No, the only path where Dettlaff does not have to be killed involves completing the fairytale quest without giving the ribbon to Syanna. In this case Anna Henrietta always survives and Syanna dies, but you can decide Dettlaff's fate.
No, the only path where Dettlaff does not have to be killed involves completing the fairytale quest without giving the ribbon to Syanna. In this case Anna Henrietta always survives and Syanna dies, but you can decide Dettlaff's fate.
Dettlaff is an idiot and way too impulsive, even Regis told you that Rhen did abandon him, in the first place, something he did not wanted to belive.
Honestely, i was in Dettlaff side, UNTIL he attacked the city, there is just no excuse for that, what you are saying about Syanna can be applied to Dettlaff as well, and thats the whole point in the history, but, you can talk Syanna out of it if you bother to investigate her side of the history, Dettlaff will not listen to reason, and even attack Geralt and Regis, also for not reason at all. He got what he deserved, he may be not evil, but being that impulsive is just as bad.
Also Syanna just wants revenge against his sister, the killing of the 4 knights was to conceal his true intentions, and the reason of why Anna will suddently be murdered. Syanna wants to kill his sister for the wrong reasons, that why Geralt is able to talk her out of it, and that you only are able to if you learn all the details.
And thats the only reason, i dont think Syanna wants the power either, if so, she whould not attempt to kill her sisterim plain view of everyone, and knowing that she will shortly follow.
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From my understanding the Unseen Elder is the quick - but foolhardy way to proceed as you miss things that cause the ending to be better or worse but by cutting that whole portion out you do not learn what you do if you follow Regis' suggestion which I was more inclined to follow anyway as Regis is no fool.
It's not so much that its this one option or the other that determine the ending because you can still get a bad ending following Regis if you miss the smaller details, also if you put it into terms of time the Syanna path is no longer due to the time distortion in the Illusion anyhow, I don't know if time distortion is a canon thing in illusory worlds but from how Ciri can pop in and out I assume there was a degree of it already present. It's just a shame there isn't some very small detail you can pick up on to also save Dettlaff from his fate.
It's not so much that its this one option or the other that determine the ending because you can still get a bad ending following Regis if you miss the smaller details, also if you put it into terms of time the Syanna path is no longer due to the time distortion in the Illusion anyhow, I don't know if time distortion is a canon thing in illusory worlds but from how Ciri can pop in and out I assume there was a degree of it already present. It's just a shame there isn't some very small detail you can pick up on to also save Dettlaff from his fate.
Geralt cant save people from itselft, and thats the problem with Dettlaff, Syanna and Henrietta, if they turn out dead.
Dettlaff, its way too impulsive, he attacked a city because a woman tricked him... man how many years this vampire has? Then it attempts to kill both Geralt and Regis, because he thinks they trick him as well... and they do not -> his fault he end up dead.
Syanna, she wants revenge against his sister at all cost, for the wrong reasons, whiout even bothering to try to understand Henrietta side of the history, so much to attempt a suicide attack -> his fault
Henrietta, she belives his sister is incapable of attempting to kill her, and she will not listen to reason, even if you have proof -> his fault.
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For me the problem is that in all B&W quests there's the right and the wrong choice. In the main quest we have two characters we can't influence in any way: Detlaff is determined to kill Syanna and Anna Henrietta is not willing to accept the truth about Syanna no matter what. So we literally have no choice with these two. This leaves Syanna quest as the only possible way to do something. Anything. So picking this quest is the only right choice, which the player is.required to recognize and make. And this is wrong design for The Witcher game quest, because in the base game there's no right or wrong choice, there's your personal lesser (or bigger) evil. And yes, even with Ciri related choices: you don't need all the "good" ones, if you behave like you do in real life with your real kids, you will still get the good ending, although different players might pick different choices in different situations. With B&W there always is the right choice. And if you pick the wrong one, Geralt even hints it by telling "Something's gone wrong" - he's basically telling you to reload and try again! This is absolutely not what I've expected after completing Baron quest in the base game and Iris quest in HoS.
Geralt's altruism can't make people 180 on their beliefs I suppose.
