Spoilers from all book obviously. This was a super long video to make, hence a one day delay. If you like it, please consider sharing it, that alongside liking and commenting helps immensely! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Previous episode: ua-cam.com/video/VISScJAyl5s/v-deo.html Our video on the death of Isildur, Fall of Arnor and Rise of Rohan: ua-cam.com/video/lCbbDreAx3o/v-deo.html
My grandfather fought in that battle. It’s beautiful to see how northerners and nilfgaardians nowadays can join together peacefully to talk about the wars.
Well, according to my grandma, my grandad almost participated in that battle. But he brokered some sort of deal with some cat-eyed merc who help him get discharged before the battle. The merc showed up at my grandparents house years later, took my uncle and they never saw them since.
@@ShannonCarter55 Well, the show has a habit of taking lines from the book and completely changing the context around them that gives them meaning. It also seems to think that the long philosophical conversations between characters in the books would be too boring for TV. I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you.
Obviously we see the books from Geralt’s perspective, but if you do take a more objective view of the books events then it really does look like he just randomly pops in and out of the story.
There’s also the fact that he calls Emhyr Dunny. Thats the equivalent of Luke Skywalker showing up in the death star in front of Palpatine and being like “Hey Sheev how’s it going”
@@gizoomadze4660 Videos are on here before they are 'listed', you just need the link and you can watch it early. That is probably what is happening here, patreon members get the link early, maybe?
Ah, the Battle of Old Buttocks (original; Stare Pupy) which, for some strange reason, historians have decided to name after the village of Brenna instead. Been a while since I read the book but I believe one of the facts that helped the PFI hold the line was the fact that the Blacks had used up all their lances during the battle meaning the final charge was launched with only side arms, allowing the pike wielding PFI to withstand the charge, albeit with heavy casualties.
The dwarves were not ordered to retreat but to ADVANCE and support the center. Check that again. Advancing while being encircled by elite cavalry - this shows what kind of soldiers the dwarves were.
True. I always, when reading the books, imagined them like heavy bohemian (or hussite) infantry, with pavise shields, polearm weapons, crossbows, standing like a colorful, unbreakable wall spitting crossbow bolts or moving ahead in formation like a relentless hedhehog tanks across the battlefields. Don't know about standalone Gwent, but in the Witcher 3 Scoiatel deck there are dwarves with pavise shield. Scoiatel wasn't great deck, but these cards were cool for me anyway.
@@Willqer The standalone Gwent has an individual Dwarves leader, they're all about armour, tanking and holding the line. The card arts depict that flawlessly.
"And then his officers and knights ran to him, giving him a fresh horse, calling for him to flee and save his own life. But a fearless heart beat in the chest of the Nilfgaardian field marshal. ‘That will not do,’ he called, pushing away the reins held out towards him. ‘It will not do for me to flee like a coward from the field on which so many good men under my command have fallen for the Emperor.’ And the brave Menno Coehoorn added: …'There's nowhere to f**k off to. We're completely surrounded.'"
"People," Geralt turned his head "like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves. When they get blind-drunk, cheat, steal, beat their wives, starve an old woman, when they kill a trapped fox with an axe or riddle the last existing unicorn with arrows, they like to think that the bane entering cottages at daybreak is more monstrous than they are. They feel better then. They find it easier to live." - The Last Wish, Andrzej Sapkowski. My favorite quote from the books. Loved this video guys, keep up the good work.
@ Spearshake And it is such a strange quote too. Oh, excuuuuse me, witcher, that people are afraid of some spooky shit and are being mistrustful because you can get a monster right under your doorstep over something not even worth remembering. There is a chance that some dead monstrosity will appear next to you if your neighbour drowned in nearby body of water or because of particularly bad sunstroke and there is Geralt, pontificating about man's cowardly and deceiving nature. Hell, you can get your very personal monster if you don't bury an abortion right! And here is another truth pill for you: most monsters really are monstrous! Trolls are stupid and destructive, werewolves are feral and bloodthirsty(and that is not even when they decide to form a berserker cult somewhere), silvans are deceitful and cunning, vampires are prideful and brutal. The so called "Elder Races" aren't so good either -- dryads are isolationist and hateful and literally need to assimilate other species in order to survive as a race; elves are descendants of interdimentional conquerors, who were celectively breeding a weapon of mass destruction in-between of genociding of natives. And don't get me started on mages! The Lodge is nothing more than a vanity project of some envious women, who, while criticising men for being too emotional and power-hungry, wanted to get Ciri all to themselves in order to become a continental power behind the thrones. And Brotherhood, before Northern-Nilfgaardian wars, artificially hampered magical progress by lying and sabotaging the most brilliant mage of their generation. Almost in any other work Geralt's quote would be right and in place. It is quite fair to use when speaking about our world, actually. But the setting of "Witcher"? Those drunken, cheating, lying, hateful bumpkins are absolutely in the right.
@@Dreaming05Man Hey man Sapkowski wrote it. Take it up with him XD. For me it was a cool quote because its very applicable to our own world how we just say certain very bad people in our history (Hitler/Nazis, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Ted Bundy) are "monsters and evil" as a way of distancing ourselves from them when they were not so very different from us. Also its very applicable to the world of the witcher in that monsters do evil acts but most monsters kill out of either fear or a drive for hunger. A human will kick a dog or kill a cat just because they find it funny or amusing. There are some extra layers to our own evil nature thats more complex than a Vampire killing for food or a Ghoul on the battlefield attacking people who come close. What I'm getting at is that we as humans like to call those who murder/beat and or rape others, animals but animals (and to this monsters also) stay true to their nature and often we humans stray far from our own. It can also be taken to have a more literal meaning of how monsters act as a means of making people feel less guilty about their actions (rape, murder or abuse) because monsters are worse and so those people don't have to feel bad or have to be held accountable.
They're trying to follow both the books and the games which requires you to simplify some stuff. I think for what it is the show does a good enough job.
Agreed.. these two videos are better than the Netflix series to-date. @Geordie, the games follow on from the books ..they don't deviate a bit while the Netflix series is freestyle.
@@geordiejones5618 They killed Eskel in 1 episode and made Vesimir a fan of the trial of grasses, literal opposites of the books and games. The show is so far off canon it shouldn’t be called Witcher.
@@IdesofMarch223 What's more frustrating for me, is that the changes aren't even necessary ones. I understand making changes for the benefit of a narrative. But how does killing Eskel change anything at all? The scenes with Vesemir and his attitude didn't really add much to the main plot. It's a sideshow. It's almost like they made creative changes for the sake of "being creative" without considering if it made sense to break Canon and if it would improve the story.
@@2639theboss Completely agree. I knew they were going to change things to fit modern politics and to help move the narrative, since the books can be jumpy, which are thing so expected and don’t think ruin the show, but these changes in season 2 are so far off that it kills the entire the plot. This is almost fan fiction at this point.
Sapkowski loved to take inspiration in actual history of our world. As such, Aedirnian false flag assault on the fort of Dol Angra is somewhat based on the Gleiwitz incident - false flag attack on the German radio station Sender Gleiwitz, staged by Nazi Germany on the night of 31 August 1939. Along with some two dozen similar incidents - Operation Himmler - the attack was manufactured by Germany as a casus belli to justify the invasion of Poland, which began the next morning. The attackers posed as Polish nationals. I mean, even that Nilfgaardian outpost at the Dol Angra is called "Glevitzingen". Same can be said about Kaedwen taking part in the conquest of Aedirn by the Nilfgaard, Kaedwen king Henselt justifying the invasion by "coming with fraternal help to the oppressed people of the Lormark Province", that was supposedly historically and culturally connected to the Kaedwen - the very same excuse that Soviets used to attack Poland in 1939. Even the term "fraternal help" was used in exactly the same way.
@@MollymaukT Nilgaard always appeared to me as a parrallel for the german army of WW2, I mean Frundsberg division... literally the name of an SS division, the use of group army center etc...
