Witcher 3: What if You Side with the Leshen?
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- Опубліковано 4 сер 2024
- Witcher 3 - Details you may have missed when you side with the Leshen aka the Woodland Spirit in the Heart of the Woods contract in Skellige. Details such as him staring at you when you perform the ritual, leshen masks on the houses and more.
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0:00 My throat is a little sore...
0:10 The location
0:27 Wolf howls, crow noises, etc.
1:07 The local significance of the Leshen
1:45 Leshen architecture
2:06 Running all around Skellige for proof
2:28 We must restore the old ways.
2:46 Why was Hilde Marked?
3:32 Has the Leshen been reborn?
4:30 Unique Music during the Quest
4:57 Creepy Leshen Stalking Geralt!
5:17 Is this true?
6:35 Things you probably missed in the end
7:10 Unique Music after the Quest
8:10 Returning to the village later
8:44 Video isn't over yet!
9:15 Who is Bjorn!?
10:00 Ciri, I...
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There actually is an outcome. If you side with Sven and kill the leshen, when you return to the village after the battle of Kaer Morhen, the village is empty and abandoned/ possibly massacred.
But if you side with the elder and do the ritual, the inhabitants will remain there in the next act.
It shows that the Leshen was protecting them from the outsider forces.
Wait what? Really?
i thought he said it didnt seem to make a difference? maybe he didnt try after kaer morhen. oh well i guess its another excuse to play the witcher 3 again. oh darn lol
Holy shit, that's huge
I actually tried doing this mission after the battle of Kaer Morhen and waiting a fair amount of time, but I don't think I've ever done it before and visited after, that might be what triggers it! Thank you
I think that actually just depends on who you choose to support as leader of Skellige.
Out of all the monsters in this game, I find the leshen to be the creepiest, I love it!
leshen is so well done, its like The Spirit of Nature from Jujustu Kaisen, it represents the fear of humans to Nature. Also my favorite because you need to kill his possessions first in order to kill him, otherwise he is virtually inmortal
I don't mind the Leshen. It's Wraiths that get me.
Nah. The sylvans are creepier. They're the embodiment of sloth and greed
The specters of midnight and midday terrifying especially in The Witcher 1
@@userequaltoNull The monster design is phenomenal in TW3, wraiths are terrifying, Leshens are badass and menacing.
I remember my first playthrough facing the White Orchard Noonwraith for the first time. Genuinely creeped me out
Leshen in game: scary, mystical forest gods.
Leshen in Netflix: wooden Dr octopus.
Ancient leshen mhw : a nightmare come to life
dr. octoroots
Worst. Show. Ever.
@@r3zaful took me 30 minutes to fucking kill it
@@r3zaful
Heavy Bowgunners: Lol. Firewood.
The “Leshen mask” is the skull of a stag, I believe. They probably didn’t kill a bunch of leshens, but rather, a lot of deer… this would track with the fact that they are the best hunters in the Isles
Yeah I found that statement so confusing. Still weird that Hilde has what looks like elk antlers on her door, considering I have never seen elk in TW3. But I do think he is right in thinking that she was marked because of that difference
@@athmaid Judging from her lines in the video, the antlers are probably symbolic of her cuckolding her husband or whoever he is.
wanted to say the same. Hunters love to hang the skull of deer on there walls and the best over there entrance (at least where i life).
Yeah the Leshens 'face' is a skull of a stag. The fact that Hilde's hut has no skull could indicate she is a lousy hunter (she does not yet have a trophy of a kill to hang above her door) - and because of this, she has been marked by the Leshen (for not following the 'old ways').
@Pud Pete I'm not bullshiting lol. There is an historical association with antlers and cuckoldry. I couldn't tell you why.
In slavic folklore leshens are described as being able to shift their appearance into an old man etc. to converse with the people they're looking over, might be the case with Bjorn
dang....I never freaking thought of that! thats awesome! thanks for sharing that
Fun fact: Gandalf is inspired by a Leshen from my country called Rybrcoul/Krakonoš - the guardian ghost of Krkonoše mountains
@@retardedchromosome3923 Have you tried hunting down the beast? I recommend Igni and some Dragon's Dream bombs
''Physically, his appearance varies; he can take any form he wishes, from an old grandma to a giant crossing his mountains with one step. Historically, his character has kept on expanding; from a bad demon causing storms and heavy snow, he evolved into a guardian of the poor people living in his mountains. It is said that he could test someone at any time to know whether that person's heart is pure (e.g. meeting someone as an old lady asking for help) and that if one does, that person would be shown the way to treasures hidden deep inside his mountains. He punished the German landlords mistreating Czech people as well as any invaders.'' - quote from the wikipedia page
Its unfortunate we may never get a game with this depth and quality ever again
Witcher 4
yeah :(
@@JackOfBlades8642 Not sure CDPR can be trusted to make another masterpiece like this given the state of Cyberpunk
@@samtrotter7177 how can anyone be trusted to beat perfection?
