I personally decided Ciri survived and wasn't the empress, because the Witcher's anniversary celebration cutscene, the one taking place in Toussaint with everyone having a good time, is the true, canon ending. The one that makes me all tingly and happy.
Geralt beating on Voorhis after he talks about marrying Ciri had me laughing so hard I had to rewatch the end of the video to actually hear what you were saying
that would make an interesting one tbh. I can imagine some sort of a traumatic background that could make for pretty good "cliche"(?) character development? Idk, maybe I've watched too much anime since my last playthrough.
yeah the "bad ending" always happening and then it divulges based on choices is really the only thing that holds any water. However, if that was the case I just find it odd that CDPR wouldn't have given us the chance to hunt down the final Crone regardless. I believe they are meant to stand alone by themselves... but I could see a world where Geralt kills the Crone, survives and then Ciri shows back up.
I always found it weird that people claimed that Ciri died in "bad" ending despite them knowing that it's not the case. What changes is what world Ciri returns to as a priority. In that ending she returns to modern day or to Galahad first ie takes longer.
I just finished my 2nd play through of the game. I got the “bad” ending but I agree with you. I want to believe he survives and she returns. Who know?! That could be the “real ending”
I'd just like to point out that Witcher 3's events take place in 1273, while B&W is in 1275. Yeah, "several months" may be used to describe 24 months later or something like that. So Geralt could have gone hunting for the last Crone after retiring visiting beauclair. But I prefer to think that they'd use "years later" instead of "several months later" if that was the case. So, Geralt survives the Crone encounter.
Ciri doesn't succeed in the bad ending because she lacked all confidence that she could stop the White Frost. This is why as Geralt certain decisions you made in the final stretches of the game were what shaped the ending. If you coddled and held Ciri's hand the whole time, or made her feel worthless, then when she confronts the task ahead of her she chokes because of all the people in the world who just looked at her like some tool to be used or sheltered, Geralt being the one to give her the freedom was the confidence boost she desperately needed. This is also why I find the Witcheress ending to be the best of the three because I believe being a Witcher was HER choice where as Empress was more of an obligation, not exactly the life she truly wanted.
@@CalumWilliamson1 Well, you can see the "bad" ending as Ciri survives but decides to return to a different place in this world, instead of to Geralt who has disrespected and/or outright pissed her off too many times. She's a teenager with superpowers, she can go literally anywhere she wants, and the game shows us how many friends she's made without Geralt being involved! In fact she has no reason to return to daddy, if daddy's a jerk.
I got the “bad” ending on my first play through because I was too protective of Ciri. It made me feel horrible but it also made me want to immediately begin a second play through so I could get a happier ending. I think that’s a sign of how well written each of the ending really are.
Finished the game a short time ago, I got the ending with Ciri becoming empress ...... Needless to say, when Ciri and Geralt said goodbye for the last time I cried like never before. For me this is the best ending, although it is melancholy it is what I think is the most correct from a Lore point of view.
Here is how I see it. The empress ending is best for the world of the Witcher, but not the "Lore point of view", in lore, that is exactly the thing Ciri ran all her life away from. Yes, with her in charge who knows how MUCH better everything will get, but it isn't what she wanted before. Have you read invincible? Therec the main character (That is 20+ something) has the choice to live back through his teens (17 on) and fix everything (a weird spaghetti creature told him that is the only way to save the universe and if not it will be doomed), the twist is that he will forever lose his child (since she will never be born), and he decides *not* to, he made the selfish choice and whether that was good or bad is left to the reader. Here we have an identical situation, and imho, Ciri deserves the selfish choice, perhaps not the *right* one, but the true one.
@@its_dey_mate I agree with you bro, I have not read the books and therefore I do not know the differences between books and games, but in my opinion the choice of ciri to accept her role as empress would correspond to an act of maturation and growth of the character she accepts his duties and wisely guides the continent, as you say in the context of the game world this seems the best ending but in the plot and characterization of the characters in the books no, in fact I used the wrong term I did not mean "lore" of the universe of the witcher as I'm not an expert on it but rather than in the context of the game's plot this feels like the best ending.
@@its_dey_mate Agreed. Throughout the books everybody constantly has plans for her, wants her to be in some sort of marriage or arrangement, in the lodge, dead, a mother to the true elder blood heir or whatever. She never gets to decide to be what she truly wants to be... and throughout the books that way always... a witcher.
I'm currently playing the dlc. Finished the main quest and I took the witcher ending. Although I regret not letting her see her biological father at least. Probably gonna do it once I start NG+. This game is so easy to get lost in and takes hundreds of hours to play. Love every bit of it. Also I enjoy your videos!! Edit: Wow I'm in the top hundred likes. Thanks!
I envy you your first playthrough man. I wish I could go back and delete my memories of the game to experience it all again fresh, it’s absolutely amazing. You’ll want to do so many playthroughs to make sure you have seen and done everything, you’ll want to start hearts of stone at different points (the ideal point is before the ending of the main game, at a specific point in the story). Blood and Wine is so amazingly good too.
As this idea correlates with the idea that Ciri will be the new protagonist, I think it's more likely that she if at all will only appear as a small character like Letho with the possibility to load a safe. But mostly I agree that each ending is just that, an ending
Not sure how worthy of consideration this is, but I've looked through the game files while playing around with modding and each ending has a named folder with files inside. The ending where Ciri never comes out of the tower is named "ciri dead" The Empress ending is named "ciri empress" And the Witcher Ciri ending is named "ciri free" (No spaces in actual folder names, but I included them here so they're easier to read)
A few things to keep in mind here: 1) Remember that if Ciri meets with Emhyr, and Emhyr ends up dying, she still becomes a witcher, and Geralt also tells Emhyr that she was dead on that case, what means that the whole Empress thing happening much later. On that case it happens in exactly the same way as if she never meet him. So the reunion was certanly the kicker, but not the deciding factor. 2) Geralt had no idea that Ciri choose to be a Empress on that ending, Geralt was still training her to be a witcher, so she should have the silver sword regardless, there could be other reason why she dosent have it at that point. 3) The "bad ending" is also missing Geralt relationship slide for no reason, what strongely implies that he died. YET, when you play B&W after that ending a contradiction issues. So what i think it really happened here is that everyone abandoned Geralt except for Dandelion. What would make no sense if all the endings are the same. 4) The time it takes to do each ending may be a hint, the bad ending is the shortess ending, the witcher ending follows in lengh of time and the Empress ending is by far the longest one. There are a lot of contradictions to consider that all 3 endings happens at the same time regardless the case. YET, what may be possible is that the Empress ending is the complete and ultimate ending, with the Bad and the Witcher ending being a "fork in the path" at different points. How i see this? Bad Ending: Ciri dosent returns, everyone abandoned Geralt, Geralt kills the last Crone alone and he does not cares about Emhyr. Witcher Ending: Ciri returns, Ciri and Geralt kills the last Crone, Geralt tells Emhyr that Ciri died, Emhyr is either dead, unable to contact her, or maybe he dosent want to contact her anymore, Geralt gets the sword for Ciri, Ciri starts training to become a witcher. Empress Ending: Ciri returns, Ciri and Geralt kills the last Crone, Geralt tells Emhyr that Ciri died, Geralt dosent gets the sword for Ciri, Ciri starts training to become a witcher, Emhyr manages to contact Ciri at some point, what i think here, is that Emhyr manages to contact Ciri due to Master Ort, maybe he intercepted him, or he was a Emhyr spy, and this is why she never gets the sword on this ending, Ciri becomes an Empress.
As for #3, someone correctly stated above that after the worst ending, you end up in Kaer Morhen with a note saying that gameplay after that ending occurred before the ending did. Geralt dies in the bad ending. Not really debatable.
@shivanSpS When I noticed the time line differences (1 week vs 2 weeks vs several months). I immediately thought of a similar idea to what you're outlining here. So, great minds and all that?
This is great food for thought. One thing I'd like to add about the Ciri becomes a Witcher ending: Even when I saw the ending for the first time and Geralt telling Emhyr that Ciri had died to the white frost, it always seemed to me like Emhyr didn't believe for a second that Ciri was actually dead. The way he asked about the body being found and if anyone else knew and his general coldness, it seemed to me that Emhyr knew Ciri was alive and in Geralt's care. But Emhyr knew he'd have absolutely no way to convincing Geralt to bring Ciri to him so he just played along and let Geralt think he'd convinced Emhyr that Ciri was gone for good. And Emhyr could rest easy knowing that Ciri was safe in Geralt's company. What does that mean for the overall ending timeline? No idea. This was just a rambling thought I felt like sharing!
I wouldn't be surprised if, with Ciri's abilities, all endings are canon and in fact the medallion in the Teaser image could be Vesemir medallion as it fell from slaying the Crone. Remember that Dandellion is a storyteller, switching details to keep the crowds coming back are to hear a new story about the White Wolf. Edit: great theory for the future of the franchise.
Off topic but I do hope you get the recognition you deserve from CDPR and the Witcher team. This channel has done a lot to keep us all talking and playing one of the best game series made. Not just the details that made the game but the way you’ve gone through them with a fine comb linking dialogue, actions and emotions across the Witcher universe. I look forward not just to playing the next game but the many hours of content as we all sit with you to discover more.