Dettlaff is hardest to sympathise with due to the scale of his actions he targeted civilians that had nothing to do with it, but from how Regis and Geralt talked in the books about how willing Geralt was to take a contract on him with Dettlaff being just as strong as Regis was at that point if I could've stopped the killing diplomatically I'd sure give it a go.
Like whoever, very aptly, changed their name to 'Discount Renfri' I couldn't agree more, she's a Renfri throwback but with far too little development, however when it came to exploring her past and childhood with Annarietta further during Regis' plan I did start to get the 'Curse of the Black Sun' jitters as I empathised a lot with Renfri I did with Syanna too.
I feel that her picture of Syanna was based on their childhood while Syanna had the whole Curse take over her life, everything was pinned on her and AH was unable to comprehend that at the time, but then again with the proof she should've at least seen, I didn't actually tell Anna about the plot on her life and convinced Syanna the curse was a load of rubbish and what happened to her was not Anna's fault.
As for it being Geralt's fault I assume it comes down to the fact that not everything is within his hands, wheels are in motion that he can influence but not change - Which may be seen as aggravating from a players perspective but in reality you're not always in charge of the situation, even if you may think you are.
Is Dettlaff the most impulsive here? Let's see the facts:
After Geralt told him the truth about who Syanna is and he learnt that she used him, he DOESN'T kill her right away although he could have done that, i give him the credit for not following his first impulse. Dettlaff's request was a meeting with Syanna, he wanted explanations from her, otherwise he said he will attack the city. He flew to clear his thoughts and to avoid an impulse with serious consequences, giving to Syanna a few days for reflecting of what to do.
What Anna Henrietta has done after she found out Dettlaff's request and his threat that he will attack city if Syanna doesn't go to the meeting? She hid her sister due to a foolish arrogance, the time has past, the meeting did not take place and the vampires attacked the city. I believe this is a impardonnable mistake coming from a poor ruler who make a decision out of impulsivity and huge ego (''oh, he dares to threaten usss ?!''), without truly care about the risk to which she expose the city by her decision. A good leader would have taken a decision that would have been good for most, not a subjective one dictated by impulsiveness and arrogance, at the price of innocents people's death. Don't tell me she is oh, so concerned about her sister's fate, and suddenly remorse grabbed her, she didn't care about Syanna until the crimes has began, if she was so concerned she would have been looking for her sister much earlier, before the crimes occur, she had many years available for that. And again, a good leader should have considered the good of all citizens and would have made balance between putting at risk a person and sacrificing the whole city.
At first i liked her, but during the game she became unpleasent, also her behavior towards Geralt. (Not to mention the final discution with her, when Geralt tells her that she was the next victim and Syanna was planning her death from the beginning, and she doesn't believe him despite evidence even if she has read the letter, that makes her to looks...dumb, to say the last).
Unfortunately, after this discussion with Anna Henrietta we find ourselves in a cinematic '' a few days later'', which means that those three days have passed and we cannot do anything, the meeting requested by Dettlaff not occurred, and vampires attack the city, we don't have any control over how events arises. If the meeting between Dettlaff and Syanna would have happen before the vampires attack, then the course of events would had been different, as Regis said at some point, and all of them would have been alive, maybe.
I got the ending following my feelings and i'm happy with it. In my game ending Syanna dies, i let Dettlaff go and Regis is gonna look for him and help him adapt, Anna lives (i couldn't care less about her fate to be honest).
I didn't like Syanna, I couldn't find a way to be empathetic to her motivations. I found out that she is a manipulative psychopath who used Dettlaff and made a tool of him, knowing how much he loved her, deceiving him and not telling him who really she was. Even the first meeting between her and Dettlaff angered me, seeing that he was very worried about her, he thought she was prisoner and he feared that maybe she was injured, yet she has continued to lie to him until Geralt told him the truth.
I did not retrieve the ribbon for her, just because i didn't feel like it, i didn't want to do anything which would please her, not knowing about the forthcoming importance of this item. I did not romance her either, i really felt disgusted when she told me that she needs a man, and I thought: 'Well, i don't feel like doing it with you, sod off!'. I've talked to her to find out more about her story, and she told me about her first meeting with Dettlaff, how he was scared when she pursued him (i guess he was feeling vulnerable to her), how he showed his fangs, in order to scare her and hoping she will leave him alone, and i felt sorry for him and his misfortune to meet her.
