Why "Ciri Witcher" is not a good ending in my view (spoilers)

[Pjovejas]

If to follow books then Ciri-witcher ending is not good even for Geralt. All the readers should remember, that Geralt felt, that witchers are "dying proffesion" and world doesn't need them anymore. And as a good "father" he couldn't wish a better life for his "daughter", than beeing the empress of the most powerfull empire in the world. The only obstacle in his mind would be that "incest motive" in the books.

I haven't finished the game yet, so I'm not sure, But I have a feeling that in Witcher 3 Ciri will not end as

Spoiler

wife of Emyr, it feels like he will just proclaim her as heir of the throne. So the only argument against Ciri- empress doesn't exist in the game.

 

[Timlugia]

A lot of people wonder what would happen when the emperor found out the lie.
My opinion is that he knows right away. He is not a fool, and Geralt couldn't produce a witness or evidence for him.
His tone to me suggests that he didn't believe at all, knowing it's just Ciri's way to refuse the throne.

 

[bti79]

Considering that Ciri quite easily bested the Crones (ancient and extremely powerful creatures) Id's say she's more than capable to take care of herself.

I agree with what's being said about her not wanting to become empress. For me thaat was the whole point of the story of Geralt and Ciri - how Geralt as her father need to learn that Ciri is in fact capable and the best to make the decsions for her own life.

So for me personally Ciri becomming "witcher" is the better one

 

[Zultre]

I personally think the Ciri - Witcher ending is the best. For me the story portrays Ciri fighting a constant battle between being this powerful tool that everybody is trying to control and her just wanting to be normal and do her own thing. She constantly shows us during the game that she is tired of everybody deciding everything on her behalf , that is her inner struggle , but it is obvious that she would like nothing better than to live a normal (witchers) life and not be Empress. If she really wanted to rule she would have just gone to Emhyr from the start. Plus if you look at this picture it clearly shows her disgust for stepping into any "formal" role as ruler or Empress in waiting.

 

[almahnsor]

You can't say an ending is better/worse than the other. Basically you have to take a decision based on what YOU think it's better for Ciri. It's a choice between the "happy" and the "good". Based on what we know about Ciri (her past, her decisions) - she likes the adventure, the freedom and she would be very happy as a witcher with the people she loves & love her close to her.
On the other side you can decide her potential is wasted as a witcher and , for the "greater good", she should become the empress.

The empress path is about duty and the "greater good".
The witcher path is about family and happiness.

After that everyone is free to think whatever they want. Ciri could discover another side of her, a new happiness and be fulfilled as an empress too. And as a witcher (a very powerful individual like her) you can always make a difference if you want to (just like Geralt did it through the series).

 

[snowplough913]

Ciri's dream is obv to become a Witcher like Geralt who she looks up to. I don't see her being a bad witcher she's decent.

Spoiler

There is a small flashback when Ciri finds a little girl in the wood (Bloody Baron story) that shows perfectly that she contains great knowledge and tracking skills that's been learned by Vesemir.

The only reason to not pick Ciri as a witcher is if you wanna "fulfill the prophecy" that Ciri becomes Empress, and looking at that ending doesn't seem like she enjoy it just as much. So witcher ending obv the HAPPY ending.

 

[atiggerx33]

My only thought on this is that in the ending in which Ciri becomes Empress, Geralt has done absolutely nothing that would force her to take on that role. Sure he brought her father, but he didn't force her to go, she asks him if he thinks she should, he says "I do", and she decides to accept his advice. She leaves afterwards of her own free will so it isn't like Emyhr forced her to stay in Vizima and take the job, she left pretty pissed and with nobody trying to stop her. At that point all that happened was that she heard Emhyr's proposition for her future (that he thought she should be Empress), and was allowed to leave and make her own decision. At the very end, she never even told Geralt she accepted the job, she did it behind his back, he finds out last minute that this was what she'd decided to do leading the Nilfgaardians to show up at White Orchard. They see the Nilfgaardians long before they see Geralt and Ciri, and Geralt asks her about it. She says that she approached them and took the job, not that they are forcing her. He asks her if she's sure about this as he'll have her back if she has changed her mind and wishes to either fight or flee. She says she is sure and that this is what she wants to do.

So with the Empress Ciri ending, she had multiple points during which she could have not approached Nilfgard, changed her mind, fled, and made really any decision she so wished about her own future and where it would lead. She is the goddamn Lady of Time and Space and nobody can force her to do anything she doesn't want to, especially with Geralt and Yenn backing her up, all Geralt did to get the Empress ending was give her the OPPORTUNITY to either accept or decline the Empress-ship, it was 100% her choice in the end to accept. By getting the Empress ending she had more freedom than any of the others to do whatever she wished, she could have traveled the world with Geralt, gone to other worlds alone, or become Empress, in the end she made the decision for herself on what she wanted.