I got the "bad ending", and then replayed that. However, now I think that that ending is the most dramatic and realistic. You can't fight monsters and realms and be invincible. You can loose your dearest ones.
These endings are impactful and emotional. I replayed the entire game because I felt so angry and sad that I got the one where Ciri supposedly died fighting the White Frost.
My ending was she took the portal, got lost and came back eventually. Thats my only ending, it was a roller coaster of emotions. Assuming she died then she shows up and then she became a witcher and now she hangs out at corvo bianco.
I haven't played the witcher in a couple years. So my memory isn't fresh anymore. If I'm not mistaken, in the worst ending, after killing the last crone, we get teleported to Kaer Morhen and there's a note saying that our gameplay afterwards are events happening before we confront the last crone. Implying that Geralt died, therefore cancelling the connection between the worst and the witcher Ciri ending. I think you've talked about Geralt's fate, whether he died or not in that ending, but I couldn't remember what you said, lol. I think the connection between Witcher Ciri and Empress Ciri could probably connect, but not with the worst ending. I want to believe that Geralt / Ciri kills the Last Crone regardless of the ending though.
Love this channel, been following you for 2 years and hope to do it for the following years, keep growing man. Pd, will you talk about the 1.5 Cyberpunk patch? , man i love these 2 games too much
I really like the possibility that Geralt always killed the crown (and survived). It always was the one aspect that I sort of regretted to not have happened, whenever I got one of the 'good' endings.
The only available theory in my opinion is that the whole Witcher world is just a fleeting thought going through Hodor's head while he's holding the door against the undead. Also, the white frost and "wind is howling" are just him misinterpreting the famous "winter is coming". Proof? Uma is Hodor, both characters are cursed and their intelligence sealed in behind the same word they repeat again and again.
Your videos always leave me wanting to dive back in to the Witcher universe. Ciri's emotional attachment to Geralt is so strong that the Witcher ending MUST be cannon. Fantastic video as always. Hope you and the family are doing well.
Just like in the books. But remember she has no two swords... no mutagens, she is a path traveler not witcher. If she ends the eternal white frost I feels she should lose her time-space travel powers (maybe to some degree) like she did lose her magic powers when healing the unicorn.
The canon ending that is most likely for Ciri is her becoming a witcheress and then becoming empress. She would survive the White Frost because Geralt wouldn't have let her down in the past. Then she agrees with Geralt to fake her death to Emhyr, and becomes a witcheress for a while. But she can't realistically stay "the famous ashen-haired witcheress in the north" for a long time without Emhyr ending up finding the truth. So he would eventually contact her, and like Ciri explains, she understands she can't change the world solely by killing monsters, so she sacrifices her dream life for the better good, and therefore agrees to rule Nilfgaard.
I've seen the empress ending and the witcher ending, i'm a egoist, so my favourite ending is the witcher ending, but i think, the best outcome for the world is, if she becomes the empress, radovid is dead and cerys on the throne, cerys and ciri are friends, so they could team up together and conquer the weakened redania and with that, they can move into a united world with more peace
Read the books. There's no scenario where this world would be at peace or unity. Not yet. But it's a better world with Cerys and Ciri in command and they're the canon game endings tbh
"we will achieve true peace by conquering the whole world" is a very good take and should definitely happen best ending for the world is probably Dijkstra becoming the king of redania, leading to emhyrs death, and cerys ruling skellige with no war
Up until my current playthrough I've never aimed for the Empress ending. Honestly after my first playthrough I've only ever aimed for the Witcher ending, after somehow getting the worst ending on my first playthrough.
I think that you made the important distinction. all three endings are about her choice. Cirilla decides whether to come back and which father to follow. I do not believe Geralt would lie to the emperor unless Ciri requests it. Their conversation would simply be along the lines of "protect my daughter until this business is done". That's the simple solution.
Even if Geralt hunts the last Crone and Ciri still comes back for the Witcheress ending, Geralt might’ve chose not to tell Dandelion because of Dandelion being loose lipped. Since he lies to Emhyr by telling him Ciri is dead, obviously she needs to keep a low profile as far as Nilfgaard is concerned.
1. The White Frost is defeated 2. Geralt, assuming Ciri would come back a few minutes later, waits a day or two at the tower for her to return, then gives up hope and goes back to Velen 3. Geralt kills the third crone and survives. 4. Geralt goes back to Kaer Morhen but on the way stops at Vizima to tell Emhir what he believes to be true… that Ciri is dead. 5. Ciri returns and goes to the place where she knew she would find Geralt: Kaer Morhen. 6. Ciri and Geralt spend several months on the path together, where Nilgaardian spies had revealed to Emhir that Ciri was actually alive. 7. After several months on the path with Geralt and receiving secret correspondence from the Emperor, Ciri finally agrees and becomes Empress. 8. Ciri says farewell and gives Geralt her steel sword. 9. After several months or even years of being empress, Ciri snuck away and met with Geralt to secretly pursue being a witcher. 10. After completing their first contract in White Orchard, Geralt settles up with the contract giver, then goes to the old fortress to pick up Ciri’s custom Silver Sword he ordered to surprise Ciri with. 11. Ciri from then on is both the empress of the north and secretly a part time witcher on the side.
@@xLetalis Why would they NOT be? I mean I know one slept with the other's lover but we never see them vehemently sour or pissed with one another ingame.
@@thefirstrobin9909 I would expect Triss to forgive Yen easier than Yen would forgive Triss (assuming Geralt chooses one of them). On the other hand, if Geralt tries to romance both, they could end up being friends again.
The endings stand very well on their own, but I like the theory that unites them. Alternatively, if they wanted to go with Ciri as the protagonist for the next game, I could see a scenario where you get something similar to the interrogation at the beginning of Witcher 3 and after it, you get slightly different cutscenes to start the next game (different as in maybe just Ciri's outfit being different to show if she was an Empress or witcher). Of course, this means they would have to come up with a scenario where something so important happens that it brings Ciri back even if you get the "bad ending" where I choose to believe she didn't want to return.
God i am so happy that on my play throughs i never got Ciri killed and always had Witcher or Empress endings, seeing Geralt so emotionally heart-broken after dealing with the crone legit brings tears to my eyes i simply can't understand why would people get that ending like why would you do stuff that was against her wishes? why would you not go at Sjkall's grave? why would you not wreck up Avallachs place? why would you not want to make her happy when you know she is suffering from the pursuit of the Hunt and is forced to be on the run all the time... my mind cannot comprehend btw great videos as always Letalis thanks for all the effort
I went with her to Skjalls grave, wrecked Avallachs place and seemingly did everything else to get the good ending, but took the money from Emyr figuring why not? I need the money lol. Still got the bad ending.
I have a warm place in my heart for the animation of Ciri bringing a bottle of wine to Geralts Estate , it has a very satisfying closure. Thank you for all your posts , they bring a relief from a difficult time.
I didnt know about this theory (like usual), but after seeing the video, i realize that in the talk Ciri has with Geralt after the battle of kaer morhen, you can tell her, or not, about the meeting with her father. But in the case you do tell her about it, she will ask you if she should see him or not, and now you have 3 options iirc, YES, NO, AND "you should choose". If you choose the later, she will ask you again about it, but in a less definitive way. Instead of "i should or not" now she asks "YOU THINK i should go or not" to the meeting. And this makes me believe that after thus she becomes curious about what the meeting is about regardless if you choose to tell her YOU THINK she SHOULD NOT go. And this possibly opens the door to a different path where she can choose to go and have the meeting after you tell Emhyr she is dead even. Which if any of this is true, it matches the timeline of the video if im not mistaken.
Maybe its just me, but i feel like Geralt would act differently with the meeting with Emhyr if Ciri was actually dead. Geralt dosent sound like he means it
When I read the title, I was like, “Oh, so it’s pulling off the Deus Ex canon ending”, cause in that old game, there are three very different endings, while the sequel was able to establish that all of them happened, even at the same time. A cleaver way to give agency over player choices.
I think the same "time frame" theory works better if you diverge the Geralt's death as a separate timeline, the witcher and the empress is in the one timeline, if you put the witcher's time frame as same as the (either), dikstra as king, emhir's death, and emhir's victor, and the empress as 6 months - 1 year later (since the game, specifically In the mid to the end where it is spring or fall),so what happened was, she has become the witcher, but in the journey she went through, she made mistakes and receive either options : 1. (Dikstra king), emhyr summons all nilfgardian to return, in the process she becomes a witcher, the black ones discovered ciri is alive, that's why when geralt arrives at the white orchard he was surprised, because he didnt know. 2. (Emhyr's death), ciri was discovered by a spy and messaged for her to fill the void of the nilfgardians empire in mid crisis, that's why she changed her mind 3. (Emhyr's victor), ciri was discovered by the black ones and summoned by the order by her father after her experience being a witcher is not as easy as she thought because she is mere human snd always driven by emotion, so she turns her mind t av people through the "good ruler" way After all of that, 6 months to 1 year later she put down her sword, in regards to the swallow silver sword, it's a good and plausible theory that she left it with geralt prior. Regarding the choice she spoke with her father or not, i believe, she faced him regardless you take him to emhyr or not, since in the void of the timeline, she could go anywhere, so acing her father it's possible to happen. Kn the ciri and geralt dies, yes they died that simple
Maybe when you make the right choices in order to get the witcher/empress ending, the crow hunt still occurs like in the worst ending but Geralt survives and the timelines split after the Emhyr meeting as you said. And otherwise in the actual worst ending Geralt simply dies there and Ciri never returns. Geralt and Ciri are bound by destiny after all and maybe one can argue that Ciri dying somehow weakens Geralt's spirit which causes him to die there as well. If she is still alive however, despite him believing that she is dead, that doesn''t happen and he manages do kill all the beasts.