@@Comissar_Carolus Vrihedd brigade the elven unit that served in Nilfgaardian army used SS lighting bolts as its emblem and their treatment of civilians was the same....
@@gazza7693 yes, people were expecting a next big Witcher title, and many were disappointed with the 2D graphics to fall short of its amazing storytelling.
Also, Henselt and Demavend weren't at the Battle of Brenna. Henselt only sent the Dun Banner and he and the rest of his army were combined with Demavend and Meve to liberate Aedirn.
They're going to shit on all the timeline, war logistics, necessary resources and time to move such a large forces etc. and basically go by the rule "if we want something to happen, it will happen, fuck the logic". And honestly just start mentally preparing for it, because Lauren fisstech and her team of newbies should write some "umbrella academy" season 3 episodes and not the Witcher
Honestly, It's such a damn shame that they get to have it. There is no way they are gonna do the Nilfgardian wars justice. For now they seem to be focusing on the teenage drama the most. And badly
A shame we'll never see a cinematic version of the Battle of Brenna. Reading it in the books I was on the edge of my seat despite already knowing the outcome and let's face it. The Netflix series (if it survives that long) will probably turn it into some kind of shambling abomination.
If anyone wants to know more about the most badass military campaigns in fiction I highly recommend playing Thronebreaker. Queen Meve is up there with Aragorn as one of the chaddest fictional monarchs.
For real. A lot of the politicking and military tactics bored me on my first read through of the books. But Thronebreaker gave the war real personal stakes and tbh I was seething in anger what the Nilfgaardians were doing to Meve's kingdom in my second reading of Time of Contempt
Only real true fans will play that game, it didn't sell well and there are no plans for anymore of them unfortunately due to lack of sales and interest in it, I recommend it a lot to people but since the gameplay is all card-based they immediately lose interest, it also doesn't have Geralt in it much so newcomers are put off by that, they think Geralt is the center of this universe.
@@gazza7693 It was too gimmicky. Reckon it would've done a lot better with actual turn based tactical combat instead of going "it's time to d-d-d-duel".
@@AJCrowley0153 Lots of players claimed they spent most of the time in witcher 3 playing Gwent and enjoying it, clearly that was a lie considering they didn't buy thronebreaker because it was a card game lol
Vrihedd Brigade didn't shatter the North's center. Fighting at the center was still ongoing but the Nilfgaardians were being pushed back by the Temerians. Menno Coehoorn sent Vrihedd to attack the gap between Redenians at the left and Temerians at the center. So that they could wreak havoc behind their lines then attack the main armies from behind.
I found that weird too, i remember Elves excel at guerilla but not really at the standards wars tactics. Not to mention, how could they attack hospitals if they were busy on the frontline?
@@efaristi9737 in the book they reached the hospitals and the halfling who was directing it confronted the elves, i don't remember the halfling's name but i do remember the elf commanding the assault was either yaevinn or faoiltiarna, don't remember quite well if toruviel was also in brenna
@@sidoso9810 It was Yaevinn and i thjnk the other elf who followed him was Toruviel because of her braids. It show some depths to Yaevinn character, he was ready to kill the wounded soldiers but not the halfling doctor that "betrayed" his kind nor, and it's more surprising, the human nurse that tried to stop him.
*spoiler not rly* I always liked how Coehoorn´s death is so unceremoniously shitty, getting stuck in the mud, kicked in the face by his own horse, trying to surrender and getting shot by crossbow bolts as a revenge and drowning in the river, all while confused wtf are those dwarves (who confused him for a member of the unit that killed their bro, because Coehoorn was wearing a cloak with it´s insignia on it as a disguise) that are shooting at me talking about.
You know, I haven't read any of the Witcher books/short stories but so far they seem to have some of the most realistic deputations of war I've seen in a fantasy book series. Don't get me wrong, books like Lord of the Rings and A Song of Fire and Ice are well written series but often there battles still have an emphasis on larger than life heroes doing brave and epic deeds. The Nilfgaardian Wars by contrast, at least as depicted here, give off the feel of a war shaped by shifting alliances, social pressures, and internal politics on both sides, which is much more akin to how wars in the real world play out. Plus most every battle so far as seemed more or less grounded in real tactics, with perhaps the more fantastical elements of Sodden hill. Like if you were to replace the names of those involved with real world names and non-humans with human factions, these battles wouldn't seem that out of place in real world history. Something about it just feels very refreshing to me.
Sapkowski is basically an amateur historian. He also wrote a series set in a historical setting which he and many of his fans consider his opus magnum: The Hussite Trilogy, set in Medieval Europe during the Hussite Wars. This book is basically a fictionalized yet very historically accurate retelling of these events.
It's also cool to see real battles reflected here, battle of Grunwald, battle of Waterloo... inspirations are clear and used well. That's one of the reasons it feels so... tangible.
Books' spoilers: If I remember correctly, it is implied that it was Philipa Eilhart and not Vilgefortz who commandited the assassination of Vizimir. The second last POV of Dijkstra shows him saying to Philippa that he discovered the commanditor of the assassination and, after that, he is hunted down by assassins, while Sapkowski is making clear that the events are linked. It seems that she did this to gain more power during the regency that followed by trying to control the young Radovid.
Philipa was a loyalist, to the North at the very least. Vizimir was the head and the reason behind the Coallition, his death was sure to shatter it. Phillipa simply had nothing to gain from killing him. Killing Vizimir when Nilfgaard was igniting a new war doesn't seems very smart on her part.
@@the_dropbear4392 that doesn't change the fact that she wouldn't commandited the assassinat of the only personn capable to unite the north against Nilfgaard on the eve of a new war.
I just finished the books a few days ago and the Battle of Brenna was easily my favorite part. Just so amazing. Thank you so much for this video! EDIT: Though, small point: 11:55, it's not ever really said, as far as I can tell, who hired the assassin, but I thought it was really heavily implied it was Philippa, not Vilgefortz. Djikstra has that conversation with her where he hints at knowing it was her, telling her that the assassin was working for somebody, and right after he has to flee. And, to anybody thinking about reading the books: do it. There's so much more depth to this battle if you know. For example, at 24:45, (AND IF IT'S NOT OBVIOUS, THIS IS SPOILERY, just not anything like main plot) the messenger John Natalis sends is a young boy of nobility, and he dies in the conflict, getting his skull caved in by a horse. His father was also fighting in this same battle and died. Some people find the level of detail silly, but I love it. He even goes into the future, how the battle with me represented, and also misrepresented. I must have edited this a million times, but this is the last. Bravo, (Do I say Wizards and Warriors now?) This was truly excellent. I loved it, particularly the presenting the facts similar like a documentary. Empress Cirilla, yes, probably not an imposter :)
What kind of people find a high level of detail in medieval fantasy to be silly? That's what defines good medieval fantasy like LoTR, Got and Witcher, they all have so much lore and details that it feels like a place that could have existed and functioned. Man some people are just so fucking moronic it borders on insanity.
@@theawesomeman9821 It all depends, and some people you ask that to will have an aneurysm. But, if you have the time to spare and don't mind geopolitics, I would say the books are infinitely better than the show. That's just the nature of adaptations.
@@gazza7693 Yeah, I agree. I suppose I meant, more, the battles prior had very little detail, and then suddenly Andrzej is telling you about everyone and their grandmother's view on the battle. I loved it, it was as I said my favorite part of the series, but I saw some comments how the change lol.
Nice video, there are hovewer some mistakes. At 11:50 there is a mistake. King Vizimir II assasin wasn't the agent of Vilgefortz. The assasination was orchestrated by Filippa Eilhart. Dijkstra found out about the lack of Vilgefortz participation after Brenna, but he wasn't sure who was truly behind the assasination. He disclosed this information to Filippa Eilhart at the victory parade and an attempt of Dijkstra's life was made soon after. At 17:59 is another mistake. Meve didn't achieve a great victory - she was fighting their way out of succesfull ambush. Battle on the bridge didn't have any strategic significance beside keeping Meve and her guerillas alive. At 26:50 is another mistake. Menno Coehorn was shot with crossbow bolts. One bolt struck Coehoorn squarely in the chest, the second in the hip, and the third in the collarbone. Zoltan Chivay was indeed within the shooters ranks, he couldn't hovewer fired all three bolts simultaneously. The shots may have come from Munro Bruys, Yazon Varda, Figgis Merluzzo or other dwarves. Given the commanding rank Zoltan Chivay probably would only have given the order to shoot immobilized Coehoorn. Cheers
Honestly this series is a better visualisation and adaptation of the Witcher books than the whole Netflix show. I didn't know how much I needed this until now. Keep up the great work.