Plus she can still travel the world if she wants and visit whoever she likes. The only thing that would stop a ruler in those times from being well traveled is that travel took a long time and you couldn't just abandon your people for months on end to traverse the continent to visit someone or see something. For example, look how much rulers travel now that airlines exist and its doesn't take months to reach their destinations. However, Ciri isn't limited by time when it comes to travel. There is literally nothing to stop her from teleporting away for a weekend to wherever she wants. Hell, she could even return back to the palace each day for an hour to make sure nothing has happened while she was away and that she isn't needed while she was away visiting.

 

[VanDerBass]

It's the worst ending in my opinion.
It's the most endearing, sure, but a) she's not really a witcher, b) the 'ashen hair witcheress' becomes famous and Ehmyr doesn't suspect its her? c) if you give her all available options (become witcher, die, become empress) she CHOOSES to become the empress because it is her duty and she can do good.
It's a free choice by her, whereas she only becomes a witcher if the other option isn't presented to her.

 

[TheJinxleet]

Hello I recently completed the game and think the it's a lot of holes in some of your argument it seems people forgot 1. she's the LADY OF TIME AND SPACE in regards to the whole "ciri will die eventually as a witcher" Ciri proved she could handle most creatures and (as an example) killed a werewolf in the baron's story if she got mortally injured and that's a big "IF" ciri could teleport anywhere at any time so I doubt she would bleed to death and she has shown reflexively teleporting when in mortal danger
2. If Emhyr got overthrown and by the people trying to asurp him and then proceed to hunt down ciri for the rest of her life(unlikely) she would never get a moment of peace? She could easily just teleport there and end the person's life and be done with it lol or at least she could certainly deal with the problem in some other way by threatening their life,replacing them with some other ruler by offing them etc.
3. Emhyr would not hunt his daughter and force her on the throne(because he really can't) nor go after geralt because Emhyr might think Gerald only found out she survived after he told him she was dead or just doesn't give a shit that he's losing(he's actually pretty badass imo) and he wasn't obligated to tell him since Emhyr said "I want to never see you here again witcher"
4.Nilfgaard doesn't need a new ruler or at least things would be fine without one discrimination would continue in novigard and nilfgaard either made temeria a vassal state(independent that has it's own army) or northern lands joined together(rip nilfgaard and emhyr) Ciri would have only been made empress for her father's convience and to stop growing unease in vizima
5.Regardless of how "free" she'd be as emperess she'd be infinitely more free to do what she chooses and where to go as a witcher

That's my argument in this to conclude Ciri is under no ACTUAL risk she can easily defend herself and could teleport if need be. Ciri is free to do whatever she wants as a witcher and even without all the mutagens etc her magical abilities and her other inherent skills taught at Mae Morgen(people forget the teaching is more important than the mutagens) The point was to establish that as a witcher she would be fine and be free to do as she will "happy ever after or good ending" and that as emperess might not even take up her sword again aka "bitter sweet ending"

Btw anyone else find the whole white frost thing super depressing? Didn't know ciri would save the day in the end so just assumed everything would freeze over even if eredin was defeated and ciri was free(P.S typed on my phone so ignore any outliers or misspellings ✌)

 

[akossoka]

^^ Agreed

Although if you have the multi companion mod you know that she dies rather easy by monsters that have instant area stuns like vampires this actually makes sense in lore imo I think she would make a far better mercenary since she fights vs humans rather amazingly

As for Emhyr it was let him die but also let Vernon die or save Vernon and he lives too
I think its kind of obvious what is the morally right choice and what is acting out of anger ;P
And he has far too many things to worry about to care about some rumors and he knows he can't force Ciri that's why he asks Geralt and Yen to find her not his army I think at that point he concludes that even if she is alive getting her on the throne is a lost cause

And if you get the Geralt is alone ending than sure its depressing that was made with the intention to be depressing (I think not sure I romanced Triss)
Just do the Triss romance ending that is pretty cute and happy I got practically the same ending except for this and it felt like a true happy ending for the saga
(or the Yen romance I can't really comment on that coz I never saw it but it should be all right too)

I thought Geralt and Ciri will save the day together not just Ciri alone I made Geralt wish her good luck and was praying as hard as I could for that I don't have to play the part where she saves the world (and I have no idea why xD)

 

[OrleyHuxwell]

Omg, there is only one ending, so why bother so much?
First Geralt thinks Ciri is dead (one week later)
Then she tries to become a witcher (two weeks later)
Then she became a witcher and was disappointed and decided to become an empress (several months later).

