My take on Gaunter is that he reflects the personalities of those that come in contact with him. Hence “Master of Mirrors”. Notice how he never cheats Geralt (that I can recall). He even helps him at the beginning of the game. Similar to how Geralt helps those he comes in contact with. Geralt as a person is good, so Gaunter reflects that goodness back. As to where Olgierd had evil and darkness inside him before he met Gaunter. So when he made the deal with Gaunter; he reflected that evil and darkness back. Just my theory on the subject. Gaunter is one of the best written characters of all time.
@@KA-ym5wf great question. Another reason why Gaunter is so fascinating. It seems like Gaunter tortured the poor dude. But that’s just implied, no proof that he caused the professors blindness or was the one giving him nightmares. Also Gaunter may have not killed him either. The house was crumbling from just being wore down, and led to his death. Who’s to say the professor couldn’t leave the circle the whole time and been fine? It’s very interesting.
@@KA-ym5wf it's very likely that what happened with the professor was merely a psychological manipulation via Gaunter's precognitive abilities, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy. If there really wasn't any magical bullshit involved, which is very likely, then this is a very ironic way of punishing curiosity.
@@FerunaLutelou dude literally went blind READING about him. Literally the second he steps out of the pentagon he dies. There was magical bullshit involved...
Gaunter o dimm is one of my favorite characters in any work of fiction. I love characters where a lot of stuff about them is left to the imagination similar to the stranger in the first red dead redemption
yeah, the Strang Man is one of my favorite parts about both RDR games, they give you just enough to completely hook you but still let your mid fill in most of the blanks. I've never actually beaten TW3 or any of its DLCs (I do own it all and have played a solid bit through the base content) so this just excited me for what's to come lol
@@brandondanforth8342 Mind you by the time you play RDR2 it does become very clear "what" the Strange Man really is making the ambiguity factor donwplay itself making the player loose intrigue and interest in the character while still appreciating him for the effect he originally triggered on the unsuspecting player who couldn't grasp his true nature. I would argue the same about O'Dimm after fully playing The Witcher 3 to the end even though in his case it's still mostly especulation regarding his identity.
@@javiervasquez625 I mean, I suppose a former an der Linde Gang member would know a bit about it, eh? 🤣 fr though, thats generally how sequels (yes, RDR2 is a prequel, but the idea still applies) tend to do things, taking the mystique out of things
Like everything in this game, i can't see O'Dimm in black and white. Merely a being so old, so weighed down by history, he inserts himself into Mortal affairs to both entertain himself, and Test them. He seems completely genuine with Geralt, whom if you play completely upfront to O'Dimm, is not only satisfied with your behavior but down right delighted. We also can not discount the advice he gives Geralt either, which gives us Ciri's best ending if followed. Something which does not gain O'Dimm anything, as far as i can think at this time.
O'Dimm is nice with Geralt because he needs Geralt to fufill his pact with Olgierd. You can't trust anything he says because he is a merchant whose job it is to sell you something. Don't forget he plays with a human skull when he tells Geralt about Ciri.
@@hueylongdong347 Once Geralt Fulfiled his mission O'Dimm had no need to reward him Further Nor Provide information that is beneficial. And to be honest, Weirdly, O'Dimm is likely the most trustworthy individual we've met aside from Geralt. You know what you get with O'Dimm, Olgeird Sought out the master Mirror Himself lest we forget. And the other two people we know that O'Dimm dealt with, One was looking into his past which as we have seen he did not care for (Warning Geralt about the same), and the Other Spurned Him by not heeding to custom. Geralt met both of those people, One he saved from her Curse, and the Other Died when Geralt came to ask what he Knew. That's What I like About O'Dimm, If he is treated with a modicum of respect he will most likely and quite casually drift right through and out of your life. But to call on him to fill ones dark desired only brings ruin to you, especially if you believe you can cheat him. And heaven Forbid you mis treat a poor beggar looking for food.
@@Irelym The guy who manipulates people through actual blood pacts is the opposite of trustworthy. Gaunter is a merchant who follows his contract to the letter. Geralt was simply repaid for his service. And he directly says that he is gonna search for a new victim. He will probably drag Geralt along as well because he proved a capable proxy. Yeah, Olgierd sought out help from O'Dimm - in torn clothes and no money. What was he supposed to do? Lay down and die of poverty? O'Dimm used his desperation to eventually feast on his soul. He had no obligation to grant wishes, but he not only did that, but by demanding a human sacrifice from Olgierd. His contracts don't just hurt his victims, but the people around them. Like Iris, her family and the Professor. Speaking of which. How can you even justify the way O'Dimm dealt with the Professor and Marlene De Trastemara? Professor was tasked with a job, not his own curiosity, for which O'Dimm put him through brutal mental torture and nightmares for no reason other than sadism. Marlene would for years kidnap local peasants and later dispose of them in an effort to lift her curse, deaths that happened directly because O'Dimm cursed her. You further failed to mention how Gaunter brutally tortured Vlodimir when even Shani and Geralt, two people more bothered by him than Gaunter was, said enough. That he murdered a drunk man for being friendly with Geralt. That he is the reason the Usurper took over Nilfgaard and began decades of death, plague and fanaticism in the North. He has a creepy song sung by children for crying out loud and has a Hym, an actual demon, in his service. How much more proof do you need to know that he is an absolute monster?
@@hueylongdong347 At no point have i excused his behavior, Merely stating that everything in this game is a shade of grey. He is a near black grey, but grey never the less. And considering Voldimir is not more than a bandit with a title and all that entails you will find no sympathy from me. And do not forget, without O'Dimms Curse Geralt would have been at a loss for a curtain potion required in blood and wine. In short, a Character this powerful arguably cannot truly be judged by it's actions by mortals. What is chaos for the fly is survival for the spider and all that. All that being said, You make very valid points, I'm glad to have this discussion with you. I guess in my old age you see more in the villain.
Good point. For all the very good, downright esoteric writing within Elder Scrolls universe, Clavicus is one of the least fleshed out Daedric princes, and I really wish they would have made him something like Gaunter is and as effectively. That would single-handedly make him one of the most interesting princes as opposed to one of the least interesting ones that he kinda is now.
@@mahapralaya999 Clavicus Vile is based off of Loki, the Norse God of trickery, who is then speculated to be based off of The Devil, so in a way it's all connected.
Not unfathomable necessarily, as it can be explained. I'd sooner say it was something truly "unacceptable" to a human being. One such explanation would be: "I am you".
@@greyngreyer5 You could definitely interpret it as him being the the merchant of mirrors, literally a mirror of human vices and weaknesses. With the conjunction of spheres, I lean towards something unlike anything else filtering down and taking the form of O’Dimm.
@@Panzer_the_Merganser I did read a theory, a pretty simple one, but kind of juvenile honestly, about what he might have been referring to when he said people go insane when they learn what he is. Pretty simple: they go insane when they realize they're in a game and he's aware of it. I swear, that would piss me the fuck off.
@@greyngreyer5 Yeah no way, that would be a lazy and, frankly shitty reveal. Even if there is no definite origin of O’Dimm, it’s better left a mystery versus that.
In the world of the witcher, even geralt himself said that one's name holds alot of power. Likely I think the mere comprehension of odimms true name can cause someone to go mad or die. Maybe by some type of magic.
I like how O'Dim just looks like another random NPC that appears in the game, has no major features that important NPCs often have. How evil hides behind one of the most ordinary looking man. Because of his ordinary looks, if we ever encounter his face again in the game, we don't assume it's him observing us, we just think it's the game reusing assets to save the space. But once we meet him again in the expansion, we finally understand that there is something more to him.
Aside from Faust, and Pan Twardowski, a strong inspiration for Gaunter's depiction is a folktale depiction of a devil from around 1600's (Plus minus 100 years). A traveling noble, educated and eloquent as well as well mannered. Sometimes depicted with a single leg of a goat and the other of a human, making his step uneven. That devil would rarely bother those who never bothered him, but would take revenge on anybody who bothered them and pay his debts to those who treated him well. Basically, that devil would reflect onto people what they did- like a mirror.
Gaunter O’Dimm’s theme sends shivers down my spine. It’s even worse when you hear those kids singing his theme. I don’t know why but it just sounds so scary and menacing.
Its supposed to, he’s the embodiment of evil, has literal demons on his payroll, been around for thousands of years causing misery and torment for those already going through lows , etc
O'Dimm is fascinating because he has this terrifying and mysterious aura about him, where he is called "evil incarnate" and "untrustworthy", and we certainly see him do some things that can back that up. However he also is one of the most helpful characters to Geralt, and even one of the most truthful. He helps Geralt find Yennifer in white orchard, he later saves Geralt from certain execution, at the wedding he plays matchmaker for Geralt to shack up with Shani, and at the end if you don't stop him he will give Geralt advice for the best ending with Ciri. Admittedly he was helping Geralt because he was a useful pawn to bring Olgierd in, and he was merely rewarding him at the end with the info about Ciri. But if he was truly evil, he would have found some way to bring about Geralt's end as well - which can happen, but that is purely of Geralt's own doing. We don't know if he is being nice to Geralt because he is useful, or because as the professor says he draws you in with niceties, so you can falsely trust him. His name is the master of mirrors, so it could be that he reflects the nature of whoever it is he is dealing with - Geralt is a good and truthful person, so he reflects that back. It seems like most of the people who were victims of O'Dimm were flawed and wicked in nature, so he reflects their natures back at them and brings about their own downfalls. Is he doing that because he is a wicked demon that delights in other's suffering, or is he merely wielding his own brand of justice. Is he truly the devil, or is he a god, or even THE God. We don't know, and that's what makes him so fascinating.
Well we can say it’s definitely not about justice just like with the key on the ship he doesn’t care how others feel only himself human lives mean nothing to him
Olgierd was a flawed person like we all in different aspects. Olgierd was desperate enough to accept a deal with basically Satan and thought he could outsmart him to not pay the price. O’Dimm had been preying on desperate people for thousands of years. Olgierd became and he became because his heart turned into stone due to trickery from O’Dimm. Olgierd wasn’t a stand up citizen, but he wasn’t anywhere near close to the pure embodiment of evil that O’Dimm is
I failed to save Olgierd. Normally, I would have sided with him, but Gaunther O Dim scared me. I didn't expect that you could even hope to beat him in a gamble... Obviously, fighting him was out of the question... He scared me a lot more than the unseen elder, despite the latter being probably just as unbeatable and even more hostile. However, it would be a quick death...
O'Dimm is way more powerful than the Unseen Elder. He is one of the gods of the witcher universe. As for beating him in the gamble, he's just playing with you. If you win he just slow claps and leaves. You don't actually defeat him. He could easily kill you if he wanted.
normally this would be kind of a pussy move, but given the kind of world you have in Witcher?.. Taking that into consideration, I can't blame you, O'Dimm had a very oppressive presence throughout that whole scene and at any moment it seemed like he could incinerate your body to ashes.
Reasons why don't save Olgierd: - He killed Iris' father - He killed his brother - He intentionally called the evil forces upon himself - He destroyed lives of many to improve his own - You don't want to be Gaunter O'Dimm's foe
I have always found it so hard to sympathise with Olgierd. I just can't get over how he killed his brother who worshipped him. So because of that I always side with O'Dimm at the end. Also I simply don't want this extremely powerful being to have a grudge against me.
I don't think Gaunter is the type of creature to hold a grudge. He's a demon, maybe even Satan himself, in any case he's extremely powerful and remarkably evil but as someone else said, he reflects the person he's talking to. He offers Geralt generous advice, shows no real disdain towards him despite the two having a pact same as him and Olgierd. Much like other specters that play tricks of any kind, actually beating him at his own game serves as a powerful ward I imagine, he cannot and will not fight back against you in the same way a hym wouldn't.
I'm still curious as to what Gaunter O'Dimm actually is... Everything you encounter monster-wise in the Witcher Universe is categorized into a neat handbook showing all the monster races names and some trivia. Like what the name of different vampires are and what they can do IIRC. Not Gaunter though... He is clearly meant to be the devil as far as I can tell but with everything else being revealed it is a bit irksome to be left hanging, though I suppose that is the point haha
I mean his initials quite literally spell GOD so yeah, there you have it, goes hand in hand with other things CDPR have done in other quests and whatnot, like saying the psI mean his initials quite literally spell GOD so yeah, there you have it, goes hand in hand with other things CDPR have done in other quests and whatnot, like saying the letters in the handkerchief found in the lake in Blood and Wine spell D.L.C, cause well, it's a DLC we're playing, same with the Book found in the tower called GOG cause of their company
4:37 Precisely. One does not excuse himself as simply being 'the nature of evil', because 'the nature of evil' does not exist inasmuch as the absence of something exists. Evil is the blindness of men, and thus is committed solely and only by men, by virtue of being committed.
