocent civilians killed because of a feud they had no idea about. He's a higher vampire. If he had a problem with Syanna or Anna no one can stop him getting to them. Instead he butchered countless innocents. He had to be put down.
The worst ending is the most impactful, and very cinematic. In my first playthrough I got the witcheress ending and I enjoyed the fact that the game lets you have a happy ending. However the worst ending is the most true to the witcher universe, and it reminds me for some reason of samurai or ronins especially when Geralt is wearing the Undvik armour. And the line... " I don't feel a thing anymore" amazing.
just got this ending and damn it was actually impactful but i dont understand what happens when the mob swarmed my boy geralt at the end like does he actually die?
@@fayzaan2030 I also just got this ending and I definitely think so as it's heavily implied. The Crone even says before the fight that he was fated to die at their encounter. He gives up living because he can't deal with the grief of losing Ciri... :'(
It was my first ending, it was awful. It made me resent Ciri to some degree, I didn’t accept the money, I went with her to grieve at skellige, my mistakes were being over protective, the two things I got right seemed to far oitweigh getting the bad ending, and she left like a angsty teenager. Fucking hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But it was so despairing I had to restart the game right away, and got the empress ending. At the point I was satisfied and, I wanted detlaff to live, but I got the ribbon and had no idea that would cause detlaff to die.
Anna Henrietta is actually a pretty terrible person if you pay attention. She's petty, vindictive, narrow minded and short tempered. You can see plainly the way her facade falls away as the main story goes on and she starts to treat Geralt like shit and is completely blind to what her sister has done, letting hundreds of her own subjects die rather than hand her over. But if you pay attention to the side content, it's obvious long before then. All it takes is a few misjudged words to be out of her favour and on the street or in exile.
The fairy tale ending for Toussaint is definitely the best for me, and it's not like she doesn't get punished for it. Im sure she has alot to atone for now. She'll have many responsibilities ahead of her.
Great video! Interestingly when I played through the first time I got the " Ciri as Witcher" ending which at the time I thought was the ending the developers were aiming for, as the decisions you make seemed perfectly reasonable. I mean what kind of monster wouldn't have a snowball fight with their daughter? ? But when I did the same thing in Blood and Wine, i.e be the good guy, both Princesses died which made me question what kind of person I am, as I obviously cannot read the room...
I know right? Every time I tell myself I'm going to try a different pathway, 95% of my choices always end up the same though xD Only variations tend to be Yen vs Triss, with this current playthrough being a play-them-both and get Ciri to live with me in Toussaint
Watched the whole Video ❤️💪.......... How Ironic is it that that the very first story of The Last Wish (Sapkowski's Book) is about Renfri who was accused of being cursed by the Black sun..... Geralt had to Kill Her and Was Named the Butcher of Blaviken. And in the Good Ending in Blood & Wine You get to make the best choice where another accused (Syanna) being cursed of the Black Sun Survives and Reforms thanks to Geralt . Puts the Geralt arc in a Full Circle of Redemption giving him a befitting ending he truly deserves. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Also I just realized you only get the blood and wine quest once you free Dandelion and now it makes sense. Because if you didn't free him how would he help you out of jail.
I still don't understand why they chose to always let Anna die if Syanna still wants her dead. If Geralt didn't look away and stood a bit closer (as he should, provided he knows Syanna's intentions) he would have no trouble stopping her from killing Anna.
Letting Dettlaff live is my favorite because it’s the best ending for Regis, he’s been such a bro I can’t imagine making a decision that would lead to him being exiled.
Same for me! I wanted Syanna to face justice but letting her live is too dangerous. I wanted to calm Detlaff but he couldn’t see beyond his broken heart. Annarietta is a victim of circumstance like Syanna but is a petutlent child who screams for satisfaction. Regis is the only person that truly deserves a happy ending. I also have a really hard time with the kill Radovid quest. I know Dijkstra would make a good ruler but god damned if I let Toller, Roche, and Ves die by his hand
I think, one important fact for me in the blood and wine endings, that you didn't mention, or you did and I didn't notice, is the fact that Regis, who is your friend, and stands by you no matter what, is attacked and forced to leave Toussaint, so the ending that let's him leave in peace, it's for me always the best one. Great videos, keep up.
Hey man I just discovered you and I wanted to say, your videos are top tier. You’re very thorough and you keep it relatable and real. Immediate fan, looking forward to future content!
I agree the Witcher ending for Ciri fits for the series as a whole, but think the Empress ending is better if you consider Witcher 3 a stand alone story. As the player you know Emhyr tells Ciri something that makes her choose being the Empress over a pseudo-witcher, so while through dialog choices you can give Geralt a clean conscience, as the player you're making the choice for her.
Thank you for this video. Well done. Instantly subscribed and bell icon clicked. I know this video is a year old.. but I'm going through my second playthrough of this game, and I don't have the time to see every single ending. So thank you. Keep up the great work bud
My standard playthrough always goes with Ciri Witcher, Cerys in Skellige throne, Radovid and Dijkstra both dying, saving Olgierd and sparing Dettlaff while killing Syanna
Exactly how my first playthrough went. Now on NG+ and same endings for main story and HoS. Currently on B&W planning to fight Detlaff at the end and keep both sisters alive.
I got super lucky with the fairytale ending of blood and wine on my first attempt. I never read any of the books, or previous games, but Regis is so loveable of a character than I followed him and trusted him both because I would have done so, and Geralt seemed to trust him as well. Also because he fully took a hit from detlaff to the heart to tell him geralt is his friend. Looking back, the syanna conversation choices feel like a dice throw, you basically need to pick the three correct choices in a row, and have tried to understand her. Personally I played my geralt as the person who tries to understand whats going on before passing any form of judgement, and as a witcher an investigator to boot, so I read all the journal entries, and was just nice to her. She was a character that we see alot in the witcher, one thrown into a terrible world and thus they do terrible thing, but just the interactions in the land of fables show more of who she really is, and how she deserved a second chance.
Can't beleive I almost lost this exceptional video because everyone was publishing today and my bell had like 20 notifications! Still, great work as ever, keep it up man!
Every time I play....I go into it thinking I'll go for one of the other endings and inevitably just want to get the super happy ending with everyone in the house partying.
Can't wait for the "what would Geralt do" video. The war ending was always a uncertainty for me, no way book Geralt would let Roche and Ves die even if he chose Iorveth path in TW2 but I'm not even sure he would go through Matter of state and kill Radovid. But I am just half way through the books.
Ciri witcher ending is Unrealistic by the Witcher standards, she has been considered dead 4 times in the past already, yet they kept pursuing her, they kept looking for leads, everyone and their mothers had a secret agenda that involved Ciri, even if her elder powers are diminished she still carries the gene and the Cintrian crown. Her freedom wouldn't last for more than several months.
I prefer to let Detlaff live because I didn't really care for the story of Anna, Syanna, & Detlaff. But Regis is the only good character that I didn't want ending up with regret, guilt, & trouble for his long existance.
I like the differences you can have in the blood and wine endings, even with the fairy tale ending, Regis is still labeled a traitor, because he helped Geralt, a human, over Detlaff who saved him from certain death, and exiled by his own race. That being said, my endings are always as follows - Witcheress Ciri, Nilfgaard wins, Cerys as Queen, Olgierd lives and O'Dimm banished and the fairy tale ending for B&W.
I am in that exact same boat. I managed to get all that my 2nd run, but my 1st one got all except the fairy tale ending - she opted to stab her sister :(
I'd like to play devil's advocate in terms of Djikstra not being as good as he seems as ruler of the north. I think he's MILES better than Radovid, but the ending also specifically states he industrialized the north and forcibly moved people around to work where they were needed. It is my personal belief that this is a reference to the forced industrialization and mandatory relocations of the early Soviets under Stalin. Dijkstra is a ruthless (but undeniably brilliant) leader who cares little for the individual people but instead cares for the idea of a grand state. While this retains the idea of Northern culture, it's hardly all that free. It preserves a lot of the worst of the north since Nilfgaard's forced cosmopolitan nature isn't present, but all of the loss of personal autonomy is. I'd argue it's better (for the world, at least, not necessarily Geralt or Ciri etc) to have Nilfgaard take over the north. Sure, the individuality of the north is gone... but so too are the wars (both amongst themselves AND with Nilfgaard), the racism and luddite nature, etc. And if Ciri DOES become empress and Cerys takes over Skellige, well.... golden age incoming. Even if it's not best for Ciri, the world will be better off.