I'm with you on hoping they don't pick a canon ending choice. Whatever they do, I hope its broad enough to keep all the endings valid and maybe even transferrable - giving you different dialogue depending on whichever one you got. That said, the change of engines means save data transfers are likely not going to be possible which is a shame.
All 3 endings being united would undermine the importance of the decisions you make that determine which ending you see. It would mean it ultimately doesn't matter whether or not you take Ciri to see Emyhr, or whether or not you accept coin from Emyhr for bringing Ciri to see him, or whether or not you go with Ciri to bury Skjall, etc. I prefer the idea that choices have consequences, and you have to live with those consequences whether you like them or hate them.
I would say the choices still matter but you can still interpret one particular set of choices as leading to this combined story ending. In the end there will always be some 'canon' ending decided by CDPR if it's important for the next game, same as with W2 into W3, either the choices didn't matter or certain possibilities were just ignored. For example if W4 is a sequel about Ciri then the ending in W3 where she dies will obviously simply not exist.
I agree that the all three endings happen is wrong. I can see a scenario where maybe Geralt kills the last Crone and then finds out Ciri is alive if she hasn't met the Emperor leading to her decision to become a witcher or Geralt telling the Emperor that Ciri is dead and then Ciri showing up afterwards and deciding to become Empress after a while happening, but the three endings all happening just seems implausible. Either just one set of events happens or possibly two sets of events happen, but personally I think that the most likely is only one set of events happen. Either Ciri becomes a witcher, becomes empress, or becomes a memory depending on what decisions you made. Though since the first time I played through the whole game I've never gotten the Empress ending again as I've left the whole who do you side with at the end of the plot against Radovid to a coin flip as the coin always comes down for Dijkstra. It's weird as all the other close decisions I let a coin flip decide vary. But I've also never gotten the bad ending. I wanted so badly to bury that poor "craven" guy in the grove. Never wanted to "sell" Ciri, never seemed like the sort of thing Geralt would do. Forcing coins down some thug's throat seemed likely for suggesting that Ciri was "property" to be sold than selling Ciri. Exploring the elven "lab" also seemed like something Geralt would do as well as smashing the crap out of it when Ciri was outraged by what she found. Only ever got one decision wrong and that was because after Witcher 2 I didn't trust Philippa with Ciri the first playthrough as I had a healthy distrust for Philippa from the second game.
Between Ciri entering the tower and the 'witcher' ending Geralt has to i) contact the sword-maker to order Ciri's sword, ii) wait for it to be made/customised (seems unlikely a sword-maker would have many silver swords 'just waiting' for a witcher), iii) travel back from Skellige to white orchard (where the epilogue picks-up). 'Several months' for the 'empress' ending also seems unreasonably short, given that Ciri has gone South, been recognised, taken-up her duties as empress, sorted out any immediate issues and arguments then found time to travel back. The timeframe seems whack for any except 'death'.
I kinda hope that the new game would be playing as cohen during the books telling different story meeting the book characters and it would wrap up potentially with his death ing battle of brena or however you spell it. Would give decent setting allow use of characters already existing and could allow some more exploration.
It’s nice to see people form up excuses of why the empress ending is the good ending just because they got the bad ending by accident. Makes it more satisfying getting the Witcher ending on my first run without knowledge of the other endings 😌 “The empress ending is best beCause” ah I don’t know want to hear it
a witcher 3 written novel with all the endings as portrayed in the theory would be epic and satisfy everyone lol. though it will have to canonise some choices throughout the story as you said.
I mean isn’t there a multiverse in the witcherverse? So one could argue if that’s the case then all endings happening would make sense, every choice and action and ending is just one of a number of infinite possibilities
Hi, xLetalis! Love all your videos so much about this masterpiece! The first time I finished the game and eventually Ciri became Empress. The second time Ciri became a witch (my favorite ending story)! I have played the game a few more times and .... each time in the beginning I think to reach one of the other finals of the story, but ..... after a few hours of play, my heart does not allow me to make the wrong decisions to is a different ending and every time I finish the story of how Ciri becomes a witch! I love this game so much !!!Keep it good work!!! 👍👍👍
I never understood how the voice explaining the current situation's/endings was dandelions Because it sounded so different But him just being older makes sense
In all honesty no matter how heartbreaking it may be, I'd say that Ciri becoming the empress may in fact be the most realistic one out of the endings related to her. The witcheress ending is simply... Ah, too good to be true. The one with her dying is true enough, very witcher-like, but I feel as if the empress one may fit in the best in general Now, when it comes to the theory, while it is a fun one, it's clearly over the top, and it ignores very glaring contradictions Although - the most interesting part to me is the bad ending -> other two endings The general simplicity of it and the fact that it very much remains unexplained may perhaps mean that that fight with the crone was planned as an additional last boss before Ciri becomes a witcher or the empress, and they may have changed it later tbh Too lazy to check whether I made any mistakes while writing, let's hope not
I remember getting into discussions on which ending would be the most lore accurate when I first finished the game. And I still think that while the queen one is very powerful, the witcher one would be the most likely. I don't know if you have read the books, but I recall Ciri wanting nothing to do with her father or ruling. And while you might say she has grown from that mindset, I think the whole point of reuniting with Geralt and all her struggles so far would be lessened in retrospect.
I agree that the Witcher Ending, especially with Yennefer romance sounds a bit too good to be true/wishful thinking. You could say the Empress one contradicts the books a bit but oh well :) And my personal favorite is the worst one.
its 2022 and oh shit here we go again! an other video for W3! just show me a single game from beginning till now that has sooooooo much detail in history of the video games! just imagine whats going to happen in W4!!!!!!!!cant wait!!!
i have a confusion that if you chose a bad ending in the main game, you couldn't continue to play the free roam after the cutscene , so that might be evidence that Geralt is dead but in blood and wine expansion, if you loaded the save from bad ending to play it , you would meet Dandelion at Geralt's mansion in last main quest of the DLC instead of Triss ,Yen or Ciri depend on your choose . we all know the event in Blood and wine DLC occurs in the year 1273 , obviously after the event of the main game . Thus i think Geralt can't be dead even you chose the bad ending
I doubt it would actually take that long but I do think it's unlikely that 2 weeks after Ciri entered the tower the sword is already complete and delivered, given that it was not even ordered before that
I ended up thinking about it from a rl perspective. It would be kinda sad and a waste if Ciri ended up spending all her life as a witcher. Sure, fun in her twenties or whatever, but what about her 30's, 40's, 50's?? She could do so much more as an Empress and still be a witcher at heart. I just got sad envisioning her in some dark cave or on a lonely, rainy road, in a never ending loop from town to town, years later :)
There are only three sure things in the world of the Witcher: winds howling; looks like rain and xLetalis selling Ciri. Therefore, the canon is Ciri as a Witcher - only then can we perhaps hear her pronounce the above sentences in The Witcher 4 and we'll see how he sells Geralt ;-)
I was so happy the first time I played this game I got the Witcher ending for ciri. I’ve played the game 3 times and every time I get that ending now on purpose. It’s hard for me to try to switch it up.
What makes this theory very powerful is the time periods in which each scene occurs. I seem to lean to the possibility that they purposefully added these time periods in order to leave the game with ambiguity, thus creating more opportunities for interesting plots in future games.
What if Ciri became a Witcher then some time later emhyr died because the north won, which caused a secession war making Ciri return to nilfgard to stop the war taking her place as empress
I just found out if you give the swallow potion to herbalist at white orchard at start of the game, there is a reference to it at nilfgardian outpost south of velen.
Never thought about them being at the same. Super cool. I always enjoyed her being a witcher. I could tell that made her the happiest. I never had the heart to let her just die. Super cool video and theory! Love your content!
Plot Twist: in the "bad" ending - Ciri doesn't die, but simply decides to return to another world, or just to another place in this world - after dealing with the White Frost. Perhaps to a place and to people where she feels more appreciated, than to a Geralt who was unsupportive or disrespectful to her too many times.
I don't think there is any way for Geralt to not know Ciri was alive and just go after the last Crone. He was in Skellige after all whereas Weavess is in Velen. Just think how long it would take him to get there and I can't imagine Ciri not "popping up" to greet him with the good news along the way. Also why would he travel to Velen if he wasn't certain Ciri died? Like how would he know whether she was dead or MIA unless he had some sort of trace to examine (corpse, remains etc)? The Ciri empress ending has always bothered me a bit from the books' perspective. Like how the game made Ciri and Emhyr's relationship, it's a big departure from the books and kinda makes little sense especially given that she just knows he is her father even though in the books she never found out but I guess explaining would've taken a long amount of time and resources.
I agree that this theory would diminish from the value of each ending, narratively speaking. The whole series of games is abour choices and consequences. Thinking that there is only one ending that gathers all of the outcomes completely erases the idea of choice and consequence. One thing the game teaches time and again is that sometimes things end badly and that is that. And a bad ending doesn't make it a bad story.