As someone unfamiliar with the witcher universe I must admit I was rooting for Coehoorn. Seeing as he seems like this capable upstart (as in not being of thr high nobility). If I'm wrong someone please correct me 😅
As someone who doesn’t understand witcher, I was confused. In part one it seems Cirila was Emhyr’s daughter and that Emhyr was always the heir to the throne, yet later he marries Cirila to secure his place on the throne? I’m sorry it just seems oike we’re casualling getting an incestual relationship here.
Both sides were lead by terrible people but Coehoorn was particularly evil. He was the one that ordered the unchecked massacre of the civilians and burned down Aedirn. His armies promptly went raping and killing everything and everyone. The consequences of this are explored in "Baptism of Fire" to very grisly detail.
@@TheAlphatitan he marries cirilla (who is fake ciri) to secure the cintran throne and make him the legitimate ruler of cintra rather than just a conquer
the battle of brema was mastermind by Adam Pangratt and Julia Abatemarco the Kovir political enemys! The king of Kovir was assassinated but he was a badass and saved his queen. Good episode loved it ! :)
This channell is a great addition to the main "Kings and generals" so thumbs up from me. Eagerly waiting for some warhammer content whitch I'm sure is comming :)
Hopefully Netflix takes a glance at this video and draws tactical Inspiration from it. Otherwise the coming battles will be shitshows like the the battle at cintra at the very start
I like the way this war happened, not only just soldiers clashing together, but with plots/spies/schemes/treaties/betrayals. And there are no good or evil sides, all sides have their believes and agendas.
I feel that it is important to note that Coehoorn wanted to personally lead the final charge of the Nausicaa division and possibly die in battle should his final attempt at saving the battle failed. He was dissuaded of it by his officers, soldiers and bodyguards whom he was loved by. One of his chief officers then offered to take his cape/mantle or whatever clothing it was that gave away his rank and lead a suicidal charge disguised as Coehoorn himself while the real Marshal would escape. Unfortunately, as it is said in the video, the small party that escorted Coehoorn was immediately greeted by a barrage of Dwarven Crossbows leaving Coehoorn as the only survivor. Seeing the writing on the wall, the commander would finally try to offer his surrender but would not get the time as the Dwarves had already reloaded and promptly killed him before he could reveal his identity. Ironically, as most suriving soldiers of the battle saw the final charge of Nausicaa being led by someone wearing Coehoorn's mantle, it is mostly believed in both Niilfgard and the North that Coehoorn died leading his troops in that final charge, which is precisely how he had wanted to go. (The disguised officer's body was left unrecognizable after the charge and Coehoorn's body sunk in a swamp, so no one could prove the contrary even if some do believe that Coehoorn fled the battle.)
Sapkowski loved to take inspiration from real life events. You can see it in all his books so it's absolutely not suprising to see a lot of similarities.
There is nothing else to be expected. Emhyr send his political enemies to die in front lines, they were members of a court, not a generals of an army. Thronebreaker realy shows how incompetent Ardal Aep Dahy was. Perhabs even more so than commander of western front
@@gooddaytoyou5256 Ardal aep Dahy wasn't incompetent, he was intentionally sabotaging the war effort along with several other key generals to make emhyr look weak. As they were passed he decided to marry ciri and wanted to put Morvran Voorhis on the throne
Another great episode from Witcher Universe by your hands, thank you guys but as a little reminder Temeria gained provinces of Angren, Brugge, Riverdell and Sodden at the Peace of Cintra.
After the death of Last King Of Sodden Ekkehard, throne of Sodden passed to his nephew Foltest(King of Temeria). The timeline of this event is unknown. In 1263 at the First Northern War, after Cintra's invasion Nilfgaard moved its troops to Sodden to pass the river of Yaruga to continue for invasion all of the North. The First battle of Sodden accured between Nilfgaardian army and Northern armies (which try to prevent Nilfgaard advance) at the straits of Yaruga and its resulted with Nilfgaardian victory. This result also led to the Nilfgaardian invasion of Sodden but not for long. After The battle of Sodden Hill( Second battle of Sodden) Northern armies suucessed push Nilfgaardian army south of Yaruga River. After the First War Nilfgaard meintained its control at the Upper Sodden( southern region of Sodden, at the south of Yaruga) while Temeria regained Lower Sodden( North of Yaruga). And lastly after The Second Northern War, Temeria regained Upper Sodden and united Sodden lands under their banners alongside with other regions they gained at Peace of Cintra.
@@efaristi9737 Well, according to the books they were finally part of Temeria but if you include CDPR's lore they are become part of Radovid's Redania like most of the Northern Realms.
Correction: Vizimir, king of Redania, was actually killed by an assassin sent by Philipa Earhart, his own mage advisor, not Vilgefortz. And when Dijkstra discovered this, Philipa sent assassins after him as well. That’s why he flees Redania at the end of “The Lady of the Lake.”
Nice callback to the books. CDPR used that line for their Gwent northern infantry cards. I always got a chuckle from it. The scene in the book is quite the comedic relief.
@@Jacieltje yeah, and guess what, the location of the battle of Brenna isn't really the village of Brenna, but a village not far from that that was called Old Butts. These light comedic points really worked well.
I haven't read the english version so was a little bit dissapointing that the village nearby Brenna was translated as Old Bottoms. As in fact it was literally called "Old Butts" That was an original Sapkowski's humor.
If you fancy doing some sci fi stuff, have you looked at the Siege of Helsreach, the Second War on Armageddon, or the campaigns of the Horus Heresy such as Beta Garmon, the Titandeath, the Battle of Calth or the invasion of the Sol System?
@@marcusaustralius2416 for sure but that's hours of extremely detailed material to go through, for now i hope that they will cover at least one of those
@@fridriechrussofobber3500Vraks is great and all, but it'd be a bit slow and monotonous I reckon, less character based intrigue, less sweeping movements
The inheritance series has some really good battles as well, it gets a lot of flack because people say it copied star wars but I actually love it, and can’t see anynproblems with it. The finale in that series is my favourite battle in fantasy, even if it is a bit weird.
If you love detailed battles , read the first law books . Particularly the book known as "The heroes " , which is a standalone and occurs after the first trilogy , has possibly the greatest fantasy battle ever written with the entite book (about 500 pages ) being dedicated to the 3 day battle .
So the emperor of nilfgaard wanted to marry his daughter?! I did not read the books, planning to do that and hopefully I do not spoil anything with this question!
That's an enormous spoiler (although after the games and the show now, not so much). It took me by suprise and it was great, to come to that revelation after 8 books
I'm a bit late to watch the one video I was looking forward to the most since this channel started (due to some traditional Christmas business). Needless to say, I loved it. It's perhaps worth mentioning that among the individuals released from the prisons of Kovir, who formed the Free Company, were not only common criminals but also political prisoners, often experienced soldiers as that Kingdom went through some civil strife. The famous officers of the company were Adam Pangratt, Juan Gutierrez, Julia Abatemarco and Lorenzo Molla. Fun fact: the song sang by the soldiers of the Free Company in _The Lady of the Lake_ is a parody of the real-life song of the Bar Confederates (the Catholic religious zeel of the original was replaced with materialist cynicism but both versions express the same lack of respect for royal authority).
This is great, séries like the Witcher, Dragon Age, Lord of the Rings, the Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect etc have so much lore, so many stories to tell that having the possibility that you guys get to tell these stories is just awesome, great job and keep up the great work.