I love your videos, I was a day one viewer. I have a literal ton of video ideas because I planned on making some videos on Witcher content, and this was one of them. I’m glad to see the fandom isn’t dying.
As much as I like Dijkstra as a character, I could never let him kill Vernon Roche on every playthrough (which is sad, given you pretty much make it clear that the aftermath is probably the best).
For "Hearts of Stone", I prefer letting Olgierd die. In my opinion he deserved what was coming to him. However, I prefer letting him die before finding Ciri in the main quest for extra reward option. To those who don't know what I'm talking about, I'll let you figure out why. 😉
Damn, when you said there was a third ending i was hoping it would involve detlaff being put in the vampire-proof cage for a few hundred years to cool off. It's one of the obvious-feeling options that no one thinks of.
Wouldn't have to cage him just cut his head off it would take him a few years to regenerate. Been a while since I read the books but I think it took Regis 30 years when he was "killed "by humans in his youth. That was the experience that sobered him up and got him to quit killing humans
Cool video. I actually really enjoyed both DLCs' main quests, I felt the visual design, soundtrack and ideas there were really 10/10. Easily the best DLCs I've ever seen. And I also stumbled upon the "happy ending" in B&W, mostly because I felt bad for her because of how she was treated. I do agree, her facing some kind of punishment, would make more sense.
I suspect that Geralt remaining in the Cabin as the monsters close in is solely to put himself at risk with the hope that he might feel something, be it fear or fury, in what could be his final moments. Before finally drawing his Sword, of course.
I really like the theory that all 3 endings to the main game are correct, they just occur in a specific order. First is the "bad"ending, then the witcher ending, then the empress, they all happen consecutively. Ciri enters the tower, is gone longer than expected and geralt goes out in his suicide mission- but survives. He then finds her, gets the sword crafted while pretending shes dead, and they go off as a witcher pair for a little while. Then the emperor gets a hold of her somehow, or she decides its time, and she decides its time to go to Nilfgaard.
Love the theory! Alternatively, consider this order... Bad ending first, disappears, Geralt Survives. Then after a period of time she ends up with nilfgaard (either Geralt finds her one day and takes her or she goes herself.. who knows maybe after travelling through so many worlds she decided to try out the "world of politics"? lol) She spends a lot of time being groomed for leadership, 3 years later in blood and wine She makes it known to geralt that she hasn't ruled out the idea of leaving Nilfgaard. Eventually she does: then Witcheress ending. Makes the most sense to me since she expressed not liking government. BUT WAIT... Shes the lady of space and time right? I just had the thought.. what if She experiences these events in a different order than everyone else?? She might be jumping back and forth between past and future... Lets say she Enters the tower to try to prevent the white frost.. takes way too long.. comes back only to find that geralt didnt survive his suicide mission, Heartbroken; she jumps back to when Geralt finds her on that island when he thought she was dead. Both of them have an emotional reunion. Geralt thought she was dead, and Ciri just left the future where Geralt was dead... but of course she can't tell him that. Knowing that she was able to stop the white frost before. She jumps forward, basically skips the that whole bit because she it got handled in a previous timeline lol. And since she isn't gone for that long period of time and now that she is there, Geralt doesn't go on his suicide mission. They then report to nilfgaard. After finding out that the royal life isnt for her, she decides she would rather spend some quality time with her real "dad" (Geralt). When finding out the truth of the whole matter of Emhyr, and her mother's mysterious death at sea, she decides to fake her own death. Leaving NIlfgaard to the wolves that despise her father; She then sets out to roam the lands as a Witcheress
The Empress ending does have a lot more going on than the surface. You can’t have a heroes journey that ends with the hero not growing out of her impetuous immaturity into accepting her patrimony and responsibility. The empress ending is essentially Aragorn set in the continent. If it was good enough for Tolkien, it’s damn sure good enough for a video game. LOL. And it was handled just as well
I have to disagree about how you evaluated the Ciri Empress Ending. It's not my favorite, so I'm not talking out of passion. Since fake Ciri WAS retcon and in the Game, and Emyr does want Ciri back, I think it should be evaluated in the perspective of the game, not the perspective of the Witcher Lore, since the whole game already broke said lore. I think this ending fits perfectly, the issue here is the retconning made in TW3 itself. This ending feels like it was the intended one, since the whole game is about Ciri finding her place and accepting her responsabilities. If fake Ciri was originaly part of the plot, I'm mad they cut her out cause the game really lost its continuity with the books because of it. It's THE main plot hole. I feel like no matter the ending, the plot hole remains by the simple fact Emyr wanted Ciri for the throne, and also officially recognised her as his daughter, despite marrying fake Ciri, official heir of Cintra.
5:50 haha true. My first playthrough i broke Dijkstras other leg for the lulz, loved the books, Nilfgard won and Ciri still became witcher. Had another throwback on what witcher letters mean on their silver sword :D
Ciri as empress maybe bad for player, but it's best for the world, someone like her in charge of Nilfgaard could change much, prevent wars etc. But Ciri as Witcher wouldn't make much diffrence and because lack of mutations she would die "early" assuming she would die because of age.
I got the "Bad ending" my first time through, it was a serious downer and if I have to admit it I was kinda pissed to find out that Ciri just decided to leave her adopted father forever because he didn't want her to destroy his weird Elf time-mage friends library.
I would honestly rank both Dettlaf living and Siana fairy tale ending as the same. You are hired to kill the beast, which threatens the Duchess. Either Dettlaf or Siana can be considered that beast. They can also be both. You were hired to solve that problem. As a witcher you do that in either ending.
Honestly the only way I can see the everyone dies and everyone lives endings for B&W being properly explained; specifically in regards to the lack of consequences for/suspicion of Syanna is that Annarietta is generally shown to be an absolute monarch/ruler throughout the story and so perhaps because she is so soft on Syanna then everyone else just has to go along with it because that is the political/court culture of Toussaint. Damien for instance is shown to be the continent's biggest lap dog over the course of blood and wine and Annarietta repeatedly makes unilateral decisions with zero input from anyone else further suggesting a culture of absolute Ducal authority.
My first blind run: Cerys is queen Ciri stays as a Witcheress Nilfgaard wins (I call this a good ending, Glory to the Great Sun) Olgierd lives (I only didn't know about the treasure in the nightmare maze, so couldn't retrieve it) Geralt chooses Yen, as it should be Sianna and Anna Henrietta are both alive. Alas, couldn't save Detlaff, but maybe it was for the better... Ultimately, I call myself totally satisfied with these results
I’ve done play throughs with each ending but for most of my play throughs, I always choose to obtain the Ciri becoming a Witcher ending. Always has been my favorite.
I was devastated because unfortunately i got the sad ending first time. And i had no idea its the end...in fact the level was 28 and i thought two third of the story is remaining. Man!!!🙆 And then i got teleported to kaer morhen and their was no main story. I remembered vesemir and got even more sad.Then i started running around to see the other two witchers but found none. Went to undvik and spent 30 min at the tower just in awe.... The witcher world is so immersive that added to the sadness. I gave it break of a month before starting for blood and wine.
I always thought the Empress Ciri Ending was the best ending from a "Games Only" perspective. Its bittersweet and impactful, and it sets up the Witcher 4 perfectly in some ways. During the last quest of the Witcher 3 Base game, before Ciri enters the tower, monsters start popping in from different worlds, this however does not change anything in the Witcher 3, but would make excellent material for a potential Witcher 4 with Geralt and Ciri (These thought were back in 2017 before a new game was announced). Think about it, Ciri becomes empress, but her people are threatend by all those new monsters, so she calls upon the best Witcher she knows for help.