The only difference is which one you can see (the nicer you were to her, the nicer part of story you can experience).

 

[Deemonef]

Ciri as the empress is simply the best ending. For her, for Geralt and for the world. The Witcher life is not for her and very dangerous for a non-Witcher like her.
Ciri will be a great empress, that is said in the credits, so let her rule and give the world a great ruler. I think it is pretty "selfish" to hide such a great person from the world and make her a wannabe-witcher.
Fees like "Oka,y let Radovid kill all non-humans/magic users, or let the nilfgaardian Oposition take over the world etc.! But Ciri will hunt some monsters in the wild... sounds legit to me" XD

PS: The thing with the white Frost was something I really didn't liked in the games. CDPR changed a lot from the books lore for the games. But the White Frost was something that felt wrong. Seems like a overly forced Happy End for the world, and the fact that it is magic make it a bit less "dangerous". I know this seems weird, just don't have the right words to say it proper in english

 

[DonPeRonx_450]

You guys really should stop to find motives to garnish your decision that Ciri as Empress it's the best ending. Just say it's the ending you're like more and that's all, don't need try justify this. But you fail to understand the obvious: no matter how righteous, great, or illuminated Empress she can be, she will not be the one who will really rule the empire. Guess why? Surprise: the only who really rules the empire is the emperor, yeah, right, the e-m-p-e-r-o-r that will be no other than our very known general Morvran Voorhis, both in books and in games (and that is more canon than Ciri as Empress will ever be) to whom she will marry and be a very happy couple (in your canons of course).

Still I can't say I don't like him, actually it's quite the opposite. Strangely, he seems to be quite nice fellow, cordial, civilized, maybe even a pleasant company. But I seriously doubt he will a fine match to Ciri, both as husband as leader of the empire. He is a unscrupulous emperor, a man that abuses of spies and saboteurs, that knows no rules in warfare, that is always ready to make alliances with criminals, bandits, corrupted people and all the same shit we all know very well, in short he's really not a good match to Ciri at all. Still, have a happy ending with Empress Ciri.

*bonus: Morvran's name means "the ugliest one" in Welsh (yeah, saw it on wiki).

 

[Deemonef]

It is nowehre written that Ciri will marry Morvran and that e he will the emperor (he says one time he could marry here but this is all about it).
But even if he marries Ciri he only will become some kind of "prince consort" and not the emperor .
Plus the credits already said that Ciri will become the monarch.... and not the "monarch's wife"

 

[SigilFey]

Surprise: the only who really rules the empire is the emperor, yeah, right, the e-m-p-e-r-o-r that will be no other than our very known general Morvran Voorhis...

Plus the credits already said that Ciri will become the monarch.... and not the "monarch's wife"

Yeah, royal bloodlines are rather complex. Line for a throne has to be by blood relation to the prior monarch, not familial relation. So, Voorhis marrying Ciri (the heir) does not make the him an heir. Their children would be heirs, but Voorhis, himself, would never be in line for the throne. Depending on custom, he might carry the title of "emperor", but it would only be an honorific. He would have no authority to overrule Ciri, and the title would only apply while Ciri sat the throne as empress. His children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren would all be in line before him.

 

[warbaby2]

It might not be the best ending for the world... or even CIri... but it's the most true ending to the books. Think about it, in many ways, the Witcher books are a subversion of fantasy tropes, and what else is the "one destined for greatness" sodding of and doing her own thing, but another subversion? It's just as ludicrous as the hardened, lone(ish) Witcher moving into a cozy cottage with his girlfriend...

So, Ciri wil do just fine as a Witcher, if her powerlevel in the final assault on the Naglfar is anything to go by, and Emhyr knows full well she refused him, and he also knows that he can't do a thing about it. Also, and that's a bit of a meta thought: The world is changing... the White Frost has (allegedly) been stopped, the Aen Elle are effectively cut off from the realm (probably forever), monsters are vanishing, the old races are dying out, and with them might be, at some point, magic, so - I could be wrong here - but it's highly suggested that the future of the continent does not lay with some old and powerful magic bloodline, but with humans figuring things out for themselves from here on out.

...then again, that's how most fantasy worlds end up, so maybe that's not subversive enough?