@@samtrotter7177 Sadly that was the executives fault the dev ask for more time since they knew that Cyberpunk needed more polish. Also they try something different which in some aspects worked and others didnt. Lets hope they can make another masterpiece
There is a reason for this particular quest to be a little bit bigger than other contracts and also have unique music. This is the first quest that has been shown to the press 2 years before the game was released. I was on one of those presentations at Gamescom in Germany. While there were some minor differences between the one in the presentation and one in the final game most of what we saw remained in the game. Therefore it can be assumed that this music was created a bit earlier just for the purpose of presentation, and quest complexity was there to flash out the choice and consequences that the player would find in the final game.
it even has the ost in witcher 2's style than percival's witcher 3 ost - soo different composer at the time as well
ohh then it means they tricked the press into believing every side quest was going to have unique npc's
@@gastonhitw720 Pretty much every side-quest does have unique NPCs, so I'm not sure what are you going on about. The differences between this quest and most other side-quests is the complexity of the quest structure and set pieces.
@@gastonhitw720Every game does this, they show off their best dungeon, scene, or level to the press to drive up interest, the issue comes if it’s not a genuine representation of what the game will be like, which I don’t think is the case here
The detail about the Leshen looking at us during the ritual is just epic!!! I never noticed it, so thank you for showing it to us!! I don't think there is any other game filled with so many little important details. Maybe that is why you constantly feel something is going on in the background of the game even though you don't see it or play in it, which of course makes the game feel so alive.
There are some, but just a few.
@@qq84 name those few games, I'd like to play them.
@@roymehedi7453 Half Life/Black Mesa and Deus Ex (classic).
@@roymehedi7453 RDR 2
The first time I saw him standing there my heart dropped into my shoes.
This quest is brilliant simply because it raises the question of should you break the symbiosis to forge a new path for the village, or should you keep it along with old proven ways.
First time around I sided with Leshen but let the Elder die, because I did not want to fight the villagers and was impressed by the Elders reaction.
indeed
ok
Sucks that the leshens were pushovers in Thai game. They were like groot if he wanted to kill himself
@@Chadius_ThundercockThat's why every Leshen I fought was waaaaay over my level. Those things were nightmares to kill
Before I did this quest I thought that Leshens were just forest monsters, I even interpreted the codex (in-game monster wiki , forgot the name) that way, but this quest really confirmed that they are much more sentient that anyone in the Witcher universe wants to admit. They are really just guardians of the forest and don't really mind humans as long as they agree to the Leshens terms when it comes to forest usage.
The gwent lore expands a tiny bit on them too! :)
No, it's just a monster.
@@paulo_esmt which in some places is revered as a god/deity/spirit/protector, etc
They seem to get smarter as they get older but i think it's probably more than that they probably go through a change that gives them their own personality cause specifically this leshan seemed to be ok with humans whereas other would specifically hunt them down
@@paulo_esmt a leshen is a protector of the woods, a spirit. He's not just another monster, but a god protecting his land. That is of course if you care about the mythology and folclore behind him.
Leshen is one of the front cover promo monster for this game, aside from Wild Hunt & Bruxa/Vampire. I like to think the quest actually much more longer & have a more significant story/plots than the version we got. Like the Three Crones & Ancient Tree type of stuffs fro example.
The creepiest place of leshen was in the hearts of stone DLC. I dont remember the name of the place but it is very isolated area where a group of bandits used to kidnap kids from village area and kill them. One day they heard crows and wolf noises outside their area and they thought its some type of curse but it was a leshen outside thier castle surrounding the castle with wolf and crows.
There's a Leshen totem outside their hideout so I've always been wondering if maybe someone summoned it? Also we're told the last little girl that was kidnapped was not scared and rather apathetic. Then the kidnapper curses the girl's father... as if he had been the one who summoned the Leshen. All of it is rather mysterious...
@@kaisawatson The last girl that was kidnapped by Count Romilly (the guy who owned the castle and whose statuette you get from the auction house) was marked by the Leshen and shes the daughter of the owner of Kilkerrin Castle thats north of the leshen location. Count Romilly curses the girl in his journal that you find next to the treasure because he realised that she was the reason the crows and wolves started appearing around his property because of the mark made by the leshen. She is also the reason why Kilkerrin Castle is a ruin since her father becames depressed after her kidnapping (you can read that if you hover over the fast travel sign in the game)
I visited that place yesterday, God, it was very creepy, even when I entered the territory I heared some screaming or something like that I don't remember
Where is it??
