So you can tell Ciri that Emhyr wishes only to use her - and no empress ending, otherwise you insist to meet him because "He is your father". And Ciri will heed to Geralt's words.
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So you can tell Ciri that Emhyr wishes only to use her - and no empress ending, otherwise you insist to meet him because "He is your father". And Ciri will heed to Geralt's words.
He said "zegnaj corko / good bye, daughter", and then Ciri said to Yennefer that it was "Good bye, girl".
Didn't he say: "va faill, luned"? Luned can be translated as girl or daughter.
Yep, and that's why Yen told her not think about it
I did so, of course, but I just think that this affection shown by Ciri towards Emhyr in B&W is OOC. The fact that Ciri decided to be an empress to have more impact on the world, doesn't mean that she have to behave like they are happy family
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God almighty, I don't know why I'm doing this but I suppose I have to come to Emhyr's defense here. Emhyr is a complicated figure rather than a one-dimensional evil. He's an autocratic dictator and utterly ruthless in his pursuit of power but he's also an individual who is probably more efficient at warfare as well as competent than just about anyone else in the setting. As rulers go, Emhyr is probably the best one you could have in the setting save Pavetta. He didn't do the Massacre of Cintra nor is he any different from the Northern monarchs in his application of violence as well as terror.
He's a bad person but Ciri isn't going to judge him for that.
She has a lot of innocent blood on her hands as well.
I don't think Ciri would ever have a warm and affectionate relationship with Emhyr because he comes off as a clinical sociopath who doesn't have emotions the way "normal" people would but he isn't a serial killer or monster either. Ciri isn't going to hold the fact he's a murderer against him, though.
She fell for Eredin, I remind people.
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“This war is unique,” the bard explained seriously. “The armies of Nilfgaard leave behind them nothing but desolation and corpses: entire fields of corpses. It's a war of total extermination. Nilfgaard against everything. The cruelty...”
“There is no war without cruelty,” the witcher interrupted. “You're exaggerating, Dandelion. It's like burning the ferry: such is the practice... It is, I would say, a military tradition. Since the beginning of the world, armies have been killing, stealing, burning and attacking, unceasingly, and in that order. Since the beginning of the world, when a war breaks out, the farmers and their wives hide in the woods with the few possessions that they can carry and return home when the conflict is over...”
“Not this war, Geralt. After this war, no-one returns. There will be nothing to return to. Nilfgaard leaves behind it only rubble; its armies advance like lava from which no-one escapes. The roads are strewn, for miles, with gallows and pyres; the sky is cut with columns of smoke as long as the horizon. Since the beginning of the world, in fact, nothing of this sort has happened before. Since the world is our world... You must understand that the Nilfgaardians have descended from their mountains to destroy this world.”
". . . they defend these children,' she interrupted crossly. 'Yes, I know. From the werewolf who might kill two or three a year, while a Nilfgaardian foray can kill and burn an entire settlement in an hour."
“There is no war without cruelty,” the witcher interrupted. “You're exaggerating, Dandelion. It's like burning the ferry: such is the practice... It is, I would say, a military tradition. Since the beginning of the world, armies have been killing, stealing, burning and attacking, unceasingly, and in that order. Since the beginning of the world, when a war breaks out, the farmers and their wives hide in the woods with the few possessions that they can carry and return home when the conflict is over...”
“Not this war, Geralt. After this war, no-one returns. There will be nothing to return to. Nilfgaard leaves behind it only rubble; its armies advance like lava from which no-one escapes. The roads are strewn, for miles, with gallows and pyres; the sky is cut with columns of smoke as long as the horizon. Since the beginning of the world, in fact, nothing of this sort has happened before. Since the world is our world... You must understand that the Nilfgaardians have descended from their mountains to destroy this world.”
". . . they defend these children,' she interrupted crossly. 'Yes, I know. From the werewolf who might kill two or three a year, while a Nilfgaardian foray can kill and burn an entire settlement in an hour."