I believe Gaunter to more of mankind's mirror reflecting what people are for Olgird he is callous and cruel the Von Everacs tradition was to pillage and plunder which Olgird admitted so being cruel was nothing new to the family. The old man in the Tavern is harder to justify other than Gaunter being annoyed by his interruptions, before that Gaunter spiked a bowl of soup that was being eaten by one Olgirds men that would make them sick. The Proffesor commissioned by Olgird to look into Gaunter in breaking his pact was visited by him this tells me that Gaunter moved before a breakthrough could be made into binding him, as punishment the professor was subject to nightmares and a trapped in a pentagram so long they stayed in it no harm would befall him. In the Blood and Win DLC its heavily implied Gaunter cured Marlene Trastmara into a wight after she denied Gaunter in disguise spare food during a banquet, denying a beggar food when they reach your door in Toussaint is considered taboo. All these people where targeted for different reasons Olgired and Marlene for their cruel nature prior to their meeting, Olgirds man prisoned for most likely being a goon for Olgird, the old man killed for being a constant interruption and the professor for getting to close to cracking the man in glass. But despite it all his approach to all of them was near one to one to their tone and attitude being cruel and wicked to Olgird and Marlene, arbitrary to the goon and old drunk, congratulatory and sinister to the professor highlighting what the people where like at the time Gaunter interacted with them. Geralt was a the exception Gaunter treated him fairly throughout the game. He told him where Yennifer went, he saved from being executed, never lied and if sided with in the final encounter and haven't finished the main quest told him what to do and not to do with Ciri when she is encountering he trails and crisis'. Hell even if you sided with Olgird and defeat Gaunter he's not even mad and lost with grace despite saying in Creole French and Georgian languages he will be back. to further prove the point he gave Geralt dating advice with Shani and had pleasant conversation with an old lady about making bread. TLDR: Gaunter O'Dimm matches and acts like the people he meets even when threated or annoyed he takes on personality traits that makes more approachable to the person or grate them the right way for said person to spite them into exactly what Gaunter wanted Cruelty, Arbitrary, Congratulatory, Honest Gaunter never lied to anyone but never gave all the details and him enjoying the cruelty I'd say yea he does enjoy hurting people he despises. But in the end is spared and freed Olgird comes out a changed man feeling the full weight of his mistakes and Marlene now old humbled and kind a far cray to what they once where.
At the end of the day, O'Dimm is not evil, he is no worse than a real merchant. He will look to make bargains that will favor him favorably, he is no worse than Vivaldi's bank.
Possibly one of my favorite ever villains of all time. I love how he manipulates, I love how he strictly adheres to the terms of his contract, and I love the moral complexity and questions the Hearts of Stone DLC brings into the game. It's a hot take, but I would argue that Hearts of Stone is better than Blood and Wine. At least, I enjoy it more, and 99% of that is because of Gaunter O' Dimm and his incredibly interesting story and what little we can find out about him.
All the scenes with O'dimm are really interesting to analyse. Since the beginning Gaunter towering over every characters. On the wooden cross, from the Moon. Even him as a character is really tall and dominates the other characters.
I just realized: Gaunter O’Dimm is a metaphor for writers and worldbuilders who adore grim settings; he subjects the characters to misery in order to weave a tapestry of horror, which he says is “quite the gripping story.” He is GOD, a cruel GOD who delights in making a sad ending because of its thematic brilliance.
Hearts of stone is gonna stick with me forever. Seeing Olgierd's head dangle from the nape of his neck as he just congratulates me for beating him in a fight, killing the caretaker, tricking Gaunter O'Dimm (beating it with only a second to spare, too). Shit was a soft horror story at times.
3:33 The thing is, as I’ve understood it from Olgierd’s dialogue if you spare him, O’Dimm didn’t give him a heart of stone. It’s just that immortality slowly made him less and less human until he didn’t care about anything anymore because he had virtually all the time in the world and infinite riches. He didn’t have to win his bread, he didn’t have to worry for his life, all that remained was entertainment and the novelty wears off quickly when you can do anything. The « Heart of Stone » is just the result of him desiring something without realizing the consequences if what acquiring that thing would be, whitch is the central theme of the DLC.
@@mrrandradeNo. O’Dimm likes the fine print when it benefits him and him only. Look at he did to Geralt and Olgierd. Olgierd asked for immortality, period. He received immortality along with losing his humanity, and this is what O’Dimm loves, seeing you enjoy the gift while you’re slowly destroying yourself and those around you for his pure pleasure. The devil hands you something with one hand but it takes it back with two
i really learn a lesson about something i wish, dream and passion. it can turn out to be something worse. the dilemma of something we really want or something we need kinda beauty. i understand after finishing the dlc it kinda give me pleasant feel for sometimes to remember what i have and happy about. damn, it's a good weapon of gaunther o'dimm crushing his victim wishes and take advantage. the final battle not give you the best boss battle, but the beauty of the story speak itself afterwards
Hi, guy from Poland here :D regarding Mr Twardowski there is also a Polish poem called Mrs Twardowska where wife of Mr Twardowski orders the devil to go to hell :D
Well for me best option is to side with Gaunter and then take nothing from him,its shown to us that Olgierd doesn't deserve redemption,through his life he has only caused death,misery and suffering of those around him,he sent Geralt to kill the prince probably knowing people are coming to save him. He doesn't stop at anything to achieve his goals,he is arrogant enough that he thinks he can cheat Gaunter,he gave his wife fate worse than death. Yes,Gaunter is evil no question about it,but he can't be killed,he always return,he can control power of nature,he can see the future,he can curse with just a sentence,there is nothing you gain standing in his way,but an powerful enemy that you can't ever hope to destroy.
Yep. The more times I play the DLC, the more cemented in my opinion that Olgierd is trash. He was always a selfish thug. Never could figure out what a sweet soul like Iris saw in him.
@@jesseauwerda732 You don't need emotion or feeling of regret to differentiate good from evil,right from wrong,he wasn't a child,but grown man that knew what he was doing.
@@Scarlet_moon. And despite that, he did some good. The man who his people were trying to decapitate was the one who started the fire, killed the owner of the place, and se*rally harassed his daughter. If you only give him the house and not the contents, he reveals he planned to use it to help charities and pay off debts similar to his own to the Borsodis. And as for his brother, Olgierd changed the story so Vlodimir would be known as a legend, not a coward. An important tidbit is that Olgeird made the deal with O'Dimm while drunk and depressed after watching his estate be sold off and his fiancee promised to another man. He was in the lowest moment of his life, and O'Dimm's deal made him incapable of caring for others.
O´Dimm is a merchant of mirrors, which means he mirrors the way the humans act. It shows clearly that he does not care much about the death or fate of people (killing the guy in the tavern for unpolitely disturbing, punishing the rich lady for being unkind to a beggar), but somehow he answered to their behaviour, it was something like a consequence of their own wrongdoing. Tough, their little lifes do not matter much to him. But to obtain a soul seems to be something else, far more significant. What Olgierd had to do to get the pact, and willingly did, was really really bad (I mean, have your lover or brother killed?? Seriously? And he was not literally dying at this point, he was „just“ losing/had lost his wealth, influence and bride), and O´Dimm strictly stuck to the rules of the pact (though with some twists). The bad deeds Olgierd did even before the pact seem countless, being a bandit and robbing, killing and torturing people. Also cursing the Ophirian prince and then lying to Geralt to get him killed on top of that - that´s so hateful and unnecessarily cruel, and just lead to his damnation via the fulfillment of his three wishes (starting up the events with Geralt: getting arrested for frogkilling, under pressure on the ship accepting his pact with O´Dimm etc). O´Dimm to me seems to be rather on the evil side, but in strange ways also „fair“. He is completely other level compared to the usual villain of course, far far above that. Certainly he is the most fascinating game antagonist I ever came about (what made me watch this video ^^). On the contrary Olgierd seems to be just the everyday villain, selfish and ruthless, and he really did a lot to make all this happen. I thought quite a while about which way to turn and tried both paths, but ultimately decided not to confront O´Dimm, cause in my opinion Olgierd reaped what he sow, he was far from being an innocent victim. Not my quest to mingle with. And I didn´t take any reward from O´Dimm. Better that entity ows me something than the other way around.
At the point where he froze the f*ing time I was scared shitless for Geralt. His seemingly unlimited powers were the reason I did not try to save Olgierd at the end. I just didn't see how it could've ended well for Geralt (I didn't apply video game logic here, so I genuinely didn't see how he could beat Gaunter). And Olgierd did make a deal with the devil, almost literally. I felt sorry for him but I didn't want to risk Geralt's hide to save Olgierd from his well-deserved fate.
Yet, if you save Olgierd, which you should do, Olgiers is genuinely remorseful about putting Geralt in the harms way. He only did the deal with O'Dimm out of desperation, he had lost his fortune, and that almost made him lost the love of his life, then the immortality turned him into a heartless prick, but after you save him, he's once again the honorable man he used to be.
@TheRain Spooning that one guy in the eye made you think he is truly evil? How do you feel about Ciri then? She killed a lot more innocent people while running with the Rats.
@TheRain The rats very explicitly kill for entertainment. That's why I used this example. By contrast, what O'Dimm did was not random at all. He killed that drunk because he disrespected him. The whole scene made me see him as prideful, not evil. Which is not surprising for someone who is essentially an immortal god that can control reality through sheer willpower.
@TheRain I read the books years ago and the people they kill were not named characters, so I can't give you specific examples. I just forgot. All I can remember from those chapters was that the Rats were a bunch of sadistic bastards and I was glad when Bonhart killed them. Think of a bunch of teenage Whoreson Juniors. As for Ciri, no, she was not mentally well at all. She was raped and drugged by them. She got attached to them just because she was all alone and they were the only ones who took her in. Stockholm syndrome basically. If you're wandering why you can't see the Ciri you play as in the game doing those things is because she basically created a different personality for herself while she was with the rats as a coping mechanism. She called herself Falka and was tormenting innocent people alongside the rest of the rats. She could do it because, in her mind she was not Ciri. She was Falka. Seriously, those chapters were fucked up.
That is well deserved in my opinion .Vlodimir is annoying as hell with his pompous and overcompensating nature ,also he and Geralt had a deal ,Geralt would let Vlodimir posses his body for a day ,but when the time came for Vlodimir to return to his crypt he didn't want to and he would've stayed longer if Gaunter did not intervene
I wouldn't say that he "enjoys" suffering, that'd be a bit of a stretch. The fact that O'Dimm has existed for, speculated, thousands of years, he's already seen the worst of what humanity can do. He's callus because he's accustomed to these things. He's pretty much seen it all. His desire for souls is apparent, and whether they live, or die is of no real concern for him. But he still has a sense of fairness. As O'Dimm explains, it's not his intention per say to "drop them in a world of hurt", it's because of people's poorly stated wishes. It's their own rotten nature that brings about their own misery. He simply goes by a certain natural rule, and that is, "Every choice has it's consequence". And those who invoke these wishes don't think about them. It's a grim reminder.
He’s not evil and I’m tired of people treating him that way. Gaunter is master mirror cause he shows people what they really are like. He does offer double sided rewards to evil people with intent to punish them but that’s because they deserve it. Olgierd deserved hell before he ever met Olgierd. And olgierd didn’t ask for immortality. He asked to live without any worry - live like there is no tomorrow.
@@Hruljina When thinking about the the spoon-murder I also came to the conclusion that the drunkard might have done bad in his past that we are not shown, and him disturbing now is just the last straw (der Tropfen, der das Fass zum Überlaufen bringt).
Would it be absurd if I said O’Dimm is NOT a villain? He only messes with people who deserves to be condemned. If he was a pure evil being, he would have took advantage of Geralt as well of trying to take his soul.
Something tells me that Gaunter O'Dimm is used to be a human or something, i think he is not just a mindless evil creature who only want everyone to suffers, without exact reason. I feel like his act of evil is more like an act of trolling, an insult of human intelligence. That's why he likes riddle so much, he likes to see people suffers for their own stupidity. Just a theory because it fits.
Honestly I think the easiest way to tell that he is the Devil is that meet up in the bar when he stops time. Geralt asks: You're not human that's clear. So what are you, a demon, a jinn? And after Gaunter warns him he doesn't want to know says. Gaunter: All who have learned my true name are either dead or have met an even worse fate. The way he approaches that seems it's not that Geralt shouldn't know WHAT he is. But WHO he is.
Olgierd also enjoyed the suffering of others. He cursed the Prince of Offieri and enjoyed seeing him live as a toad, until he eventually lost that sense due to his heart of stone and decided to have the witcher kill him. That's also the reason how Gaunter O'Dimm finally managed to begin his plans in claiming his soul through Geralt. The principal difference between Olgierd and Gaunter is their nature. Olgierd, for all his flaws, is a human and hence redeemable. Gaunter O'Dimm is obviously not and that's why you cannot judge him either way. His actions are malevolent and that's why you cannot support him in taking Olgierd's soul, if you can help it. It's not about who's more or less evil, but about what course of action is morally right for you. Letting a man face eternal damnation is not morally right, especially if you are also rewarded for it. That makes you cosciously complicit to a theoretical action(as in not confirmed or impossible in real life) worse than murder.