@@StarLight-qt7un it's the mansion of Count Romelie(I think that's how you spell his name)get his statue from the Borsodie brothers auction house the statue has a key and a map it will lead you to his mansion
I feel like with all the unique music and well made cutscenes, this quest was meant to be longer or more impactful on the story. Geralt already refuses to kill intelligent monsters unless he has to, so maybe this was a way of showing not all leshens are dangerous (at least, not dangerous unless you disobey it), and are more intelligent than previously thought. Every other leshen pretty much tries to kill you on sight, and this one seems to fulfill what the elders think it does, so maybe there was meant to be a time where the leshen befriended humans or something
indeed
Geralt also doesn’t like when sentient monsters control people. Like that fat sylvan who was making people give him more and more food as tribute. The monster book points out that leshins are incredibly spiteful, controlling, and cruel
@@thefatherinthecave943 yeah I know, which is why I said "unless he has to", I just didn't explain myself well. I feel like he'd still kill this leshen given it's the "do what I demand or I murder you brutally"
@@Pie_Smacker definitely. I also think people forget the opinions of the skellegers as well. The village elders wants the traditions to continue because it makes them stronger, at a cost of some men not surviving. The younger men don’t like being at the behest of a literal monster or demigod. Then there’s the leshen, a sentient being from a different world who controls the village but lets them prosper, with the caveat that it will kill anyone who doesn’t do exactly what it wants. I’ve done both endings and I think both killing the leshen and doing the ritual are valid options, but I personally don’t want to be under the thumb of a monster that will kill me if I step out of line
@@thefatherinthecave943 i agree entirely. This definitely reeks of cut content so I wonder what the devs' original idea was
this quest was like a mini story . i know i know it's ironic to say that because that's the case for almost all of the witcher 3 quests but this one specifically took some extra save slots from me just to analyze all of the outcomes since everyone in it so suspicious it got me more curious lol. great video as always i knew that i would see a thing or two about this quest that I've missed here
indeed
@@xLetalis I know this is not related to the video but on my very first gameplay I managed to get the bloody Baron to join the forces to defend kear Mohan then he hanged himself after that and ever since I can't seem to able to get that out come ever again for God sake can you help
I know right! Really enjoyed doing this contract!
@@KhoufoGaming You are misremembering. You were never able to get the bloody Baron to Kaer Morhen. You had probably recruited Letho. He is only available if you simulated a Wither 2 save where you let him live. You can find him in Velen and he is somewhat similar in build compared to the Baron. Although I find them easy to tell apart, after some time, it could be possible to misremember.
@@xLetalis don’t want to shove my nose, but my first game play, I remember the baron giving me a sword? But it’s never happened again? I could be mistaken but idk lol
Leshens are my favourite monsters in the witcher. First of all I adore their design and that they impact their surroundings so much, and second of all they just feel the most powerful to me - like true nature spirits, woven into the land, protecting it. So I usually side with them, and even try to avoid fighting them. This quest is another brilliant one in this amazing game, and I still think about it sometimes.
When the leshen near novigrad come to you slowly between trees also beautiful and creepy at the same time.
imagine a game so good that you can make an entire video about a side quest. I'm so addicted to this game...
A lovely quest.
Why u gotta put triss's phat ass in one clip?
@@sameerahmed-dh8sb "but"
Great video as always bro! My guess about Bjorn is that he was propably part of some quest that got removed, maybe even he was the one that the leshen had originally marked, but then CDPR changed their mind and they added Hilde. Btw, i hadnt noticed the leshen standing there, that legit gave me goosebumps!
That last Song is from heroes 4
I usually side with the Elder, they have a simbiosis with the Leshen, and my witcher way is to interfere the less I can, I stay in Gerald character 😋
Anytime I see new video from xLetalis and read the title. I tell to myself.... that's a good question, what If ?
@@xLetalis Love your work! Will watch it till we have Witcher 4
Just want to inform you that there is a witch hunter encounter I've noticed after the quest now or never. On the Gildorf Square if you walk down towards the barber. You can interact with them, and they will start a fight if you choose the golden answer instead of leaving. They are 14 level above you, but when killed one drops the legendary sword Gwestog. Also during the Quest "Now or never" you can interact with the guy who was hiding Anisse and Berthold and hit him in the face, for the betrayal.
This quest was difficult. I'm not a traditionalist so my first thought was to kill then Leshen. After thinking about it I saw it as a protector of nature. It was against villagers using tools that would lead to killing too many of the wildlife. I saw the village as having the rep as being the best hunters due to the Leshen's trial, reminded me of Sparta and Spartans.
I figured there would be other Leshens to fight so I left this one alive because it seemed to be an intelligent guardian of sorts. So I ultimately had the girl banished to prevent it from being reborn, I did the ritual, then the other villagers could decide for themselves on whether or not they would go after it after not getting inbetween them and the last elder.
The leshen was on the cover art. Kind of makes scense that the contract is one of the more unique and fleshed out ones.
@@kurzackd there are multiple cover arts, not just the one with the fiend.
What cover art are you guys talking about? All is see are those with only Gestalt on it. Do you mean the promotion renders?
@@kurzackd The Leshen is on the Soundtrack's cover, might be what they are talking about.
@@kurzackd C'mon dude, it"s a well known one. Here: /watch?v=BLqktDBIew8
I've been thinking about this for years: You know how there's a newly settled Leshen near Novigrad, pestering those dwarf lumberjacks? Imagine if that thing started marking people from the city. You'd need a holocaust level event just to be sure that you made it mortal.
I find it unlikely that it would. Leshens prefer solitary wooded areas. Granted, it is closer to a major city than you would think, but I believe it wouldn't go any closer. Also, since the person has to stay in the leshen domain for marking to work, you probably wouldn't have to start slaughtering the city.
@@johnwolfer3239 Not with a witcher.