Idea: BAW official ending is the one in which Dettlaff is not killed by us. CDPR has created a video footage which takes place after BAW. During that Orianna is killed by Geralt due to a Witcher contract. We can assume that people somehow got intel about Orianna's orphanage. During gameplay, if Geralt realizes what Orianna is doing, he shares the info with Regis, who seems to be unpleasantly surprised. As far as we know, noone else got intel about the orphanage's secrets. Geralt wouldn't file a Witcher contract but Regis might do it. It would be safer for him to handle things this way if he wants to put an end to this, since if he does it personally, he would be hunted down by his fellow specimen. Asking Geralt personally might be risky, filing a contract is a tricky workaround. However, Regis can only do this if he still resides in Toussaint. It only happens if he is not expelled, if Dettlaff was not killed. If this is true, Sylvanna is 'officially' dead.
I think you're right. Although, I couldn't help but notice that in the 10th anniversary clip you show Ciri is not wearing a sword. To me that could mean cdpr have chosen the Empress ending to be canon, no?
Despite the fact that it doesnt really make sense when you think about it, if they actually wanted to choose a canon ending for the witcher 4, that would be a pretty smart retcon.
How ever as you mentioned the endings I dont think the next witcher will have either Geralt or Ciri as a main character. If its about Lambert they might mention Geralt's fate (according to the witcher 3 saves or simulating the ending of w3 as we did in w2).
I think it can work in both directions - 1) Ciri becomes a witcher then she becomes an empress and 2) she becomes an empress, gets disappointed and becomes a witcher. Actually I prefer the second one, as I really don't thin Ciri would be happy as an empress. I mean she can travel the worlds, why she wants to be bound to any particular place. Of course, the details you enlisted make sense, but if you want to, you can always think of something in between (i.e. she becomes a witcher, travels the world, see how badly her travel rules and she kills him and takes his place.) I think a good writer can always patch it up and even use it as a source for the new game - "Ciri between 2 worlds" (being an empress and saving the world from some interdimensional menace). In fact, it will probably work very well with the Marvel-generation that loves that kind of stories. Or it could be made dark enough for older fans to like it. Of course, nothing can be reconciled with "they all die ending" but I don't think we should count this ending. Unless Geralt's soul gets trapped somewhere as a punishment and we see his adventures to escape that prison (and save the world). Which also could be made fun .
All three could be "true" relative to a "Witcher 4" backstory. I expect something like the interview near the beginning of Witcher 3 to clear up the specifics of Witcher 4, but I fully expect many people to assume Ciri dead, while others want her to be Empress so whoever marries her has a claim to the Throne of Nilfgaard, all while Ciri is secretly alive and well, walking the path of a Witcher. The only variation necessary is her relationship to Geralt.
Absolutely loved the Witcher 3, but I only beat it one time and got the bad ending. I'm pretty sure it's because I took the money from the Emperor after finding Ciri; and I knew it was the wrong choice but I really needed the money for grandmaster armor.
Damn. I LOVE this theory. This makes the ending of The Witcher 3 so much more interesting and gives it more depth. I’ve played the game many times and gotten each of these endings. After this, they are all the ending for me. Excellent video. Thank you.
If we take the canon of the games and the canon of the books as one... the only issue with this theory is the empress ending, since Nimue states in "Lady of the Lake" that Ciri didn't go to Nilfgaard. But she crosses paths with Geralt (maybe) in "Season of Storms", so either way, he's alive Thanks for the great video! Stay safe, be good !
There's no reason for CDPR to make 1 ending canon. That's all an assumption that new games will happen after Witcher 3 in the very same region. The new games could be set before by hundreds of years and in a completely different part of the world. But lets say the new games happen in the same region after. They could do that and not mention a Witcher 3 ending. Treat the northern kingdoms the same as Toussaint, no real Nilfgaard presence except maybe an embassy and just have nothing to do with the leadership of the nations or talk about them. That leaves the 3 endings open and possible, the Northern kingdoms could be ruled by a king under an emperor or just by the king. Not mentioning who the emperor is leaves that open.
my insomnia lead me to early watch of a new Witcher content!! It would be so awesome if ' the ending' could be a separate dlc!! There is also last unanswered question.. " do UNIVERSALS EXIST as distinct entities or only as mental constructs" !!!
I just can't do any other ending except the Witcher-ess ending. Props to CDPR for making me care so much for Ciri even though this was the only Witcher game she is in.
Triss didn't "cheat" on Geralt in 1-st game, because they two weren't really in any kind of relationship in the 1-st game. It was a one-night stand in the beginning of the 1-st game, if anything. It is true, that "Witcher-Ciri" can just later teleport to Emhyr - literally any second she decides to do so, turn herself in, explain Emhyr how she told Geralt to tell him she's dead 'cause she didn't feel like jumping into all the Empress stuff right after finally getting the Wild Hunt off her tail (after years of living on the edge!) - So she wanted to take some time off and just enjoy her powers doing a simple job (being a witcher with Ciri's late-game powers is a breeze). But, she's enjoyed her time off and is ready for duty now :-)
Pretty interesting stuff. My own internal logic for replaying the game, especially with new game +, was that Ciri did some crazy time magics to give Geralt another chance xD
I finished the game for the first time in December and I got the Ciri becomes a Witcher ending, I personally like it the best, her and Geralt just going around and kicking monster ass together is a fun thought. I'm still finishing up Blood & Wine though, not sure how far I am in it though, I just recently finished the quest where you investigate the toy shop with Regis.
I think there’s a good chance these ending options will impact the next game if it’s set after Witcher 3. You get a good deal of plot flexibility through your choices during Geralt’s interrogation by Voorhis in Vizima. There are a number of choices from Witcher 2 (helping Aryan or not, siding with Iorveth or Roche, saving Sile or not, and letting Letho live or not) impact subsequent dialogue at the least and in some cases, spawn or affect Witcher 3 quests. I hope CDPR goes back to that well if the Witcher 4 occurs later-it really adds to the value of choice in the game.
Glad you've finally made this video, heard this theory a couple years ago form a Polish youtuber RaptorPL and I was quite interested what you would on this topic. In my opinion this theory is bit far-fetched, nevertheless it gives CDPR a possibility to create a sequel to the Witcher 3 whereas every ending would be canonical. As we all know, each piece of information in CDPR's hand is a big tool to create something bigger.
You're right about endings. I have a question, why Geralt didn't order sword for Ciri from Hattori? Why we were introduced with a new master at the end of the game?
On my first playthrough I had the very sad ending where Ciri didn't come back. It was a very emotional ending that was really well done. I felt so empty and upset that I immediately replayed the game to get the Witcher ending. Only then was I able to move on to Heart of Stone and Blood and Wine. And of course in Blood and Wine both Syanna and the Duchess died.
Triss cheating on Geralt with Lambert did happen. As a matter of fact Lambert is so open about it the only thing he doesn't do is say "Hey Geralt, I was doin' Triss right before you walked in on us."
I personally decided Ciri survived and wasn't the empress, because the Witcher's anniversary celebration cutscene, the one taking place in Toussaint with everyone having a good time, is the true, canon ending. The one that makes me all tingly and happy.
Tingly and happy is probably not very fitting for this world :D
Canon ? I don't think so 😂
Well as there are different planes of existence /universe in the witcher, anything is possible :)
No, it’s just a cutscene to celebrate the Witcher. It’s highly doubtful that some of those characters would willingly be in the same room.
@@Tybonhomme the only possible canons are ciri dead or witcheress
Geralt beating on Voorhis after he talks about marrying Ciri had me laughing so hard I had to rewatch the end of the video to actually hear what you were saying
in Witcher 4 we play the child of Ciri and Morvran
Eugh, the thought of that guy being near Ciri gives me the creeps.
that would make an interesting one tbh. I can imagine some sort of a traumatic background that could make for pretty good "cliche"(?) character development? Idk, maybe I've watched too much anime since my last playthrough.
I reported this comment for 'promotes terrorism'
Or we play morvan who searches his lost child
Interesting 🧐 a child of ciri another elder blood with new powers sounds so new to the story
yeah the "bad ending" always happening and then it divulges based on choices is really the only thing that holds any water. However, if that was the case I just find it odd that CDPR wouldn't have given us the chance to hunt down the final Crone regardless. I believe they are meant to stand alone by themselves... but I could see a world where Geralt kills the Crone, survives and then Ciri shows back up.
I always found it weird that people claimed that Ciri died in "bad" ending despite them knowing that it's not the case. What changes is what world Ciri returns to as a priority. In that ending she returns to modern day or to Galahad first ie takes longer.
I just finished my 2nd play through of the game. I got the “bad” ending but I agree with you. I want to believe he survives and she returns. Who know?! That could be the “real ending”
I'd just like to point out that Witcher 3's events take place in 1273, while B&W is in 1275.
Yeah, "several months" may be used to describe 24 months later or something like that. So Geralt could have gone hunting for the last Crone after retiring visiting beauclair. But I prefer to think that they'd use "years later" instead of "several months later" if that was the case.
So, Geralt survives the Crone encounter.