I wish there was enough information about the third nilfgaardian war so to make another episode about it. Instead it's just whichever monarch dies, decides the fate entire north
I don't think the half-elf assassin was only controlled by Vilgefortz Philippa was definitely a big player in that. That's why she attempted to have Djikstra assassinated because Geralt informed him via Dandelion.
So is this where the books end in terms of larger world conflicts? I know it is not the focus of the books, it focuses more on characters that occasionally get involved in the wider politics, but it is interesting if we are left in a state of uneasy stalemate by the end. I can see why the videogames had the ability to get more into this conflict and give us a final resolution to them since a third Nilfgaardian war is entirely believable. The cynic in me believes multiple wars that end in stalemates was just the author's way of always having the big evil empire be a threatening but not overpowering force. God forbid things go definitively one way or the other.
Peace of Cintra wasn't really a stalemate. As Leuvaarden enlightens Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen, Nilfgaard really won in the long-term, devastating already inferior northern economy; before long, the same north that defended herself from Nilfgaardian steel will be bought by Nilfgaardian wares and coin. In-universe history books quoted at the start of many chapters suggest that Nilfgaard indeed eventually subjugated the whole North. Few centuries later imperial historians don't even know where such kingdoms like Lyria were once located.
@@zaboomafool1911 God forbid you use your immagination man... The way Sapkowski did it let's you fill the shoes of a researching historian - going off of slivers of information, partial and biased sources. It's actually better
@@tedbed1389 Based on what Mira told me it sounds like there actually isn't that much to piece together. Like the return of Palpatine, Nilfgaard wins, somehow. They either pulled an America with economic imperialism or straight up conquered, maybe one first then the other. Is there even a sliver of a possibility that the North continued to hold Nilfgaard at the Yaruga river?
Spoilers from all book obviously. This was a super long video to make, hence a one day delay. If you like it, please consider sharing it, that alongside liking and commenting helps immensely! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Previous episode: ua-cam.com/video/VISScJAyl5s/v-deo.html Our video on the death of Isildur, Fall of Arnor and Rise of Rohan: ua-cam.com/video/lCbbDreAx3o/v-deo.html
Ok
👍
Please make a video about the Battle for Doldrey from Berserk!!!
What does warcry look cry ?
Very good video, although there were some mistakes. I am hardcore Witcher novels fan and I can point those out for you.
I got way too much joy from hearing “the poor f….ng infantry” not once but twice. Loving the series.
me and my friend play gwent and when we see that infantry its just...to good.
I had to pause the video there lmao.
BPP (Biedna Pierdolona Piechota) in original Polish :D
- you're assigned to PFI, son, now move along.
- oh, gosh, is PFI some elite unit!?
- PFI stands for Poor Fuckin Infantry....
lmeo
The best way not only to have some good time but to also expand vocabulary. One well-made video, 200+ new words. Astonishing. Thank you, W&W ❤️👈🏻🗿
My grandfather fought in that battle. It’s beautiful to see how northerners and nilfgaardians nowadays can join together peacefully to talk about the wars.
this is my favourite series on this channel
this is 20 times better than the netflix "adaptation" lol
A sacrifice to the algorithm!
I see the witcher has learn the meta EU4 tactic that we use to form ryukyu empire. Hire free company
The Witcher was written in 80's and 90's.
I wish the Netflix show could adapt even a quarter of this stuff
The Might of Sigmar is so great that it extents far beyond the borders of his own Fantasy Universe!
Blessed Sigmar!
Sharing is caring. I am just saying...
*National anthem of USSR plays*
Correction: we are just saying. In mother Russia individuality is but a figment of your imagination
Omg this is better than witcher series. They just skipped first war etc.
Make this channel an Instagram page so I can share it. FB is for boomers
hou! hou! OH HELL NO -Dwarven Units upon finding black ones plated armor arms and geld.
My grandfather did not participate in this battle. Something about ideological differences with Dijkstra. Not sure what he meant.
Shove him aside. Forcefully.
Why no AKs nor ARs in the battle?!
your grandfather probably remembers the false flag event at Glevitzingen..., erm Gleiwitz.
lol
Well, according to my grandma, my grandad almost participated in that battle. But he brokered some sort of deal with some cat-eyed merc who help him get discharged before the battle. The merc showed up at my grandparents house years later, took my uncle and they never saw them since.
"Don't forget you're talking to a cabbage"
Geralt truly know how to troll people, and thats why he is the best MC in my opinion
Can't wait for Henry Cavill to say it in the show.
@@ShannonCarter55 Well, the show has a habit of taking lines from the book and completely changing the context around them that gives them meaning. It also seems to think that the long philosophical conversations between characters in the books would be too boring for TV. I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you.
Least moronic bitcher fanboy.
@@ShannonCarter55 this line didn't age so well...
Obviously we see the books from Geralt’s perspective, but if you do take a more objective view of the books events then it really does look like he just randomly pops in and out of the story.
He took like 2 books at least I think just to get from Brokilon Forest to the border between the Nilfgaardian Empire and the Kingdom of Lyria & Rivia.
>barges into angren
>helps Queen meve slaughter the nilfgaardians on a bridge
>refuses to elaborate
>leaves
@@LeoWarrior14 He isn't really the talkative type. If Jaskier/Dandelion wasn't his friend we wouldn't have known about anything he did XD
There’s also the fact that he calls Emhyr Dunny. Thats the equivalent of Luke Skywalker showing up in the death star in front of Palpatine and being like “Hey Sheev how’s it going”
@@TheAlphatitan
Sheev : hey little lucky, I've just babysit your daddy that had some emotional breakdown over your long dead mom.
“… But there, he mysteriously fell ill and died”
He was a conspirator against Emhyr. Take all the time you need…
😆😆😆
It was tongue in cheek, just like how I mentioned the girl Emhyr marries at the end is definitely the real Ciri... nothing to see here folks...
@@LeoWarrior14 Wasent ciri his daughter?
@@geemanamatin8383 as the old nilfgaardian proverb goes: incest is wincest
@@geemanamatin8383 Well uhm. Yes. But let's just ignore that little fact or you may suffer an accident
Finally someone featured the wars in Witcher, hopefully they do a deep dive of the different Factions, strengths and weaknesses.
All i want is total war game of this,am i asking too much?
@@solaek21 Your not alone 😔
@@solaek21 There is a mod for TW: Atilla. As far as I know it's still without compaign and map, but it still in progress and it looks promising.
@@marty.m2933 just consider that ca after wh has implemented mages and spells already,they would need that much for the rest
@@solaek21 the univers would suit really well the total war games indeed. They made one with Warhammer after all and it isn't much different.
Getting Devin to chant Dwarven war cries has been my crowning achievement in life so far.
@@gizoomadze4660 yeah wtf haha
@@gizoomadze4660 Videos are on here before they are 'listed', you just need the link and you can watch it early. That is probably what is happening here, patreon members get the link early, maybe?
Nice
Damned, now I want a Witcher: Total War game. Amazing video!
Or at least a crusader kings 3 witcher mod
@@princeps8980 there's already a crusader kings /witcher kings mod ,its awesome
Ah, the Battle of Old Buttocks (original; Stare Pupy) which, for some strange reason, historians have decided to name after the village of Brenna instead.
Been a while since I read the book but I believe one of the facts that helped the PFI hold the line was the fact that the Blacks had used up all their lances during the battle meaning the final charge was launched with only side arms, allowing the pike wielding PFI to withstand the charge, albeit with heavy casualties.
The dwarves were not ordered to retreat but to ADVANCE and support the center.
Check that again.
Advancing while being encircled by elite cavalry - this shows what kind of soldiers the dwarves were.
True. I always, when reading the books, imagined them like heavy bohemian (or hussite) infantry, with pavise shields, polearm weapons, crossbows, standing like a colorful, unbreakable wall spitting crossbow bolts or moving ahead in formation like a relentless hedhehog tanks across the battlefields. Don't know about standalone Gwent, but in the Witcher 3 Scoiatel deck there are dwarves with pavise shield. Scoiatel wasn't great deck, but these cards were cool for me anyway.