Only very old leshens can mark people i think. Plus Geralt was able to identify the mark in Skellige without much issue, so in the city it might be similarly easy with a witcher.
@@johnwolfer3239 Lmao tell that to the leshen. The dwarves were literally 30 meters away from the city walls.
Arthas time: "This entire city must be purged"
7:25 I recommend checking out "The Prayer" track from a game called Heroes of Might and Magic IV - it sounds very similar to the track in this scene. What may interest you is that "The Fields of Ard Skellig" is also similar to another track from HoMM4. The composer, Paul Anthony Romero, talked about this in comments under one of videos featuring the music, and he confirmed that in both games these tracks are based on some Scottish Gaelic songs and thus are similar to each other
The comment I was looking for.
Was gonna mention this. The soundtrack to HoMM 4 is something else.
"The Fields of Ard Skellig" is based on a folk song, and it shows up all over the joint.
I've heard it in a few places, but the one that comes to mind is "Zeref's Melancholy" from the one of the Fairy Tail OSTs.
anyone knows what actual folk piece is it based on? I remember trying to find it and can't find shit, same with the sea theme from heroes which also appears in the witcher (and given how popular homm games are in poland i can only imagine it was very much intentional)
@@DMSBrian24
I remember seeing years back some claim that it was based on an old Bulgarian song, but I might have that mixed up. When I've looked at it now it comes up as a Scots Gaelic song called Fear a' Bhàta
Always found it quite interesting that the antlers above Hilda's house actually resemble the antlers of the old Leshen the most out of all the antlers of the masks you can find in the village.
I’ve played this game again and again and always I still find this as one of the hardest decisions every damn time to go with young or old villagers
This is one of my favorite quests in the game, up there with the Fyke Isle quest. It may be simpler but I just love the creepiness of it and the leshen is my favorite monster in the game.
Fyke isle was one of my favorite quests and probably the one I remember the most vividly to this day. It was one of the many key points where I noticed this game was something different
Fyke Isle, one of the creepiest, saddest quests in the game... witcher 101 never take bones from cursed places
Same. Fyke Isle quest is also one of my favorites. I just love how they took some of these fairytale elements and interpreted them like this
The leshen has genuinely scared me, once I was in a tunnel when it popped out of the wall and I freaked the fuck out and blasted igni but thing is it was full of explosive fumes and ended up blasting me out of the corridor and damaging the leshen slightly
Would've sided with the young villagers if Sven wasn't such a horrible person. He's weak and petty and selfish. He even easily kills the ones he love. A leader that weak shouldn't be allowed to lead. The elder on the other hand knows when to fight and when to use logic. His best interest is the village. For Sven on the other hand, it will always be his interest or ego that comes first. With that in mind I always sided with the elder.
Ah, but one can be wrong for the right reason or right for the wrong reason. That's how I interpret this situation at least. I'm always happy to off Sven at any rate.
@Pud Pete sven can kill her in one of the outcomes, and if I remember correctly he almost did kill her if geralt hadn't suggested anything else. Besides if you side with sven, he will immediately kill the elder. That just shows how barbaric and stupid Sven is. Killing the elder wasn't necessary, it's just out of pettiness. So, it's always a clear choice for me.
Sven only kills Hilde if you say she has to be killed. He sacrifices his love for the good of the village. If you say she can be exiled, he does that.
Sven is a typical lefty, then
Sven banished hilde without second thought and got rid of the old mentality by killing the elder , u cant stay hung up in the past like the elder , world is changing and that clan should change with time too whether it be good for them or bad for them , that doesn't matter .
Heh. I never tried siding with the lesion. I always assumed it was a "false choice" that would always result in the worst negative outcome possible. Similar to that island quest with Kiera where the ghost wants you to take her skeletal remains to the guy in the fishing village, but then doing so totally screws everyone over.
...I still feel betrayed because of that.
I'm looking at Side Quests differently now.
@@ajakks6551 when is that?
@@kajamorris3218 A little bit after you meet Keira Metz she mentions that she needs a certain item to help Geralt locate Ciri but it's locked away in a tower that Witches are forbidden to go into and if you go in and just before you reach the top you'll meet a spirit who tells you a woeful tale about how her lover never came back for her in the tower..."supposedly." And she asks you do 1 of two things
A: Coerce the young man to come back to the tower with you so that he may free her lost soul.
Or
B: Bring her remains to his residence of living over by a small fishing port, tell him her sad tale, he gets regretful, buries her remains and you go on your merry way...until you hear the sound of a man's soul being snatched from his body at the last second only to re-enter his household to find a "Pesta" a creature born of malice and vermin fueled(in this case rats are the key component here)energy. That's probably an askew description of the monster but yeah, there you go.
I love the depth and moral questions of this quest. Thank you for highlighting it and discussing.
my pleasure
xLetalis the crow thing is legit! Just pretty buggy. I was able to get it to work twice but other than it doesn't work. Also, I didn't know you could save the elder! Thanks!
Could it be deliberately rare? It seems like it would get annoying quickly if a bunch of crows went mad every time Geralt was in combat
do you have any proof?