In conclusion, at the final meeting Syanna dies, Anna lives, Dettlaff lives and Regis is gonna look for him and help him. I am also pleased that I did not put Regis in a position to fight against Dettlaff, given that he owed his life, he helped Regis regenerate. Regis would have fought on the side of Geralt out of loyalty, though he wouldn't have wanted Dettlaff's death. So, i am pleased i haven't put my good old friend in this ingrate position. Regis even said to Syanna that she is manipulative and it's easy to see that he doesn't like her nor trust her, yet he has promised to Geralt that she won't get hurt, hoping in a some kind of conciliation between Dettlaff and Syanna. Glad Dettlaff was faster in killing Syanna before Geralt or Regis could intervene. I do not mind I went to jail, I even got a nice painting as a souvenir from there. All's well that ends well.
So-called happy ending and reconciliation between sisters does not seem plausible to me, because Syanna is the main antagonist and she would remain unpunished for what she did. A psychopath remains a psychopath, she's not gonna change her nature ever, and we shouldn't erase her crimes. To me, not Dettlaff was the beast of Beauclair...
What Anna Henrietta has done after she found out Dettlaff's request and his threat that he will attack city if Syanna doesn't go to the meeting? She hid her sister due to a foolish arrogance, the time has past, the meeting did not take place and the vampires attacked the city. I believe this is a impardonnable mistake coming from a poor ruler who make a decision out of impulsivity and huge ego (''oh, he dares to threaten usss ?!''), without truly care about the risk to which she expose the city by her decision. A good leader would have taken a decision that would have been good for most, not a subjective one dictated by impulsiveness and arrogance, at the price of innocents people's death. Don't tell me she is oh, so concerned about her sister's fate, and suddenly remorse grabbed her, she didn't care about Syanna until the crimes has began, if she was so concerned she would have been looking for her sister much earlier, before the crimes occur, she had many years available for that. And again, a good leader should have considered the good of all citizens and would have made balance between putting at risk a person and sacrificing the whole city.
At first i liked her, but during the game she became unpleasent, also her behavior towards Geralt. (Not to mention the final discution with her, when Geralt tells her that she was the next victim and Syanna was planning her death from the beginning, and she doesn't believe him despite evidence even if she has read the letter, that makes her to looks...dumb, to say the last).
Unfortunately, after this discussion with Anna Henrietta we find ourselves in a cinematic '' a few days later'', which means that those three days have passed and we cannot do anything, the meeting requested by Dettlaff not occurred, and vampires attack the city, we don't have any control over how events arises. If the meeting between Dettlaff and Syanna would have happen before the vampires attack, then the course of events would had been different, as Regis said at some point, and all of them would have been alive, maybe.
I got the ending following my feelings and i'm happy with it. In my game ending Syanna dies, i let Dettlaff go and Regis is gonna look for him and help him adapt, Anna lives (i couldn't care less about her fate to be honest).
I didn't like Syanna, I couldn't find a way to be empathetic to her motivations. I found out that she is a manipulative psychopath who used Dettlaff and made a tool of him, knowing how much he loved her, deceiving him and not telling him who really she was. Even the first meeting between her and Dettlaff angered me, seeing that he was very worried about her, he thought she was prisoner and he feared that maybe she was injured, yet she has continued to lie to him until Geralt told him the truth.
I did not retrieve the ribbon for her, just because i didn't feel like it, i didn't want to do anything which would please her, not knowing about the forthcoming importance of this item. I did not romance her either, i really felt disgusted when she told me that she needs a man, and I thought: 'Well, i don't feel like doing it with you, sod off!'. I've talked to her to find out more about her story, and she told me about her first meeting with Dettlaff, how he was scared when she pursued him (i guess he was feeling vulnerable to her), how he showed his fangs, in order to scare her and hoping she will leave him alone, and i felt sorry for him and his misfortune to meet her.
