Ciri as Empress

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Hi i recently finished gameplay of W3 and im like huge fan of kingdoms and continent and i would like to create threat where can i discuss my choices with some one who knows lore better than me. If there is thread like this sorry i didn't saw it.

@SigilFey
After war
So i recently finished my witcher 3 gameplay and i have my empress ending which dissapointed mé greatly because i chose Ciri as empress to end war and restore North because she is type of person who hates war and she probably did it but there is not a single thing in Blood and wine and i štart thinking that i made mistake. Do you think it is possible that other Northern Kingdoms became vassal or just provinces? Also i take it that diffrences between vassal and province are that vassal have their old monarchs rule over and provinces have governors. As o Temeria i think it is clear that Anais is Queen. Aedirn was pretty weak so i think that Stannis swore to Nilfgaard and become vassal (i have him alive in W2) but what happen to Kaedwen and Redania? Kaedwen dont have any royal member alive even if they want to be a vassal as for Redania Radovid has two sisters and wife so it is possible one of them is Queen? And what about Lyria and minor kingdoms? I know it is lot but i love world of witcher and i wanna know if i chose right ending to have peace as much as possible even if northern kingdoms became a vassal. Still better than provinces like Nazair or Etolia where people were killed.
 
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Post given a shiny new home!

(Please, feel free to change the title of the thread to whatever. "Ciri as Empress" is sooo placeholder... :p )
 
Sorry for this off-topic (there's no other similar thread) but I was also very dissappointed with the empress ending. Because of different reasons though. To me, nothing make sense in what seems to be the most canon-like ending.

Have you ever wondered what are they doing in White Orchard? I mean it's a poetic way to close the plot in a buckle with game both starting and finishing there, but that's it. The only reason for them being there would be Ciri asking to wander around for a bit, which after what she's been through seems not very likely. I mean she suggests Geralt he should take Yen to some tavern after the fight with the Wild Hunt and lock themselves up in a room with Do not disturb sign, but I'm not buying that.

Beacuse what is Jaskier doing there? It is winter, a long way from Novigrad, from his Cameleon and his beloved Priscilla who is just starting to make a recovery. It doesn't look like he just visited his friends. He's not a big fan of travelling in a frosty weather, therefore he must have spent lots of time with Geralt, Ciri and Yen there. That basically means he left Priscilla when she needed him the most just to tramp around some villages. Zoltan might be travelling back to Mahakam so he joined his friends but it's a very forced explanation.

Unnatural portrayal of Ciri-Yen relationship was frequently disputed, so I'm going to say just one thing. Ciri would have never left Yennefer without saying goodbye first. Apart from that, what's the logic behind Ciri hiding her decision from Yen? It was Yen who was very fond of the idea of Ciri making peace with her biological father and departing to the Nilfgaardian court. Why then Ciri doesn't want her to know that she did exactly the same thing?

Also, Nilfgaardians stop just outside of the tavern Geralt and Yen were sitting in at the start of the custscene. And where the sorceress is probably still sitting in. What's more, she sits vis a vis the window. She has a clear view of what's happening outside. Guys from CD Projekt... Really? You know, it would be pretty hard not to notice a bunch of armoured horses with Nilfgaardian soldiers and general Voorhis.

Well, game is only based on the books, so I guess we shouldn't demand it being completely true with them. But it was true with them in many matters so it's a pity it completely goes off the rails when it comes to Geralt's attitude towards being a witcher. Long story short, Geralt from the books would have never wished to continue being a witcher and probably the last thing he would think about is to suggest Ciri she should be working as a witcheress. Of course, to both Geralt and Ciri she is a witcheress, because of her upbringing in KM, but I guess none of them would actually want her to work as one. However, Geralt actively tries to send Ciri on the track. He teaches her tricks and suggests witcher trainings. That's a serious mood killer for me, but hey. It's an RPG game. It's gotta make killing monsters look fun and badass, when in reality it's completely not.

That's mostly all I have to say concerning this ending. Google "unfinished drawing of a horse" and that's the perfect visualisation of what I think about W3 with this ending. It's sad, because the plot with Geralt loosing Ciri again, this time because Zirael decided to flew out of her nest finally on her own terms had a lot of potential and could be performed differently.
 
There's quite a lot here, but I'd like to respond to your first point, at least.
Have you ever wondered what are they doing in White Orchard? I mean it's a poetic way to close the plot in a buckle with game both starting and finishing there, but that's it. The only reason for them being there would be Ciri asking to wander around for a bit, which after what she's been through seems not very likely.
It may be poetic, however, there could be some other logic. White Orchard is just a short ride east of Wyzima. Presumably, Emhyr was still in residence at Wyzima's Royal Palace, before returning south; therefore, if he and Ciri met to discuss her coronation, it follows that she would have been there. Perhaps she lingered behind after this conversation, in order to bid fare Geralt and the others, who might have accompanied her only as far as White Orchard, while she crept off to the Palace.
 