@@bowlofnuggets I dont record my gameplay cuz it eats up disk space. I guess its possible that the times I got the crows to work were a mere coincidence.
you can find a letter with BJorn mention, the mission is "Hard Times" in skellige.
"Yanne, my dearest son!
Ill is our lot of late. Singa's husband's ship crashed in a storm during its last expedition. Bjorn survived, thank the Gods, but weeks will pass afore his captain builds another and meanwhile life must go on. He weren't taken on for the building, so he's earning no coin. We're eating our winter stocks now, and I fear to think what we'll do when they run out. That's why I'm sending Singa to you and asking for your help on behalf of us all. If you can, find work for Singa, and then Bjorn and I will come to Kaer Trolde to stay with you. Perhaps there's some work for Bjorn with you at the forge? And if work is scarce around Kaer Trolde as well, lend Singa a few coppers, at least, and I'll give it all back with interest once we're out of this plight.
With belief in your good heart and thanks in advance,
Your loving mother"
If you give the letter to Yanne you will meet him on the Leshen mission, otherwise he will not appear. he has a red scarf
Also the npc standing next to Bjorn has a model of a blacksmith from "Hard Times"
2 years late to add to this but it's neat how "and I fear to think what we'll do when they run out" is an implication of cannibalism being implied as their last survival option - yet another detail that points out the connection/inspiration from Wendigos when it comes to Leshens.
The villagers say that the Leshen has the woods "teeming with game" would the skulls not just be deer skulls from their hunts as tribute to him, or sacrifices to him (that he later uses as masks)? I would think that if the village has a symbiotic relationship with him, they wouldn't kill Leshens and keep the masks as trophies. Just another take; great video, learned a ton about the game as always.
That is what I thought too.
The area goes straight to hell if you side with one instead of the other....perhaps siding with the Leshen isn't so bad....thank you xLetalis.
my pleasure
Holy shit, I didn't notice the Leshen standing there or the musics..
This was incredibly interesting as usual.
Yeah, the NPC models are definitely a CDPR thing.
I can't believe how many things about this game that I didn't notice walking around.
You have to continue with the "butts," that is hilarious.
Keep being epic Letalis.
Never seen it either creepy as shit actually seeing it like that
@@supermoon1430 I know!
Leshen was observing while ritual, I don't know if Cd project knows about this or not.!!!!😲😲
@@jagjotsingh749 bruh moment, gasp
About Bjorn. Maybe someone said it already, but he is an NPC that was part of one of the early (now cut) quests in Skellige about Wild Hunt. He is the guy who narrates the VGX game trailer and talks about the village that was frozen by Wild Hunt (that was later moved into Velen in final release). There was a lot about him said by the devs on official forums during development but it seems all things about him were cut.
IMO it adds context to the Leshen quest and i am 99% sure it is one of the earliest quests that were made for the game. It has unique animations/music etc. that aren't use anywhere else in the game. Notice the animation of Geralt catching the coin purse. It is not used in ANY OTHER QUEST in entire game. Even expansions. So i'd say it's just a part of the content that was made when Skellige was actually the focus of the main story (it was the first area created for the game) before they decided that the plot should focus more on Novigrad/Velen etc. areas.
interesting!
The music at 7:30 just hit me so hard, it is so nostalgic. I grew up on a Heroes of Might and Magic 4 game and there are several spots in the Witcher where the OST from that game shows up. But this one is just magical. (I know the OST doesn't originate from the games)
It is amazing that still there are so many stones to be turned in this game, just pure art!
Amazing video, thank you!
I played the hell out of HOMM3, haven't played 4 at all though!
Pretty sure the crow thing is just a default thing, in velen there always seems to be crows screeching around combat
Yeah you can tell the same when you’re in the big tree area (I guess the crones mother).
You can hear some unique creepy sounds and screams.
Oh nice detail about the skulls on the houses in the village! I never noticed that although this is one of my favourite quests!
I absolutely adore leshens.
Yeah I love the quest too
are those not just deer skulls?
it actually makes me really happy that you still make The Witcher 3 videos... Keep it up you are great!!!
I'm so glad you mentioned the music. I was so confused the first time I heard it, right after the quest because that track is absolutely soulful, even better than the typical Skellige tracks. I thought it was an area specific track and returned to that area several times just to try to get that track to start playing. I just never got it to play again untill I started another modded playthrough recently with additional soundtracks. It's just amazing how the game still manages to blow your mind after all this while and multiple playthroughs.
Leshen is the best monster in game. Not super hard to defeat but has great design and quite unique fighting scheme
Love that you're still finding new things in this game and keeping the fandom alive.
Oh my god, this is my favorite contract from the game!! It had a big impact on me the first time I did it, and on every playthrough I'm always excited to do it, I love that you made a dedicated video for it!! Thank you!!
I especially loved the detail of the leshen watching you during the ritual, I had no idea! Now I love this quest even more
my pleasure, it might be one of the most impactful contract in the game indeed!
Added another reason why I love this particular game so much. After watching your videos now I actually feel I've been playing sometimes of such a masterpiece
A special quest. The music is special too beautiful and melancholic.