@@Willqer Makes sense as a tactical formation given their low center of gravity, lack of speed, increased strength, and high quality armament.
@@Willqer The standalone Gwent has an individual Dwarves leader, they're all about armour, tanking and holding the line. The card arts depict that flawlessly.
@@maciejhammer2681 . Definitely, the art work and concepts in Gwent are superb.
@@Willqer Sapkowski might have thought that as well. After all, he wrote a whole trilogy about the Hussite wars.
"And then his officers and knights ran to him, giving him a fresh horse, calling for him to flee
and save his own life. But a fearless heart beat in the chest of the Nilfgaardian field marshal.
‘That will not do,’ he called, pushing away the reins held out towards him. ‘It will not do for me to flee like a coward from the field on which so many good men under my command have fallen for the Emperor.’ And the brave Menno Coehoorn added: …'There's nowhere to f**k off to. We're completely surrounded.'"
"People," Geralt turned his head "like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves. When they get blind-drunk, cheat, steal, beat their wives, starve an old woman, when they kill a trapped fox with an axe or riddle the last existing unicorn with arrows, they like to think that the bane entering cottages at daybreak is more monstrous than they are. They feel better then. They find it easier to live." - The Last Wish, Andrzej Sapkowski. My favorite quote from the books. Loved this video guys, keep up the good work.
@@zurgesmiecal ahh, yes, a holocaust denier
@@shaider1982 Its just best to ignore them then they'll go away.
@@zurgesmiecal Not sure why you think the Nazis weren't monsters, there's mountains of evidence showing their crimes
@ Spearshake And it is such a strange quote too. Oh, excuuuuse me, witcher, that people are afraid of some spooky shit and are being mistrustful because you can get a monster right under your doorstep over something not even worth remembering. There is a chance that some dead monstrosity will appear next to you if your neighbour drowned in nearby body of water or because of particularly bad sunstroke and there is Geralt, pontificating about man's cowardly and deceiving nature. Hell, you can get your very personal monster if you don't bury an abortion right! And here is another truth pill for you: most monsters really are monstrous! Trolls are stupid and destructive, werewolves are feral and bloodthirsty(and that is not even when they decide to form a berserker cult somewhere), silvans are deceitful and cunning, vampires are prideful and brutal. The so called "Elder Races" aren't so good either -- dryads are isolationist and hateful and literally need to assimilate other species in order to survive as a race; elves are descendants of interdimentional conquerors, who were celectively breeding a weapon of mass destruction in-between of genociding of natives. And don't get me started on mages! The Lodge is nothing more than a vanity project of some envious women, who, while criticising men for being too emotional and power-hungry, wanted to get Ciri all to themselves in order to become a continental power behind the thrones. And Brotherhood, before Northern-Nilfgaardian wars, artificially hampered magical progress by lying and sabotaging the most brilliant mage of their generation.
Almost in any other work Geralt's quote would be right and in place. It is quite fair to use when speaking about our world, actually. But the setting of "Witcher"? Those drunken, cheating, lying, hateful bumpkins are absolutely in the right.
@@Dreaming05Man Hey man Sapkowski wrote it. Take it up with him XD. For me it was a cool quote because its very applicable to our own world how we just say certain very bad people in our history (Hitler/Nazis, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Ted Bundy) are "monsters and evil" as a way of distancing ourselves from them when they were not so very different from us. Also its very applicable to the world of the witcher in that monsters do evil acts but most monsters kill out of either fear or a drive for hunger. A human will kick a dog or kill a cat just because they find it funny or amusing. There are some extra layers to our own evil nature thats more complex than a Vampire killing for food or a Ghoul on the battlefield attacking people who come close. What I'm getting at is that we as humans like to call those who murder/beat and or rape others, animals but animals (and to this monsters also) stay true to their nature and often we humans stray far from our own. It can also be taken to have a more literal meaning of how monsters act as a means of making people feel less guilty about their actions (rape, murder or abuse) because monsters are worse and so those people don't have to feel bad or have to be held accountable.
It's sad that the netflix show will never be this complex and interesting like the books.
They're trying to follow both the books and the games which requires you to simplify some stuff. I think for what it is the show does a good enough job.
Agreed.. these two videos are better than the Netflix series to-date. @Geordie, the games follow on from the books ..they don't deviate a bit while the Netflix series is freestyle.
@@geordiejones5618 They killed Eskel in 1 episode and made Vesimir a fan of the trial of grasses, literal opposites of the books and games. The show is so far off canon it shouldn’t be called Witcher.
@@IdesofMarch223 What's more frustrating for me, is that the changes aren't even necessary ones. I understand making changes for the benefit of a narrative.
But how does killing Eskel change anything at all? The scenes with Vesemir and his attitude didn't really add much to the main plot. It's a sideshow. It's almost like they made creative changes for the sake of "being creative" without considering if it made sense to break Canon and if it would improve the story.
@@2639theboss Completely agree. I knew they were going to change things to fit modern politics and to help move the narrative, since the books can be jumpy, which are thing so expected and don’t think ruin the show, but these changes in season 2 are so far off that it kills the entire the plot. This is almost fan fiction at this point.
Sapkowski loved to take inspiration in actual history of our world. As such, Aedirnian false flag assault on the fort of Dol Angra is somewhat based on the Gleiwitz incident - false flag attack on the German radio station Sender Gleiwitz, staged by Nazi Germany on the night of 31 August 1939. Along with some two dozen similar incidents - Operation Himmler - the attack was manufactured by Germany as a casus belli to justify the invasion of Poland, which began the next morning. The attackers posed as Polish nationals. I mean, even that Nilfgaardian outpost at the Dol Angra is called "Glevitzingen".
Same can be said about Kaedwen taking part in the conquest of Aedirn by the Nilfgaard, Kaedwen king Henselt justifying the invasion by "coming with fraternal help to the oppressed people of the Lormark Province", that was supposedly historically and culturally connected to the Kaedwen - the very same excuse that Soviets used to attack Poland in 1939. Even the term "fraternal help" was used in exactly the same way.
Yep, I was like, man , they just "polanded" Aedirn! Lol
He also uses modern names for units (Divison, Corp, Army and Army Group)
the continent is actually europe 90 degrees turned around, there are much more inspirations
@@MollymaukT Nilgaard always appeared to me as a parrallel for the german army of WW2, I mean Frundsberg division... literally the name of an SS division, the use of group army center etc...
@@Comissar_Carolus Vrihedd brigade the elven unit that served in Nilfgaardian army used SS lighting bolts as its emblem and their treatment of civilians was the same....
Meve was done really well in Thronebreaker.
We need more games like that
@@rosameltrozo5889 fr. I wish CDPR would chill on the big buggy AAA games and do smaller, more focused projects
@@breedlove94 Thronebreaker didn't sell well unfortunately
@@gazza7693 yes, people were expecting a next big Witcher title, and many were disappointed with the 2D graphics to fall short of its amazing storytelling.
@@maciejhammer2681 And soundtrack! Don’t forget it’s soundtrack. Probably some of the best of any video game series!
30 minutes of this gave me more chills than the entire season 2 by Netflix.
That show is trash.
the show really is terrible
Just one thing, Temeria keep lower sodden, in the map looks like empire territory. And verden kerack and brugge are temeria protectorates.
Thanks for the reminder. Does help keep track of things.
Thank you guys so much for making more content on the witcher! Wonderful last Christmas gift for the day!
Thank you!
@@WizardsandWarriors would you make videos of the halo univers?
I think a documentary on the Ferelden Blight during Dragon Age Origins or The Mage Rebellion would be very interesting.
YES!!
YESSS
the events of the blights could make a nice sumary of events. its got a whole mix of plague and other crisis wars and events going on.
YES! YES! YES!!!
YES!!!!!
I’m just gonna say Coehoorn was a fucking G, the man was competent, smart and almost single-handedly won the war.