 

[DonPeRonx_450]

In case anyone had missed the line that practically spoils the next emperor...

Well the thing is unless you guys can somehow alter the canon of the books or CD Projekt Red itself, that end will only be real in your heads. That may be newsflash but there is another CD Projekt Red game set in the same universe known as Gwent where Morvran Voorhis IS the emperor AND actual regent of the empire according to his description. And according to the same game the next emperor is not a child between Ciri and Morvran but Jan Calveit (unless he is their secret children that bears a different name for some unreasonable reason), that's the real canon both in books and games. So the thing is, Morvran as a regent emperor after Emhyr is a incontestable fact both in books and games (until now at least).

So the best thing can happen is Ciri govern for what, some 2 years (or any other insignificantly minor number that is not even considered as a proper regency in officially dated chronology) until the next regents crumble anything she's built that is not of their interest and do what they really want to do.

 

[Deemonef]

I know what you want to say, but your comment is simply not real cause of the reason, that there is not "one single canon" of games and books.
The Witcher games have it's own canon, cause there are many changes to the book lore.
The games are morly like a Fanfiction to the book series.

Gwint is a game that uses more of the lore of the books in some cases, but is not one to one the Witcher games lore.
For example Fake-Ciri is in Gwint but not in the Witcher 3 game and at the same time in GWint are things that are only in the games. So there are morly like 3 canons: Books, Witcher games, and Gwint game.

It's true that Morvran is the emperor in the books after Emhyr, because Ciri never came back to her homeworld after the pogrom of Rivii, so she never was able to become the empress or something like this.

You have to look seperate at it: games and books.
For the games: If you make Ciri the empress, she is the ruler and the monarch and not her husband... a husband is also never mentioned in the games

And for the video: As I said, no where is explicitly said, that he marries Ciri. He just assumes that it will be happen, but the end never mentions anything like this. And again: Even if he marries Cirilla, he just will become prince consort and no emperor.

 

[DonPeRonx_450]

I'm separating the books from the games, I'm just mentioning both to show the emphasis of this fact. The thing is Ciri Empress ending is just canon as the one where she dies. So the best way to recognize the most "probably" canon ending should be based on the other official things presented by the studio so far and guess what? Gwent fits perfectly.

You have this right, but I really don't believe in those 3 canons, actually I think that's absurd. To me if CD Projeket Red is making another game in the same universe, then this universe is shared between those games. Otherewise we could also say that there's actually 5 canons with the another two other games CD Projeket Red made in the same universe, don't? There's Morvran Voorhis leader card in Gwent but not Ciri leader card so by the math the answer is clear.

He he's not makeing prediction based on guesses, he's stating the things that will happen in the imperial court basead on the know facts by him (a specialist which is at the center of everything and future actual emperor in "some" canons) and doing the math. Actually, the fact that he really is the actual regent emperor in "some" canons proves that the only people who don't see this happening in the games are just people who just don't want to see it. The things we have so far confirms that the fact he will rule Nilfgaard is far more canon than Ciri ever can be (until now) be by math or any other way to think.

Also, just because fake Ciri is not mentioned in Witcher 3 don't mean she don't exist there, actually that don't make sense since it was only because of her that Emhyr could actually control Cintra. Also Gwent lore is far more basead on Witcher games lore than the book. Examples: Bloody Baron, Jhony, crones, Ronvid, a torturer Radovid, Roche, Ves, etc., etc., etc.

 

[Deemonef]

And again it is never mentiond in an explicit way, that Morvran is the emperor in the games or will be the emperor in the games. In one end it is said that Ciri is the empress (a husband is never mentioned) and in the end where Emhyr is killed by the opposition Morvran is also not mentioned that he is the emperor nor will become the emperor.
With or without Ciri the game never tells something like this. You can beleive it, but it is never explicitly mentioned.
In the book lore it is, but the game lore is a different lore and not to be combined with the game lore.

Fake Ciri is mentioned in TW2 but was cut out of TW3 cause it didn't fit the plot of the third game anymore, like
Marcin Blacha said.
And just because there is a leader card of Morvran in Gwint doesn't make him an emperor. Maybe just a General... and even so:
Gwint is just a card game which takes many freedom. I mean: The elder unseen one is also a leader card and he... well... he have nothing to do with the monster armies of the WIld Hunt

Morvran is only in one canon emperor: In the books. But the games are not the books. Simply two different lores.

Let's say it is like you and other gamers see a possible upcoming plot after the end of the game, in which Morvran become the emperor. But it is not explicitly written and shown by CDPR. And that's okay.