By the way, did you know that when you go to clear the lady's estate ( quest where you meet Letho.) If you take the more direct route through the forest, there's a few paths then they kind of trail off and you're in pure forest, a Leshen will always be there and hunt you. I've done multiple playthroughs and always seem to subconsciously pick the direct path to the estate and the attack always startles me. 😅 Not to mention your pretty low level at that point and the Leshen is really strong.
That mf straight up jumpscared me in my first playtrough lmao
There is a place of power on the hill next to the village and if you can go there you can actually see the leshen (if you didn’t kill him yet) roaming around the area , actually being very close to Downwarren. That’s creepy as hell.
Bro, when I was hunting the griffin school gear, that mf entered the cave and I almost had a heart attack haha, it instakilled me
@@matheusmartins8202 glad I’m not the only one haha
@@matheusmartins8202 my first time in that cave this mf appeared out of nowhere and ya one shot me lmao
Man, I just played through this for the first time earlier today. Decided after telling Sven to banish Hilde that I wanted to talk to the elder, something about his conversation made me want to try to save the village instead of kill the Leshen outright. Did the ritual, and honestly felt great about the way it ended. Didn’t notice slender man behind me though, so sweet Easter egg!
Letalis my friend,you are a legend! Your Witcher videos are gold,thank you 😊👍
Starting my day with a brand new xletalis video, nothing better.
thank you
Nothing makes my day like a new xLetalis video
I'd never noticed the leshen in the background lol. Chilling.
Oh my Gunther O’Dimm! I never knew the lessen was stalking you when Geralt performed the ritual. Every hair on my head stood up!
Yet another super interesting one!! I´m hyped for the next videos as always and due to xmas coming up soon I gifted myself the channel membership
I wonder if these unique songs had been officially released or named by cdpr, they are quite lovely
They're not on the soundtrack for sure. I don't think they're on digital platform either. I recently made a full soundtrack playlist for myself and nothing unusual caught my eye 🤔
Wow 3 videos in a week, did Christmas come early this year? That music as your leaving the village was hauntingly beautiful. CDPR really outdid themselves with The Witcher 3. All these years later and the game still has new treasures to find and experience. Great Video xLetalis once again. Hope you and the family are doing well and till next time...stay on the path.
It's crazy this dude still finds content🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
The crows are legit! I just finished the quest mentioned but I killed the Leshen. Now I'll hear crows and see a flock of them leave an area where ever enemies spawn. Pretty cool if you're in a rush and not wanting to stop and deal with them.
I decided to save the Leshen, and after a few hours of game I did notice more crows cawing than usual, in Skellige! Then after a quick research I found that other people reported it too, but I would say that - if it works for real - it is not noticeable in areas such as Velen, or outside Skellige in general.
What I didn't notice at all was the Leshen skull hanging on most of the houses! Cool, and so carefully crafted
3:23 - that would be one half of antlers I believe.
Amazing video about prob my second or third favorite quest!
yes, they are moose antlers :)
Beautiful video, as always!
Love the seriousness of the video and the fans about this game. Really love it
I just did this quest and decided to not engage the Leshen. That history and the Elders story seemed more interesting then going to kill a Leshen because some snotty nosed men decided they were tired of old ways.
EDIT: I have a mild theory about Hilde... The skulls could entirely mean households that were taught throughout the years what the Leshen truly is capable of. Those that made it through the trial, those that have lost someone in the trial or even just those that have done the ceremony? Maybe Hilde decided that since Sven wasn't too keen on the Leshen, she wasn't going to keep the skull. Or Sven was the one to remove it a replace it, as they seemed intertwined already. It doesn't seem coincidental that her home isn't decorated with a skull, but there's plenty of theoretical reasons.
good theory!
Tihis "being tired of the old ways" was all tell and no show if you ask me. "Hunt the beasts with knife and spear" says the elder. How are you hunting them now, dumbass? With a rifle, on top of a Jeep?
@@theyellowmeteor Bow and arrow, sword, traps. Those are more modern than knives and spears.
@@frenchbreadstupidity7054 If you think about it, arrows are tiny spears propelled by some wood and string. And swords are knives with longer blades. Hardly rocket science. Should count for the Leshen, if a tile pattern of a crescent moon qualified for GOD to take a poor fool's soul because it fulfilled the "we stand together on the moon" clause of their bargain.
@@theyellowmeteor yes walls are just floor on another position
Yup, most memorable contract because of all this extra work that was put into it. On my first playthrough I just had to try both choices to see where they go.
Another incredible video, as always
I never noticed the leshen watching you as you do the ritual! Gave me goosebumps!
I remember reading about this quest in articles about a closed doors demo in the early promotional stage for the gamewhich explains why it's more complex than a normal contract quest, and the final version is actually cut down (just a bit though) from what was described in those articles. I like the fact that the way the leshen "strengthens" the village is by acting as a natural selector and a brake to human desire for expansion (aka greed); "forest teams with game" because hunting in that forest is so dangerous that hunting is done out of necessity not economic growth, "women bear strong babes" because the leshen simply kills weaker ones. I still kill it though because its presence puts the village at very long term disadvantage, and the fact that they worship it means that its continued presence will lead the village to destroy itself from within as time progresses.