In conclusion, at the final meeting Syanna dies, Anna lives, Dettlaff lives and Regis is gonna look for him and help him. I am also pleased that I did not put Regis in a position to fight against Dettlaff, given that he owed his life, he helped Regis regenerate. Regis would have fought on the side of Geralt out of loyalty, though he wouldn't have wanted Dettlaff's death. So, i am pleased i haven't put my good old friend in this ingrate position. Regis even said to Syanna that she is manipulative and it's easy to see that he doesn't like her nor trust her, yet he has promised to Geralt that she won't get hurt, hoping in a some kind of conciliation between Dettlaff and Syanna. Glad Dettlaff was faster in killing Syanna before Geralt or Regis could intervene. I do not mind I went to jail, I even got a nice painting as a souvenir from there. All's well that ends well.
So-called happy ending and reconciliation between sisters does not seem plausible to me, because Syanna is the main antagonist and she would remain unpunished for what she did. A psychopath remains a psychopath, she's not gonna change her nature ever, and we shouldn't erase her crimes. To me, not Dettlaff was the beast of Beauclair...
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I dont even need to read the whole thing, Dettlaff attacked a city and killed a lot of people that had nothing to do with it, he attacked Geralt and Regis just because he think they trick him if you give Syanna the ribbon, even Regis says that "I did what had to be done" in killing Dettlaff... Hell if you dont give the ribbon to Syanna, Regis is not so happy about letting Dettlaff walk away.
Yeah he could have killed her right away, and almost did, but that does not excuse what happened later on. Hell he does not even let her to say a word at the metting, he just comes to kill her. So he just determined that Syanna manipulated him from the start, something that im not really sure if its true, Syanna says otherwise, but i cant fully belive in everything she says. She did manipulate him intro killing 4 knights, thats for sure, but im not sure if it was from the start like Dettlaff belives.
Anna Henriatta was never gona agree in negociating with a vampire that just launched a huge threat, hell she agreed in helping him was the best at first, them he comes and threatens to destroy the whole city, no ruler whould have agreed to that, sister or no sister.
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Yes. Yes, he is.
Also, I find it disturbing that you can't emphasize with a victim of abuse, mistreatment, betrayal and rejection, but feel sympathy for a killer who flies off the handle at the tiniest provocation, takes a whole city hostage when he doesn't get what he wants and in general behaves like a petulant child.
This is One of my points . The fact that Dettlaff does a lot of wrong by taking the whole city hostage and killing hundreds of clueless folk. And thats when the story stops making sense. At that point going after the unseen one is the way to say ''screw you'' to Detlaff. Going to the unseen one is the direct way to make Dettlaff pay for what he has done to the innocent people. The Witcher's way. Should you decide to go with the Witchers way by not negotiating and bringing in Syanna (a human) to deal with a monster, you get locked into a bad ending. Thats not a good way to end a DLC otherwise well written. A witcher wouldnt want to, and should not bring in a human to negotiate with a monster. Specially not Geralt of Rivia. But the DLC wants you to.
The logic behind that makes even less sense. Why? Cuz you cant kill a higher vampire. Why is that? Just you cant bro. Give the guy what he wants.
Then why the heck did i travel all the way to Touissant for? To deliver a vampire his, human, girlfriend for him to kill...
After doing that yeah Geralt probably should retire from being a witcher:worried:
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All this thinking intro the endings maded me wonder, i i loaded a save and i went for the tragic ending, tryied to return to Henrietta and Syanna graves, hide and meditate until night... nothing, dissapointing... i trought there whould be some final hidden scene. Because there where that other quest, that i dont remember the name, where the ghost of the couple where returning at night and keep fighting in the cementery. So i belived there whould be a final scene there. Too bad.
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Yes, but you are doing just that, common sence also says that you should only do the main quests from start to finish, now tell me, what will happen if you do that? Maybe Geralt/Ciri history will finish just fine, (and to a point, because Geralt will be alone), but not for everybody else.
Well... in the tragic ending Geralt history finish just fine, he is hero for killing the beast and saving the city... and thats what you are doing by going to the beast the fast way, no more no less, what happen with Henrietta and Syanna in that case its not your problem.