Loved the video, and agree on most of the choices. You make amazing quality videos that make a big Witcher universe fan happy. Keep up the good work, hope you hit 100k soon!
I played W3 only and read some of the books after, so my conclusion may be wrong. But I felt the Ciri becomes a witcher ending was odd, since being trained by witchers doesn't mean you can just be one. How was she able to drink Black Blood or any other potion for that matter? She's just a monster hunter but witcher is stretching it.
I feel bad about Emhyr in my ending. I told him that Ciri is dead, and her daughter never talked about him. And also he was killed by his servants afterwards.
Still think Ciri becoming queen is the right ending. May not have the greatest amount of positive emotions, but that's why it's called the right ending. She is choosing to take up responsibility that only she can do correctly.
Considering what we learn about vampires in Tesham Mutna, it seems that killing Detlaf could be considered an act of kindness. He's directly responsible for the death of many lesser vampires and for causing considerable inconvenience to the higher kind. I mean, he's screwed, whether you let him live or not. But Regis...? Regis is only screwed if you kill Detlaf. Otherwise Regis pays off his debt and is finally free. And his debt is actually your debt. Regis died for you.
My first playthrough got me the "bad ending". Seeing Geralt sitting with his head between his hands, holding his lost stepdaughter's medallion, with a swarm of monsters closing in felt like a punch in the gut.
I hate the fact that for Dijkstra to be in charge of the north you have to allow Roache to be murdered, the only outcome I'm remotely willing to entertain for the north is one where Radvid and Emhyr are both dead and unable to interfere. But I wish that this was achievable without knowingly allowing Roache to die, it's so hard to stomach. Djikstra as a character is one the most interesting video game characters of all time for me, I want to hate his guts for his slimy ruthlessness, especially after the aforementioned murder, but he shows a savvy intelligence almost no one else in the entire game comes remotely close to, he also displays an emotional intelligence that for me at least illustrates he's not a sociopath or a psychopath and understands - at least what he views as - necessity more than anything else. In the end I think he impresses me more than disgusts me and the epilogue voiceover illustrates undeniably that his rule is best for the north without a doubt. By contrast Radovid is insane and genocidal and has zero redeeming qualities beyond his ability to hold back the advancing war machine of Nilfgaard. Emhyr is a sociopath and a user in charge of an empire the entire ethos of which is domination for everyone elses betterment, against their will if need be. Even in an ending where Ciri becomes empress - which you're right makes no real sense - Nilfgaard is still Nilfgaard and to believe one person could change that is ludicrous to the point of delusion. Roache just has to die and it sucks.
I love how when watching your videos, the background music you play always sounds like it's coming from another room or something. Not terms of audio quality, but rather that it's blended into the video so well that it sounds like it's actually being played nearby. Hope I was able to get the point across well 😅
To be fair, the Empress ending is vague at best and it never actually says she succeeds the throne. It kind of reminds me of a Warden that becomes queen consort to Alistair, Hawke becoming viscount of Kirkwall or the Inquisitor in Inquisition. Neither position the OC wanted but took anyway cuz its for the greater good. I also like the idea of Ciri possibly having her own plans that don't involve actually being Empress but arming herself with knowledge of the empire and using time travel to dismantle it.
I thought the ending where Geralt destroys the ring inside the volcano to be the most impactful.
Eh, I prefer the one where Ciri destroys all horcruxes and kills Vecna.
Ah man that one is so hard to get I have never even seen it,
Bullshit! The ending where Dandelion uses the Force to blow up the Death Star is supreme.
I prefer the one where we learn Rosebud was his childhood sled.
The one where he throws Emperor into Death Stars’ core is by far more impactful
My favorite ending is when Geralt said " Its witcherin time" and witchered everybody
Truly one of endings of all time
highly original
@@iainsteele5737 L
Her certainly witchered over all those whores in novigrad
@@tz-tok_sad2841 L
The worst part is that Dijkstra would never try to kill Roche and the others in front of Geralt. If he were to kill them, Geralt would never know it was Dijkstra's doing. And as it stands, it feels extremelly uncharacteristic of the smart and manipulative Dijkstra to do what he does in the game.
That part always feels so incredibly stupid. We return from cutting down 50 fully armed Redanian Kingsguard in a close quarters battle and what does Sigi do? He brings 5 unarmored thugs to fight the dream team of murder in a wide open courtyard. He could've tipped off the meeting location to the guards or Witch Hunters, or lured each individual into an ambush. He could have poisoned the ale. But no, he doesn't do anything remotely clever and the big idiot dies in a really violent way doing the one thing he admits he sucks at: melee combat.
@@ZombieMurdocI don’t know if it was because of last minute cut content but that’s some ridiculously weak writing.
I think they might have a deadline to finish their's work LOL that's why they just threw it off like that.
Yeh Dijkstra ho is spy and knows very well Geralt would definitely defend his friends ,So he would perhaps kidnap them or asassinate them and blame it on nilfgard to continue the war
Probabaly the weakest part of the game for me. CDPR f*cked up big time in this quest.
When I thought I got Ciri killed in the good ending, I almost had a panic attack. That feeling of relieve and joy when i saw her alive and well, and chatting with Geralt about the contract, is something I will never forget in my life.
Dude, same! I was kinda suspicious, but I was constantly thinking of what could I have done wrong
I almost replayed the game
Omg Same!!!!
You and me both. I really thought I messed up and literally froze
Yeah man, I thought Geralt commissioned that sword in her memory and I was just absolutely heartbroken.
The worst ending I got: Geralt fell from 3 meters height and then died.
The only ending that you can repeat multiple times in a single playthrough.
I completely agree with your BaW ending choice, it seems perfect for the Witcher universe. Geralt is blamed for something that wasn’t his fault, Dandelion shows his great friendship with Geralt and it’s a little bittersweet.
Yeah, its Blaviken all over again.
Indeed, the Witcher world is characterized (I think, at least) by a fairly cruel and unfair world that crushes most within it and rarely sees true justice served.... but still has enough light and happiness in the ties one has with ones loved ones, that it's all still worth it.
Yeah I agree it’s much better than the fairy tail ending🤣. Also I never knew you could visit the queen after?! I just left
Is it possible to not save Siana or get her punished (not let her kill the DUchess), save the Duchess and not go in prison ??
@@amazewolf2494 There's also a tiny treasure hunt side quest where you can read the notes of a man who got exiled from Toussaint for accidentally humming one of Dandelion's ballads in the presence of ''Her Illustrious Highness''. He then tries to gift her a shaelmaar to get back into her good graces, and gets himself and his hired crew killed doing it. Then there's another side quest where you can save Beauclair's barber, and the poet who hires you and goes with you to do it keeps making new verses about/for Anna Henrietta, at one point prompting Geralt to ask why he needs so many to which he'll respond that she is as fickle as can be and may just decide to execute him for not having something to entertain her with if she gets ''bored of her breakfast'' that day. Anna is always on an emotional power trip. A complete tyrant. It's just hard to see her that way due to her personal charm and her looks. Like seriously, she EXILED a man for humming a (super popular) ballad accidentally just because it was written by her ex, a man she cheated on her husband with and was then surprised to find him being a player.
The same way monsters are susceptible to silver, Anna Henrietta is susceptible to accountability.
Just finished my first playthrough and did the snowball fight and thought I was going to get one of the bad endings and my heart broke when Geralt went to tell Ciris father she had died. Then had this random mission to pick up a silver sword I thought was on her memory. Then i went to the white orchard inn and behold she was there and Geralt gave her her very own first witcher silver sword. I almost cried of joy.
I literally got the bad ending my first time because I MISSCLICKED. Instead of having a snowball fight with her I had a drink with her and that lead me to have one less "positive point" than I needed to get a good ending. So instead of crying out of joy I was crying out of sadness and emptyness
Which ending aree u talking about?