Ciri doesn't succeed in the bad ending because she lacked all confidence that she could stop the White Frost. This is why as Geralt certain decisions you made in the final stretches of the game were what shaped the ending. If you coddled and held Ciri's hand the whole time, or made her feel worthless, then when she confronts the task ahead of her she chokes because of all the people in the world who just looked at her like some tool to be used or sheltered, Geralt being the one to give her the freedom was the confidence boost she desperately needed.
This is also why I find the Witcheress ending to be the best of the three because I believe being a Witcher was HER choice where as Empress was more of an obligation, not exactly the life she truly wanted.
@@CalumWilliamson1 Well, you can see the "bad" ending as Ciri survives but decides to return to a different place in this world, instead of to Geralt who has disrespected and/or outright pissed her off too many times. She's a teenager with superpowers, she can go literally anywhere she wants, and the game shows us how many friends she's made without Geralt being involved! In fact she has no reason to return to daddy, if daddy's a jerk.
I got the “bad” ending on my first play through because I was too protective of Ciri. It made me feel horrible but it also made me want to immediately begin a second play through so I could get a happier ending. I think that’s a sign of how well written each of the ending really are.
i got witcher ending because i was father to her
@@astolfo2305 thats not the bad ending bro, in the bad ending ciri dies
@@avignyansarangi722 I don’t think he was saying it was the bad ending
Finished the game a short time ago, I got the ending with Ciri becoming empress ...... Needless to say, when Ciri and Geralt said goodbye for the last time I cried like never before. For me this is the best ending, although it is melancholy it is what I think is the most correct from a Lore point of view.
Here is how I see it. The empress ending is best for the world of the Witcher, but not the "Lore point of view", in lore, that is exactly the thing Ciri ran all her life away from. Yes, with her in charge who knows how MUCH better everything will get, but it isn't what she wanted before.
Have you read invincible? Therec the main character (That is 20+ something) has the choice to live back through his teens (17 on) and fix everything (a weird spaghetti creature told him that is the only way to save the universe and if not it will be doomed), the twist is that he will forever lose his child (since she will never be born), and he decides *not* to, he made the selfish choice and whether that was good or bad is left to the reader. Here we have an identical situation, and imho, Ciri deserves the selfish choice, perhaps not the *right* one, but the true one.
Yup, happy/ideal endings don't really exist
@@its_dey_mate I agree with you bro, I have not read the books and therefore I do not know the differences between books and games, but in my opinion the choice of ciri to accept her role as empress would correspond to an act of maturation and growth of the character she accepts his duties and wisely guides the continent, as you say in the context of the game world this seems the best ending but in the plot and characterization of the characters in the books no, in fact I used the wrong term I did not mean "lore" of the universe of the witcher as I'm not an expert on it but rather than in the context of the game's plot this feels like the best ending.
@@its_dey_mate Agreed. Throughout the books everybody constantly has plans for her, wants her to be in some sort of marriage or arrangement, in the lodge, dead, a mother to the true elder blood heir or whatever. She never gets to decide to be what she truly wants to be... and throughout the books that way always... a witcher.
I'm currently playing the dlc. Finished the main quest and I took the witcher ending. Although I regret not letting her see her biological father at least. Probably gonna do it once I start NG+. This game is so easy to get lost in and takes hundreds of hours to play. Love every bit of it. Also I enjoy your videos!!
Edit: Wow I'm in the top hundred likes. Thanks!
I envy you your first playthrough man. I wish I could go back and delete my memories of the game to experience it all again fresh, it’s absolutely amazing. You’ll want to do so many playthroughs to make sure you have seen and done everything, you’ll want to start hearts of stone at different points (the ideal point is before the ending of the main game, at a specific point in the story). Blood and Wine is so amazingly good too.
@@nerdoutreachprogram5358 no matter how many playthrough we do. Depending on where we are. We'll always miss some or fail some quest 😭
Let's just say the last time she saw him things were... awkward :P
@@nerdoutreachprogram5358 at what point of the game exactly you recommend me to start the HoS dlc?
How intriguing. You've given us a lot to think about! Also, I nominate Letalis for the next round of the "So You Think You Know The Witcher?" game.
glad to hear
As this idea correlates with the idea that Ciri will be the new protagonist, I think it's more likely that she if at all will only appear as a small character like Letho with the possibility to load a safe. But mostly I agree that each ending is just that, an ending
yeah, I think I would like a Letho-like appearance
Not sure how worthy of consideration this is, but I've looked through the game files while playing around with modding and each ending has a named folder with files inside.
The ending where Ciri never comes out of the tower is named "ciri dead"
The Empress ending is named "ciri empress"
And the Witcher Ciri ending is named "ciri free"
(No spaces in actual folder names, but I included them here so they're easier to read)
A few things to keep in mind here:
1) Remember that if Ciri meets with Emhyr, and Emhyr ends up dying, she still becomes a witcher, and Geralt also tells Emhyr that she was dead on that case, what means that the whole Empress thing happening much later. On that case it happens in exactly the same way as if she never meet him. So the reunion was certanly the kicker, but not the deciding factor.
2) Geralt had no idea that Ciri choose to be a Empress on that ending, Geralt was still training her to be a witcher, so she should have the silver sword regardless, there could be other reason why she dosent have it at that point.
3) The "bad ending" is also missing Geralt relationship slide for no reason, what strongely implies that he died. YET, when you play B&W after that ending a contradiction issues. So what i think it really happened here is that everyone abandoned Geralt except for Dandelion. What would make no sense if all the endings are the same.
4) The time it takes to do each ending may be a hint, the bad ending is the shortess ending, the witcher ending follows in lengh of time and the Empress ending is by far the longest one.
There are a lot of contradictions to consider that all 3 endings happens at the same time regardless the case. YET, what may be possible is that the Empress ending is the complete and ultimate ending, with the Bad and the Witcher ending being a "fork in the path" at different points.
How i see this?
Bad Ending: Ciri dosent returns, everyone abandoned Geralt, Geralt kills the last Crone alone and he does not cares about Emhyr.
Witcher Ending: Ciri returns, Ciri and Geralt kills the last Crone, Geralt tells Emhyr that Ciri died, Emhyr is either dead, unable to contact her, or maybe he dosent want to contact her anymore, Geralt gets the sword for Ciri, Ciri starts training to become a witcher.
Empress Ending: Ciri returns, Ciri and Geralt kills the last Crone, Geralt tells Emhyr that Ciri died, Geralt dosent gets the sword for Ciri, Ciri starts training to become a witcher, Emhyr manages to contact Ciri at some point, what i think here, is that Emhyr manages to contact Ciri due to Master Ort, maybe he intercepted him, or he was a Emhyr spy, and this is why she never gets the sword on this ending, Ciri becomes an Empress.
As for #3, someone correctly stated above that after the worst ending, you end up in Kaer Morhen with a note saying that gameplay after that ending occurred before the ending did. Geralt dies in the bad ending. Not really debatable.
@shivanSpS When I noticed the time line differences (1 week vs 2 weeks vs several months). I immediately thought of a similar idea to what you're outlining here. So, great minds and all that?
This is great food for thought. One thing I'd like to add about the Ciri becomes a Witcher ending: Even when I saw the ending for the first time and Geralt telling Emhyr that Ciri had died to the white frost, it always seemed to me like Emhyr didn't believe for a second that Ciri was actually dead. The way he asked about the body being found and if anyone else knew and his general coldness, it seemed to me that Emhyr knew Ciri was alive and in Geralt's care. But Emhyr knew he'd have absolutely no way to convincing Geralt to bring Ciri to him so he just played along and let Geralt think he'd convinced Emhyr that Ciri was gone for good. And Emhyr could rest easy knowing that Ciri was safe in Geralt's company.
What does that mean for the overall ending timeline? No idea. This was just a rambling thought I felt like sharing!
I wouldn't be surprised if, with Ciri's abilities, all endings are canon and in fact the medallion in the Teaser image could be Vesemir medallion as it fell from slaying the Crone. Remember that Dandellion is a storyteller, switching details to keep the crowds coming back are to hear a new story about the White Wolf.
Edit: great theory for the future of the franchise.
Off topic but I do hope you get the recognition you deserve from CDPR and the Witcher team. This channel has done a lot to keep us all talking and playing one of the best game series made. Not just the details that made the game but the way you’ve gone through them with a fine comb linking dialogue, actions and emotions across the Witcher universe.
I look forward not just to playing the next game but the many hours of content as we all sit with you to discover more.
:) Thank you
I got the "bad ending", and then replayed that. However, now I think that that ending is the most dramatic and realistic. You can't fight monsters and realms and be invincible. You can loose your dearest ones.
These endings are impactful and emotional. I replayed the entire game because I felt so angry and sad that I got the one where Ciri supposedly died fighting the White Frost.
My ending was she took the portal, got lost and came back eventually. Thats my only ending, it was a roller coaster of emotions. Assuming she died then she shows up and then she became a witcher and now she hangs out at corvo bianco.
I haven't played the witcher in a couple years. So my memory isn't fresh anymore.
If I'm not mistaken, in the worst ending, after killing the last crone, we get teleported to Kaer Morhen and there's a note saying that our gameplay afterwards are events happening before we confront the last crone. Implying that Geralt died, therefore cancelling the connection between the worst and the witcher Ciri ending. I think you've talked about Geralt's fate, whether he died or not in that ending, but I couldn't remember what you said, lol.
I think the connection between Witcher Ciri and Empress Ciri could probably connect, but not with the worst ending.
