Reposted from the "So Sad" thread:
I used to be a fan of an anime called
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion which had the premise of Japan being under the occupation of a monarchy which replaced the United States in this alternate universe. In Code Geass, the protagonist was the son of the Emperor of Britainnia and the heir to the throne. The Britannians practiced apatheid, basically, where the Britannians had rights above normal citizens and they milked their occupied colonies for their wealth.
One of the cool things about the anime was they milked the moral ambiguity for all its worth in that there were several nobility in Lelouch's land which weren't actively evil and some who were every bit as idealistic and iron-willed as Ciri is. The conflicts and contrasts between the characters formed a major part of the superior first season (and were absent from the crappy 2nd one until the very end). Lelouch, the titular character, wanted to DESTROY Britannia for example because he considered it a danger to his loved ones and personally offensive. Other characters wanted to reform Britannia so that its occupied conquered people could be equals to regular citizens.
Much conflict was between those who wanted freedom for Japan and those who wanted simply better lives for Japan as part of the Empire.
I think of this when discussing the Empress Ciri ending because while reform of Nilfgaard would be great, it's not necessarily an ideal path for many of us and would face these kind of trials as the reformers often find themselves fighting uphill and maybe even just solidifying the power base of the ruthlessly oppressive.
I think this applies a lot to how I handle Ciri's ending.
I don't think Ciri is remotely capable of changing the tide of the war actually. Ciri's powers are great but she and Geralt are still normal people and the latter was killed by a twelve-year-old boy with a pitchfork in the past.
Ciri doesn't actually regenerate damage. She's just an inhumanly fast swordswoman who can teleport. She's basically Nightcrawler.
Emhyr also tells her to stay away only if he's losing the war. This proves right because he's assassinated in the end and the Empire falls to his, presumed, political enemies.