@@aakashbharti3283Ciri becomes a witcher ending
@@aakashbharti3283 You giving the silver sword to Ciri: witcheress ending
You go out hunting with Ciri: empress ending
everytime i see geralt look into the camera and smile at the end of blood and wine my whole heart just melts. i love that dude like a DAD. what an amazing character.
Blood and Wine's main story is very underrated, I argue that it's better than a lot of base game story beats, and there's a lot more to appreciate on a second playthrough. There's a scene that stuck out to me on my second playthrough of B&W in which the two investigate the toy maker's building, and discover the mural painting of Syanna, the camera pans back to reveal a host of puppets on sets of strings, which is a fantastic hint to what's going on. Really, really powerful imagery that you don't quite catch on a first time playthrough. I also just think the smaller scale stories of the DLC expansions are generally more interesting that the overall base game. I guess I'm just more interested in things like family drama and character studies than "saving the world" plots. Regis is also just incredibly based.
for me, Regis is the best addition to the DLC as he is really cool and I kinda like the whole situation that he got involved with deftlaf, so bad that he goes away after the DLC and I really dispise Syanna and the whole fairy tale thingy with her, I personally don´t like that sort of stuff even though I am playing a game about knights and monster.
The only part I didn't like was that Gerald cant romance the duchess or her sister
It’s not underrated.
@@darkdraco02 He can with the duchess sister
@@cevinastrom87 really ? I tried and best I could do was keep her alive and she decided to be nice to her sister. How do we do it ?
The most important for me in B&W is to save Regis from the anger of the vampires because he is the most consistent character who doesn’t deserve the severe punishment coming with the fairy tale ending.
yeah i totally agree especially since he is immortal and has to live with his entire race hating him forever he doesnt deserve that also if he is hated by the vampires doesnt that mean he will have an extremly lonely live
regis the fucking goat fr
@@ronnyh7he already lives lonely
He didnt need to kill Deflat, just imprision him to cool off. Just like what happened to Regis himself after melting against Vilgerfortz. He took a while to regenerate.
@@doodlegoose2262 yeah he does but in the fairy tale ending its even worse geralt will die at some point but he will probably not and then if the other vampires hate him he will be completely alone. He is truly immortal and watching his mortal friends die over and over without having someone who is as immortal as he is must be one of the worst things anyone can go through.
The thing I love about this game is that the endings can almost always be explained while still being faithful to Geralt’s character
Crazy how this game can tell multiple outcomes of multiple stories and keep them all faithful and the show can’t adapt a story that is already written and keep it faithful lmao
@@daveyjoneslocker4703 they had no intention of keeping faithful from the outset.
@@Interrobang212 yeah, it was textbook case of fooling already established fanbases and making short term money out of them..
maybe except for Djikstra's rule. That wouldn't happen, Geralt plain and simple wouldn't let a suddenly brainless Djikstra kill his friends.
Brother, I also got the bad ending on my first play through, and I feel the exact same way. Literally was so distraught I didn’t even bother continuing to play the DLCs. I just started a new run immediately to right my wrongs.
I haven’t finished yet, but great video so far. :)
First time I played i thought I got the bad ending because I was talking to Emhry and told him she died. I was so distraught I just started a save from when you first get ciri and looked up how to save her. If I would have paid attention, I would have realized that I literally made all of those choices but one. (When you meet the lodge I went with her) It always makes me laugh when I think about it , I was so invested
Where you at now?
@@stormnp1846 Oh I’ve finished the video by now.
@@Deathranger999I meant in game
@@stormnp1846 Oh I see. I’ve played through 3 times (including the first play through that I abandoned). Gotten all achievements, 380+ hours. Done for now, but knowing the game I’ll probably go back eventually. Maybe when they release the next gen edition. :)
I really like the ending where Ciri doesn't return because it feels like it's the most book parallel in terms of characters. Geralt returns to his "emotionless killer" facade from the early books, and Ciri continues realm hopping, realizing that she can only do so much to outrun destiny. It feels kind of regressive, but also like something Sapkowski would've written.
So true! It is the one ending which sticks the most to the books. Sapkowski is not known for writing happy endings and I like it that way. Endings like these are hard to bear but linger on the most. For the games witcher ending is my favorite tho. Bcs she is moving on and not falling back into old habits. I want her to evolve.
Sapkowski made Ciri an empress, and hinted that Geralt kept being a witcher, if only to hunt one last escaped monster from some mage lab (I'm kinda too lazy rn to check the book for details).
@@GrimK77 yeah, I read Season of Storms earlier this year. He never officially confirms myself as geralt, but it's obviously him. Tho I think the Empress Ciri you're thinking of is the doppelganger mentioned in the video, not actually her. The last place she's mentioned being in the timeline of the books is the world of Camelot, unless I'm mistaken.
@@mattdanc Yes she returns to world of Camelot as "Lady of the Lake". Bcs Galahad keeps calling her by that name and refused to call her differently. For me she might explore this world for a while and travel through time and space if she is getting restless again. Season of storms plays before the saga If I understood correctly. During a time were Geralt and Yen were separated
@@mattdanc Yes, basically Sapkowski landed her in arthurian legends
Personally the ending I got when I first played Blood and Wine was the Fairy-tale one. I was simply doing what I though was "fitting". What I mean by that is - The whole Toussaint is very picturesque, it allowed me to take a breather and relax after emotion-full endings and hard decisions. I took that DLC as holidays for Geralt, and simply went with the flow and that's how I ended up.
I never had the heart to try the other endings though. Yes I am a sucker for fairy tales.
I did...Witcher "Bad"/Tragic endings are always great to see too. My favs is the fairy tale both sister live and forgive then also letting Dettlaff kill Syanna whether I fight or spare him then Geralt goes to prison for "failure". It's great and bittersweet fits the theming a lot. I also got the Fairy Tale good ending first time...I'm not an idiot you always listen to the Vampire Buddy. But I prefer the darker bittersweet I love getting the option to decide if Dettlaff should die or not. Syanna went too far. But the villain's are the parents of Anna and Syanna plus the Knights.
Tbh I actually liked the ending where all of them dies. I didn't like Anna, detlaff and Sienna. All of them are so selfish and only see from their pov.
So all them dieing because of their foolishness was so good. After repeating to Anna 1000 times that her sister was bad she didn't listen, after trying to clam detlaff down he didn't listen, after trying change Sienna ways she didn't listen. When all of them died I was so happy.
I created a manual save at some point because I was almost certain going to see the Elder was the wrong decision but I really wanted to interact with him. Then I did everything as I thought I should and stumbled on the fairy tale ending.
@@SimuLorddoing that ended up with me getting syanna that stupid ribbon. I figured it may help to show kindness (plus gwent). Let's just say I did not expect the results of that decision.
The picturesque fairytale scenery is superficial tho, it’s a surface level veneer hiding a dark world infested with vampires and monsters just like velen, it just doesn’t rain as much. The main story and side quests are filled with grey decisions, almost every place of interest has a dead body with a note attached telling you a tragic story. I can’t imagine anyone reading the books in tesham mutnar thinking “this is a vacation” lol. I would argue one of the biggest strengths of the witcher as a franchise (books and games) is how it subverts classic fantasy storytelling.
So glad you also see the mental gymnastics required for the empress ending. I never understood why so many people feel she only becomes a Witcher if you force her that way
I really liked the empress ending even though it feels unlikely. It was a great bittersweet moment
Ciri cannot undergo the Trial of the Grasses and become a witcher. No matter how skilled she might be, she cannot take potions or endure the hardships of a real witcher. Her life would be short as a witcher. Becoming empress really is the best ending for her.
@@johnschneider298 Why would she need potions with elder blood...
@@ama9385-w2g Because elder blood doesn't make her invincible. She admits in game that Geralt is a better fighter than her. Being able to warp through time doesn't equal a Witcher's strength, speed, and ability to heal from injuries. Her powers certainly help her in combat and are beyond a mere human, but aren't at the level of a true witcher's.
@@ama9385-w2g Look at how scarred up they are, even the great White Wolf. I don't recall anything about Ciri's powers letting her quickly heal from wounds that would otherwise be mortal.