You are saving more lives by going to the unseen, no doubt about it, just check, if you go for Syanna, its well over midnight when you return, also the vampires seems to be retreating inmidiately as well if you go to the unseen.
And in doing so you are failing to see there is something more going on with Syanna, you are given the chance to find out later, but there is nothing you could do about it at that point, and thats no Geralt fault, its Henrietta fault.
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Yes, but you are doing just that, common sence also says that you should only do the main quests from start to finish, now tell me, what will happen if you do that? Maybe Geralt/Ciri history will finish just fine, (and to a point, because Geralt will be alone), but not for everybody else.
Well... in the tragic ending Geralt history finish just fine, he is hero for killing the beast and saving the city... and thats what you are doing by going to the beast the fast way, no more no less, what happen with Henrietta and Syanna in that case its not your problem.
You are saving more lives by going to the unseen, no doubt about it, just check, if you go for Syanna, its well over midnight when you return, also the vampires seems to be retreating inmidiately as well if you go to the unseen.
And in doing so you are failing to see there is something more going on with Syanna, you are given the chance to find out later, but there is nothing you could do about it at that point, and thats no Geralt fault, its Henrietta fault.
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Hi all.
Well, i just finished Blood and Wine today. I got the Good Ending:
But i have a question: After Sister´s Hug, Is possible to see and talk again with Syanna? if is possible, where can i find her?
Thanks in advance.
PS: That final scene in Corvo Bianco was like WTF!...I love that ending for Geralt.
Well, i just finished Blood and Wine today. I got the Good Ending:
Not went to the unseen elder and go to talk with Syanna in the Land of a Thousand Fables, got the Ribbon, then i had sex with her :yawn: and then i kill Dettlaff, and finally go to saw her in the tower and talk with her to convince her to forgive her sister.
Thanks in advance.
PS: That final scene in Corvo Bianco was like WTF!...I love that ending for Geralt.
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I agree 100% My first play through ended with both sisters dead along with Dettlaff but my second ended with just Syanna dead. I do think she was justified in wanting those knights killed but she did it by forcing someone to kill for her. And honestly I don't for a moment believe Syanna is the lesser evil. Dettlaff is emotional but Syanna plots her actions meticulously and I find that far more evil than making due on a threat.
Anna got on my nerves later in the story. She became so used to pulling the "tough Duchess" act to the point where it bit her rightfully on the rear end later on. How many times does this woman need to be told that only a higher Vampire can kill another? I honestly wanted to slap her. I was fine with both of them ending up dead but I cared far more about Regis and Dettlaff.
Sadly you gotta go through the fairytale world to save Dettlaff. I loved it on my first play through but the magic was gone for the second one(Pun slightly intended). I just speed ran it. I still talked to Flint and had the ribbon convo but didn't help her get it. lol! Next time I play this DLC I'll skip Flint and go straight to planting those beans.
As for the OP, I think the endings make sense for what they were but they could have been improved. Example: Killing Dettlaff ends the attack on the city. This is just plain stupid. Killing Dettlaf should resort in the city having to deal with wild attacking Vampires.
How CDPR should have done it was this:
Go see Unseen Elder: Kill Dettlaff, Unseen Elder steps in and recall Vampires, Syanna kills Duchess, Regis goes on the run.
Go to Fairytale world gets ribbon: Kills Dettlaff, Wild Vampires attack city, no unseen elder to call them off, The city is completely destroyed but the Vampires are killed, Damien dies, Geralt can get his reward from the surviving Duchess and still have the option to play Dr. Phil to the sisters.
Go to Fairytale World no ribbon: Dettlaff Kills Syanna and leaves, no option to fight him. Vampires are called back which lessens the damage on the city. Geralt is thrown in prison.
I hated the fact that a ribbon decides such a major turn of events, but if you really think about it, Geralt can only make decisions based on the knowledge he has and this is determined by what other people tell him, a bit of common sense also goes a long way. I'm sure Syanna knew what the ribbon does, but didn't give Geralt the full truth. She instead gives him a sob story and flirts with him in an attempt to manipulate him. If the player falls for it and decides to do a seemingly harmless deed for Syanna, you get what you want, you save her, but at the cost of Regis' safety. It makes no sense for the Unseen to kill Regis. Even he warns Regis of what could happen if you kill another Vampire. They have rules and they stick to them.