Wrong choice. Breaking traditions for progress is dysgenic. The weak will live, supported and protected by the new civilisation, and thus the fall gets closer. I think you mostly grasp this already.
With the Leshen, and old ways, they could persist for eternity.
@@The_Custos That would be true if the rest of isles/world also had a leshen or a being that made the old ways effective. Also, the old ways here are designed towards warriors and hunters, killing off thinkers and groups of people who are not warriors or hunters because they are deemed "weak", effectively ensuring that the village never progresses in any meaningful way, thus ensuring that they will be destroyed in the very long run.
@@hooda47 the Witcher setting is very clear on the importance of being able to survive. Hunting and tracking also involves thinking. If you mean the thinkers of the city, the bureaucrats, the artists, etc, civilisation always collapses under its own weight and the many mouths to feed, then starts again. See Spengler.
Strong stable communities can last thousands of years, longer than any empire or dynasty. This one has divine protection, and supporting that rather than abolishing it is the way forward. If you don't do that they all die soon after, as reported by others here.
apparently if u kill the leshen and come back after the kaer morhan fight then u find the village abandoned/massacred. so the leshen actually was protecting them from something.
i agree with you tho. would've killed the leshen just cuz i hate the concept of relying on a outside deity.
@@hooda47 hunters and warriors can also be thinkers, don't you think?
This quest reminds me of the quote from the first episode of the show when Geralt is talking to Stregobor.
"When choosing the lesser evil, I'd rather not choose at all."
If you choose to work with Sven, Hilde is either banished or killed as well as the elders.
If you choose to work with the Elder, Hilde is spared but then you have to choose between sparing the last Elder or letting him die.
Also if you spare the Leshen, hunters will continue to die in the town if they do not "follow the old path"
It's a quest with no good outcome unfortunately but I chose to spare the Leshen and let the Elder die.
yep that's from the books
me pulling the sword when they threaten to kill the elder: shame
From the first book*
It's also in the killing monsters trailer.
The one Lambert mocks you with. I think Doug Cockle does it perfectly in that trailer
Man, that track that plays after the quest when you’re walking through the village is amazing. You can tell whoever made the quest really wanted to have an impact
YOOOOOOO!!! showing that the Leshen has been watching us during the ritual was disturbing 😳 never noticed that
Thanks again for another great video. The Leshen is such a scary creature.
my pleasure ;]
I can confirm that crows do warn you of eminent danger. It's been a while since I've played but I think they only do it if you're in a deep woods setting, also I always heard them but didn't always see them, and I swear I heard them in your video at the 6:22 mark. Oh, by the way, I'm on pc :)
wow.. you are a true specialist of this game !!
I don't know how this kind of games are done but it must be a pretty long process to have this fine quality of writing , in the end.
Let's hope for another witcher in few years !!!
Gutes Video👍🏻 war sehr unterhaltsam
Gotta admit that these unique music pieces are sick. Such a shame I have never thought that you can hear them only once in a walkthrough
Edit: tried to find both pieces of soundtrack, but sadly found only the second one (7:22). It's called "Skellige Mood Music Drama". If you have any info about the first one piece, write it down please
The second music sounds like a Soundtrack from Heroes of Might and Magic 4. In case anyone knows this Game :D
@@paulreinhard6228 excatly bro its almost the same thing its called "The Prayer" from Heroes IV
@@paulreinhard6228 The skellige main theme also reminds me of one of one of the songs in Heroes IV
Thank you so much
@@paulreinhard6228 Yes, it's a piece of the Grasslands theme from HoMM 4
This was always one of my favorite quests
I watched till 5:15 and then I paused to say this! DAAMN! I never saw this coming and I am still amazed. Never, NEVER have I played a game with this intricate and subtle yet SCARY detail. Just the fact that this detail is present in this quest is Mind Blowing. CHEERS Man, this was the best "Scary" detail video for me yet from you. (ps. Please point out a link if you have another) Thanx and Excellent job friend!
I really loved this quest, one of my favourites. The atmosphere and the monster are some of the creepiest and most fitting to a quest that i have ever seen
Thanks for this, I couldn’t spare him because I wanted that ancient leshen mutagen, but it’s cool to know what happens otherwise in the long run. (I did use a save to see the outcome.)
I'm not totally sure about this one but it this leshen seems to be the only one with a decorated skull/mask which could indicate to human intervention from the townsfolk as leshens, at least design wise, are rather rudimentary and look more like a natural composition of different things.
As said correct me if I am wrong and there a more leshens with these 'special' skulls.
You have to be one of the best editors on UA-cam
New witcher3 video from you?! Instant
Letalis, I just found a hidden detail/mistake that you may not know of. You know the quest “Skellige’s Most Wanted”? Well anyway I just did it and I had the option to tell the monsters that I spared “Fugas”, the sylvan in Velen. This is actually an error on CDPR’s part. Fugas is the name of a different sylvan, the evil one who works for the crones and who you kill with Ciri. When Geralt says he spared Fugas the sylvan from Velen he is actually talking about the “Allgod” sylvan, not Fugas. Were you aware of this?