I think something quite overlooked about O’Dimm, is that in all cases but the scene where he kills the man in the inn, he only preys on those that were already wicked. From Vlodomir’s numerous dialogues, you can gather quite easily that the brothers spend a lot of time as raiders, pillaging, raping, killing and burning entire villages at their leisure. Olgierd’s situation with Iris’ family suddenly feels more like karmic retribution than anything else, and his wicked desire for wanting to get (for lack of a better term I’ll use an expression from my country) « the butter, the money for the better and the ass of the butter-making lady » is what O’Dimm’s preys upon to exert punishment. Same with the cursed lady in Blood and Wine, this is the classic story of a powerful entity posing as a beggar to challenge the morals of a character and punishing them if they fail. Here O’Dimm once again plays the role of the karmic factor coming to bite a wicked character in the ass. Finally there is the professor. Here the punishment is particularly cruel for the crime, but in essence the professor tried to obtain forbidden knowledge (i.e. researching the Devil itself) and received his due. Now with these three examples, we have a far better picture of GOD. He is absolutely evil as he enjoys torturing other immensely, but is only a force that reveals what was already there and punishes those who lack moral character. This is very akin the the Devil in Christian folklore and fairy tales, beyond just Faust and Twardowski (though it’s the main inspiration). In these the Devil is always the force that will tempt and challenge a character and those who show virtue and/or intelligence may reap a substantial reward from their interaction with the It. However those who lack in those two, and think they can use the adversary as a mean to obtain what they so desire get punished for sinning, commonly out of pride, greed or envy though other deadly sins may be used depending on the moral of the day. Seen through this prism, the death of the man in the tavern can be seen as O’Dimm punishing depravity and gluttony, though once again in the most painful way possible. In line with this interpretation is O’Dimm’s behavior with virtuous characters, here Geralt. Geralt, despite trying to appear neutral and disinterested is undoubtably, as shown in the books and the game, moral. He helps folks for a fee that is very low compared to the difficulty of the task, rarely kills intelligent beings, and always strives to be the best man he can be. During the whole expansion, Master Mirror is always very considerate of Geralt, and always treats him nicely, because he knows that Geralt’s wishes, whatever they may be can only be at best ro force him into helping him temporarily. Though he punishes some of Geralt’s most selfish actions by killing the Ophiri/common translator he had formed a bond with as a consequences for our favorite witcher wanting a quick escape from the boat. Likewise, he is charming to Shani, a medic with a heat of gold, and very cordial to everyone on the neutral end of the spectrum we see him interact with. So what can we conclude out of all of that information ? O’Dimm is the evilest of evils, the Devil itself. But he is not out for the blood of the innocent. He prays on the flaws of men, rewards those who answers his challenges with virtue and cleverness (like Geralt in both endings) and punishes those who do not keep their greed, pride, envy and many other flaws in check. He is always fair, he tricks but can be tricked, is ever present and treats everything like a game. He is through and through depicted not as the source of evil and depravity but only as an entity that reveals it and punishes those who refuses to see it in their heart. And thus, it is my honnest opinion that he should not be held accountable for any of Olgierd’s behavior and that the decision of saving the man should only come from weather one believe Olgierd should deserve a second chance, not weather he is the source of evil or not because he definitly is. In any case, Gaunter O’Dimm is a fantastic villain, from a fantastic expansion that poses one fantastic moral dillema about redemption and the nature of evil. It’s why « Heart of Stone » is by far my favorite part of the Witcher 3 and one of my favorite tales set in that universe.
He ain't GOD otherwise he wouldn't waste away his omnipotence and omnipressence with such petty games against such insignificant beings as moral beings. The guy would be abusing his all mighty power to do as he pleases with ALL of creation yet that doesn't seem to be the case as seen by his limitations when Geralt solves the mirror riddle and he simply departs to wathever "higher plane of reality" he goes to after been "defeated". An all powerful being wouldn't be bound by rules, wouldn't CARE about the rules and would definetly have any reason to kill every single being in his Creation for the most petty of reasons yet the Witcher world seems to be perfectly fine for the entirety of the main storyline. If he isn't a djinn as many theorize he can only be some kind of "lesser deity" who decided one day to stop been good deciding instead to do as he pleased without following any commands given to him by the divine hiearchy of the Witcher's pantheon.
Then he should also go haunt / kill bascially all of the soldiers in the game and himself too as for example a lot of horrible things that Olgierd ends up doing were only possible through his actions. And clearly it is not just a moral quest that he is on, GOD seems to also be indulging himself in his violent ways and cruelty which could be said makes him a sinner as well. To say he only preys on the already wicked implies he is right to judge on that in the first place, which even though he seems to be almost all-knowing I'd say he still really isn't, or rather his decisions also indicate a very distinct style of choosing people. Saying that that is actually supposed to be a moral judgement would lead to a very disappointing story and I think he is a better character if he is a kind of devil that creates desires in people in order to control them (or something along those lines).
Gaunter Is not evil. He is master mirror what means he simulates the person he is talking to or interacting with that’s why he is truly evil with Olgierd and his brother but is nice and trustworthy with geralt he is a mirror who reflects your own intentions and interests back at the person looking at the mirror
@@sheogorath1374 I was planning to play the game again (it has been 4yrs now), but he made the most impact on me. I remember him as a sophisticated pure evil character.
@@bartdierickx4630 He is terrifying and it's heavily implied he is the closest thing to the Devil in the witcher universe. So it's normal to make you feel uneasy. But looking at his actions alone, he is ironically not that bad. Especially compared to the average characters you meet in that world full of fucked up people. Don't forget that a big theme in the witcher series is that humans can often be more evil than any monster. And you make friends with vampires, succubi, trolls and other scary creatures. So I'm reluctant to judge characters by what they are. In your interactions with him, Gaunter helped Geralt a lot and never tried to screw him over even though he could. So it feels really uncalled for to betray him at the end for scum like Olgierd.
in my opinion the best way to explain the dynamic between Odimm and Von Everec is to think it as an gamblers situation (winning the lottery for example), Odimm simply promises greatness and riches while Olgierd is the one who dreams about it, but once he gets it. it doesent feel the same, money doesent guarantee happiness, immortality doesent guarantee happiness, the only thing that is true is that Olgierd and Iris loved each other. in the end he shunned Iris, just like he shunned everything he dreamt about when he had truly lost it all, in time he became truly an lost soul, nothing feels like anything due to his wealth and immortality. Last nail to the coffin is the ultimate price to be paid, his own life, the DLC makes you believe its only Odimms or Von everecs fault, while in reality both of them had the same amount of impact on the end result.
Nice, however I don’t think O’dimm is is worse than Olgeird. My reasoning is that O’dimm is naturally evil, or at least we don’t have enough information to contradict it. Olgeird chose to be evil. Choice is the defining point in morality in my opinion. Choosing to do evil to me is worse than naturally being predisposed to evil.
If man has the ability to do evil, then how is he not predisposed to evil anymore than O'dimm is? And moreover, is the act of evil not already a choice? How can O'dimm's evil not already be a choice, given that it is done for the sake of itself, and known as evil? O'dimm's "natural evil" is not anymore natural than man's if we are to understand that O'dimm is not simply a "personification" for evil. O'dimm murders people. He does this, but evil cannot do this by itself. It is powerless because it is only a shadow, a blindness, a moment where men do not take the shape of good, thus evil is always done by men, and if O'dimm does evil (he murders a man in an inn, and convinces Olgeird to make an evil deal), then he is also evil, and has chosen to do so. There is no "natural evil", unless you insist that evil is the necessary contradiction of good, which makes it good by serving as its contradiction. If you insist then, that evil is the equal and opposite of good, then any choice becomes arbitrary, since men might be inclined to one or the other as necessary moments of the existence of each other. But if good were actually the only choice, man's true nature and desire, and evil were a moment where he is blinded and unable to become what he is (good), then evil becomes inherently undesirable, and the only free choice becomes the one where evil isn't a possibility. After all, freedom cannot mean the mere ability to choose, since one does not desire to choose but to choose CORRECTLY; freedom must be the freedom to be without contradiction, or for man to always be what he is (good), without the possibility of not being what he is, which is evil. If you say that a choice is only free if it is the spontaneous convulsion of the will to whatever arbitrary and univocal "choice" suits his arbitrary flailing, then how does this remain a choice, and not rather precisely arbitrary flailing? Does man really desire choice, or does he desire the fruit of his choice? Does he wish to have legs, or does he wish to walk? Does he wish he had legs just to have legs, or does he wish to walk, too? "Choosing to do evil to me is worse than naturally being predisposed to evil" Having established that "natural evil" is nonsense, can we admit that O'dimm's evil is evil, and can be condemned, even if he believes it is good? How about this: can we condemn the rapist for raping, and not blame the victim for being raped? O'dimm corrupts people, but why should we blame those corrupted, but not the corrupter? He SEEKS evil; it is not within him; to be Evil Gaunter O'dimm, he relies on an aspect that is not within himself, which does not have the power to manifest without his willful adherence to it; evil is made as evil when evil is done, and it is never done by itself; it is always done by someone. Evil is not natural to O'dimm: he seeks it out. And yet he can never rest because evil is not natural to the world, it is a parasite. If there were not good, there could be no evil, yes (logically speaking). But if there were not evil, there could still be good. Evil feeds on men, but it does not come from men. A parasite does not give birth to its host.
@@mike-0451 I was simply implying choosing evil is worse than being evil. Also you didn’t need to write and essay because you have a different opinion.
@@greenknightofwar7024First of all, that makes no sense, and second of all, yes I did. And it seems it didn’t matter since you understood none of it. What you said initially was completely illogical, and I thought by asking you questions, you would realize how what you said made no sense.
@@greenknightofwar7024 You're bothered by them giving you a detailed response and describing the philosophical contradictions of our understanding of morality? You got an amazing response that can not only answer your question, but also provide nuance to a previously black & white question.
@@mike-0451it’s called having a moral opinion, you can agree or disagree. Also no you didn’t, you could’ve just said I disagree. I’m not trying to argue or debate, I just didn’t expect you to take what I said and make it into a deep philosophical discussion about what we think is worse. I’m not trying to say I don’t care what you have to say I’m just sticking to my opinion of what is worse.
I've never not saved olgierd. He did what he did in desperation and out of immense loss and for the love of his life. Does it excuse what he did? No, but it does give us reason and make us empathize with him at least slightly. He deserved to be punished and was punished for all the years after his deal with o'dimm. I dont believe that his choices and evil deeds warrant an eternity of suffering and damnation. Plus I like to think that he and Iris can be reunited in some way if you don't take the rose and instead take iris in the painting to olgierd. Maybe he visits the painted world and they can reconcile in some way
In your opinion what do you think gaunter odimm truly is? Geralt asked him and gaunter spared his life because he truly is something extremely powerful that would cause the world to be in an up roar.... a demon a djinn, the devil? It seems he cant be killed i believe someone put him away in the past and than he returned and than geralt was able to take his soul away but gaunter said he will be back which i 100% believe. He is one of the most if not thee most interesting characters ive ever come accross.....
One thing that not many people bring up about Gaunter and his morality is Iris. Gaunter is at the very least half responsible for what happened to her, as there is no way he as an omnipresent entity didn’t know that something like that would happen. You can say Olgierd is at fault and maybe even deserved the tragedies that befall him, but Iris was completely innocent. She didn’t barter with Gaunter or even interact with him, but she still was punished for Olgierd’s mistake.
Also a bit of tongue in cheek humor by CDPR, since they hide names with meanings in many instances, the handkerchief found in the lake in blood and wine has the initials DLC, while a book found in the teleporting tower has initials GOG cause of the launcher they have, so it's not crazy to think that gaunter o'dimm means GOD and goes along with everything he does and the dichotomy of the character itself, being called God but acting purely like a devil, by making pacts with people who are not at their highest point in life, deals that they come to regret, just like Olgierd did. Also to further the point that Gaunter finds this entire thing as a game (again i think Gaunter itself might be a representation of a God, basically the player being able to do anything like going back in time with loading a save) Gaunter himself appears throught not only the base game but throught the entirety of the DLC in the background and it's really hard to notice sometimes, but he's ALWAYS watching. Once i learnt that i started to love this DLC more, the sheer fear of knowing he's always watching no matter what is unnerving.
TL;DR-I think they're both evil, but Gaunter is so due his fascinating nature as a supernatural being. Olgeird was just a common, greedy bastard who got his just desserts. (Sorry not sorry this turned into a short essay as I'm just another lore nerd when it comes to well written games) I'm finding myself agreeing with parts of both the video and the great insights in the comments. Gaunter definitely presents as a reflection of whomever he is interacting with, but not just in morality or ideals; he physically mirrors Geralt's body language during their one-on-one meetings (could be argued to be limitations of the game's animating, but I digress) which was a touch I loved. But Gaunter also demonstrated his cruel and sadistic nature numerous times, culminating with the clear satisfaction he showed when you let him have Olgeird's soul. Another example that wasn't mentioned was the scholar at Oxenfurt who had barricaded himself in his home, and kept himself within a magic circle. He was terrified of Gaunter because the scholar was close to (or did, I can't 100% remember) discovering what Gaunter really was, and was apparently only safe inside the magic circle. And as soon as the scholar barely leaves the circle, he slips and dies when his head strikes a crate. Coincidence? It could be that he is some sort of demi-god, at least, who is a reflection of humanity's true nature. Sure, we are capable of great acts of virtue but also (and arguably, more commonly) capable of great acts of depravity. As for Olgeird, I frankly did not care for the character. Yes, he was at his absolute lowest when Gaunter sought him out in a clear act of predation. And resisting that temptation would be incredibly difficult. But to sacrifice your own brother, who utterly adores and worships you, for personal gain? That immediately sets the tone for the kind of person Olgeird really is. He love for Iris quickly became entirely about control rather than affection, and drives an incredibly cruel act of spite against a rival suitor. Olgeird showed perverse glee over the results of the Borsodie quest, which (when I played it, at least) resulted in everyone involved getting killed save for Geralt. And all that malevolence ultimately comes full circle. NOW IN COMPLETE FAIRNESS TO OLGEIRD, I have yet to try to save him because he just pisses me off that much. That whole sequence probably brings to light a different side of Olgeird/lore information that could possibly change my opinion of him. Still, he's just too similar to a common greedy sod who cares only for himself, a caricature I think everyone has crossed paths with at least once in real life. So that makes him hard to like for me. Gaunter, by contrast, is a seemingly contradictory mix of relatable and otherworldly that just makes him more interesting.