Slow down bro, you’re talking to a cabbage.
Also, Henselt and Demavend weren't at the Battle of Brenna. Henselt only sent the Dun Banner and he and the rest of his army were combined with Demavend and Meve to liberate Aedirn.
which would make sense, i can't imagined Meve Guerillas stalling Arpal aep Dahy for long without help.
It was Philippa Eilhart who mind-controlled the elven assasin in order to have him kill Visimir II, not Vilgefortz.
Would really enjoy the third Nilfgaardian War from the games.
Just wondering how netflix is going to twist/waste/massacre this event...😕
Probably introduce menno now and get him killed one episode later
They're going to shit on all the timeline, war logistics, necessary resources and time to move such a large forces etc. and basically go by the rule "if we want something to happen, it will happen, fuck the logic".
And honestly just start mentally preparing for it, because Lauren fisstech and her team of newbies should write some "umbrella academy" season 3 episodes and not the Witcher
Honestly, It's such a damn shame that they get to have it. There is no way they are gonna do the Nilfgardian wars justice. For now they seem to be focusing on the teenage drama the most. And badly
they'll make everyone black
A shame we'll never see a cinematic version of the Battle of Brenna. Reading it in the books I was on the edge of my seat despite already knowing the outcome and let's face it. The Netflix series (if it survives that long) will probably turn it into some kind of shambling abomination.
If anyone wants to know more about the most badass military campaigns in fiction I highly recommend playing Thronebreaker. Queen Meve is up there with Aragorn as one of the chaddest fictional monarchs.
For real. A lot of the politicking and military tactics bored me on my first read through of the books. But Thronebreaker gave the war real personal stakes and tbh I was seething in anger what the Nilfgaardians were doing to Meve's kingdom in my second reading of Time of Contempt
Only real true fans will play that game, it didn't sell well and there are no plans for anymore of them unfortunately due to lack of sales and interest in it, I recommend it a lot to people but since the gameplay is all card-based they immediately lose interest, it also doesn't have Geralt in it much so newcomers are put off by that, they think Geralt is the center of this universe.
@@gazza7693 It was too gimmicky. Reckon it would've done a lot better with actual turn based tactical combat instead of going "it's time to d-d-d-duel".
@@AJCrowley0153 Lots of players claimed they spent most of the time in witcher 3 playing Gwent and enjoying it, clearly that was a lie considering they didn't buy thronebreaker because it was a card game lol
@@gazza7693 problem is it was only a card game, with a lot of gimmicky moments
Vrihedd Brigade didn't shatter the North's center. Fighting at the center was still ongoing but the Nilfgaardians were being pushed back by the Temerians. Menno Coehoorn sent Vrihedd to attack the gap between Redenians at the left and Temerians at the center. So that they could wreak havoc behind their lines then attack the main armies from behind.
I found that weird too, i remember Elves excel at guerilla but not really at the standards wars tactics. Not to mention, how could they attack hospitals if they were busy on the frontline?
@@efaristi9737 in the book they reached the hospitals and the halfling who was directing it confronted the elves, i don't remember the halfling's name but i do remember the elf commanding the assault was either yaevinn or faoiltiarna, don't remember quite well if toruviel was also in brenna
@@sidoso9810 It was Yaevinn and i thjnk the other elf who followed him was Toruviel because of her braids.
It show some depths to Yaevinn character, he was ready to kill the wounded soldiers but not the halfling doctor that "betrayed" his kind nor, and it's more surprising, the human nurse that tried to stop him.
*spoiler not rly*
I always liked how Coehoorn´s death is so unceremoniously shitty, getting stuck in the mud, kicked in the face by his own horse, trying to surrender and getting shot by crossbow bolts as a revenge and drowning in the river, all while confused wtf are those dwarves (who confused him for a member of the unit that killed their bro, because Coehoorn was wearing a cloak with it´s insignia on it as a disguise) that are shooting at me talking about.
You know, I haven't read any of the Witcher books/short stories but so far they seem to have some of the most realistic deputations of war I've seen in a fantasy book series. Don't get me wrong, books like Lord of the Rings and A Song of Fire and Ice are well written series but often there battles still have an emphasis on larger than life heroes doing brave and epic deeds. The Nilfgaardian Wars by contrast, at least as depicted here, give off the feel of a war shaped by shifting alliances, social pressures, and internal politics on both sides, which is much more akin to how wars in the real world play out. Plus most every battle so far as seemed more or less grounded in real tactics, with perhaps the more fantastical elements of Sodden hill. Like if you were to replace the names of those involved with real world names and non-humans with human factions, these battles wouldn't seem that out of place in real world history.
Something about it just feels very refreshing to me.
That's what makes good medieval fantasy fiction, believability and grounded approach
Sapkowski is basically an amateur historian. He also wrote a series set in a historical setting which he and many of his fans consider his opus magnum: The Hussite Trilogy, set in Medieval Europe during the Hussite Wars. This book is basically a fictionalized yet very historically accurate retelling of these events.
@@kamilszadkowski8864 so kind of like a Polish version of Bernard Cornwell?
It's also cool to see real battles reflected here, battle of Grunwald, battle of Waterloo... inspirations are clear and used well. That's one of the reasons it feels so... tangible.
@@gazza7693 Pretty much.
These videos are better adaption of Sapkowski's books than whole Netflix series...
Agreed... This how you do an adaptation.. Netflix take note.
@@sarpedonzeus1874 Take notes there's? What? You do know there's a difference between a high budget adaptation and a documentary.
@@frantictoast3741 yeah, but the author of the Netflix series really needs to learn basic logic, so everything would be useful
Does anyone know what’s the track at 13:55?
Ah, the Battle of Old Bottoms...
that was an epic documentary, good job.
Books' spoilers:
If I remember correctly, it is implied that it was Philipa Eilhart and not Vilgefortz who commandited the assassination of Vizimir.
The second last POV of Dijkstra shows him saying to Philippa that he discovered the commanditor of the assassination and, after that, he is hunted down by assassins, while Sapkowski is making clear that the events are linked. It seems that she did this to gain more power during the regency that followed by trying to control the young Radovid.
Philipa was a loyalist, to the North at the very least. Vizimir was the head and the reason behind the Coallition, his death was sure to shatter it. Phillipa simply had nothing to gain from killing him. Killing Vizimir when Nilfgaard was igniting a new war doesn't seems very smart on her part.
@@efaristi9737 she wasn't a loyalist to the north. She was a loyalist to the mages.
@@the_dropbear4392 not really true, she betray the brotherhood policy in favor of the kings of the north.
@@efaristi9737
No she didn't, she was working the whole time for her own agenda
@@the_dropbear4392 that doesn't change the fact that she wouldn't commandited the assassinat of the only personn capable to unite the north against Nilfgaard on the eve of a new war.
Another great one , keep it up . Really loving these . Can you please also make such videos for 'A song of Ice and Fire' and 'The Wheel of Time'?
On their Kings and Generals channel are some videos on the battles of the War of the Five Kings as well as the battles of Aegon’s Conquest.
@@Emperorofthemoon1 Okay , i thought that channel only covered real life historical battles . Thanks .
I just finished the books a few days ago and the Battle of Brenna was easily my favorite part. Just so amazing. Thank you so much for this video!
EDIT: Though, small point: 11:55, it's not ever really said, as far as I can tell, who hired the assassin, but I thought it was really heavily implied it was Philippa, not Vilgefortz. Djikstra has that conversation with her where he hints at knowing it was her, telling her that the assassin was working for somebody, and right after he has to flee.
And, to anybody thinking about reading the books: do it. There's so much more depth to this battle if you know. For example, at 24:45, (AND IF IT'S NOT OBVIOUS, THIS IS SPOILERY, just not anything like main plot) the messenger John Natalis sends is a young boy of nobility, and he dies in the conflict, getting his skull caved in by a horse. His father was also fighting in this same battle and died.
Some people find the level of detail silly, but I love it. He even goes into the future, how the battle with me represented, and also misrepresented.