Yep, Emhyr seems to be a nice guy. I don't know why I'm picking on him
According to the books, it can be taken that in the end a spark of nobility was awoken somewhere deep in the Emhyr's soul, in the soul of an ordinary man, not an Emperor. There was a time when he was an outcast Duny, when he was saved by the love of the princess and the intervention of the Witcher. The Northern Kings also committed their crimes because ' all is fair in Love and War' and so many times repeated phrase "the aim justifies the means'. Maybe the slight transformation began when his own daughter called him a beast:
The Witcher also pointed out the monstrosity and loathsomeness of Emperor's future deeds:
In final chapters it can be seen that after all there is a need for redemption and for an act of Emperor's mercy and will although his closest adviser Vattier de Rideaux keeps repeating:
Even though there is awareness that with lesser good there is no forgiveness for big evil:
Then there comes the moment when during the conversation with the false princes the battle that decides whether good or evil will prevail is raging within him:
Kind of an odd choice for an example given Emhyr specifically wasn't involved in the Massacre of Cintra but his political enemies who he had all executed.
But it was his decision to attack Cintra
But the military and aristocracy were pushing me to go to war, encouraging me to attack Cintra. The nation needed living space and the vox populi would be
considered this my test as Emperor. I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I would take in one fell swoop, Cintra and Ciri. The rest you know.’
considered this my test as Emperor. I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I would take in one fell swoop, Cintra and Ciri. The rest you know.’
Kind of an odd choice for an example given Emhyr specifically wasn't involved in the Massacre of Cintra but his political enemies who he had all executed.
Yes and the Nilfgaardian military decided to turn it into the psycho rampage they did.
Against his orders no less.
So, yes, Emhyr is a conqueror and an autocrat and guilty of all manner or realpolitic like the Scoia'tael but he's not worse than Foltest.
Which is damning faint praise, I admit.
@Willowhugger, I only want to say here that "Stockholm syndrome" theory is rather weak. With Eredin it was not more than a superficial affection of a teenage girl to an elf, before she even knew who and what he is. It is no match with her relationships with Emhyr, and I deeply believe that book Ciri more easily would said "my buddy Eredin" than "Papa Emhyr".
What CDPR did with all these post-B&W endings is gone to full "happily ever after" mode: if Geralt is romancing sorceress - then it's a vacation/retirement in a small house at a quiet sunny place; if Ciri is empress - then she should be happy and shape up as a great ruler under wise directions of her daddy. Both cases are balancing on the edge of nonsense, and barely deserve a serious analysis.
What CDPR did with all these post-B&W endings is gone to full "happily ever after" mode: if Geralt is romancing sorceress - then it's a vacation/retirement in a small house at a quiet sunny place; if Ciri is empress - then she should be happy and shape up as a great ruler under wise directions of her daddy. Both cases are balancing on the edge of nonsense, and barely deserve a serious analysis.
Yup, that's particularly apparent with "Geralt alone, Ciri dead" ending where Dandelion visits Geralt in BaW epilogue: "I'm a lonely loser, my daughter is dead, but hey, I've got my vineyard in the end." :animier:
You're kidding, right? Tell me you're kidding. There is no such thing as a "Ciri dead" ending in B&W, that cannot possibly be. Tell me it's all a joke you just made up. Geralt fucking dies in that ending, dammit!
Nope, sorry, no can do.
The way the epilogues works is:- Yennefer or Triss visits if romanced
- if neither is romanced, Ciri visits Geralt (as a witcheress or the Empress)
- if she's dead (or you start the expansion standalone) you'll get Dandelion as a guest
https://youtu.be/djousJpegvA?t=250
Of course, seeing Geralt enjoying his time in Toussaint after Ciri just died makes absolutely no sense, but that's how it is... :crazy:
I *HATE* the Empress ending but Ciri has made it abundantly clear she's only wanted one thing out of life and that's a family. If Geralt says that's Emhyr she's going to go all in. If Geralt says that's with him and Yen/Triss she'll go all in that way. I think the idea Ciri becomes a blissful girl under Emhyr is entirely understandable since all she's ever wanted was a place to call her own.
People who wanted her resigned to being Empress were writing their own story rather than, necessarily, what's there.