Kinda hope that you gonna talk in depth about the professor who tried to study O'Dimm's true nature but then getting cursed and mentally tortured by the devil instead.
Is O'Dimm Lawful Evil or Neutral Evil? I personally think Lawful Evil considering how far he goes just to follow the rules of his own game even to his own detriment.
I always save Olgierd. Not because he deserves it , but because I fear the consequences of Master Mirror getting his way. We don't know he just wants the soul to torment him. What if he needs souls for some dark purpose? What if they fuel his power? What if he needs a certain number to accomplish some dark ritual?
Also Olgierd definitely deserves punishment for his actions but what master mirror will do to him might be so unimaginable to us humans that it wouldn't be justified, it's for sure worse than death itself. In our society death penalty is the worst punishment for all crimes and its seldom used. What Gaunter does is probably way worse, torturing the soul for the entirety and I'm not sure if it's an appropriate punishment. Maybe people will disagree, especially more religious people. If you believe in hell as being a just punishment for the life of sin and wickedness being tortured by the devil you should agree that it will be a fair punishment. Olgierd will be likely tortured by the devil for the entirety, basically what happens in hell. So whether his punishment is appropriate will be answered by everyone differently. But that's why he is such a good villain, people disagree about his character, if those people were forced to take up his offer due to desperation, if he is fair and truthful with virtuous people, if people who signed a very bad contract and got cheated should still fulfill it and many other things. If people could make and definite conclusions it wouldn't be nearly as interesting.
If the best portrayals of the devil, Satan, Lucifer in the cinema history are given by Al Pacino (in The Devil's Advocate), Peter Stormare (in Constantine) and Robert De Niro (in Angel Heart), then in the video game history, it is undoubtedly O'dimm.
"Evil is evil. Minor, major, medium, it's all the same. I'm not a holy hermit, I haven't always done good. But if I have to choose between one evil and another, I prefer not to choose at all." As I continued to delve deeper into Olgierd's desires I questioned why he was so vile, was Gaunter O'dimm making us see all of his atrocities in order to get us to take revenge? If your code is to reflect, wouldn't that be the safest way to protect yourself from not ajusticiar (I didn't find that term in English) to the redhead?. We have seen ethical conflicts like this twice before. Kill bastard whoreson was simple for me, only another monster in human skin. But I saw the players divided when it came to “The Hill of Whispers”. Honestly I don't make drinks with beasts, nor is it my job to judge men, I'm a Witcher and my only job is to kill monsters.
O'Dimm gives people what they low key deserves. O'Dimm didn't wrong Geralt because Geralt did no wrong to O'Dimm, O'Dimm if wished Geralt would be dead in a moment. When O'Dimm killed the man with a spoon it was more of a lesson to Geralt, what O'Dimm is capable of and what is and how much is the gap between them. O'Dimm indirectly showed Geralt a glimpse of his power, a hint what he truly is. Gunter O' Dimm gives word, stands by it and he does that because he wants to and nothing can stop him if he ever chooses to break his words. Olegeird sold traded his brother's life for his gain, a life which doesn't belong to him, so yea he does wrong to worst kind of people because he chooses to not because he is bound to. O'Dimm might be evil but not the persons he does the deeds to are not innocents either.
The Unseen Elder would just end up like the old man at the inn. After Gaunter freezes time, he says something that implies he is from a higher dimension. (I assume that is why he, nor the cat & dog ever tell you what they are, or where they're from).
I think another really important part about O’Dimm is that he is deceptive with how he grants wishes. You touched on this a bit. He doesn’t just grant them to actually help, but to harm. He wants to make the person entering the pact regret what they wished for
Guess they couldn't add that up due to the main quests and characters being finished but it annoyed me a little how lottle imterest the witches show in geralt weird mark. I think yennefer even mentioned that it was very old and beyond her means but shows no interst in researching about it or asking Geralt where he met that strange powerful magic
Also, did you change your name, or maybe it's just the profile picture? I've not watched this channel in about 10 months but I was obsessed before then. Avarti means "I left" in Hebrew LOL
O’Dimm says poorly thought out wishes are what make his victims suffer. What if someone wishes something a lot more simple like an apple? Would he still ruin their lives?
I watching this video because the poor imitation of Gaunter O'Dimm that Baldur Gate 3 have, Raphael, they really try hard to make him intimidating, more charming than scary, hell, he appears out of nowhere, no foreshadowing, and he reveals his true form as immediately as you meet him.
I don't see the point in discussing who is the "true villain" as I think there are none. I love hearts of stone because it amplifies the witcher's already morally grey message, emphasising how it's not all black and white by throwing us into a quest that is mainly influenced by your opinion on it, which is hard to formulate objectively in such a grey storyline. Gaunter O'Dimm, love him or hate him, is an amazing character. He is shrouded in mystery, obviously powerful and equally as sadistic, we know so little about him that what we do know is unsettling because we know not to underestimate him; he has enough power to do what he wants and obviously enjoys other's suffering. Olgierd, while not as outwardly captivating, is equally as interesting as him, but for a whole different reason. They're both bad at best, callous at worst, but there's a difference. One is a bad person, the other a sadistic, omnipotent being. Neither are free of guilt, but one plays into it to debilitate others while the other is simply just succumbing to human beings's selfish nature. They're both bad, they're both amazing characters, but one obviously has the high ground and always will, despite what the other thinks, and that blatant power play, that subtle manipulation, that's what's so fascinating about Gaunter O'Dimm.
imo he shouldnt cuz gaunter is very interesting because of the mystery surrounding him. making him the main villain will not help. hes also basically omnipotent so if he really hates the protagonist of witcher 4 then the protag is just done for.
I agree with your conclusion and reasoning. The scene in the inn was the first thing that came to my mind as to why O'Dimm is evil, when you posed the question. And I would say that the fate of the professor in Oxenfurt also supports that conclusion.
The base game is brilliant, but the Wild Hunt as the main antagonists were somewhat underwhelming. Sure, they're plenty intimidating when they arrive out of nowhere and the air turns cold, but what little direct interaction you have with them leaves very little meat. Their motivation is clear but sort of cartoonishly evil. Likewise, the main plot in Blood and Wine is intriguing but at the end is sort of forgettable. Again, I love Blood and Wine, just the main story is anything but my favorite part about it. The story of Hearts of Stone, however, might be the best thing about the entire game. O'Dimm is terrifying in the way he always seems ten steps ahead. Counterintuitively, the way he's not out to get Geralt and sees him as somewhat of an ally the whole time is almost more disconcerting. And the way you become inadvertently close to Olgierd simply because you have to experience all the horrible decisions he has made in his life is tragic. It's a sad statement of him that even if you let Gaunter take him, you're really the best friend and closest confidant he ever had in life. Well done, CDPR.
People arguing on O'Dimm being vile for testing people at their weakest.... Would you do a bad thing for a bottle of water in a 5 star hotel? Probably not. Would you do a bad thing for a bottle of water in the middle of desert?
with all the "god" theories with O'dimm's initials, my thought was that he was the God of Men in the witcher universe. while divinity has a nuanced role in the witcher universe, to me, with all the monsters and forces of the conjunction, I took the gods as a given but just acknowledged they would never directly interfere with Geralt.. save for Master Mirror. with the arrival of humans happening with the conjuntion, it would make sense that O'Dimm would be a more minor god in the world, bound to the humans that arrived with him/formed him and be young in comparison to the older gods that first inhabited the world. O'dimm, like humans, would come to represent the worst of them as the cruelness in the world grew. The god of humans would find humans entertaining, so itd make sense for him to be going around granting wishes and subsequently toying with them by exerting power and control in unimaginable ways. Humans seem pretty naturally cruel in the Witcher, so the idea of their god being the essence of that cruelty and a being whos purpose is to further inflict that cruelty, would be depressingly fitting for the tough reality that exists in the witcher. or even depending on the actual state of the witcher pantheon, gaunter could merely be a being created BY a g.o.d to punish the humans who are overwhelmed with cruelty.
Gaunter O'Dimm also mentions that anyone who has ever found out his true nature has gone completely mad. Now if people in Witcher world found out that this master of mirror was the devil and that he was evil, I dont think it would be enough to make them completely mad and insane. As it would make sense, devil is evil. But imagine being a peasant in the Witcher universe. Life is already rough and you most likely pray to god each evening. To protect you and your loved ones from monsters. Praying for a good harvest and that you stay safe from wars. Now, if you found out the god you have been praying for was this… thing. This evil entity. Evil entity who fullfills wishes and watch these wishes destroy them. He torments people. THAT would be enough to make people mad and insane. Even die from their madness. Also what if he IS the god of witcher world? I have not heard him tormenting elves. Elves are the original people of the witcher world. The native people so to speak. During the conjuction of the spheres, humanity came to the witcher world and started settling there. Maybe he wants to take revenge on them? Or maybe just enjoy watching the human nature and desire for power, wealth. The tendency for greed and lust. He enjoys using this against them. Giving them wishes and watching them destroy themselves. After all, they are not natives to this world - why should he care?
My take on Gaunter is that he reflects the personalities of those that come in contact with him. Hence “Master of Mirrors”. Notice how he never cheats Geralt (that I can recall). He even helps him at the beginning of the game. Similar to how Geralt helps those he comes in contact with. Geralt as a person is good, so Gaunter reflects that goodness back. As to where Olgierd had evil and darkness inside him before he met Gaunter. So when he made the deal with Gaunter; he reflected that evil and darkness back. Just my theory on the subject. Gaunter is one of the best written characters of all time.
Cool take what do you think about what he did to the professor
@@KA-ym5wf great question. Another reason why Gaunter is so fascinating. It seems like Gaunter tortured the poor dude. But that’s just implied, no proof that he caused the professors blindness or was the one giving him nightmares. Also Gaunter may have not killed him either. The house was crumbling from just being wore down, and led to his death. Who’s to say the professor couldn’t leave the circle the whole time and been fine? It’s very interesting.
@@XxeffinbackStabrxX Yeah, circle seems to be more or less a prank.
@@KA-ym5wf it's very likely that what happened with the professor was merely a psychological manipulation via Gaunter's precognitive abilities, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If there really wasn't any magical bullshit involved, which is very likely, then this is a very ironic way of punishing curiosity.
@@FerunaLutelou dude literally went blind READING about him. Literally the second he steps out of the pentagon he dies. There was magical bullshit involved...
Gaunter o dimm is one of my favorite characters in any work of fiction. I love characters where a lot of stuff about them is left to the imagination similar to the stranger in the first red dead redemption
yeah, the Strang Man is one of my favorite parts about both RDR games, they give you just enough to completely hook you but still let your mid fill in most of the blanks. I've never actually beaten TW3 or any of its DLCs (I do own it all and have played a solid bit through the base content) so this just excited me for what's to come lol
@@brandondanforth8342 Mind you by the time you play RDR2 it does become very clear "what" the Strange Man really is making the ambiguity factor donwplay itself making the player loose intrigue and interest in the character while still appreciating him for the effect he originally triggered on the unsuspecting player who couldn't grasp his true nature. I would argue the same about O'Dimm after fully playing The Witcher 3 to the end even though in his case it's still mostly especulation regarding his identity.
@@javiervasquez625 I mean, I suppose a former an der Linde Gang member would know a bit about it, eh? 🤣
fr though, thats generally how sequels (yes, RDR2 is a prequel, but the idea still applies) tend to do things, taking the mystique out of things
Yessss. I found gaunter so intriguing. Strange man was like that for me aswell. Will never forget the devil over looking coots chapel.
Definitely a great character, the perfect representation of the Witcher Universe’s version of the Devil.
Like everything in this game, i can't see O'Dimm in black and white. Merely a being so old, so weighed down by history, he inserts himself into Mortal affairs to both entertain himself, and Test them. He seems completely genuine with Geralt, whom if you play completely upfront to O'Dimm, is not only satisfied with your behavior but down right delighted.
We also can not discount the advice he gives Geralt either, which gives us Ciri's best ending if followed. Something which does not gain O'Dimm anything, as far as i can think at this time.
O'Dimm is nice with Geralt because he needs Geralt to fufill his pact with Olgierd. You can't trust anything he says because he is a merchant whose job it is to sell you something.
Don't forget he plays with a human skull when he tells Geralt about Ciri.