Regis' fate is not decided by a ribbon. It's decided by Geralt forcing him to choose between him and Dettlaff.
Im finding very disturbing some excuses of the Dettlaff defenders, i really want to belive they did not understand the whole picture.
One whould think we all gona agreed when a child is a victim of abuse, isolation and mistreatment, and end up with bandits, that she gona come back looking for vengance, and on the other side we have a impulsive vampire that acts like a 8-year old child with a gun, ok she used you and you are pissed off, we get it, thats no reason to attack the city and kill hundreds of innocents. period. on top of that im not even sure if its a reason to kill Syanna, thats the only thing that may up to a debate, Syanna had reasons to do what she did as well. So if you think Syanna has to die, so is Dettlaff. Even Regis belives that Syanna does not deserved to die.
No so small detail, with a ribbon, the only reason Dettlaff end up dead is because he thinks that Geralt and Regis trick him, whiout even saying a word, that just crazy, and it shows how impulsive he is.
BTW, regis WANTS to kill Dettlaff, in the end that he kill Syanna and them you kill Dettlaff, in the end Regis tells you Dettlaff was now just consumed with rage and it was now a beast and there was no way to fix that.
Also, if you go to Damian, Regis tells you Dettlaff is mind controlling the lesser Vampires, the Vampires by themselves does not want to attack the humans.
EDIT: This is very funny, Syanna said that everyones think she is a monster because no one bother no hear her side of the history, and i think its exactly what is happening right now with Dettlaff defenders.
One whould think we all gona agreed when a child is a victim of abuse, isolation and mistreatment, and end up with bandits, that she gona come back looking for vengance, and on the other side we have a impulsive vampire that acts like a 8-year old child with a gun, ok she used you and you are pissed off, we get it, thats no reason to attack the city and kill hundreds of innocents. period. on top of that im not even sure if its a reason to kill Syanna, thats the only thing that may up to a debate, Syanna had reasons to do what she did as well. So if you think Syanna has to die, so is Dettlaff. Even Regis belives that Syanna does not deserved to die.
No so small detail, with a ribbon, the only reason Dettlaff end up dead is because he thinks that Geralt and Regis trick him, whiout even saying a word, that just crazy, and it shows how impulsive he is.
BTW, regis WANTS to kill Dettlaff, in the end that he kill Syanna and them you kill Dettlaff, in the end Regis tells you Dettlaff was now just consumed with rage and it was now a beast and there was no way to fix that.
Also, if you go to Damian, Regis tells you Dettlaff is mind controlling the lesser Vampires, the Vampires by themselves does not want to attack the humans.
EDIT: This is very funny, Syanna said that everyones think she is a monster because no one bother no hear her side of the history, and i think its exactly what is happening right now with Dettlaff defenders.
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Yes once again i have to agree with this standing point. Dettlaff kills innocent people. Hundreds of them. Whereas Syanna kills a bunch of stuck up weird knights. Who harmed her because they believe in some BS curse that may or may not be true. And the game doesnt let you ''just'' hunt down Dettlaff by going to the unseen one. Now in the other ending you can end up saving Syanna and killing Dettlaff but another problem is this:
The story makes it clear that you should NOT go to the unseen one IF you want to save Dettlaff as well. Regis tells you things along that line several times. But in the end, you should not go to the unseen one if you wanna save anybody BUT Dettlaff...
Regarding Dettlaff I found in myself less sympathy than to a silver basilisk. Both are beasts that must be put down, but basilisk is more adequate in his behaviour. And this decision came to me way before the Night of the Long Fangs - in his memories we've seen that he barely controlled himself when he had been pushed away from queue to bootblack.
He must be isolated from society, but I don't believe in exile for types like him. He is morally weak, he needs the stem, the support, the direction - that's what he found in Syanna, and she knew it - and he couldn't live long among lower vampires without it.
He must be isolated from society, but I don't believe in exile for types like him. He is morally weak, he needs the stem, the support, the direction - that's what he found in Syanna, and she knew it - and he couldn't live long among lower vampires without it.