This is my favorite quest. There is no happy ending. It's a foreign people with customs that are understandable but still eerie to the players. If you act in violence you still are destroying balance in nature and bring misfortune on a poor girl; but if you don't kill the Leshen and appease it, all the elders except one die and if you aid the old man, you kill potentially a large group of the hunters in this village.
Great video as always. Didn’t notice the leshen watching you the one time that I sided with him, man that is creepy. Anxiously waiting for the new season and your reviews.
indeed, it's a a great detail
The unique song at 7:25 also plays in the witcher crossover in monster hunter world, while the player investigates the recent anomalies by the leshen.
Fun fact: at 07:27 that music and a couple of others were used in a lot of games. There is a video on youtube called "similar celtic songs in the witcher 3 and other games", and it's super cool to hear all those tunes and vocals in different but not that different versions. Really worth checking out imo.
I immediately recognized heroes of might and magic IV music.
I was wondering about this! Stronghold (2001) has a song called The Maiden which uses really similar vocals.
Im gonna be honest: Leshen//Leshi? Are my favorite monster from The Witcher. Actually, they are one of my favorite monsters in mythology overall. They are so fresh, and unique, I love them. That's why I'm partially mad at Nightmare of the Wolf for portraying the first fight in the way it did, and yeah, it was a mutant leshen, but it just didn't work for me.
for me as a Russian, leshen is neither fresh, nor unique: on the opposite, that is one of the first spirits/characters encountered in fairy tales :) So it is very familiar. Though in folklore it is usually kinder than in the Witcher universe (I didn't check, but have this feeling from what I read in childhood).
This quest was definitely as others have said took a lot of saves..... Great content as usual!!!!!
I'm not sure if you have done a video about the caretaker yet but would be awesome!! Also the leshen watching you perform the ritual is such an amazing detail, I would have never known if it wasn't for you, thanks!
A video about that faceless demon would be awesome !
thank you :) I'll consider it
I found keeping the leshen had a much higher benefit than getting rid of it. The angry townfolk were just scared of something they didn’t understand.
7:20 music is always playing in the leshen mission in monster hunter world crossover only other place I've heard it
Man, missed you Lex! Merry Christmas buddy!
same to you man!
This game is so unique I love all of the random tiny details you find just playing this game
I just happened to do this quest yesterday. I think siding with the Leshen is the better option here.
It doesn't mindlessly attack the outsiders, but it allows the hunters to thrive off the forest given it hunts "fair".
The leshen wants all species in its domain to thrive, not just humans, but the wildlife as well. It permits hunting, but forbids practices which give humans an unfair advantage, like bows and traps. It doesn't want the game population to be decimated.
And according to the elder, in return it subjects their boys to trials to turn them into formidable hunters, it protects them from invaders, keeps the forest teeming with resources, and apparently makes their babies healthier/stronger somehow.
The leshen wanting to protect its forest and prevent humans from decimating the resources isn't an unreasonable demand. I just wish there were some way you could have communicated directly with it. To learn its motives for yourself.
Well Geralt is a witcher, He wouldn't give a shit about that as long as it serves as a threat to them
And Geralt knows that doing some ritual/offering shit is just plain stupid when he most likely knew from the start what monster they're dealing with
If you read the bestiary it clears it up, and pretty much says it's not some great entity. It's just a monster that kills.
I've just recently had an encounter with a leshen in Velen while I was more or less peacefully exploring a cave and suddenly it teleported from the surface down in to one of the cave ways. I nearly got a heart attack when Geralt was suddenly impaled by roots when there were no leshens supposed to be in that cave and there was no room to fight it.
Dragonslayer Grotto?
@@orionshadowveil Yes that's it. Seems to be a common issue apparently.
I love the music that plays during this one. I sat there in the rain reflecting on my deeds...good times.
this game is just damn incredible, I love these videos, thanks for the content
The unique music is based of celtic and also japanese folk music. Very similar theme is in HoMM IV and it's called The Prayer and "The Maiden" in Stronghold
I believe the song is also played in Black & White 2.
It seems like a very common melody heard in many different games. I've always been interested figuring out it's original source name or title.
@@Waxer3929 Original title is Celtic Death Ballad
Someone else might have already commented this, but the music is clearly inspired from the Heroes of Might and Magic IV Grasslands theme.
Never played 4... played the hell out of 3 tho
It really must be the holiday season with all these videos from xLetalis! When I had sided with the elder I never noticed crows trying to warn me. I also play on a PC.
I had a couple videos half made and I wanted to get them out before reviewing the show ;]
@@xLetalis I know you really strive to be non-confrontation able. But please call out or praise the show as you see it. I don't have Netflix and I'm basing my decision to renew or not on what your reviews say about the show.
"Aep van sokradom valmin migdasiyum Hexer uevid vadt melachide". From one witcher to another, thank you for keep playing this marvel still even after all these years, Xlet. Brings back the joy.