I must have edited this a million times, but this is the last. Bravo, (Do I say Wizards and Warriors now?) This was truly excellent. I loved it, particularly the presenting the facts similar like a documentary. Empress Cirilla, yes, probably not an imposter :)
Worth noting: the Battle of Brenna is based on the battle of Waterloo (including surprise arrival of the reinforcements - Bluecher in Waterloo).
What kind of people find a high level of detail in medieval fantasy to be silly? That's what defines good medieval fantasy like LoTR, Got and Witcher, they all have so much lore and details that it feels like a place that could have existed and functioned. Man some people are just so fucking moronic it borders on insanity.
Are the books better than the show?
@@theawesomeman9821 It all depends, and some people you ask that to will have an aneurysm. But, if you have the time to spare and don't mind geopolitics, I would say the books are infinitely better than the show. That's just the nature of adaptations.
@@gazza7693 Yeah, I agree. I suppose I meant, more, the battles prior had very little detail, and then suddenly Andrzej is telling you about everyone and their grandmother's view on the battle. I loved it, it was as I said my favorite part of the series, but I saw some comments how the change lol.
Nice video, there are hovewer some mistakes.
At 11:50 there is a mistake. King Vizimir II assasin wasn't the agent of Vilgefortz. The assasination was orchestrated by Filippa Eilhart. Dijkstra found out about the lack of Vilgefortz participation after Brenna, but he wasn't sure who was truly behind the assasination. He disclosed this information to Filippa Eilhart at the victory parade and an attempt of Dijkstra's life was made soon after.
At 17:59 is another mistake. Meve didn't achieve a great victory - she was fighting their way out of succesfull ambush. Battle on the bridge didn't have any strategic significance beside keeping Meve and her guerillas alive.
At 26:50 is another mistake. Menno Coehorn was shot with crossbow bolts. One bolt struck Coehoorn squarely in the chest, the second in the hip, and the third in the collarbone. Zoltan Chivay was indeed within the shooters ranks, he couldn't hovewer fired all three bolts simultaneously. The shots may have come from Munro Bruys, Yazon Varda, Figgis Merluzzo or other dwarves. Given the commanding rank Zoltan Chivay probably would only have given the order to shoot immobilized Coehoorn.
Cheers
Can anyone please name the track, playing at 17:00(17-th minute in video)?
Honestly this series is a better visualisation and adaptation of the Witcher books than the whole Netflix show. I didn't know how much I needed this until now. Keep up the great work.
UA-cam Algorithm
Can someone please tell me where I know the soundtrack/theme that starts playing around 13:50 from?
Nilfgaard invasion look like operations Barbarossa
As someone unfamiliar with the witcher universe I must admit I was rooting for Coehoorn. Seeing as he seems like this capable upstart (as in not being of thr high nobility).
If I'm wrong someone please correct me 😅
As someone who doesn’t understand witcher, I was confused. In part one it seems Cirila was Emhyr’s daughter and that Emhyr was always the heir to the throne, yet later he marries Cirila to secure his place on the throne? I’m sorry it just seems oike we’re casualling getting an incestual relationship here.
@@TheAlphatitan Thats exactly it, he wants to marry his daughter. No one knows its her daughter tho, not even Cirilla
Both sides were lead by terrible people but Coehoorn was particularly evil. He was the one that ordered the unchecked massacre of the civilians and burned down Aedirn. His armies promptly went raping and killing everything and everyone.
The consequences of this are explored in "Baptism of Fire" to very grisly detail.
@@TheAlphatitan He marries fake cirilla since he cant really find the real one.
@@TheAlphatitan he marries cirilla (who is fake ciri) to secure the cintran throne and make him the legitimate ruler of cintra rather than just a conquer
the battle of brema was mastermind by Adam Pangratt and Julia Abatemarco the Kovir political enemys! The king of Kovir was assassinated but he was a badass and saved his queen. Good episode loved it ! :)
This channell is a great addition to the main "Kings and generals" so thumbs up from me.
Eagerly waiting for some warhammer content whitch I'm sure is comming :)
Hopefully Netflix takes a glance at this video and draws tactical Inspiration from it.
Otherwise the coming battles will be shitshows like the the battle at cintra at the very start
I like the way this war happened, not only just soldiers clashing together, but with plots/spies/schemes/treaties/betrayals.
And there are no good or evil sides, all sides have their believes and agendas.
13:52 music name please?
Will you also do a video on the Third Nilfgaardian War and the videogames' events?
I live like 20km next to Brenna in Poland. I wonder how Sapkowski came up with this name heh.
He was on holidays there probably (Polish Brenna is in mountains), plus the name sounds Celtic.
@@lookash3048 It's celtic or from oldslavic brьnьnъ meaning "muddy". Cities with similar names has same etymology.
The Witcher lore, if we talk about war, is awesome and more "realistic" than the majority of other fantasy-based lores.
I feel that it is important to note that Coehoorn wanted to personally lead the final charge of the Nausicaa division and possibly die in battle should his final attempt at saving the battle failed.
He was dissuaded of it by his officers, soldiers and bodyguards whom he was loved by.
One of his chief officers then offered to take his cape/mantle or whatever clothing it was that gave away his rank and lead a suicidal charge disguised as Coehoorn himself while the real Marshal would escape.
Unfortunately, as it is said in the video, the small party that escorted Coehoorn was immediately greeted by a barrage of Dwarven Crossbows leaving Coehoorn as the only survivor. Seeing the writing on the wall, the commander would finally try to offer his surrender but would not get the time as the Dwarves had already reloaded and promptly killed him before he could reveal his identity.
Ironically, as most suriving soldiers of the battle saw the final charge of Nausicaa being led by someone wearing Coehoorn's mantle, it is mostly believed in both Niilfgard and the North that Coehoorn died leading his troops in that final charge, which is precisely how he had wanted to go. (The disguised officer's body was left unrecognizable after the charge and Coehoorn's body sunk in a swamp, so no one could prove the contrary even if some do believe that Coehoorn fled the battle.)
Coehorn was the only competent general in that campaign this reminds me a bit of the Summer offensive into Russia in 1942.
I think that was what it was based on.
Sapkowski loved to take inspiration from real life events. You can see it in all his books so it's absolutely not suprising to see a lot of similarities.
It might as well be a reference to the Polish-Soviet war. It probably references both the Summer Offensive and the Battle of Warsaw.
There is nothing else to be expected. Emhyr send his political enemies to die in front lines, they were members of a court, not a generals of an army. Thronebreaker realy shows how incompetent Ardal Aep Dahy was. Perhabs even more so than commander of western front
@@gooddaytoyou5256
Ardal aep Dahy wasn't incompetent, he was intentionally sabotaging the war effort along with several other key generals to make emhyr look weak. As they were passed he decided to marry ciri and wanted to put Morvran Voorhis on the throne
Coehoorn, give me back my legions!
Another great episode from Witcher Universe by your hands, thank you guys but as a little reminder Temeria gained provinces of Angren, Brugge, Riverdell and Sodden at the Peace of Cintra.
All of Sodden or just the north?
After the death of Last King Of Sodden Ekkehard, throne of Sodden passed to his nephew Foltest(King of Temeria). The timeline of this event is unknown.
In 1263 at the First Northern War, after Cintra's invasion Nilfgaard moved its troops to Sodden to pass the river of Yaruga to continue for invasion all of the North. The First battle of Sodden accured between Nilfgaardian army and Northern armies (which try to prevent Nilfgaard advance) at the straits of Yaruga and its resulted with Nilfgaardian victory. This result also led to the Nilfgaardian invasion of Sodden but not for long. After The battle of Sodden Hill( Second battle of Sodden) Northern armies suucessed push Nilfgaardian army south of Yaruga River. After the First War Nilfgaard meintained its control at the Upper Sodden( southern region of Sodden, at the south of Yaruga) while Temeria regained Lower Sodden( North of Yaruga).