I tend to agree with you, to a point. The thing is the whole Syanna part and the Fablesphere is very strong and well written, and that just does not allow for the Unseen path to get a happy ending, you are just ignoring Syanna by doing that.
The Unseen path ends the attack sooner, and you need to content with the notion that less innocents where killed, also that is what Geralt points out by choosing that path.
Its another reason of why i think we need final slides to be added to the exp to make clear the results and future for Toussaint and the characters.
Another thing that i think it could be added to make up for the people that picked that path, is a final scene where Syanna and Henrietta talks as ghosts on the tomb, similar to "Till death do us part" quest, using dialoges lines taken from the happy ending, so they can at least make peace and rest.
What exactly is the whole picture? The problem here is that there are no black and white characters in the Witcher world. No one can say X is right while Y is wrong. It just doesn't work that way, or it shouldn't, in any case.
I am not exactly sure if Dettlaff is the real antagonist here. All those things you list regarding 'abuse, isolation and mistreatment' he has experienced through his life tenfold or even more. That is still not an excuse for anything, and that goes for both of them. He is impulsive and ruthless, that's for sure, but another problem here is his perception. From the point of view of a vampire, a few deaths mean nothing, not even a destruction of a whole city. He has given Syanna a chance to meet him and explain herself, and when she failed to do so (not her fault), he wreaked havoc upon the very city whose inhabitants she has ordered him to kill in the first place. Toussaint was no random city in this case, it was clearly a well directed vengeance act.
Dettlaff is merely a tool here. He found a sanctuary in Syanna who in turn played him like a fiddle. Granted, he is no ordinary beast, so he should be well aware of the potential consequences of his actions. But should he be judged solely upon his misdeeds, and be given no second chance? I don't mean to say Dettlaff is innocent, but to simply condone him because he is 'impulsive' is the real case of not seeing the whole picture. Whyever did he bother to 'resurrect' Regis anyways? Surely not because he is a monster. Not sure what's worse - Dettlaff's emotional instability or Syanna's calculated design? Even Anna is quite spiteful and stubborn.
Consider Ciri for a moment. She did plenty of awful things in her past, yet she later atoned for it in a way through sacrifice. The same goes for Geralt, Yennefer, etc, etc. Also, Geralt can be exceedingly emotional and unbalanced when it comes to his loved ones. His words: I will kill, I will kill mercilessly.
I have ultimately killed him in my playthrough and helped the sisters reconcile, but I'm not exactly satisfied with how all of this was handled. That seems to be the intended 'right' choice; however, Dettlaff was denied a chance to make up for his crimes, and Regis has been condemned to eternal flight from his own kin. An opportunity to help Dettlaff would have saved Regis as well. I think CDPR should have sacrificed a few of the 'new' monster types and secondary quests and made the main story more meaningful and longer. Dettlaff was underused in my opinion. He is portrayed as someone who is torn by emotions and prepared to kill and even raze a whole city because of that and.... yeah, that's about it. It somehow feels too dull, after all is said and done.
I think the "Happy" Ending of the game isn't really that and it's interesting that I probably would have enjoyed getting it more if not for the fact the developers seem to consider it a happy ending when I prefer to consider it a bittersweet one akin to the Olgier ending. Olgier murdered his brother and "gets away with it" (finger quotes) at the price of losing his wife as well as everything else plus decades of mental torture.
Here, Detlaff is an alien vampire who is really a victim in all this but has since been turned against humanity by the events of the game. Him dying because of all the people's he's killed is appropriate but it's effectively a tragedy in the same Ogier's life is. Likewise, it forever screws over Regis who was not trying to make a choice between humanity and vampiredom but has now made one forever.
Syanna got screwed and while she gets away with her criime, that's only "happy" in the context of making everyone else happy.
She's a bad person who instigated all of this.
Here, Detlaff is an alien vampire who is really a victim in all this but has since been turned against humanity by the events of the game. Him dying because of all the people's he's killed is appropriate but it's effectively a tragedy in the same Ogier's life is. Likewise, it forever screws over Regis who was not trying to make a choice between humanity and vampiredom but has now made one forever.