It looks very strange, it seems to me that the idea of the White Garden is very simple and straightforward.
Geralt and Yennefer died in Rivia after the pogrom, Ciri takes theirs bodies to the island of apple trees, or better known as Avalon.
Avalon

This place is timeless, it is, as it were, between worlds, therefore only Ciri can visit it without any special consequences for herself.
Geralt, waking up from his "sleep" on the island, asks Yennefer - "where are we?"
According to legend, mortals, having got to Avalon, can never leave it (King Arthur never came back).

Therefore, the whole Witcher 3 is Geralt's sleep (sleeping) on the island of apple trees, which the game constantly hints at.

Therefore, the game begins in May, in the White Garden, just when the apple trees are blooming and the White Garden is filled with blooming apple trees.
And since this is a dream, then it must end in the same place where it began, in the White Garden.
 
There's quite a lot here, but I'd like to respond to your first point, at least.

It may be poetic, however, there could be some other logic. White Orchard is just a short ride east of Wyzima. Presumably, Emhyr was still in residence at Wyzima's Royal Palace, before returning south; therefore, if he and Ciri met to discuss her coronation, it follows that she would have been there. Perhaps she lingered behind after this conversation, in order to bid fare Geralt and the others, who might have accompanied her only as far as White Orchard, while she crept off to the Palace.

You're completely right. I forgot that even Geralt says at one time it is a day of ride from Wyzima. Paragraph 1 debunked haha.
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It looks very strange, it seems to me that the idea of the White Garden is very simple and straightforward.
Geralt and Yennefer died in Rivia after the pogrom, Ciri takes theirs bodies to the island of apple trees, or better known as Avalon.
Avalon

This place is timeless, it is, as it were, between worlds, therefore only Ciri can visit it without any special consequences for herself.
Geralt, waking up from his "sleep" on the island, asks Yennefer - "where are we?"
According to legend, mortals, having got to Avalon, can never leave it (King Arthur never came back).

Therefore, the whole Witcher 3 is Geralt's sleep (sleeping) on the island of apple trees, which the game constantly hints at.

Therefore, the game begins in May, in the White Garden, just when the apple trees are blooming and the White Garden is filled with blooming apple trees.
And since this is a dream, then it must end in the same place where it began, in the White Garden.


Wow, that's a very interesting interpretation. I have never realized the connection with orchard, which now seems obvious. Even Geralt hints that. Now, that plot would be poetic as hell, and maybe even better tahn the original one. I seriously didn't expect that, thanks for a new point of view. It would be nice to have an alternate story where Geralt dreams of finding Ciri while at Avalon.

That can be one way of reading that but I think the plotline feels more like an actual string of events rather than a dream. Plus, what's with the plots of previous games if this one is a dream? It would complicate things a bit. Also the game starts with Geralt dreaming. So that would mean he is dreaming a dream in a dream. Too much of an Inception for me haha.
 
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" Also the game starts with Geralt dreaming. "

You immediately saw the first and rather "heavy" hint - Geralt WAKES UP in the vicinity of the White Garden, in the vicinity of the "island of Apple trees".
And by the way, you can't go beyond its borders as on an island, "there are dragons further away".
 
" Also the game starts with Geralt dreaming. "

You immediately saw the first and rather "heavy" hint - Geralt WAKES UP in the vicinity of the White Garden, in the vicinity of the "island of Apple trees".
And by the way, you can't go beyond its borders as on an island, "there are dragons further away".

Well, there's no doubt Geralt has dealt with a few crowned heads but I doubt his dreams would be so political. I think the White Orchard is just a reference to the books. It's hard to think about such an expansive plot as a dream, there would be way more hints if the story was actually intended to be just Geralt's vision. Both the prologue and the epilogue present events in the game as factual ones, too.
 
That's an intriguing theory, @akynamatatapost , however, it doesn't account for the narratives of the first two games, which do not include White Orchard at all. If Witcher III did not build upon the events of the two previous entries in the series, this dream interpretation might be more plausible.

As it is, however, Geralt first awakes outside Kaer Morhen in The Witcher, the first game, after escaping the Wild Hunt. This is referenced both in Assassins of Kings, and Wild Hunt, as the starting point of his new adventures. In fact, in Assassins of Kings, it is explained that, after Ciri brought Geralt and Yennefer to the Isle of Apples, the Wild Hunt pursued them there, and abducted Yen. Geralt chased after her, and ultimately joined the Hunt, in exchange for her freedom. Geralt was later released, near Kaer Morhen, by the Hunt, as bait, in order unwittingly to lure Ciri out of hiding into Eredin's clutches. The events of the games ensued.
 
You are right, if we consider the entire accumulated array of information on the "Witcher" universe - books, games, fanfiction, then the theory "The Witcher 3 as Geralt's sleep" does not make sense.

But if it is limited only to books where Geralt's story still ended in Rivia, then the theory of "The Witcher 3 as Geralt's sleep" complement each other well.
- Geralt in the game talks about the events in Rivia three times and recalls his fatal wound.
- Isle of Mists and sleep Ciri - a direct allusion with Avalon and Geralt.
- On the Isle of Mists - seven dwarfs and "Snow White" - Ciri, and this is again a magical, enchanted dream of the main character ...
 
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