And lastly after The Second Northern War, Temeria regained Upper Sodden and united Sodden lands under their banners alongside with other regions they gained at Peace of Cintra.
@@housestark4881 yeah, i i have just seen that. Are Brugge and Sodden still independant states or are they temeria now?
@@efaristi9737 Well, according to the books they were finally part of Temeria but if you include CDPR's lore they are become part of Radovid's Redania like most of the Northern Realms.
@@housestark4881 that would be the logical conclusion if you think that the games are canons... and i do, no matter what peoples think XP
Correction: Vizimir, king of Redania, was actually killed by an assassin sent by Philipa Earhart, his own mage advisor, not Vilgefortz. And when Dijkstra discovered this, Philipa sent assassins after him as well. That’s why he flees Redania at the end of “The Lady of the Lake.”
Great Video! I am glad to see some good Witcher content after Netflix's failure.
OMG at 22:45, one of the Northern divisions is labelled 'Poor F*ucking Infantry' 🤣 I am dying!!!
Nice callback to the books. CDPR used that line for their Gwent northern infantry cards. I always got a chuckle from it. The scene in the book is quite the comedic relief.
@@gdbalck OMG it's really called that!? XD I need to get myself the books
@@Jacieltje yeah, and guess what, the location of the battle of Brenna isn't really the village of Brenna, but a village not far from that that was called Old Butts.
These light comedic points really worked well.
very nice....much better then the Netflix "The W(B)itcher" XD
Season 1 was good but season 2 fell off
This hasnt even happened yet in series.
Awesome, maybe someday we will see a video about Conan's war for Aquilonian throne? Hyboria is fascinating world fitting this series.
Nice pfp
I’m a fan of history. I’m a huge fan of K&G. And through them, I’ve become a fan of W&W. Much love and keep doing your thing🤙🏼👌🏼💙
Loved this video! Also gotta hand it to the Nilfgardian War Machine. They take losses in the tens of thousands and just keep coming.
Brenna was clearly inspired by Waterloo
Brenna was clearly inspired by Grunwald
I haven't read the english version so was a little bit dissapointing that the village nearby Brenna was translated as Old Bottoms. As in fact it was literally called "Old Butts" That was an original Sapkowski's humor.
If you fancy doing some sci fi stuff, have you looked at the Siege of Helsreach, the Second War on Armageddon, or the campaigns of the Horus Heresy such as Beta Garmon, the Titandeath, the Battle of Calth or the invasion of the Sol System?
All I want is Siege of Terra during Horus Heresy...
@@italianspaghett4359Titandeath and Armatura, Shrike, Terra, Calth, Prospero or Mars, all of them would be some glorious ones to see
@@marcusaustralius2416 for sure but that's hours of extremely detailed material to go through, for now i hope that they will cover at least one of those
Hohoho, and what about the siege of Vraks. That would be glorious.
@@fridriechrussofobber3500Vraks is great and all, but it'd be a bit slow and monotonous I reckon, less character based intrigue, less sweeping movements
"Poor fucking infantry..."
Wow cool! Waiting for Isekai anime documentary soon, cool?
Maybe down the line!
@@WizardsandWarriors ya better!
That would be so dumb and yet amazing
Wizards and Warriors Gate battles?
My ancestor was a nlfgaardian veteran but his son migrated because his wife was a northener.
Does anyone know what's the music that starts at 6:13?
Will you make video about 3rd war?
As a longtime Witcher fan, this makes me so happy. Thank you so much for this!
I just wished more books had such a great detailed battle like this. My favorite battle of fantasy by far
The inheritance series has some really good battles as well, it gets a lot of flack because people say it copied star wars but I actually love it, and can’t see anynproblems with it. The finale in that series is my favourite battle in fantasy, even if it is a bit weird.
If you love detailed battles , read the first law books . Particularly the book known as "The heroes " , which is a standalone and occurs after the first trilogy , has possibly the greatest fantasy battle ever written with the entite book (about 500 pages ) being dedicated to the 3 day battle .
@@kasturilahiri8998 haven't read it yet, but it is on my list!
POOR F***ING INFANTRY LMAO
So the emperor of nilfgaard wanted to marry his daughter?! I did not read the books, planning to do that and hopefully I do not spoil anything with this question!
I don’t think the kingdoms knew that was his daughter and only assumed what a conqueror would do when they see a heir to the throne.
@@AhmedMohamed-en8cv thanks Mohamed, but he (duny turned emperor of nilfgaard) did knew that ciri was his daughter, right?
Basically, yes.
Emhyr married The False Cirilla
That's an enormous spoiler (although after the games and the show now, not so much). It took me by suprise and it was great, to come to that revelation after 8 books
Can you share the map please? I have been looking for a good printable map for the witcher world.
Toss a coin to your Witcher, oh valley of plenty!
Such a dope timeline
I'm a bit late to watch the one video I was looking forward to the most since this channel started (due to some traditional Christmas business). Needless to say, I loved it.
It's perhaps worth mentioning that among the individuals released from the prisons of Kovir, who formed the Free Company, were not only common criminals but also political prisoners, often experienced soldiers as that Kingdom went through some civil strife. The famous officers of the company were Adam Pangratt, Juan Gutierrez, Julia Abatemarco and Lorenzo Molla.
Fun fact: the song sang by the soldiers of the Free Company in _The Lady of the Lake_ is a parody of the real-life song of the Bar Confederates (the Catholic religious zeel of the original was replaced with materialist cynicism but both versions express the same lack of respect for royal authority).
13:55
Anyone knows the music name?
Always had trouble visualizing the background wars of the Witcher games. Good to finally able to put context into some of the settings of the game.
No third Nilfgaardian war documentary?
This is great, séries like the Witcher, Dragon Age, Lord of the Rings, the Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect etc have so much lore, so many stories to tell that having the possibility that you guys get to tell these stories is just awesome, great job and keep up the great work.
Those Vrihedd Brigade bastards stomed into the tents to kill wounded. I wished we could have smoked Yaevinn and toruviel when we had the chance.
I wish there was enough information about the third nilfgaardian war so to make another episode about it. Instead it's just whichever monarch dies, decides the fate entire north
My great grandfather was a mage who fought in the battle of sodden against nilfgaard
I don't think the half-elf assassin was only controlled by Vilgefortz Philippa was definitely a big player in that. That's why she attempted to have Djikstra assassinated because Geralt informed him via Dandelion.
the battle was saved by the PFI (Poor Fucking Infantry). 😁
So is this where the books end in terms of larger world conflicts? I know it is not the focus of the books, it focuses more on characters that occasionally get involved in the wider politics, but it is interesting if we are left in a state of uneasy stalemate by the end. I can see why the videogames had the ability to get more into this conflict and give us a final resolution to them since a third Nilfgaardian war is entirely believable. The cynic in me believes multiple wars that end in stalemates was just the author's way of always having the big evil empire be a threatening but not overpowering force. God forbid things go definitively one way or the other.
Peace of Cintra wasn't really a stalemate. As Leuvaarden enlightens Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen, Nilfgaard really won in the long-term, devastating already inferior northern economy; before long, the same north that defended herself from Nilfgaardian steel will be bought by Nilfgaardian wares and coin. In-universe history books quoted at the start of many chapters suggest that Nilfgaard indeed eventually subjugated the whole North. Few centuries later imperial historians don't even know where such kingdoms like Lyria were once located.
@@Mira-K Would be nice if that was shown rather than vaguely hinted at, but the conflict wasn't central to the story so I get why he didn't
@@zaboomafool1911 God forbid you use your immagination man... The way Sapkowski did it let's you fill the shoes of a researching historian - going off of slivers of information, partial and biased sources. It's actually better
@@tedbed1389 Based on what Mira told me it sounds like there actually isn't that much to piece together. Like the return of Palpatine, Nilfgaard wins, somehow. They either pulled an America with economic imperialism or straight up conquered, maybe one first then the other. Is there even a sliver of a possibility that the North continued to hold Nilfgaard at the Yaruga river?
Noice content, love it, pls cover warhammer fantasy battle