Syanna got screwed and while she gets away with her criime, that's only "happy" in the context of making everyone else happy.
She's a bad person who instigated all of this.
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Syanna:
-Well, first off, it seems that Syanna did not wanted to use the Dettlaff from the start, i cant 100% be sure of this, Syanna said this, but obiusly i cant blindly accept everying she said as the absolute truth, but remember that she said about how they meet a few years before all this, she simply left because she was hard pressed to return those feelings, and he whould have never understood, so she left.
-What Syanna had to went trought at his age whould have screwed up anyone, just tell me, what whould have to a child if its mistreated, abused, isolated and abandoned in the middle of nowhere? We cant be use exactly the age of Syanna when all that happened but i think its about 15, thats A LOT for a kid, it whould screw up anybody.
-Syanna used Dettlaff as a tool for his revenge against the people that hurt her, and she think they hurt her (Henrietta), she could have picked 4 random innocent people to kill, she did not, remember that she aimed to kill Henrietta, the other 4 where a distraction.
-You can talk sense intro Syanna if you bother to investigate his history, so she will abandon his revenge crusade, and you can see she responds to someone that actually understood her on the fablesphere.
-Syanna returned for revenge only because she thinks her sister, and only one that helped and understanded her had abandon and betray her, Syanna has expecting Henrietta to issue a pardon and amesty for her, that did not happen, so she wrongly asumes that Henrietta forgot about it, and she will stand down if geralt can make her see she is wrong.
Ciri is not a valid comparison, Ciri never faced something like that, alone.
Dettlaff:
-He is not a child when all of this happen, first off it has emotional problems, and cant understand humans, thats already a problem.
-When he find out that Syanna tricked him in order to kill those knights, it seems to upset because a woman tricked him that is willing to destroy a city, is obiusly that he does not care about the murders, maybe only for its friend, because is willing to kill tons more. Also (and even Regis understand this), even if Syanna tricked him, thats not really a reason to kill her, since when killing a woman is acceptable just because she tricked you? And Regis supports this, and he does not have sympathy for Syanna. And dont tell me its because she trickled him to kill, Dettlaff does not gives a s*** about killing humans, the whole thing is just because she trickled him.
-When he does not get what he wants, not only he attacks a city, is willing to kill both his friend (Regis) and Geralt, someone that attempted to help him, and even showed that he was being used as a tool, he is just not thinking rationally, its acting in a brutal and impulsive way.
-He will not listen to reason that attacking a city to get what he wants is just crazy
-In the end, with ribbon is getting killed just because he thinks both Geralt and Regis tricked him, what is NOT TRUE. Again, way too impulsive, not thinking.
-He thinks that Syanna used him from the very start (since they meet), what can be or not be true, Syanna said its not, and he does not let her explain a thing.
-And i can add Dettlaff was not a just a child when all of this happen, again? its not, and its acting like one.
So, yeah, there is not a black a white here, they are both gray, but i can fully understand Syanna actions, she was really screwed up as a child, and it was out looking for revenge, and in the end, you can talk her out of it, she probably never had someone like Geralt that bother to investigate his history and ultimately maded see she was doing wrong, so she finally standed down.
Also Arturos Vigo give her a ribbon of invulneravility for a reason, he probably knewn she was not cursed and wanted to protect her.
Dettlaff had Regis help for his emotional problems, and he faced all this issue with Syanna, not only as an adult, but has a Vampire that has how many years now? and he ends up reacting in the most juvenile way possible. Also its not possible to talk out of it, he is determined to kill Syanna because of what he thinks, and thats it. Same reason of why he wants to kill Geralt and Regis, and you can see he is wrong there.
Simply put, if someone belives Syanna actions where wrong and deserved to die, so is Dettlaff, i could support that POV, but the whole thing of "Dettlaff is just a poor used Vampire, he deserves to survive", is just disturbing to me. Is so much disturbing that as this point, even Regis that wanted to save him from the start, knows that Dettlaff must die for what is done.
Also, i cant blame Henrietta for not giving up Syanna, Henrietta was willing to help the Vampire until he threaten the city, i can fully understand that, maybe if he where not going out launching threats something could have been different.
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