@@johnschneider298 The thing is, there is nothing preventing her from taking the Trials. So "Ciri cannot undergo the Trial of the Grasses..." is completely inaccurate
I am so beyond glad someone pointed out the problems with the emperess Ciri ending. Ciri was always a non-conformist hell it's about as close to her character core as it gets and out of all the people you meet through the series she might just be the least likely person to ever want throne. Protocol or any power that she can't directly enforce by herself is not something she desires, ever.
Very nice breakdown.
Book series I think too much happened for her to ever consider accepting it from him. Considering the reason everybody wanted her to begin with.
However her grandmother and her great grandmother almost all the women in her line have fiery spirit like ciri ,they all settled down and became rulers in the end.
One of the reasons everybody wanted her was because she is the rightful queen of cintra, then you have the elder blood for the other half. I don't want to give away spoilers for those who haven't read the books so I'm trying to limit the response.
I think her fiery temperament if she had a chance to reclaim cintra get revenge on those who killed her family she would. She would reclaim the throne ,however it's simply too late for that.
Considering her father is responsible for said slaughter, I can't see her forgiving him and accepting the offer
@@JB-xl2jc She does want to help people, but she isn't a saint. In the books especially, she is shown that she can be selfish, and hurt others as long as she can get her way. And I don't think she would decide to sacrifice all her freedom that she just gained by defeating the White Frost by chaining herself to a throne she doesn't want.
@@dominikrudolfettrich2556 Consider that book-Ciri is substantially younger.
@@JB-xl2jc What a load of bollocks by yet another clueless individual... Ciri couldn't care less about "helping the people". There's NOTHING, not in the short stories, not in the saga, not in any of the games, that suggests all ciri thrives to do with her life is to "help people". I also fail to see how governing millions of subjects with an iron fist ( still nilfgaard, you know) constitutes as helping anyone but Emhyr's desires to stabilize and legitimize his empire.
" Part of growing up and being a strong person is accepting duty and helping others where you can". I hate this. Proper whataboutism. Generalizes a specific, set character with random 21st century standards of a "grown up". Who gives a shit what you think "people" do? We already know what ciri will do, and its not what you're suggesting...
@Kuygh Wow. In only two paragraphs you were rude, ignorant, opinionated, and wrong. Even if your argument was right you'd still be a dipshit. The fact that it's wrong is just a cherry on top. You didn't even have an argument, just "Nuh uh, I disagree!!" So it merits little response past mockery.
I truly wish the witcher ending epilogue was more like the Empress epilogue. The whole crew together, snow in White Orchard, a small side quest reflecting on the outcome of the war, spending time with Ciri, and a bitter sweet conclusion. It's just so perfect in my opinion. But I think I agree with you that story wise it doesn't make much sense.
@@v1c341 What's your favourite Blood and Wine ending then, in all details? :D
Ciri becoming a Witcher is a more true too the book ending for anyone tell me Ciri can not become a Witcher sword of destiny page 344
Conversation between Ciri grandmother and Geralt
Do you believe a Child of Destiny would pass through the Trial.with out danger
Do you
We believe such a child would not require the Trials'
So yes the Witcheress ending is more too the book and if anyone has actually read the last book it basically ends with Ciri saying this king should have a job for a Witcher girl
@Mike Kabakov Well they probably didn't have to trick Emhyr. He has no qualms with any of them, other than maybe Geralt for not bringing Ciri to him, but he doesn't seem upset about it in the actual ending. There's also no real reason he would do anything about Ciri's decision. Sure he tries to buy her (as she puts it if you visit Emhyr with her) but he doesn't force her. My interpretation of the Empress ending is that Ciri realises that she can do a lot of good by being a just ruler, not that Emhyr somehow forced her.
(book spoiler) Another reason to believe that he wouldn't force Ciri is because at the end of the books he had the perfect opportunity to use her against her will, but changed his mind and let her go and spared Geralt and Yen.
@@sanzau8669 I think the Witcheress ending is best for Ciri and Geralt would "pick" it canonically. I think the Empress ending is best for everyone else in the world.
I totally agree. We all know Yen and Triss would love to be there when Ciri completed her first Witcher contract and got her first silver sword
I want to say 'thank you' for explaining that it's still possible to get the Witcheress ending even if you tell Ciri about Emhyr. I fell for the 'gotta keep it a secret' rumour hook, line and sinker. This makes me very happy because I always felt dishonest hiding the truth from her.
Geralt may have his conscience clear, but as the player you know Emhyr tells her something that makes her reconsider the Witcher path and choose the Empress instead. To be honest I enjoy all the endings, and think the Witcher path is more consistent for the series as a whole, but the Empress ending has a bitter sweetness (especially if Geralt tells Ciri they're likely never to see one another again) that I really enjoy and I think "fits better" if Witcher 3 was a stand alone story.
My favorite blood and wine ending is definitely the bitter-sweet one, although I've never taken the last card from the beggars to the Duchess and I much prefer it that way. I've always figured there was no need to tarnish her memory of her sister, and that so-long as Detlaff is dead, I'm happy for the Duchess to blame Geralt a little for Syanna, because like you said she really knows "he did what he could". Also, I'm pretty certain that when you choose not to show her, Geralt says something like "I've had enough of politics for one day" and him and Regis go for a drink, and personally I can't think of a more fitting ending.
Yeah and it mirrors the short story of the Lesser Evil when he met Renfri. In that story, he left the town after becoming 'The Butcher of Blaviken' rather than double down and attempt to explain that he had just saved many lives. He didn't think he would succeed and chose to accept they now viewed him as the monster, and he walked away.
After barely making it out of prison (and only with Dandelion's help) due to the Duchess blaming Geralt for what happened, it makes sense he would walk away rather than try to explain himself again. Better to cut his losses and live with the knowledge that at least he did what he thought was right, regardless of how the world sees him.
I got the Fairytale Toussaint ending on my first playthrough. Thought it was the best! Everyone is alive and happy, a bit sad about Detlaff dying because someone he loved played him, but overall a good ending.
When I realised we basically sentence Regis to a lifetime of being hunted and hated by his people, long after Geralt is dead, I went back and let Detlaff live. If Geralt knows Regis is going to suffer forevermore, he'll choose Regis over avenging the people that died because of Detlaff's invasion. Letting the world burn if the people he cares about are safe is a very Geralt move.
So he'd let a mass murdering maniac live because Regis would have to move if he didn't? Doesn't sound like Geralt to me
I can't The Witcher players never stick to their decisions and face the consequences?
I did feel a little bad for Dettlaff too. It sucks when someone who supposedly loves you is just using you.
It kinda makes me wish there was an alternate way where he didn't outright declare war on Toussaint with an army of vampires. Where we help arrange a meeting between him, Anna and her sister so they can talk face to face. Regis there to stop Dettlaff from outright slaughtering the women if they got pissed and Geralt acting as the wall between the two sides to keep things on track.
But he started a war and killed who knows how many innocents because syanna was using him and never loved him. He crossed the line and Geralt had to slay the Beast
Letting a murderer live is absolutely not a Geralt move lol
On my first playthrough of BaW I did absolutely everything for the fairytale ending. Except when I spoke to Syanna at the end, she annoyed me, so I called her a venomous snake (among other things) and so I got the "bad" ending. Which I think is the best. I hated both sisters by the end of the DLC and I thought Detlaff, ultimately, had to die as well. Sad that Regis had to leave and essentially go into hiding for a while, but hey.
This is exactly my thoughts on the situation- both sisters annoyed me, and i got to chill at a vineyard with yeniffer, win win
Lmao, true. One is too demanding but ignores reasons, and the other one is just evil to the core.
Regardless of how problematic the empress ending is from a story perspective, I still usually go for it just for the feel of it.The scenes all the way up to the ending are just so well done, and I like the bitter sweet feel of finally saving Ciri just for her to leave. That’s kind of the whole feel of Witcher that makes me love it. Welp now I’ve gotta go replay the game for the fifth time just to scratch that itch.