@@hueylongdong347 Once Geralt Fulfiled his mission O'Dimm had no need to reward him Further Nor Provide information that is beneficial. And to be honest, Weirdly, O'Dimm is likely the most trustworthy individual we've met aside from Geralt.
You know what you get with O'Dimm, Olgeird Sought out the master Mirror Himself lest we forget. And the other two people we know that O'Dimm dealt with, One was looking into his past which as we have seen he did not care for (Warning Geralt about the same), and the Other Spurned Him by not heeding to custom. Geralt met both of those people, One he saved from her Curse, and the Other Died when Geralt came to ask what he Knew.
That's What I like About O'Dimm, If he is treated with a modicum of respect he will most likely and quite casually drift right through and out of your life. But to call on him to fill ones dark desired only brings ruin to you, especially if you believe you can cheat him. And heaven Forbid you mis treat a poor beggar looking for food.
@@Irelym The guy who manipulates people through actual blood pacts is the opposite of trustworthy. Gaunter is a merchant who follows his contract to the letter. Geralt was simply repaid for his service. And he directly says that he is gonna search for a new victim. He will probably drag Geralt along as well because he proved a capable proxy.
Yeah, Olgierd sought out help from O'Dimm - in torn clothes and no money. What was he supposed to do? Lay down and die of poverty? O'Dimm used his desperation to eventually feast on his soul. He had no obligation to grant wishes, but he not only did that, but by demanding a human sacrifice from Olgierd. His contracts don't just hurt his victims, but the people around them. Like Iris, her family and the Professor. Speaking of which.
How can you even justify the way O'Dimm dealt with the Professor and Marlene De Trastemara? Professor was tasked with a job, not his own curiosity, for which O'Dimm put him through brutal mental torture and nightmares for no reason other than sadism. Marlene would for years kidnap local peasants and later dispose of them in an effort to lift her curse, deaths that happened directly because O'Dimm cursed her.
You further failed to mention how Gaunter brutally tortured Vlodimir when even Shani and Geralt, two people more bothered by him than Gaunter was, said enough. That he murdered a drunk man for being friendly with Geralt. That he is the reason the Usurper took over Nilfgaard and began decades of death, plague and fanaticism in the North.
He has a creepy song sung by children for crying out loud and has a Hym, an actual demon, in his service. How much more proof do you need to know that he is an absolute monster?
@@hueylongdong347"That he is the reason Usurper..death, plague in the North.." Wait, what is this got anything to do with him? Any reference?
@@hueylongdong347 At no point have i excused his behavior, Merely stating that everything in this game is a shade of grey. He is a near black grey, but grey never the less. And considering Voldimir is not more than a bandit with a title and all that entails you will find no sympathy from me. And do not forget, without O'Dimms Curse Geralt would have been at a loss for a curtain potion required in blood and wine. In short, a Character this powerful arguably cannot truly be judged by it's actions by mortals. What is chaos for the fly is survival for the spider and all that.
All that being said, You make very valid points, I'm glad to have this discussion with you. I guess in my old age you see more in the villain.
O’Dimm is what Clavicus Vile could be if he really made the effort.
Good point. For all the very good, downright esoteric writing within Elder Scrolls universe, Clavicus is one of the least fleshed out Daedric princes, and I really wish they would have made him something like Gaunter is and as effectively. That would single-handedly make him one of the most interesting princes as opposed to one of the least interesting ones that he kinda is now.
@@mahapralaya999 Clavicus Vile is based off of Loki, the Norse God of trickery, who is then speculated to be based off of The Devil, so in a way it's all connected.
@@aidenwall19 A case could be made that the Devil (in the western sense) is based off of Loki
Clavicus is too chill to be as creepy as guanter
@@dirtyharry0191ur point is made good sir
Always loved the odd bit when O’Dimm spares Geralt of his true nature, hinting at something truly unfathomable.
Not unfathomable necessarily, as it can be explained. I'd sooner say it was something truly "unacceptable" to a human being. One such explanation would be: "I am you".
@@greyngreyer5 You could definitely interpret it as him being the the merchant of mirrors, literally a mirror of human vices and weaknesses. With the conjunction of spheres, I lean towards something unlike anything else filtering down and taking the form of O’Dimm.
@@Panzer_the_Merganser I did read a theory, a pretty simple one, but kind of juvenile honestly, about what he might have been referring to when he said people go insane when they learn what he is. Pretty simple: they go insane when they realize they're in a game and he's aware of it. I swear, that would piss me the fuck off.
@@greyngreyer5 Yeah no way, that would be a lazy and, frankly shitty reveal. Even if there is no definite origin of O’Dimm, it’s better left a mystery versus that.
In the world of the witcher, even geralt himself said that one's name holds alot of power. Likely I think the mere comprehension of odimms true name can cause someone to go mad or die. Maybe by some type of magic.
I like how O'Dim just looks like another random NPC that appears in the game, has no major features that important NPCs often have. How evil hides behind one of the most ordinary looking man. Because of his ordinary looks, if we ever encounter his face again in the game, we don't assume it's him observing us, we just think it's the game reusing assets to save the space. But once we meet him again in the expansion, we finally understand that there is something more to him.
O'Dimm is interesting to me because of how mysterious he is, and the pure power he possess.
thats exactly what the weak people thought who he tormented in the game and Olgierd 😄
Aside from Faust, and Pan Twardowski, a strong inspiration for Gaunter's depiction is a folktale depiction of a devil from around 1600's (Plus minus 100 years).
A traveling noble, educated and eloquent as well as well mannered. Sometimes depicted with a single leg of a goat and the other of a human, making his step uneven. That devil would rarely bother those who never bothered him, but would take revenge on anybody who bothered them and pay his debts to those who treated him well. Basically, that devil would reflect onto people what they did- like a mirror.
Gaunter O’Dimm’s theme sends shivers down my spine. It’s even worse when you hear those kids singing his theme. I don’t know why but it just sounds so scary and menacing.
It's like ring around the posie - a nursery rhyme that in fact is depicting a gravely dangerous thing (the black death)
Its supposed to, he’s the embodiment of evil, has literal demons on his payroll, been around for thousands of years causing misery and torment for those already going through lows , etc
O'Dimm is fascinating because he has this terrifying and mysterious aura about him, where he is called "evil incarnate" and "untrustworthy", and we certainly see him do some things that can back that up. However he also is one of the most helpful characters to Geralt, and even one of the most truthful. He helps Geralt find Yennifer in white orchard, he later saves Geralt from certain execution, at the wedding he plays matchmaker for Geralt to shack up with Shani, and at the end if you don't stop him he will give Geralt advice for the best ending with Ciri. Admittedly he was helping Geralt because he was a useful pawn to bring Olgierd in, and he was merely rewarding him at the end with the info about Ciri. But if he was truly evil, he would have found some way to bring about Geralt's end as well - which can happen, but that is purely of Geralt's own doing. We don't know if he is being nice to Geralt because he is useful, or because as the professor says he draws you in with niceties, so you can falsely trust him. His name is the master of mirrors, so it could be that he reflects the nature of whoever it is he is dealing with - Geralt is a good and truthful person, so he reflects that back. It seems like most of the people who were victims of O'Dimm were flawed and wicked in nature, so he reflects their natures back at them and brings about their own downfalls. Is he doing that because he is a wicked demon that delights in other's suffering, or is he merely wielding his own brand of justice. Is he truly the devil, or is he a god, or even THE God. We don't know, and that's what makes him so fascinating.
This deserves more likes
Well we can say it’s definitely not about justice just like with the key on the ship he doesn’t care how others feel only himself human lives mean nothing to him
Devil or Lucifer as he once was known never lies.
Gaunter O'Dimm. G O'D. Coincidence?
Olgierd is a right bastard who deserves everything O’Dimm has for him.
*BUT* that Viper sword, man.
Olgierd was a flawed person like we all in different aspects. Olgierd was desperate enough to accept a deal with basically Satan and thought he could outsmart him to not pay the price. O’Dimm had been preying on desperate people for thousands of years. Olgierd became and he became because his heart turned into stone due to trickery from O’Dimm. Olgierd wasn’t a stand up citizen, but he wasn’t anywhere near close to the pure embodiment of evil that O’Dimm is
I failed to save Olgierd. Normally, I would have sided with him, but Gaunther O Dim scared me. I didn't expect that you could even hope to beat him in a gamble... Obviously, fighting him was out of the question...
He scared me a lot more than the unseen elder, despite the latter being probably just as unbeatable and even more hostile. However, it would be a quick death...
O'Dimm is way more powerful than the Unseen Elder. He is one of the gods of the witcher universe. As for beating him in the gamble, he's just playing with you. If you win he just slow claps and leaves. You don't actually defeat him. He could easily kill you if he wanted.
normally this would be kind of a pussy move, but given the kind of world you have in Witcher?.. Taking that into consideration, I can't blame you, O'Dimm had a very oppressive presence throughout that whole scene and at any moment it seemed like he could incinerate your body to ashes.
Eh, he wanted to dance with The Devil in the pale moonlight, and paid the price. I left to his fate. Not my circus, not my clown.
Same, I liked Olgierd but not enough to fuck with a demon to save him.
Reasons why don't save Olgierd:
- He killed Iris' father
- He killed his brother
- He intentionally called the evil forces upon himself
- He destroyed lives of many to improve his own
- You don't want to be Gaunter O'Dimm's foe
I love Gaunter’s character. So genius.
I have always found it so hard to sympathise with Olgierd. I just can't get over how he killed his brother who worshipped him. So because of that I always side with O'Dimm at the end. Also I simply don't want this extremely powerful being to have a grudge against me.
I don't think Gaunter is the type of creature to hold a grudge. He's a demon, maybe even Satan himself, in any case he's extremely powerful and remarkably evil but as someone else said, he reflects the person he's talking to. He offers Geralt generous advice, shows no real disdain towards him despite the two having a pact same as him and Olgierd.
Much like other specters that play tricks of any kind, actually beating him at his own game serves as a powerful ward I imagine, he cannot and will not fight back against you in the same way a hym wouldn't.
I'm still curious as to what Gaunter O'Dimm actually is... Everything you encounter monster-wise in the Witcher Universe is categorized into a neat handbook showing all the monster races names and some trivia. Like what the name of different vampires are and what they can do IIRC. Not Gaunter though... He is clearly meant to be the devil as far as I can tell but with everything else being revealed it is a bit irksome to be left hanging, though I suppose that is the point haha
and if you ask him he'll tell you straight up that you really dont want to know
I believe he is something from a different land/time. He said he is like a djinn but different when Geralt asks specifically.
Not the devil persay, but evil incarnate.
I mean his initials quite literally spell GOD so yeah, there you have it, goes hand in hand with other things CDPR have done in other quests and whatnot, like saying the psI mean his initials quite literally spell GOD so yeah, there you have it, goes hand in hand with other things CDPR have done in other quests and whatnot, like saying the letters in the handkerchief found in the lake in Blood and Wine spell D.L.C, cause well, it's a DLC we're playing, same with the Book found in the tower called GOG cause of their company
@@WaldoKrayt And his initials are G.O.D. but his title is Mirror. He is a mirror of God.
4:37 Precisely. One does not excuse himself as simply being 'the nature of evil', because 'the nature of evil' does not exist inasmuch as the absence of something exists. Evil is the blindness of men, and thus is committed solely and only by men, by virtue of being committed.
Saw the title, knew I was in for a master piece
I believe Gaunter to more of mankind's mirror reflecting what people are for Olgird he is callous and cruel the Von Everacs tradition was to pillage and plunder which Olgird admitted so being cruel was nothing new to the family. The old man in the Tavern is harder to justify other than Gaunter being annoyed by his interruptions, before that Gaunter spiked a bowl of soup that was being eaten by one Olgirds men that would make them sick. The Proffesor commissioned by Olgird to look into Gaunter in breaking his pact was visited by him this tells me that Gaunter moved before a breakthrough could be made into binding him, as punishment the professor was subject to nightmares and a trapped in a pentagram so long they stayed in it no harm would befall him. In the Blood and Win DLC its heavily implied Gaunter cured Marlene Trastmara into a wight after she denied Gaunter in disguise spare food during a banquet, denying a beggar food when they reach your door in Toussaint is considered taboo.
All these people where targeted for different reasons Olgired and Marlene for their cruel nature prior to their meeting, Olgirds man prisoned for most likely being a goon for Olgird, the old man killed for being a constant interruption and the professor for getting to close to cracking the man in glass. But despite it all his approach to all of them was near one to one to their tone and attitude being cruel and wicked to Olgird and Marlene, arbitrary to the goon and old drunk, congratulatory and sinister to the professor highlighting what the people where like at the time Gaunter interacted with them. Geralt was a the exception Gaunter treated him fairly throughout the game. He told him where Yennifer went, he saved from being executed, never lied and if sided with in the final encounter and haven't finished the main quest told him what to do and not to do with Ciri when she is encountering he trails and crisis'. Hell even if you sided with Olgird and defeat Gaunter he's not even mad and lost with grace despite saying in Creole French and Georgian languages he will be back. to further prove the point he gave Geralt dating advice with Shani and had pleasant conversation with an old lady about making bread.