I want to believe that Geralt / Ciri kills the Last Crone regardless of the ending though.
Personally I also choose to believe that Geralt dies in the worst ending
Love this channel, been following you for 2 years and hope to do it for the following years, keep growing man.
Pd, will you talk about the 1.5 Cyberpunk patch? , man i love these 2 games too much
I haven't yet tried it actually. I'm waiting for some new story-related content to get back to it
@@xLetalis good, take care now, wind's howling
I really like the possibility that Geralt always killed the crown (and survived). It always was the one aspect that I sort of regretted to not have happened, whenever I got one of the 'good' endings.
Never even knew about this theory before, but I admit it was interesting to see your possible interpretation of it.
Thanks for another Witcher video!
The only available theory in my opinion is that the whole Witcher world is just a fleeting thought going through Hodor's head while he's holding the door against the undead.
Also, the white frost and "wind is howling" are just him misinterpreting the famous "winter is coming".
Proof? Uma is Hodor, both characters are cursed and their intelligence sealed in behind the same word they repeat again and again.
Your videos always leave me wanting to dive back in to the Witcher universe. Ciri's emotional attachment to Geralt is so strong that the Witcher ending MUST be cannon. Fantastic video as always. Hope you and the family are doing well.
Just like in the books. But remember she has no two swords... no mutagens, she is a path traveler not witcher. If she ends the eternal white frost I feels she should lose her time-space travel powers (maybe to some degree) like she did lose her magic powers when healing the unicorn.
The canon ending that is most likely for Ciri is her becoming a witcheress and then becoming empress.
She would survive the White Frost because Geralt wouldn't have let her down in the past. Then she agrees with Geralt to fake her death to Emhyr, and becomes a witcheress for a while.
But she can't realistically stay "the famous ashen-haired witcheress in the north" for a long time without Emhyr ending up finding the truth. So he would eventually contact her, and like Ciri explains, she understands she can't change the world solely by killing monsters, so she sacrifices her dream life for the better good, and therefore agrees to rule Nilfgaard.
Yeah, I'd be entirely happy if they went with this being the canon ending.
I've seen the empress ending and the witcher ending, i'm a egoist, so my favourite ending is the witcher ending, but i think, the best outcome for the world is, if she becomes the empress, radovid is dead and cerys on the throne, cerys and ciri are friends, so they could team up together and conquer the weakened redania and with that, they can move into a united world with more peace
The feminists love you lol
Read the books. There's no scenario where this world would be at peace or unity. Not yet. But it's a better world with Cerys and Ciri in command and they're the canon game endings tbh
"we will achieve true peace by conquering the whole world" is a very good take and should definitely happen
best ending for the world is probably Dijkstra becoming the king of redania, leading to emhyrs death, and cerys ruling skellige with no war
@@Trathien- emhyr is based and way better than the northern kings. Dijkstra is a monster lol what?
@@SephTunes emhyr is a conquering dictator and Dijkstra is actually a good king to Redania who isnt racist like every other King there
Up until my current playthrough I've never aimed for the Empress ending. Honestly after my first playthrough I've only ever aimed for the Witcher ending, after somehow getting the worst ending on my first playthrough.
Love to hear your voice, like an old friend that hasn’t visited in a while :)
Nice to see a theory video
I hope so :)
On behalf of everyone watching, thank you for this 13:17
my pleasure
I think that you made the important distinction. all three endings are about her choice. Cirilla decides whether to come back and which father to follow. I do not believe Geralt would lie to the emperor unless Ciri requests it. Their conversation would simply be along the lines of "protect my daughter until this business is done". That's the simple solution.
It's just Ciri doing her funny OP Elder Blood magic to go between universes and we play as 3 different Geralts for each ending.
Even if Geralt hunts the last Crone and Ciri still comes back for the Witcheress ending, Geralt might’ve chose not to tell Dandelion because of Dandelion being loose lipped. Since he lies to Emhyr by telling him Ciri is dead, obviously she needs to keep a low profile as far as Nilfgaard is concerned.
1. The White Frost is defeated
2. Geralt, assuming Ciri would come back a few minutes later, waits a day or two at the tower for her to return, then gives up hope and goes back to Velen
3. Geralt kills the third crone and survives.
4. Geralt goes back to Kaer Morhen but on the way stops at Vizima to tell Emhir what he believes to be true… that Ciri is dead.
5. Ciri returns and goes to the place where she knew she would find Geralt: Kaer Morhen.
6. Ciri and Geralt spend several months on the path together, where Nilgaardian spies had revealed to Emhir that Ciri was actually alive.
7. After several months on the path with Geralt and receiving secret correspondence from the Emperor, Ciri finally agrees and becomes Empress.
8. Ciri says farewell and gives Geralt her steel sword.
9. After several months or even years of being empress, Ciri snuck away and met with Geralt to secretly pursue being a witcher.
10. After completing their first contract in White Orchard, Geralt settles up with the contract giver, then goes to the old fortress to pick up Ciri’s custom Silver Sword he ordered to surprise Ciri with.
11. Ciri from then on is both the empress of the north and secretly a part time witcher on the side.
Do you think we can determine the true game ending based on the characters present at the 10th Anniversary gathering video?
No, Triss and Yennefer are friends there, therefor it's not canon.
@@xLetalis aren’t they friends at the end of the game, regardless? Did I miss something?
@@xLetalis Why would they NOT be? I mean I know one slept with the other's lover but we never see them vehemently sour or pissed with one another ingame.
@@thefirstrobin9909 I would expect Triss to forgive Yen easier than Yen would forgive Triss (assuming Geralt chooses one of them). On the other hand, if Geralt tries to romance both, they could end up being friends again.
@@dramaticwords had that be the case Geralt wouldn't have mentioned Yennefer using a room in the house
The endings stand very well on their own, but I like the theory that unites them. Alternatively, if they wanted to go with Ciri as the protagonist for the next game, I could see a scenario where you get something similar to the interrogation at the beginning of Witcher 3 and after it, you get slightly different cutscenes to start the next game (different as in maybe just Ciri's outfit being different to show if she was an Empress or witcher). Of course, this means they would have to come up with a scenario where something so important happens that it brings Ciri back even if you get the "bad ending" where I choose to believe she didn't want to return.
God i am so happy that on my play throughs i never got Ciri killed and always had Witcher or Empress endings, seeing Geralt so emotionally heart-broken after dealing with the crone legit brings tears to my eyes i simply can't understand why would people get that ending like why would you do stuff that was against her wishes? why would you not go at Sjkall's grave? why would you not wreck up Avallachs place? why would you not want to make her happy when you know she is suffering from the pursuit of the Hunt and is forced to be on the run all the time... my mind cannot comprehend btw great videos as always Letalis thanks for all the effort
I went with her to Skjalls grave, wrecked Avallachs place and seemingly did everything else to get the good ending, but took the money from Emyr figuring why not? I need the money lol. Still got the bad ending.
I have a warm place in my heart for the animation of Ciri bringing a bottle of wine to Geralts Estate , it has a very satisfying closure. Thank you for all your posts , they bring a relief from a difficult time.
I didnt know about this theory (like usual), but after seeing the video, i realize that in the talk Ciri has with Geralt after the battle of kaer morhen, you can tell her, or not, about the meeting with her father. But in the case you do tell her about it, she will ask you if she should see him or not, and now you have 3 options iirc, YES, NO, AND "you should choose". If you choose the later, she will ask you again about it, but in a less definitive way. Instead of "i should or not" now she asks "YOU THINK i should go or not" to the meeting. And this makes me believe that after thus she becomes curious about what the meeting is about regardless if you choose to tell her YOU THINK she SHOULD NOT go. And this possibly opens the door to a different path where she can choose to go and have the meeting after you tell Emhyr she is dead even. Which if any of this is true, it matches the timeline of the video if im not mistaken.
Maybe its just me, but i feel like Geralt would act differently with the meeting with Emhyr if Ciri was actually dead. Geralt dosent sound like he means it
When I read the title, I was like, “Oh, so it’s pulling off the Deus Ex canon ending”, cause in that old game, there are three very different endings, while the sequel was able to establish that all of them happened, even at the same time. A cleaver way to give agency over player choices.
I think the same "time frame" theory works better if you diverge the Geralt's death as a separate timeline, the witcher and the empress is in the one timeline, if you put the witcher's time frame as same as the (either), dikstra as king, emhir's death, and emhir's victor, and the empress as 6 months - 1 year later (since the game, specifically In the mid to the end where it is spring or fall),so what happened was, she has become the witcher, but in the journey she went through, she made mistakes and receive either options :
1. (Dikstra king), emhyr summons all nilfgardian to return, in the process she becomes a witcher, the black ones discovered ciri is alive, that's why when geralt arrives at the white orchard he was surprised, because he didnt know.
2. (Emhyr's death), ciri was discovered by a spy and messaged for her to fill the void of the nilfgardians empire in mid crisis, that's why she changed her mind
3. (Emhyr's victor), ciri was discovered by the black ones and summoned by the order by her father after her experience being a witcher is not as easy as she thought because she is mere human snd always driven by emotion, so she turns her mind t av people through the "good ruler" way
After all of that, 6 months to 1 year later she put down her sword, in regards to the swallow silver sword, it's a good and plausible theory that she left it with geralt prior.