Me too :))
I like the idea of saving ciri just for her to die because of snowball fights or something
I wish it was possible if you got the Ciri becomes Empress ending, that when you get the jail ending in B&W, her or Ehmyr come to Toussaint to pardon/acquit you and put the Duchess in her place. Would be a great tie in.
The perfect ending, or the Canon I choose to live by in my head, is that Geralt and Yennefer are retired in Toussaint, and every so often Triss, Dandelion, Empress Ciri, and Zoltan pop in for a holiday reunion. Perfect.
I personally ike the ending where you let Dettlaff kill Syanna and spare him afterwards the most. Firstly, we can see remorse and doubt in Dettlaff's actions (in his flashbacks), making me believe he won't trust people this easily anymore, therefore won't end up manipulated into killing innocents. And secondly, what is even more important in my opinion, we don't get Regis, who is very good friend of Geralt, involved, by making him literally kill the guy who saved him and later get end up chased by Toussaint's vampire "community", making him leave this lovely place. Nevertheless, thank you for another great Witcher 3 video!
Regis ending off better is a common reason for preferring the ending where Detlaff is spared, but in my head, there's one reason why it's somewhat fair for Regis to take some sort of a hit in the "good" or intended ending (intended being that most people would naturally go for it). Regis continually underestimated Detlaff, possibly due to the connection they've shared, to the point that he vowed to Geralt that "not a hair on Syanna's head will come to harm" which fell apart in a matter of seconds after meeting with Detlaff. It was probably unconscious on Regis's part, but still a pretty big fuck up if you ask me. Therefore, Regis did get involved in a big way - it's unlikely that Geralt would've accepted a meeting between Syanna and Detlaff if Regis couldn't assure him that nothing bad would happen.
Detlaff for being hundreds (if not thousands) years old is way too petty and childish. One woman betrayed you and you unleash hell upon a whole town. I don't think he deserves sympathy. I dislike Syanna as well.
Ah Regis has a long tradition of traveling around the world, him not being welcome in toussaint isn't actually that big of a deal for him.
I always tried to be understanding to Detlaff but let's be clear, he's a total psycho. Trying to murder a whole city because a girl played with you? Detlaff is dangerous and letting him go isn't a moral choice. He's gotta go.
Personally I was going to side with Detlaff until he had hundreds or thousands of innocent civilians killed because of a feud they had no idea about. He's a higher vampire. If he had a problem with Syanna or Anna no one can stop him getting to them. Instead he butchered countless innocents. He had to be put down.
The worst ending is the most impactful, and very cinematic. In my first playthrough I got the witcheress ending and I enjoyed the fact that the game lets you have a happy ending. However the worst ending is the most true to the witcher universe, and it reminds me for some reason of samurai or ronins especially when Geralt is wearing the Undvik armour. And the line... " I don't feel a thing anymore" amazing.
just got this ending and damn it was actually impactful but i dont understand what happens when the mob swarmed my boy geralt at the end like does he actually die?
@@fayzaan2030 I also just got this ending and I definitely think so as it's heavily implied. The Crone even says before the fight that he was fated to die at their encounter. He gives up living because he can't deal with the grief of losing Ciri... :'(
It was my first ending, it was awful. It made me resent Ciri to some degree, I didn’t accept the money, I went with her to grieve at skellige, my mistakes were being over protective, the two things I got right seemed to far oitweigh getting the bad ending, and she left like a angsty teenager. Fucking hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But it was so despairing I had to restart the game right away, and got the empress ending. At the point I was satisfied and, I wanted detlaff to live, but I got the ribbon and had no idea that would cause detlaff to die.
11:52 the executioner misses the shot, then the guy magically dies anyway while riding an invisible horse 😂
Anna Henrietta is actually a pretty terrible person if you pay attention. She's petty, vindictive, narrow minded and short tempered. You can see plainly the way her facade falls away as the main story goes on and she starts to treat Geralt like shit and is completely blind to what her sister has done, letting hundreds of her own subjects die rather than hand her over. But if you pay attention to the side content, it's obvious long before then. All it takes is a few misjudged words to be out of her favour and on the street or in exile.
i didnt realise how good anariettas voice acting was in the prison ending
The fairy tale ending for Toussaint is definitely the best for me, and it's not like she doesn't get punished for it. Im sure she has alot to atone for now. She'll have many responsibilities ahead of her.
Great video! Interestingly when I played through the first time I got the " Ciri as Witcher" ending which at the time I thought was the ending the developers were aiming for, as the decisions you make seemed perfectly reasonable. I mean what kind of monster wouldn't have a snowball fight with their daughter? ?
But when I did the same thing in Blood and Wine, i.e be the good guy, both Princesses died which made me question what kind of person I am, as I obviously cannot read the room...
Oooo this is a big one! Absolutely love how far you've come man, doing us all proud
Sadly I’ll only ever see like 4 endings personally because there’s some choices I will never make
I know right? Every time I tell myself I'm going to try a different pathway, 95% of my choices always end up the same though xD Only variations tend to be Yen vs Triss, with this current playthrough being a play-them-both and get Ciri to live with me in Toussaint
agreed, thats what youtube is for
Agreed. I just visit everyone's TH-cam videos if I'm curious
Watched the whole Video ❤️💪..........
How Ironic is it that that the very first story of The Last Wish (Sapkowski's Book) is about Renfri who was accused of being cursed by the Black sun..... Geralt had to Kill Her and Was Named the Butcher of Blaviken.
And in the Good Ending in Blood & Wine
You get to make the best choice where another accused (Syanna) being cursed of the Black Sun Survives and Reforms thanks to Geralt .
Puts the Geralt arc in a Full Circle of Redemption giving him a befitting ending he truly deserves. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Also I just realized you only get the blood and wine quest once you free Dandelion and now it makes sense. Because if you didn't free him how would he help you out of jail.
I still don't understand why they chose to always let Anna die if Syanna still wants her dead. If Geralt didn't look away and stood a bit closer (as he should, provided he knows Syanna's intentions) he would have no trouble stopping her from killing Anna.
Letting Dettlaff live is my favorite because it’s the best ending for Regis, he’s been such a bro I can’t imagine making a decision that would lead to him being exiled.
Same for me! I wanted Syanna to face justice but letting her live is too dangerous. I wanted to calm Detlaff but he couldn’t see beyond his broken heart. Annarietta is a victim of circumstance like Syanna but is a petutlent child who screams for satisfaction. Regis is the only person that truly deserves a happy ending. I also have a really hard time with the kill Radovid quest. I know Dijkstra would make a good ruler but god damned if I let Toller, Roche, and Ves die by his hand
I think, one important fact for me in the blood and wine endings, that you didn't mention, or you did and I didn't notice, is the fact that Regis, who is your friend, and stands by you no matter what, is attacked and forced to leave Toussaint, so the ending that let's him leave in peace, it's for me always the best one. Great videos, keep up.
It's funny, I've played through Blood and Wine twice and have never gotten the bad ending. Must be because I love Syanna so much
I really like the empress ending cause im a sucker for drama and bitter-sweet and the sequence in white orchard captures that mood perfectly.
Hey man I just discovered you and I wanted to say, your videos are top tier. You’re very thorough and you keep it relatable and real. Immediate fan, looking forward to future content!
I agree the Witcher ending for Ciri fits for the series as a whole, but think the Empress ending is better if you consider Witcher 3 a stand alone story. As the player you know Emhyr tells Ciri something that makes her choose being the Empress over a pseudo-witcher, so while through dialog choices you can give Geralt a clean conscience, as the player you're making the choice for her.
as a guy that's played W3 in Polish and English, I think the Polish version sounds just *so* much better
I loved the ending where geralt at the end said "it's witchin time"
Thank you for this video. Well done. Instantly subscribed and bell icon clicked. I know this video is a year old.. but I'm going through my second playthrough of this game, and I don't have the time to see every single ending. So thank you. Keep up the great work bud
My standard playthrough always goes with Ciri Witcher, Cerys in Skellige throne, Radovid and Dijkstra both dying, saving Olgierd and sparing Dettlaff while killing Syanna
I did everything the same
Exactly how my first playthrough went. Now on NG+ and same endings for main story and HoS. Currently on B&W planning to fight Detlaff at the end and keep both sisters alive.