TLDR: Gaunter O'Dimm matches and acts like the people he meets even when threated or annoyed he takes on personality traits that makes more approachable to the person or grate them the right way for said person to spite them into exactly what Gaunter wanted Cruelty, Arbitrary, Congratulatory, Honest Gaunter never lied to anyone but never gave all the details and him enjoying the cruelty I'd say yea he does enjoy hurting people he despises. But in the end is spared and freed Olgird comes out a changed man feeling the full weight of his mistakes and Marlene now old humbled and kind a far cray to what they once where.
This Response needs more likes. It's well thought out and thorough.
At the end of the day, O'Dimm is not evil, he is no worse than a real merchant. He will look to make bargains that will favor him favorably, he is no worse than Vivaldi's bank.
Possibly one of my favorite ever villains of all time. I love how he manipulates, I love how he strictly adheres to the terms of his contract, and I love the moral complexity and questions the Hearts of Stone DLC brings into the game. It's a hot take, but I would argue that Hearts of Stone is better than Blood and Wine. At least, I enjoy it more, and 99% of that is because of Gaunter O' Dimm and his incredibly interesting story and what little we can find out about him.
All the scenes with O'dimm are really interesting to analyse. Since the beginning Gaunter towering over every characters. On the wooden cross, from the Moon. Even him as a character is really tall and dominates the other characters.
I just realized: Gaunter O’Dimm is a metaphor for writers and worldbuilders who adore grim settings; he subjects the characters to misery in order to weave a tapestry of horror, which he says is “quite the gripping story.” He is GOD, a cruel GOD who delights in making a sad ending because of its thematic brilliance.
Hearts of stone is gonna stick with me forever. Seeing Olgierd's head dangle from the nape of his neck as he just congratulates me for beating him in a fight, killing the caretaker, tricking Gaunter O'Dimm (beating it with only a second to spare, too). Shit was a soft horror story at times.
A thing that is oft overlooked. Even with a heart of stone, Olgierd still adhered to a code of honor.
3:33 The thing is, as I’ve understood it from Olgierd’s dialogue if you spare him, O’Dimm didn’t give him a heart of stone. It’s just that immortality slowly made him less and less human until he didn’t care about anything anymore because he had virtually all the time in the world and infinite riches. He didn’t have to win his bread, he didn’t have to worry for his life, all that remained was entertainment and the novelty wears off quickly when you can do anything.
The « Heart of Stone » is just the result of him desiring something without realizing the consequences if what acquiring that thing would be, whitch is the central theme of the DLC.
Indeed.
It's more of a price you pay without even noticing. Losing your mortality makes you lose your humanity.
@@mrrandradeNo. O’Dimm likes the fine print when it benefits him and him only. Look at he did to Geralt and Olgierd. Olgierd asked for immortality, period. He received immortality along with losing his humanity, and this is what O’Dimm loves, seeing you enjoy the gift while you’re slowly destroying yourself and those around you for his pure pleasure. The devil hands you something with one hand but it takes it back with two
He reminds me alot of The Man In Black in Stephen King's Dark Tower books and H.P. Lovecraft's Nyarlathotep.
Hit the nail on the head.
The fact that cdpr was able to even make this a debate proves just how good they are when it comes to writing.
i really learn a lesson about something i wish, dream and passion. it can turn out to be something worse.
the dilemma of something we really want or something we need kinda beauty. i understand after finishing the dlc it kinda give me pleasant feel for sometimes to remember what i have and happy about.
damn, it's a good weapon of gaunther o'dimm crushing his victim wishes and take advantage.
the final battle not give you the best boss battle, but the beauty of the story speak itself afterwards
I rate that yellow hoodie he wears though
Hi, guy from Poland here :D regarding Mr Twardowski there is also a Polish poem called Mrs Twardowska where wife of Mr Twardowski orders the devil to go to hell :D
Well for me best option is to side with Gaunter and then take nothing from him,its shown to us that Olgierd doesn't deserve redemption,through his life he has only caused death,misery and suffering of those around him,he sent Geralt to kill the prince probably knowing people are coming to save him.
He doesn't stop at anything to achieve his goals,he is arrogant enough that he thinks he can cheat Gaunter,he gave his wife fate worse than death.
Yes,Gaunter is evil no question about it,but he can't be killed,he always return,he can control power of nature,he can see the future,he can curse with just a sentence,there is nothing you gain standing in his way,but an powerful enemy that you can't ever hope to destroy.
Yep. The more times I play the DLC, the more cemented in my opinion that Olgierd is trash. He was always a selfish thug. Never could figure out what a sweet soul like Iris saw in him.
Exactly my take of it. ^^
You know Olgierd can feel no regret or emotion because of his curse. If you want to make your point you should give examples of before his curse.
@@jesseauwerda732 You don't need emotion or feeling of regret to differentiate good from evil,right from wrong,he wasn't a child,but grown man that knew what he was doing.
@@Scarlet_moon. And despite that, he did some good. The man who his people were trying to decapitate was the one who started the fire, killed the owner of the place, and se*rally harassed his daughter. If you only give him the house and not the contents, he reveals he planned to use it to help charities and pay off debts similar to his own to the Borsodis. And as for his brother, Olgierd changed the story so Vlodimir would be known as a legend, not a coward. An important tidbit is that Olgeird made the deal with O'Dimm while drunk and depressed after watching his estate be sold off and his fiancee promised to another man. He was in the lowest moment of his life, and O'Dimm's deal made him incapable of caring for others.
O´Dimm is a merchant of mirrors, which means he mirrors the way the humans act. It shows clearly that he does not care much about the death or fate of people (killing the guy in the tavern for unpolitely disturbing, punishing the rich lady for being unkind to a beggar), but somehow he answered to their behaviour, it was something like a consequence of their own wrongdoing. Tough, their little lifes do not matter much to him.
But to obtain a soul seems to be something else, far more significant. What Olgierd had to do to get the pact, and willingly did, was really really bad (I mean, have your lover or brother killed?? Seriously? And he was not literally dying at this point, he was „just“ losing/had lost his wealth, influence and bride), and O´Dimm strictly stuck to the rules of the pact (though with some twists). The bad deeds Olgierd did even before the pact seem countless, being a bandit and robbing, killing and torturing people. Also cursing the Ophirian prince and then lying to Geralt to get him killed on top of that - that´s so hateful and unnecessarily cruel, and just lead to his damnation via the fulfillment of his three wishes (starting up the events with Geralt: getting arrested for frogkilling, under pressure on the ship accepting his pact with O´Dimm etc).
O´Dimm to me seems to be rather on the evil side, but in strange ways also „fair“. He is completely other level compared to the usual villain of course, far far above that. Certainly he is the most fascinating game antagonist I ever came about (what made me watch this video ^^). On the contrary Olgierd seems to be just the everyday villain, selfish and ruthless, and he really did a lot to make all this happen.
I thought quite a while about which way to turn and tried both paths, but ultimately decided not to confront O´Dimm, cause in my opinion Olgierd reaped what he sow, he was far from being an innocent victim. Not my quest to mingle with. And I didn´t take any reward from O´Dimm. Better that entity ows me something than the other way around.
At the point where he froze the f*ing time I was scared shitless for Geralt. His seemingly unlimited powers were the reason I did not try to save Olgierd at the end. I just didn't see how it could've ended well for Geralt (I didn't apply video game logic here, so I genuinely didn't see how he could beat Gaunter). And Olgierd did make a deal with the devil, almost literally. I felt sorry for him but I didn't want to risk Geralt's hide to save Olgierd from his well-deserved fate.
Yet, if you save Olgierd, which you should do, Olgiers is genuinely remorseful about putting Geralt in the harms way. He only did the deal with O'Dimm out of desperation, he had lost his fortune, and that almost made him lost the love of his life, then the immortality turned him into a heartless prick, but after you save him, he's once again the honorable man he used to be.
@TheRain Spooning that one guy in the eye made you think he is truly evil? How do you feel about Ciri then? She killed a lot more innocent people while running with the Rats.
@TheRain The rats very explicitly kill for entertainment. That's why I used this example. By contrast, what O'Dimm did was not random at all. He killed that drunk because he disrespected him. The whole scene made me see him as prideful, not evil. Which is not surprising for someone who is essentially an immortal god that can control reality through sheer willpower.
@TheRain I read the books years ago and the people they kill were not named characters, so I can't give you specific examples. I just forgot.
All I can remember from those chapters was that the Rats were a bunch of sadistic bastards and I was glad when Bonhart killed them. Think of a bunch of teenage Whoreson Juniors.
As for Ciri, no, she was not mentally well at all. She was raped and drugged by them. She got attached to them just because she was all alone and they were the only ones who took her in. Stockholm syndrome basically.
If you're wandering why you can't see the Ciri you play as in the game doing those things is because she basically created a different personality for herself while she was with the rats as a coping mechanism. She called herself Falka and was tormenting innocent people alongside the rest of the rats. She could do it because, in her mind she was not Ciri. She was Falka.
Seriously, those chapters were fucked up.
Bro I've not watched this channel in so long. Awesome video!
Great video! I would also add that another moment when we see just how much Master Mirror is evil is when he tortures Vlodimir’s soul.
That is well deserved in my opinion .Vlodimir is annoying as hell with his pompous and overcompensating nature ,also he and Geralt had a deal ,Geralt would let Vlodimir posses his body for a day ,but when the time came for Vlodimir to return to his crypt he didn't want to and he would've stayed longer if Gaunter did not intervene
just that theme gives you goosebumps. Gaunter o dimm is certainly one of the if not the most terrifying villain of all time
I wouldn't say that he "enjoys" suffering, that'd be a bit of a stretch. The fact that O'Dimm has existed for, speculated, thousands of years,
he's already seen the worst of what humanity can do. He's callus because he's accustomed to these things. He's pretty much seen it all.
His desire for souls is apparent, and whether they live, or die is of no real concern for him. But he still has a sense of fairness.
As O'Dimm explains, it's not his intention per say to "drop them in a world of hurt", it's because of people's poorly stated wishes.
It's their own rotten nature that brings about their own misery. He simply goes by a certain natural rule, and that is,
"Every choice has it's consequence". And those who invoke these wishes don't think about them. It's a grim reminder.
Just realized what his initials are and I can't believe I didn't come to this realization sooner.... G.O.D
i hope netflix dosent try to put o’dimm on screen
Wow, what a masterpiece of DLC. O’Dimm was terrifying and unsettling.
He’s not evil and I’m tired of people treating him that way. Gaunter is master mirror cause he shows people what they really are like. He does offer double sided rewards to evil people with intent to punish them but that’s because they deserve it. Olgierd deserved hell before he ever met Olgierd. And olgierd didn’t ask for immortality. He asked to live without any worry - live like there is no tomorrow.
And what about him shoving a spoon in someone’s eye just because he found them irritating?
@@devin6079 We don't know what he did to deserve it. Drunks are rarely nice people.
@@Hruljina wtf are you talking about? Most drunks act like regular people except drunk lol
@@Hruljina When thinking about the the spoon-murder I also came to the conclusion that the drunkard might have done bad in his past that we are not shown, and him disturbing now is just the last straw (der Tropfen, der das Fass zum Überlaufen bringt).
@@idared5255 pretty much. Gaunter doesn’t tell us all he does but all other people deserved it one way or another. Easy to assume drunk did too.
Would it be absurd if I said O’Dimm is NOT a villain? He only messes with people who deserves to be condemned. If he was a pure evil being, he would have took advantage of Geralt as well of trying to take his soul.
He's not evil; he's just doing business.
He is a mysterious GOD
Something tells me that Gaunter O'Dimm is used to be a human or something, i think he is not just a mindless evil creature who only want everyone to suffers, without exact reason. I feel like his act of evil is more like an act of trolling, an insult of human intelligence. That's why he likes riddle so much, he likes to see people suffers for their own stupidity. Just a theory because it fits.
I just find out that if you extinguish the candles of the professors circle you hear a demonic sound for a moment as if some evil would have attacked.
Merry Christmas from Sweden 🎅🎅
GoD is a pretty good character
I usually side with O'Dimm but I really want Iris and the Viper Sword.
There are way better swords in blood and wine
@@jesseauwerda732 my swords are Iris and Aerondight. I just like Iris cause it glows red.
Honestly I think the easiest way to tell that he is the Devil is that meet up in the bar when he stops time.
Geralt asks: You're not human that's clear. So what are you, a demon, a jinn?
And after Gaunter warns him he doesn't want to know says.
Gaunter: All who have learned my true name are either dead or have met an even worse fate.
The way he approaches that seems it's not that Geralt shouldn't know WHAT he is. But WHO he is.
Olgierd also enjoyed the suffering of others. He cursed the Prince of Offieri and enjoyed seeing him live as a toad, until he eventually lost that sense due to his heart of stone and decided to have the witcher kill him. That's also the reason how Gaunter O'Dimm finally managed to begin his plans in claiming his soul through Geralt.
The principal difference between Olgierd and Gaunter is their nature. Olgierd, for all his flaws, is a human and hence redeemable. Gaunter O'Dimm is obviously not and that's why you cannot judge him either way. His actions are malevolent and that's why you cannot support him in taking Olgierd's soul, if you can help it. It's not about who's more or less evil, but about what course of action is morally right for you. Letting a man face eternal damnation is not morally right, especially if you are also rewarded for it. That makes you cosciously complicit to a theoretical action(as in not confirmed or impossible in real life) worse than murder.