Regarding the choice she spoke with her father or not, i believe, she faced him regardless you take him to emhyr or not, since in the void of the timeline, she could go anywhere, so acing her father it's possible to happen.
Kn the ciri and geralt dies, yes they died that simple
Maybe when you make the right choices in order to get the witcher/empress ending, the crow hunt still occurs like in the worst ending but Geralt survives and the timelines split after the Emhyr meeting as you said. And otherwise in the actual worst ending Geralt simply dies there and Ciri never returns. Geralt and Ciri are bound by destiny after all and maybe one can argue that Ciri dying somehow weakens Geralt's spirit which causes him to die there as well. If she is still alive however, despite him believing that she is dead, that doesn''t happen and he manages do kill all the beasts.
I'm with you on hoping they don't pick a canon ending choice. Whatever they do, I hope its broad enough to keep all the endings valid and maybe even transferrable - giving you different dialogue depending on whichever one you got.
That said, the change of engines means save data transfers are likely not going to be possible which is a shame.
A change of engines wouldn't make it be impossible. They'd simply have to make some code to read the old saves which wouldn't be difficult.
All 3 endings being united would undermine the importance of the decisions you make that determine which ending you see. It would mean it ultimately doesn't matter whether or not you take Ciri to see Emyhr, or whether or not you accept coin from Emyhr for bringing Ciri to see him, or whether or not you go with Ciri to bury Skjall, etc. I prefer the idea that choices have consequences, and you have to live with those consequences whether you like them or hate them.
I would say the choices still matter but you can still interpret one particular set of choices as leading to this combined story ending.
In the end there will always be some 'canon' ending decided by CDPR if it's important for the next game, same as with W2 into W3, either the choices didn't matter or certain possibilities were just ignored. For example if W4 is a sequel about Ciri then the ending in W3 where she dies will obviously simply not exist.
I agree that the all three endings happen is wrong. I can see a scenario where maybe Geralt kills the last Crone and then finds out Ciri is alive if she hasn't met the Emperor leading to her decision to become a witcher or Geralt telling the Emperor that Ciri is dead and then Ciri showing up afterwards and deciding to become Empress after a while happening, but the three endings all happening just seems implausible. Either just one set of events happens or possibly two sets of events happen, but personally I think that the most likely is only one set of events happen.
Either Ciri becomes a witcher, becomes empress, or becomes a memory depending on what decisions you made.
Though since the first time I played through the whole game I've never gotten the Empress ending again as I've left the whole who do you side with at the end of the plot against Radovid to a coin flip as the coin always comes down for Dijkstra. It's weird as all the other close decisions I let a coin flip decide vary. But I've also never gotten the bad ending. I wanted so badly to bury that poor "craven" guy in the grove. Never wanted to "sell" Ciri, never seemed like the sort of thing Geralt would do. Forcing coins down some thug's throat seemed likely for suggesting that Ciri was "property" to be sold than selling Ciri. Exploring the elven "lab" also seemed like something Geralt would do as well as smashing the crap out of it when Ciri was outraged by what she found. Only ever got one decision wrong and that was because after Witcher 2 I didn't trust Philippa with Ciri the first playthrough as I had a healthy distrust for Philippa from the second game.
Between Ciri entering the tower and the 'witcher' ending Geralt has to i) contact the sword-maker to order Ciri's sword, ii) wait for it to be made/customised (seems unlikely a sword-maker would have many silver swords 'just waiting' for a witcher), iii) travel back from Skellige to white orchard (where the epilogue picks-up). 'Several months' for the 'empress' ending also seems unreasonably short, given that Ciri has gone South, been recognised, taken-up her duties as empress, sorted out any immediate issues and arguments then found time to travel back. The timeframe seems whack for any except 'death'.
Oh yeah the silver sword is apparently one of a kind, seems unlikely that it was ordered, made and delivered 2 weeks after Ciri entered the tower
I kinda hope that the new game would be playing as cohen during the books telling different story meeting the book characters and it would wrap up potentially with his death ing battle of brena or however you spell it. Would give decent setting allow use of characters already existing and could allow some more exploration.
oh that's an idea you don't hear every day!
Yeah just was thinking reread the books and would explain why he went from the impartial Witcher to fighting for the north in the last major battle
It’s nice to see people form up excuses of why the empress ending is the good ending just because they got the bad ending by accident. Makes it more satisfying getting the Witcher ending on my first run without knowledge of the other endings 😌
“The empress ending is best beCause” ah I don’t know want to hear it
Empress Ciri is an atrocious character arc considering how the story plays out and the bond between Ciri and Geralt. Even her dying makes more sense
a witcher 3 written novel with all the endings as portrayed in the theory would be epic and satisfy everyone lol. though it will have to canonise some choices throughout the story as you said.
I mean isn’t there a multiverse in the witcherverse? So one could argue if that’s the case then all endings happening would make sense, every choice and action and ending is just one of a number of infinite possibilities
I always feel so happy when I see a new Witcher video of yours! And good Theory video btw
Glad to hear :)
That's a really cool theory idea.
Hi, xLetalis! Love all your videos so much about this masterpiece! The first time I finished the game and eventually Ciri became Empress. The second time Ciri became a witch (my favorite ending story)! I have played the game a few more times and .... each time in the beginning I think to reach one of the other finals of the story, but ..... after a few hours of play, my heart does not allow me to make the wrong decisions to is a different ending and every time I finish the story of how Ciri becomes a witch! I love this game so much !!!Keep it good work!!! 👍👍👍
Thank you :)
Like i said to geralt after i take olgierd soul :
"There are certain things even i cannot meddle with"
I never understood how the voice explaining the current situation's/endings was dandelions
Because it sounded so different
But him just being older makes sense
In all honesty no matter how heartbreaking it may be, I'd say that Ciri becoming the empress may in fact be the most realistic one out of the endings related to her. The witcheress ending is simply... Ah, too good to be true. The one with her dying is true enough, very witcher-like, but I feel as if the empress one may fit in the best in general
Now, when it comes to the theory, while it is a fun one, it's clearly over the top, and it ignores very glaring contradictions
Although - the most interesting part to me is the bad ending -> other two endings
The general simplicity of it and the fact that it very much remains unexplained may perhaps mean that that fight with the crone was planned as an additional last boss before Ciri becomes a witcher or the empress, and they may have changed it later tbh
Too lazy to check whether I made any mistakes while writing, let's hope not
I remember getting into discussions on which ending would be the most lore accurate when I first finished the game. And I still think that while the queen one is very powerful, the witcher one would be the most likely. I don't know if you have read the books, but I recall Ciri wanting nothing to do with her father or ruling. And while you might say she has grown from that mindset, I think the whole point of reuniting with Geralt and all her struggles so far would be lessened in retrospect.
I agree that the Witcher Ending, especially with Yennefer romance sounds a bit too good to be true/wishful thinking.
You could say the Empress one contradicts the books a bit but oh well :)
And my personal favorite is the worst one.
its 2022 and oh shit here we go again! an other video for W3! just show me a single game from beginning till now that has sooooooo much detail in history of the video games! just imagine whats going to happen in W4!!!!!!!!cant wait!!!
i have a confusion that if you chose a bad ending in the main game, you couldn't continue to play the free roam after the cutscene , so that might be evidence that Geralt is dead but in blood and wine expansion, if you loaded the save from bad ending to play it , you would meet Dandelion at Geralt's mansion in last main quest of the DLC instead of Triss ,Yen or Ciri depend on your choose . we all know the event in Blood and wine DLC occurs in the year 1273 , obviously after the event of the main game . Thus i think Geralt can't be dead even you chose the bad ending
I remember in the bool chapter 8, Geralt mentioned that forging a perfect sword could take up to a whole year.
I doubt it would actually take that long but I do think it's unlikely that 2 weeks after Ciri entered the tower the sword is already complete and delivered, given that it was not even ordered before that
I ended up thinking about it from a rl perspective. It would be kinda sad and a waste if Ciri ended up spending all her life as a witcher. Sure, fun in her twenties or whatever, but what about her 30's, 40's, 50's?? She could do so much more as an Empress and still be a witcher at heart. I just got sad envisioning her in some dark cave or on a lonely, rainy road, in a never ending loop from town to town, years later :)
There are only three sure things in the world of the Witcher: winds howling; looks like rain and xLetalis selling Ciri. Therefore, the canon is Ciri as a Witcher - only then can we perhaps hear her pronounce the above sentences in The Witcher 4 and we'll see how he sells Geralt ;-)
I was so happy the first time I played this game I got the Witcher ending for ciri. I’ve played the game 3 times and every time I get that ending now on purpose. It’s hard for me to try to switch it up.
What makes this theory very powerful is the time periods in which each scene occurs. I seem to lean to the possibility that they purposefully added these time periods in order to leave the game with ambiguity, thus creating more opportunities for interesting plots in future games.