I actually managed to get the best endings in the mainstory + DLCs on the first try, without prior knowlege. Proud moment.
I got super lucky with the fairytale ending of blood and wine on my first attempt. I never read any of the books, or previous games, but Regis is so loveable of a character than I followed him and trusted him both because I would have done so, and Geralt seemed to trust him as well. Also because he fully took a hit from detlaff to the heart to tell him geralt is his friend. Looking back, the syanna conversation choices feel like a dice throw, you basically need to pick the three correct choices in a row, and have tried to understand her.
Personally I played my geralt as the person who tries to understand whats going on before passing any form of judgement, and as a witcher an investigator to boot, so I read all the journal entries, and was just nice to her. She was a character that we see alot in the witcher, one thrown into a terrible world and thus they do terrible thing, but just the interactions in the land of fables show more of who she really is, and how she deserved a second chance.
Can't beleive I almost lost this exceptional video because everyone was publishing today and my bell had like 20 notifications! Still, great work as ever, keep it up man!
Every time I play....I go into it thinking I'll go for one of the other endings and inevitably just want to get the super happy ending with everyone in the house partying.
Thanks for making this video, I didn't realize there were so many endings. Time to replay W3 a dozen more times
Can't wait for the "what would Geralt do" video. The war ending was always a uncertainty for me, no way book Geralt would let Roche and Ves die even if he chose Iorveth path in TW2 but I'm not even sure he would go through Matter of state and kill Radovid. But I am just half way through the books.
Ciri witcher ending is Unrealistic by the Witcher standards, she has been considered dead 4 times in the past already, yet they kept pursuing her, they kept looking for leads, everyone and their mothers had a secret agenda that involved Ciri, even if her elder powers are diminished she still carries the gene and the Cintrian crown. Her freedom wouldn't last for more than several months.
I prefer to let Detlaff live because I didn't really care for the story of Anna, Syanna, & Detlaff. But Regis is the only good character that I didn't want ending up with regret, guilt, & trouble for his long existance.
Damn I shouldn't have break Djikstra legs I could have gotten to assassinate Radovid.
I like the differences you can have in the blood and wine endings, even with the fairy tale ending, Regis is still labeled a traitor, because he helped Geralt, a human, over Detlaff who saved him from certain death, and exiled by his own race.
That being said, my endings are always as follows
- Witcheress Ciri, Nilfgaard wins, Cerys as Queen, Olgierd lives and O'Dimm banished and the fairy tale ending for B&W.
I am in that exact same boat. I managed to get all that my 2nd run, but my 1st one got all except the fairy tale ending - she opted to stab her sister :(
Those are the default endings by the bigger part of the playerbase.
I got the farytail ending and didnt tell anyone Syanna was going to kill the Dutchess, only Geralt and Regis knew.
I'd like to play devil's advocate in terms of Djikstra not being as good as he seems as ruler of the north. I think he's MILES better than Radovid, but the ending also specifically states he industrialized the north and forcibly moved people around to work where they were needed. It is my personal belief that this is a reference to the forced industrialization and mandatory relocations of the early Soviets under Stalin. Dijkstra is a ruthless (but undeniably brilliant) leader who cares little for the individual people but instead cares for the idea of a grand state. While this retains the idea of Northern culture, it's hardly all that free. It preserves a lot of the worst of the north since Nilfgaard's forced cosmopolitan nature isn't present, but all of the loss of personal autonomy is. I'd argue it's better (for the world, at least, not necessarily Geralt or Ciri etc) to have Nilfgaard take over the north. Sure, the individuality of the north is gone... but so too are the wars (both amongst themselves AND with Nilfgaard), the racism and luddite nature, etc. And if Ciri DOES become empress and Cerys takes over Skellige, well.... golden age incoming. Even if it's not best for Ciri, the world will be better off.
I love your videos, I was a day one viewer. I have a literal ton of video ideas because I planned on making some videos on Witcher content, and this was one of them. I’m glad to see the fandom isn’t dying.
As much as I like Dijkstra as a character, I could never let him kill Vernon Roche on every playthrough (which is sad, given you pretty much make it clear that the aftermath is probably the best).
Great vid man.. just finished my main playthrough & both dlc's. Absolutely incredible experience!
For "Hearts of Stone", I prefer letting Olgierd die. In my opinion he deserved what was coming to him. However, I prefer letting him die before finding Ciri in the main quest for extra reward option. To those who don't know what I'm talking about, I'll let you figure out why. 😉
Damn, when you said there was a third ending i was hoping it would involve detlaff being put in the vampire-proof cage for a few hundred years to cool off. It's one of the obvious-feeling options that no one thinks of.
Wouldn't have to cage him just cut his head off it would take him a few years to regenerate.
Been a while since I read the books but I think it took Regis 30 years when he was "killed "by humans in his youth.
That was the experience that sobered him up and got him to quit killing humans
Cool video. I actually really enjoyed both DLCs' main quests, I felt the visual design, soundtrack and ideas there were really 10/10. Easily the best DLCs I've ever seen. And I also stumbled upon the "happy ending" in B&W, mostly because I felt bad for her because of how she was treated. I do agree, her facing some kind of punishment, would make more sense.
I suspect that Geralt remaining in the Cabin as the monsters close in is solely to put himself at risk with the hope that he might feel something, be it fear or fury, in what could be his final moments.
Before finally drawing his Sword, of course.
I love the ending when Geralt says "its witcher time" then he starts witching.
Always a good day when you upload. Love the consistent Witcher content thank ya
I really like the theory that all 3 endings to the main game are correct, they just occur in a specific order. First is the "bad"ending, then the witcher ending, then the empress, they all happen consecutively. Ciri enters the tower, is gone longer than expected and geralt goes out in his suicide mission- but survives. He then finds her, gets the sword crafted while pretending shes dead, and they go off as a witcher pair for a little while. Then the emperor gets a hold of her somehow, or she decides its time, and she decides its time to go to Nilfgaard.
Love the theory! Alternatively, consider this order... Bad ending first, disappears, Geralt Survives. Then after a period of time she ends up with nilfgaard (either Geralt finds her one day and takes her or she goes herself.. who knows maybe after travelling through so many worlds she decided to try out the "world of politics"? lol) She spends a lot of time being groomed for leadership, 3 years later in blood and wine She makes it known to geralt that she hasn't ruled out the idea of leaving Nilfgaard. Eventually she does: then Witcheress ending.
Makes the most sense to me since she expressed not liking government. BUT WAIT... Shes the lady of space and time right? I just had the thought.. what if She experiences these events in a different order than everyone else?? She might be jumping back and forth between past and future...
Lets say she Enters the tower to try to prevent the white frost.. takes way too long.. comes back only to find that geralt didnt survive his suicide mission, Heartbroken; she jumps back to when Geralt finds her on that island when he thought she was dead. Both of them have an emotional reunion. Geralt thought she was dead, and Ciri just left the future where Geralt was dead... but of course she can't tell him that. Knowing that she was able to stop the white frost before. She jumps forward, basically skips the that whole bit because she it got handled in a previous timeline lol. And since she isn't gone for that long period of time and now that she is there, Geralt doesn't go on his suicide mission.
They then report to nilfgaard. After finding out that the royal life isnt for her, she decides she would rather spend some quality time with her real "dad" (Geralt). When finding out the truth of the whole matter of Emhyr, and her mother's mysterious death at sea, she decides to fake her own death. Leaving NIlfgaard to the wolves that despise her father; She then sets out to roam the lands as a Witcheress
These kind of contant are very rare. Love you man.
The Empress ending does have a lot more going on than the surface. You can’t have a heroes journey that ends with the hero not growing out of her impetuous immaturity into accepting her patrimony and responsibility.