If someone deserves to suffer, then it is *not* evil to enjoy their suffering.
Well atleast the dude keeps his word in a strange way. Olgierd is just evil, and was always evil even before his wishes.
from what I recall Twardowski escaped the devil by getting on a rooster and flying to the moon
My interest in this character is among the likes of Handsome Jack and Vaas Montenegro so you can say that i have alot to consider about him!
I think something quite overlooked about O’Dimm, is that in all cases but the scene where he kills the man in the inn, he only preys on those that were already wicked.
From Vlodomir’s numerous dialogues, you can gather quite easily that the brothers spend a lot of time as raiders, pillaging, raping, killing and burning entire villages at their leisure. Olgierd’s situation with Iris’ family suddenly feels more like karmic retribution than anything else, and his wicked desire for wanting to get (for lack of a better term I’ll use an expression from my country) « the butter, the money for the better and the ass of the butter-making lady » is what O’Dimm’s preys upon to exert punishment.
Same with the cursed lady in Blood and Wine, this is the classic story of a powerful entity posing as a beggar to challenge the morals of a character and punishing them if they fail. Here O’Dimm once again plays the role of the karmic factor coming to bite a wicked character in the ass.
Finally there is the professor. Here the punishment is particularly cruel for the crime, but in essence the professor tried to obtain forbidden knowledge (i.e. researching the Devil itself) and received his due.
Now with these three examples, we have a far better picture of GOD. He is absolutely evil as he enjoys torturing other immensely, but is only a force that reveals what was already there and punishes those who lack moral character.
This is very akin the the Devil in Christian folklore and fairy tales, beyond just Faust and Twardowski (though it’s the main inspiration). In these the Devil is always the force that will tempt and challenge a character and those who show virtue and/or intelligence may reap a substantial reward from their interaction with the It. However those who lack in those two, and think they can use the adversary as a mean to obtain what they so desire get punished for sinning, commonly out of pride, greed or envy though other deadly sins may be used depending on the moral of the day.
Seen through this prism, the death of the man in the tavern can be seen as O’Dimm punishing depravity and gluttony, though once again in the most painful way possible.
In line with this interpretation is O’Dimm’s behavior with virtuous characters, here Geralt.
Geralt, despite trying to appear neutral and disinterested is undoubtably, as shown in the books and the game, moral. He helps folks for a fee that is very low compared to the difficulty of the task, rarely kills intelligent beings, and always strives to be the best man he can be.
During the whole expansion, Master Mirror is always very considerate of Geralt, and always treats him nicely, because he knows that Geralt’s wishes, whatever they may be can only be at best ro force him into helping him temporarily. Though he punishes some of Geralt’s most selfish actions by killing the Ophiri/common translator he had formed a bond with as a consequences for our favorite witcher wanting a quick escape from the boat.
Likewise, he is charming to Shani, a medic with a heat of gold, and very cordial to everyone on the neutral end of the spectrum we see him interact with.
So what can we conclude out of all of that information ?
O’Dimm is the evilest of evils, the Devil itself. But he is not out for the blood of the innocent. He prays on the flaws of men, rewards those who answers his challenges with virtue and cleverness (like Geralt in both endings) and punishes those who do not keep their greed, pride, envy and many other flaws in check.
He is always fair, he tricks but can be tricked, is ever present and treats everything like a game.
He is through and through depicted not as the source of evil and depravity but only as an entity that reveals it and punishes those who refuses to see it in their heart.
And thus, it is my honnest opinion that he should not be held accountable for any of Olgierd’s behavior and that the decision of saving the man should only come from weather one believe Olgierd should deserve a second chance, not weather he is the source of evil or not because he definitly is.
In any case, Gaunter O’Dimm is a fantastic villain, from a fantastic expansion that poses one fantastic moral dillema about redemption and the nature of evil.
It’s why « Heart of Stone » is by far my favorite part of the Witcher 3 and one of my favorite tales set in that universe.
He ain't GOD otherwise he wouldn't waste away his omnipotence and omnipressence with such petty games against such insignificant beings as moral beings. The guy would be abusing his all mighty power to do as he pleases with ALL of creation yet that doesn't seem to be the case as seen by his limitations when Geralt solves the mirror riddle and he simply departs to wathever "higher plane of reality" he goes to after been "defeated". An all powerful being wouldn't be bound by rules, wouldn't CARE about the rules and would definetly have any reason to kill every single being in his Creation for the most petty of reasons yet the Witcher world seems to be perfectly fine for the entirety of the main storyline. If he isn't a djinn as many theorize he can only be some kind of "lesser deity" who decided one day to stop been good deciding instead to do as he pleased without following any commands given to him by the divine hiearchy of the Witcher's pantheon.
@@javiervasquez625 I never said he was God, it’s just that GOD are his initials and the comment was already long enough.
@@jameslecitron1039 Oh i see then my apologies.
Merry Christmas and may you enjoy a good day with family and loved ones. 🎅🎄
@@javiervasquez625 Thank you, Merry Christmas to you as well.
Then he should also go haunt / kill bascially all of the soldiers in the game and himself too as for example a lot of horrible things that Olgierd ends up doing were only possible through his actions. And clearly it is not just a moral quest that he is on, GOD seems to also be indulging himself in his violent ways and cruelty which could be said makes him a sinner as well.
To say he only preys on the already wicked implies he is right to judge on that in the first place, which even though he seems to be almost all-knowing I'd say he still really isn't, or rather his decisions also indicate a very distinct style of choosing people. Saying that that is actually supposed to be a moral judgement would lead to a very disappointing story and I think he is a better character if he is a kind of devil that creates desires in people in order to control them (or something along those lines).
Gaunter Is not evil. He is master mirror what means he simulates the person he is talking to or interacting with that’s why he is truly evil with Olgierd and his brother but is nice and trustworthy with geralt he is a mirror who reflects your own intentions and interests back at the person looking at the mirror
The DLC that could've been a second game. That's CDPR for you
Gaunter is the most powerful and evil character in the witcher 3.
Most powerful? True. But the most evil? Not according to what we can see of his actions in the game. He's not even in the top 50.
@@sheogorath1374 I was planning to play the game again (it has been 4yrs now), but he made the most impact on me. I remember him as a sophisticated pure evil character.
@@bartdierickx4630 He is terrifying and it's heavily implied he is the closest thing to the Devil in the witcher universe. So it's normal to make you feel uneasy.
But looking at his actions alone, he is ironically not that bad. Especially compared to the average characters you meet in that world full of fucked up people.
Don't forget that a big theme in the witcher series is that humans can often be more evil than any monster. And you make friends with vampires, succubi, trolls and other scary creatures. So I'm reluctant to judge characters by what they are.
In your interactions with him, Gaunter helped Geralt a lot and never tried to screw him over even though he could. So it feels really uncalled for to betray him at the end for scum like Olgierd.
Wow really great video i never really thought of as the embodiment of evil exploiting people at their weakest points in life
in my opinion the best way to explain the dynamic between Odimm and Von Everec is to think it as an gamblers situation (winning the lottery for example), Odimm simply promises greatness and riches while Olgierd is the one who dreams about it, but once he gets it. it doesent feel the same, money doesent guarantee happiness, immortality doesent guarantee happiness, the only thing that is true is that Olgierd and Iris loved each other. in the end he shunned Iris, just like he shunned everything he dreamt about when he had truly lost it all, in time he became truly an lost soul, nothing feels like anything due to his wealth and immortality. Last nail to the coffin is the ultimate price to be paid, his own life, the DLC makes you believe its only Odimms or Von everecs fault, while in reality both of them had the same amount of impact on the end result.
Nice, however I don’t think O’dimm is is worse than Olgeird. My reasoning is that O’dimm is naturally evil, or at least we don’t have enough information to contradict it. Olgeird chose to be evil. Choice is the defining point in morality in my opinion. Choosing to do evil to me is worse than naturally being predisposed to evil.
If man has the ability to do evil, then how is he not predisposed to evil anymore than O'dimm is? And moreover, is the act of evil not already a choice? How can O'dimm's evil not already be a choice, given that it is done for the sake of itself, and known as evil? O'dimm's "natural evil" is not anymore natural than man's if we are to understand that O'dimm is not simply a "personification" for evil. O'dimm murders people. He does this, but evil cannot do this by itself. It is powerless because it is only a shadow, a blindness, a moment where men do not take the shape of good, thus evil is always done by men, and if O'dimm does evil (he murders a man in an inn, and convinces Olgeird to make an evil deal), then he is also evil, and has chosen to do so.
There is no "natural evil", unless you insist that evil is the necessary contradiction of good, which makes it good by serving as its contradiction. If you insist then, that evil is the equal and opposite of good, then any choice becomes arbitrary, since men might be inclined to one or the other as necessary moments of the existence of each other. But if good were actually the only choice, man's true nature and desire, and evil were a moment where he is blinded and unable to become what he is (good), then evil becomes inherently undesirable, and the only free choice becomes the one where evil isn't a possibility. After all, freedom cannot mean the mere ability to choose, since one does not desire to choose but to choose CORRECTLY; freedom must be the freedom to be without contradiction, or for man to always be what he is (good), without the possibility of not being what he is, which is evil. If you say that a choice is only free if it is the spontaneous convulsion of the will to whatever arbitrary and univocal "choice" suits his arbitrary flailing, then how does this remain a choice, and not rather precisely arbitrary flailing?
Does man really desire choice, or does he desire the fruit of his choice? Does he wish to have legs, or does he wish to walk? Does he wish he had legs just to have legs, or does he wish to walk, too?
"Choosing to do evil to me is worse than naturally being predisposed to evil"
Having established that "natural evil" is nonsense, can we admit that O'dimm's evil is evil, and can be condemned, even if he believes it is good? How about this: can we condemn the rapist for raping, and not blame the victim for being raped? O'dimm corrupts people, but why should we blame those corrupted, but not the corrupter? He SEEKS evil; it is not within him; to be Evil Gaunter O'dimm, he relies on an aspect that is not within himself, which does not have the power to manifest without his willful adherence to it; evil is made as evil when evil is done, and it is never done by itself; it is always done by someone. Evil is not natural to O'dimm: he seeks it out. And yet he can never rest because evil is not natural to the world, it is a parasite. If there were not good, there could be no evil, yes (logically speaking). But if there were not evil, there could still be good. Evil feeds on men, but it does not come from men. A parasite does not give birth to its host.
@@mike-0451 I was simply implying choosing evil is worse than being evil. Also you didn’t need to write and essay because you have a different opinion.
@@greenknightofwar7024First of all, that makes no sense, and second of all, yes I did. And it seems it didn’t matter since you understood none of it. What you said initially was completely illogical, and I thought by asking you questions, you would realize how what you said made no sense.
@@greenknightofwar7024 You're bothered by them giving you a detailed response and describing the philosophical contradictions of our understanding of morality?
You got an amazing response that can not only answer your question, but also provide nuance to a previously black & white question.
@@mike-0451it’s called having a moral opinion, you can agree or disagree. Also no you didn’t, you could’ve just said I disagree. I’m not trying to argue or debate, I just didn’t expect you to take what I said and make it into a deep philosophical discussion about what we think is worse. I’m not trying to say I don’t care what you have to say I’m just sticking to my opinion of what is worse.
I've never not saved olgierd. He did what he did in desperation and out of immense loss and for the love of his life. Does it excuse what he did? No, but it does give us reason and make us empathize with him at least slightly. He deserved to be punished and was punished for all the years after his deal with o'dimm. I dont believe that his choices and evil deeds warrant an eternity of suffering and damnation. Plus I like to think that he and Iris can be reunited in some way if you don't take the rose and instead take iris in the painting to olgierd. Maybe he visits the painted world and they can reconcile in some way
In your opinion what do you think gaunter odimm truly is? Geralt asked him and gaunter spared his life because he truly is something extremely powerful that would cause the world to be in an up roar.... a demon a djinn, the devil? It seems he cant be killed i believe someone put him away in the past and than he returned and than geralt was able to take his soul away but gaunter said he will be back which i 100% believe. He is one of the most if not thee most interesting characters ive ever come accross.....
he's not just evil he is EVIL
Funny i happen to watch this the day after Christmas but added it to my list the day before and it ends with "Merry Christmas " ha (2023)
One thing that not many people bring up about Gaunter and his morality is Iris. Gaunter is at the very least half responsible for what happened to her, as there is no way he as an omnipresent entity didn’t know that something like that would happen. You can say Olgierd is at fault and maybe even deserved the tragedies that befall him, but Iris was completely innocent. She didn’t barter with Gaunter or even interact with him, but she still was punished for Olgierd’s mistake.
I find it fascinating that in a story where they do not show any proof for the gods, they insert satan (or at least folklore satan)
Also a bit of tongue in cheek humor by CDPR, since they hide names with meanings in many instances, the handkerchief found in the lake in blood and wine has the initials DLC, while a book found in the teleporting tower has initials GOG cause of the launcher they have, so it's not crazy to think that gaunter o'dimm means GOD and goes along with everything he does and the dichotomy of the character itself, being called God but acting purely like a devil, by making pacts with people who are not at their highest point in life, deals that they come to regret, just like Olgierd did.