What if Ciri became a Witcher then some time later emhyr died because the north won, which caused a secession war making Ciri return to nilfgard to stop the war taking her place as empress
I just found out if you give the swallow potion to herbalist at white orchard at start of the game, there is a reference to it at nilfgardian outpost south of velen.
yep, it's a nice follow-up
Never thought about them being at the same. Super cool. I always enjoyed her being a witcher. I could tell that made her the happiest. I never had the heart to let her just die. Super cool video and theory! Love your content!
hey thank you :)
Plot Twist: in the "bad" ending - Ciri doesn't die, but simply decides to return to another world, or just to another place in this world - after dealing with the White Frost. Perhaps to a place and to people where she feels more appreciated, than to a Geralt who was unsupportive or disrespectful to her too many times.
honestly, if anyone is qualified to make these guesses, it's definitely you
heh, thank you :)
I don't think there is any way for Geralt to not know Ciri was alive and just go after the last Crone. He was in Skellige after all whereas Weavess is in Velen. Just think how long it would take him to get there and I can't imagine Ciri not "popping up" to greet him with the good news along the way. Also why would he travel to Velen if he wasn't certain Ciri died? Like how would he know whether she was dead or MIA unless he had some sort of trace to examine (corpse, remains etc)? The Ciri empress ending has always bothered me a bit from the books' perspective. Like how the game made Ciri and Emhyr's relationship, it's a big departure from the books and kinda makes little sense especially given that she just knows he is her father even though in the books she never found out but I guess explaining would've taken a long amount of time and resources.
I love the Witcher ending for Ciri but I'll always feel like the Empress ending is the best and makes the most sense. I'll die on that hill.
I agree that this theory would diminish from the value of each ending, narratively speaking. The whole series of games is abour choices and consequences. Thinking that there is only one ending that gathers all of the outcomes completely erases the idea of choice and consequence. One thing the game teaches time and again is that sometimes things end badly and that is that. And a bad ending doesn't make it a bad story.
Thats why I hate Canon-game lore ending. Wtf!! Why then we played.
@@Josuegurrola yep, which is why there isn't one.
The most mind blowing detail in this video is that the old man who tells the story is dandelion
Idea: BAW official ending is the one in which Dettlaff is not killed by us.
CDPR has created a video footage which takes place after BAW. During that Orianna is killed by Geralt due to a Witcher contract. We can assume that people somehow got intel about Orianna's orphanage. During gameplay, if Geralt realizes what Orianna is doing, he shares the info with Regis, who seems to be unpleasantly surprised. As far as we know, noone else got intel about the orphanage's secrets. Geralt wouldn't file a Witcher contract but Regis might do it. It would be safer for him to handle things this way if he wants to put an end to this, since if he does it personally, he would be hunted down by his fellow specimen. Asking Geralt personally might be risky, filing a contract is a tricky workaround.
However, Regis can only do this if he still resides in Toussaint. It only happens if he is not expelled, if Dettlaff was not killed. If this is true, Sylvanna is 'officially' dead.
I think you're right. Although, I couldn't help but notice that in the 10th anniversary clip you show Ciri is not wearing a sword. To me that could mean cdpr have chosen the Empress ending to be canon, no?
Eh I don't know, she's also wearing her ragged outfit :)
Despite the fact that it doesnt really make sense when you think about it, if they actually wanted to choose a canon ending for the witcher 4, that would be a pretty smart retcon.
Bro you left the ending on this video as a cliffhanger...
How ever as you mentioned the endings I dont think the next witcher will have either Geralt or Ciri as a main character. If its about Lambert they might mention Geralt's fate (according to the witcher 3 saves or simulating the ending of w3 as we did in w2).
I think it can work in both directions - 1) Ciri becomes a witcher then she becomes an empress and 2) she becomes an empress, gets disappointed and becomes a witcher. Actually I prefer the second one, as I really don't thin Ciri would be happy as an empress. I mean she can travel the worlds, why she wants to be bound to any particular place. Of course, the details you enlisted make sense, but if you want to, you can always think of something in between (i.e. she becomes a witcher, travels the world, see how badly her travel rules and she kills him and takes his place.) I think a good writer can always patch it up and even use it as a source for the new game - "Ciri between 2 worlds" (being an empress and saving the world from some interdimensional menace). In fact, it will probably work very well with the Marvel-generation that loves that kind of stories. Or it could be made dark enough for older fans to like it. Of course, nothing can be reconciled with "they all die ending" but I don't think we should count this ending. Unless Geralt's soul gets trapped somewhere as a punishment and we see his adventures to escape that prison (and save the world). Which also could be made fun .
All three could be "true" relative to a "Witcher 4" backstory. I expect something like the interview near the beginning of Witcher 3 to clear up the specifics of Witcher 4, but I fully expect many people to assume Ciri dead, while others want her to be Empress so whoever marries her has a claim to the Throne of Nilfgaard, all while Ciri is secretly alive and well, walking the path of a Witcher. The only variation necessary is her relationship to Geralt.
Absolutely loved the Witcher 3, but I only beat it one time and got the bad ending. I'm pretty sure it's because I took the money from the Emperor after finding Ciri; and I knew it was the wrong choice but I really needed the money for grandmaster armor.
Damn. I LOVE this theory. This makes the ending of The Witcher 3 so much more interesting and gives it more depth. I’ve played the game many times and gotten each of these endings.
After this, they are all the ending for me.
Excellent video. Thank you.
If we take the canon of the games and the canon of the books as one... the only issue with this theory is the empress ending, since Nimue states in "Lady of the Lake" that Ciri didn't go to Nilfgaard. But she crosses paths with Geralt (maybe) in "Season of Storms", so either way, he's alive
Thanks for the great video! Stay safe, be good !
There's no reason for CDPR to make 1 ending canon. That's all an assumption that new games will happen after Witcher 3 in the very same region. The new games could be set before by hundreds of years and in a completely different part of the world. But lets say the new games happen in the same region after. They could do that and not mention a Witcher 3 ending. Treat the northern kingdoms the same as Toussaint, no real Nilfgaard presence except maybe an embassy and just have nothing to do with the leadership of the nations or talk about them. That leaves the 3 endings open and possible, the Northern kingdoms could be ruled by a king under an emperor or just by the king. Not mentioning who the emperor is leaves that open.
13:16 is the most satisfying thing I've ever seen.
my insomnia lead me to early watch of a new Witcher content!!
It would be so awesome if ' the ending' could be a separate dlc!!
There is also last unanswered question.. " do UNIVERSALS EXIST as distinct entities or only as mental constructs" !!!
Crones not being dead in all of the endings, gives it like a plot hole due to what they said before they die.
Well considering what you just found this seems more plausible
I just can't do any other ending except the Witcher-ess ending.
Props to CDPR for making me care so much for Ciri even though this was the only Witcher game she is in.
Triss didn't "cheat" on Geralt in 1-st game, because they two weren't really in any kind of relationship in the 1-st game. It was a one-night stand in the beginning of the 1-st game, if anything.
It is true, that "Witcher-Ciri" can just later teleport to Emhyr - literally any second she decides to do so, turn herself in, explain Emhyr how she told Geralt to tell him she's dead 'cause she didn't feel like jumping into all the Empress stuff right after finally getting the Wild Hunt off her tail (after years of living on the edge!) - So she wanted to take some time off and just enjoy her powers doing a simple job (being a witcher with Ciri's late-game powers is a breeze). But, she's enjoyed her time off and is ready for duty now :-)
Pretty interesting stuff. My own internal logic for replaying the game, especially with new game +, was that Ciri did some crazy time magics to give Geralt another chance xD
I finished the game for the first time in December and I got the Ciri becomes a Witcher ending, I personally like it the best, her and Geralt just going around and kicking monster ass together is a fun thought.
I'm still finishing up Blood & Wine though, not sure how far I am in it though, I just recently finished the quest where you investigate the toy shop with Regis.
You will love it
I think there’s a good chance these ending options will impact the next game if it’s set after Witcher 3. You get a good deal of plot flexibility through your choices during Geralt’s interrogation by Voorhis in Vizima. There are a number of choices from Witcher 2 (helping Aryan or not, siding with Iorveth or Roche, saving Sile or not, and letting Letho live or not) impact subsequent dialogue at the least and in some cases, spawn or affect Witcher 3 quests. I hope CDPR goes back to that well if the Witcher 4 occurs later-it really adds to the value of choice in the game.
Glad you've finally made this video, heard this theory a couple years ago form a Polish youtuber RaptorPL and I was quite interested what you would on this topic. In my opinion this theory is bit far-fetched, nevertheless it gives CDPR a possibility to create a sequel to the Witcher 3 whereas every ending would be canonical. As we all know, each piece of information in CDPR's hand is a big tool to create something bigger.
my pleasure :) It is pretty old yes
Photo mode and a free roam quest to kill the last crone with a good ending. All i need from the Enhanced edition
You're right about endings. I have a question, why Geralt didn't order sword for Ciri from Hattori? Why we were introduced with a new master at the end of the game?
that is a good question, I guess Hattori wasn't known for making silver swords... who knows
0:49 that's just a hypothesis. A GAME hypothesis!
On my first playthrough I had the very sad ending where Ciri didn't come back. It was a very emotional ending that was really well done. I felt so empty and upset that I immediately replayed the game to get the Witcher ending. Only then was I able to move on to Heart of Stone and Blood and Wine. And of course in Blood and Wine both Syanna and the Duchess died.
Triss cheating on Geralt with Lambert did happen. As a matter of fact Lambert is so open about it the only thing he doesn't do is say "Hey Geralt, I was doin' Triss right before you walked in on us."
That's actually a great idea!
The year is 2095: xLetails puts another video with the title, " witcher 3: No endings exist".
yes the ending is a lie