The empress ending is essentially Aragorn set in the continent. If it was good enough for Tolkien, it’s damn sure good enough for a video game. LOL. And it was handled just as well
Thanks for making me want to play this game again
I have to disagree about how you evaluated the Ciri Empress Ending. It's not my favorite, so I'm not talking out of passion. Since fake Ciri WAS retcon and in the Game, and Emyr does want Ciri back, I think it should be evaluated in the perspective of the game, not the perspective of the Witcher Lore, since the whole game already broke said lore.
I think this ending fits perfectly, the issue here is the retconning made in TW3 itself. This ending feels like it was the intended one, since the whole game is about Ciri finding her place and accepting her responsabilities.
If fake Ciri was originaly part of the plot, I'm mad they cut her out cause the game really lost its continuity with the books because of it. It's THE main plot hole. I feel like no matter the ending, the plot hole remains by the simple fact Emyr wanted Ciri for the throne, and also officially recognised her as his daughter, despite marrying fake Ciri, official heir of Cintra.
🤮🤮
5:50 haha true. My first playthrough i broke Dijkstras other leg for the lulz, loved the books, Nilfgard won and Ciri still became witcher. Had another throwback on what witcher letters mean on their silver sword :D
Ciri as empress maybe bad for player, but it's best for the world, someone like her in charge of Nilfgaard could change much, prevent wars etc. But Ciri as Witcher wouldn't make much diffrence and because lack of mutations she would die "early" assuming she would die because of age.
I got the "Bad ending" my first time through, it was a serious downer and if I have to admit it I was kinda pissed to find out that Ciri just decided to leave her adopted father forever because he didn't want her to destroy his weird Elf time-mage friends library.
I would honestly rank both Dettlaf living and Siana fairy tale ending as the same. You are hired to kill the beast, which threatens the Duchess. Either Dettlaf or Siana can be considered that beast. They can also be both. You were hired to solve that problem. As a witcher you do that in either ending.
The ending where Ciri goes to the afterlife to save Skjall's soul is my favorite
Honestly the only way I can see the everyone dies and everyone lives endings for B&W being properly explained; specifically in regards to the lack of consequences for/suspicion of Syanna is that Annarietta is generally shown to be an absolute monarch/ruler throughout the story and so perhaps because she is so soft on Syanna then everyone else just has to go along with it because that is the political/court culture of Toussaint.
Damien for instance is shown to be the continent's biggest lap dog over the course of blood and wine and Annarietta repeatedly makes unilateral decisions with zero input from anyone else further suggesting a culture of absolute Ducal authority.
can't wait for your what would geralt do video!
My first blind run:
Cerys is queen
Ciri stays as a Witcheress
Nilfgaard wins (I call this a good ending, Glory to the Great Sun)
Olgierd lives (I only didn't know about the treasure in the nightmare maze, so couldn't retrieve it)
Geralt chooses Yen, as it should be
Sianna and Anna Henrietta are both alive. Alas, couldn't save Detlaff, but maybe it was for the better...
Ultimately, I call myself totally satisfied with these results
I’ve done play throughs with each ending but for most of my play throughs, I always choose to obtain the Ciri becoming a Witcher ending. Always has been my favorite.
I thought Coro died 😢 Thank God she became a Witcher with me! I chose Triss too, she was cool. Yennefer seemed high maintenance.
Yeah, poor Coro :(
what. only 5 likes on a verified comment
@@thanmayjinu6333 aha this guy make vlogs in india and got famous .
I was devastated because unfortunately i got the sad ending first time. And i had no idea its the end...in fact the level was 28 and i thought two third of the story is remaining.
Man!!!🙆
And then i got teleported to kaer morhen and their was no main story.
I remembered vesemir and got even more sad.Then i started running around to see the other two witchers but found none.
Went to undvik and spent 30 min at the tower just in awe....
The witcher world is so immersive that added to the sadness.
I gave it break of a month before starting for blood and wine.
I always thought the Empress Ciri Ending was the best ending from a "Games Only" perspective.
Its bittersweet and impactful, and it sets up the Witcher 4 perfectly in some ways. During the last quest of the Witcher 3 Base game, before Ciri enters the tower, monsters start popping in from different worlds, this however does not change anything in the Witcher 3, but would make excellent material for a potential Witcher 4 with Geralt and Ciri (These thought were back in 2017 before a new game was announced).
Think about it, Ciri becomes empress, but her people are threatend by all those new monsters, so she calls upon the best Witcher she knows for help.
Nah.
Loved the video, and agree on most of the choices. You make amazing quality videos that make a big Witcher universe fan happy. Keep up the good work, hope you hit 100k soon!
I thought most of these endings were beautifully done. Even the "bad" endings are nice in they feel like they fit into the story and setting
I played W3 only and read some of the books after, so my conclusion may be wrong. But I felt the Ciri becomes a witcher ending was odd, since being trained by witchers doesn't mean you can just be one. How was she able to drink Black Blood or any other potion for that matter? She's just a monster hunter but witcher is stretching it.
💩
I feel bad about Emhyr in my ending. I told him that Ciri is dead, and her daughter never talked about him. And also he was killed by his servants afterwards.
Hey man, nice content. Keep doing what you're doing. I'll have a great time playing it for the third time on next gen watching your stuff.
Man, i remember that first video that you uploaded, now look how massive your channel is!
Still think Ciri becoming queen is the right ending. May not have the greatest amount of positive emotions, but that's why it's called the right ending. She is choosing to take up responsibility that only she can do correctly.
Considering what we learn about vampires in Tesham Mutna, it seems that killing Detlaf could be considered an act of kindness. He's directly responsible for the death of many lesser vampires and for causing considerable inconvenience to the higher kind.
I mean, he's screwed, whether you let him live or not. But Regis...? Regis is only screwed if you kill Detlaf. Otherwise Regis pays off his debt and is finally free. And his debt is actually your debt. Regis died for you.
Twice.
My first playthrough got me the "bad ending". Seeing Geralt sitting with his head between his hands, holding his lost stepdaughter's medallion, with a swarm of monsters closing in felt like a punch in the gut.
Best thing about the ending where dettlaff lives, is that my guy regis doesn’t become an outcast
The worst ending is Geralt still chained to a bed in boxer
I hate the fact that for Dijkstra to be in charge of the north you have to allow Roache to be murdered, the only outcome I'm remotely willing to entertain for the north is one where Radvid and Emhyr are both dead and unable to interfere. But I wish that this was achievable without knowingly allowing Roache to die, it's so hard to stomach. Djikstra as a character is one the most interesting video game characters of all time for me, I want to hate his guts for his slimy ruthlessness, especially after the aforementioned murder, but he shows a savvy intelligence almost no one else in the entire game comes remotely close to, he also displays an emotional intelligence that for me at least illustrates he's not a sociopath or a psychopath and understands - at least what he views as - necessity more than anything else. In the end I think he impresses me more than disgusts me and the epilogue voiceover illustrates undeniably that his rule is best for the north without a doubt. By contrast Radovid is insane and genocidal and has zero redeeming qualities beyond his ability to hold back the advancing war machine of Nilfgaard. Emhyr is a sociopath and a user in charge of an empire the entire ethos of which is domination for everyone elses betterment, against their will if need be. Even in an ending where Ciri becomes empress - which you're right makes no real sense - Nilfgaard is still Nilfgaard and to believe one person could change that is ludicrous to the point of delusion. Roache just has to die and it sucks.
I love how when watching your videos, the background music you play always sounds like it's coming from another room or something.
Not terms of audio quality, but rather that it's blended into the video so well that it sounds like it's actually being played nearby.
Hope I was able to get the point across well 😅
To be fair, the Empress ending is vague at best and it never actually says she succeeds the throne. It kind of reminds me of a Warden that becomes queen consort to Alistair, Hawke becoming viscount of Kirkwall or the Inquisitor in Inquisition. Neither position the OC wanted but took anyway cuz its for the greater good. I also like the idea of Ciri possibly having her own plans that don't involve actually being Empress but arming herself with knowledge of the empire and using time travel to dismantle it.
I still don't understand why Dijkstra couldn't have returned to power without k!lling Broche, Thaler, and Ves