Also to further the point that Gaunter finds this entire thing as a game (again i think Gaunter itself might be a representation of a God, basically the player being able to do anything like going back in time with loading a save) Gaunter himself appears throught not only the base game but throught the entirety of the DLC in the background and it's really hard to notice sometimes, but he's ALWAYS watching. Once i learnt that i started to love this DLC more, the sheer fear of knowing he's always watching no matter what is unnerving.
TL;DR-I think they're both evil, but Gaunter is so due his fascinating nature as a supernatural being. Olgeird was just a common, greedy bastard who got his just desserts. (Sorry not sorry this turned into a short essay as I'm just another lore nerd when it comes to well written games)
I'm finding myself agreeing with parts of both the video and the great insights in the comments. Gaunter definitely presents as a reflection of whomever he is interacting with, but not just in morality or ideals; he physically mirrors Geralt's body language during their one-on-one meetings (could be argued to be limitations of the game's animating, but I digress) which was a touch I loved. But Gaunter also demonstrated his cruel and sadistic nature numerous times, culminating with the clear satisfaction he showed when you let him have Olgeird's soul. Another example that wasn't mentioned was the scholar at Oxenfurt who had barricaded himself in his home, and kept himself within a magic circle. He was terrified of Gaunter because the scholar was close to (or did, I can't 100% remember) discovering what Gaunter really was, and was apparently only safe inside the magic circle. And as soon as the scholar barely leaves the circle, he slips and dies when his head strikes a crate. Coincidence? It could be that he is some sort of demi-god, at least, who is a reflection of humanity's true nature. Sure, we are capable of great acts of virtue but also (and arguably, more commonly) capable of great acts of depravity.
As for Olgeird, I frankly did not care for the character. Yes, he was at his absolute lowest when Gaunter sought him out in a clear act of predation. And resisting that temptation would be incredibly difficult. But to sacrifice your own brother, who utterly adores and worships you, for personal gain? That immediately sets the tone for the kind of person Olgeird really is. He love for Iris quickly became entirely about control rather than affection, and drives an incredibly cruel act of spite against a rival suitor. Olgeird showed perverse glee over the results of the Borsodie quest, which (when I played it, at least) resulted in everyone involved getting killed save for Geralt. And all that malevolence ultimately comes full circle.
NOW IN COMPLETE FAIRNESS TO OLGEIRD, I have yet to try to save him because he just pisses me off that much. That whole sequence probably brings to light a different side of Olgeird/lore information that could possibly change my opinion of him. Still, he's just too similar to a common greedy sod who cares only for himself, a caricature I think everyone has crossed paths with at least once in real life. So that makes him hard to like for me. Gaunter, by contrast, is a seemingly contradictory mix of relatable and otherworldly that just makes him more interesting.
Kinda hope that you gonna talk in depth about the professor who tried to study O'Dimm's true nature but then getting cursed and mentally tortured by the devil instead.
There is something really creepy about a villain who whistles his own tune
Is O'Dimm Lawful Evil or Neutral Evil?
I personally think Lawful Evil considering how far he goes just to follow the rules of his own game even to his own detriment.
I always save Olgierd. Not because he deserves it , but because I fear the consequences of Master Mirror getting his way. We don't know he just wants the soul to torment him. What if he needs souls for some dark purpose? What if they fuel his power? What if he needs a certain number to accomplish some dark ritual?
Even if he doesn't have an ultimate plan, simply foiling evil like Gaunter O'Dimm is a good act in it of itself.
Also Olgierd definitely deserves punishment for his actions but what master mirror will do to him might be so unimaginable to us humans that it wouldn't be justified, it's for sure worse than death itself. In our society death penalty is the worst punishment for all crimes and its seldom used. What Gaunter does is probably way worse, torturing the soul for the entirety and I'm not sure if it's an appropriate punishment. Maybe people will disagree, especially more religious people. If you believe in hell as being a just punishment for the life of sin and wickedness being tortured by the devil you should agree that it will be a fair punishment. Olgierd will be likely tortured by the devil for the entirety, basically what happens in hell. So whether his punishment is appropriate will be answered by everyone differently. But that's why he is such a good villain, people disagree about his character, if those people were forced to take up his offer due to desperation, if he is fair and truthful with virtuous people, if people who signed a very bad contract and got cheated should still fulfill it and many other things. If people could make and definite conclusions it wouldn't be nearly as interesting.
If the best portrayals of the devil, Satan, Lucifer in the cinema history are given by Al Pacino (in The Devil's Advocate), Peter Stormare (in Constantine) and Robert De Niro (in Angel Heart), then in the video game history, it is undoubtedly O'dimm.
"Evil is evil. Minor, major, medium, it's all the same. I'm not a holy hermit, I haven't always done good. But if I have to choose between one evil and another, I prefer not to choose at all." As I continued to delve deeper into Olgierd's desires I questioned why he was so vile, was Gaunter O'dimm making us see all of his atrocities in order to get us to take revenge? If your code is to reflect, wouldn't that be the safest way to protect yourself from not ajusticiar (I didn't find that term in English) to the redhead?.
We have seen ethical conflicts like this twice before. Kill bastard whoreson was simple for me, only another monster in human skin.
But I saw the players divided when it came to “The Hill of Whispers”. Honestly I don't make drinks with beasts, nor is it my job to judge men, I'm a Witcher and my only job is to kill monsters.
O'Dimm gives people what they low key deserves. O'Dimm didn't wrong Geralt because Geralt did no wrong to O'Dimm, O'Dimm if wished Geralt would be dead in a moment. When O'Dimm killed the man with a spoon it was more of a lesson to Geralt, what O'Dimm is capable of and what is and how much is the gap between them. O'Dimm indirectly showed Geralt a glimpse of his power, a hint what he truly is. Gunter O' Dimm gives word, stands by it and he does that because he wants to and nothing can stop him if he ever chooses to break his words. Olegeird sold traded his brother's life for his gain, a life which doesn't belong to him, so yea he does wrong to worst kind of people because he chooses to not because he is bound to. O'Dimm might be evil but not the persons he does the deeds to are not innocents either.
Loved this
Who would win in a fight between G.O.D. And the Unseen Elder
Gaunter O'Dimm and it's not even close. Although it probably wouldn't be a fight to begin with.
The Unseen Elder would just end up like the old man at the inn. After Gaunter freezes time, he says something that implies he is from a higher dimension. (I assume that is why he, nor the cat & dog ever tell you what they are, or where they're from).
O’Dimm has the powers of an actual god. Whereas the Unseen Elder is just an exceptionally old, exceptionally powerful Conjunction monster.
I think another really important part about O’Dimm is that he is deceptive with how he grants wishes. You touched on this a bit. He doesn’t just grant them to actually help, but to harm. He wants to make the person entering the pact regret what they wished for
Guess they couldn't add that up due to the main quests and characters being finished but it annoyed me a little how lottle imterest the witches show in geralt weird mark. I think yennefer even mentioned that it was very old and beyond her means but shows no interst in researching about it or asking Geralt where he met that strange powerful magic
Also, did you change your name, or maybe it's just the profile picture? I've not watched this channel in about 10 months but I was obsessed before then. Avarti means "I left" in Hebrew LOL
O’Dimm says poorly thought out wishes are what make his victims suffer.
What if someone wishes something a lot more simple like an apple? Would he still ruin their lives?
His theme is evil indeed.
Can’t get enough of the Witcher
I watching this video because the poor imitation of Gaunter O'Dimm that Baldur Gate 3 have, Raphael, they really try hard to make him intimidating, more charming than scary, hell, he appears out of nowhere, no foreshadowing, and he reveals his true form as immediately as you meet him.
I don't see the point in discussing who is the "true villain" as I think there are none. I love hearts of stone because it amplifies the witcher's already morally grey message, emphasising how it's not all black and white by throwing us into a quest that is mainly influenced by your opinion on it, which is hard to formulate objectively in such a grey storyline. Gaunter O'Dimm, love him or hate him, is an amazing character. He is shrouded in mystery, obviously powerful and equally as sadistic, we know so little about him that what we do know is unsettling because we know not to underestimate him; he has enough power to do what he wants and obviously enjoys other's suffering. Olgierd, while not as outwardly captivating, is equally as interesting as him, but for a whole different reason.
They're both bad at best, callous at worst, but there's a difference. One is a bad person, the other a sadistic, omnipotent being. Neither are free of guilt, but one plays into it to debilitate others while the other is simply just succumbing to human beings's selfish nature.
They're both bad, they're both amazing characters, but one obviously has the high ground and always will, despite what the other thinks, and that blatant power play, that subtle manipulation, that's what's so fascinating about Gaunter O'Dimm.
I don’t consider Odimm to be evil at all, after all he gives people what they wish for.
the daedric quest of the witcher 3
He should be a main villain in witcher 4
imo he shouldnt cuz gaunter is very interesting because of the mystery surrounding him. making him the main villain will not help. hes also basically omnipotent so if he really hates the protagonist of witcher 4 then the protag is just done for.
I love your videos
I agree with your conclusion and reasoning. The scene in the inn was the first thing that came to my mind as to why O'Dimm is evil, when you posed the question.
And I would say that the fate of the professor in Oxenfurt also supports that conclusion.
GOAT villan
I don’t really see Gaunter as evil. I mean he can tell you how to ensure Ciri survives her encounter with the White Frost.
She survives in every ending
He puts a spoon though a man's eye and brain because he is mildly irritated by him.
is rumored he needs ciri alive to keep his toy box from freezing, if he loses this world he might cease to exist, i snot for the kindness of his heart
@@Weiswolfe yeah it makes sense he wouldn’t have any fun if the frost killed everyone. Not sure if he can move between worlds like ciri
And that suddenly makes him redeemable? Did you even pay attention to the kind of things O’Dimm is responsible for throughout the questline?
The base game is brilliant, but the Wild Hunt as the main antagonists were somewhat underwhelming. Sure, they're plenty intimidating when they arrive out of nowhere and the air turns cold, but what little direct interaction you have with them leaves very little meat. Their motivation is clear but sort of cartoonishly evil.
Likewise, the main plot in Blood and Wine is intriguing but at the end is sort of forgettable. Again, I love Blood and Wine, just the main story is anything but my favorite part about it.
The story of Hearts of Stone, however, might be the best thing about the entire game. O'Dimm is terrifying in the way he always seems ten steps ahead. Counterintuitively, the way he's not out to get Geralt and sees him as somewhat of an ally the whole time is almost more disconcerting. And the way you become inadvertently close to Olgierd simply because you have to experience all the horrible decisions he has made in his life is tragic. It's a sad statement of him that even if you let Gaunter take him, you're really the best friend and closest confidant he ever had in life. Well done, CDPR.
00:01 wait what was Olgierd doing to Geralt
People arguing on O'Dimm being vile for testing people at their weakest.... Would you do a bad thing for a bottle of water in a 5 star hotel? Probably not. Would you do a bad thing for a bottle of water in the middle of desert?
Does anyone think g o d met vilgefortz the reflection on the lake at night thing seems like more then a coincidence
with all the "god" theories with O'dimm's initials, my thought was that he was the God of Men in the witcher universe. while divinity has a nuanced role in the witcher universe, to me, with all the monsters and forces of the conjunction, I took the gods as a given but just acknowledged they would never directly interfere with Geralt.. save for Master Mirror. with the arrival of humans happening with the conjuntion, it would make sense that O'Dimm would be a more minor god in the world, bound to the humans that arrived with him/formed him and be young in comparison to the older gods that first inhabited the world. O'dimm, like humans, would come to represent the worst of them as the cruelness in the world grew. The god of humans would find humans entertaining, so itd make sense for him to be going around granting wishes and subsequently toying with them by exerting power and control in unimaginable ways. Humans seem pretty naturally cruel in the Witcher, so the idea of their god being the essence of that cruelty and a being whos purpose is to further inflict that cruelty, would be depressingly fitting for the tough reality that exists in the witcher. or even depending on the actual state of the witcher pantheon, gaunter could merely be a being created BY a g.o.d to punish the humans who are overwhelmed with cruelty.
Gaunter O'Dimm also mentions that anyone who has ever found out his true nature has gone completely mad. Now if people in Witcher world found out that this master of mirror was the devil and that he was evil, I dont think it would be enough to make them completely mad and insane. As it would make sense, devil is evil.
But imagine being a peasant in the Witcher universe. Life is already rough and you most likely pray to god each evening. To protect you and your loved ones from monsters. Praying for a good harvest and that you stay safe from wars.
Now, if you found out the god you have been praying for was this… thing. This evil entity. Evil entity who fullfills wishes and watch these wishes destroy them. He torments people. THAT would be enough to make people mad and insane. Even die from their madness.
Also what if he IS the god of witcher world? I have not heard him tormenting elves. Elves are the original people of the witcher world. The native people so to speak. During the conjuction of the spheres, humanity came to the witcher world and started settling there.
Maybe he wants to take revenge on them? Or maybe just enjoy watching the human nature and desire for power, wealth. The tendency for greed and lust. He enjoys using this against them. Giving them wishes and watching them destroy themselves. After all, they are not natives to this world - why should he care?
Odimm is evil he kills a man for nothing in the inn