The Rationale of Geralt: How did you make your choices?

[CTPhipps]

The Rationale of Geralt: How did you make your choices?

This is kind of a deep thread but we all love to roleplay on this game so this is a thread for discussing what sort of choices you made for your Geralt in Wild Hunt and why you think your Geralt would do this sort of thing. Unlike, say, Dragon Age or Skyrim, you're not so much making YOUR choices but how you'd think GERALT would react and it's interesting to speculate on the logic you used and share it.

So, go ahead, and talk about what decisions you made and why.

Also, what choices you WISH Geralt could have made.

Reasons of State

For me, my Geralt sided with Dijkstra by walking away for multiple reasons. The first was that Roche and Thaler had kept him out of the loop. The next was that he wasn't at all happy with Nilfgaard getting more power, not because he thought Nilfgaard was objectively worse than the North (and was in many ways better) but because Emhyr was a direct threat to Ciri or so he perceived.

Supporting Dijkstra was the only way Geralt could make a direct strike against Emhyr and, hopefully, weaken him enough so he couldn't threaten Ciri in the future. Just as he was protecting Triss and Yennefer from Radovid by assassinating him, so did he have to side with Dijkstra to make sure Emhyr didn't win the war and go after his daughter.

And in the words of Baron Wulfenbach, "It worked."

The Tree

In the end, I chose to have my Geralt destroy the Tree not because he was consciously choosing the village over the children but because he COULDN'T TRUST THE TREE. After the business with the Pesta, he wasn't really inclined to listen to any supernatural monsters anymore. The fact the villagers said that it had been murdering people left and right also inclined me to believe it needed to be taken down.

Geralt will be haunted by those killed for the rest of his life.

The Bloody Baron

I should have hated the Bloody Baron as a spouse abuser and the local dictator but I couldn't help but think of him as victim of the conflicts as much as anything. I think he was severely traumatized by the wars he participated in and there's no real therapists in the past. As such, I thought of it as a relatively happy ending, even if I assume if his wife ever regains her sanity that she'd leave him again.

 

[Songborn]

I am well aware that most of my choices in games are based on the fact that I am a bleeding heart. I can't even make pixels sad.
I generally try to minimize pain, go for the diplomatic option (or in the case of W3 Axii the hell out of everybody) and stick to my friends. For example in Reason of State I told Dijkstra that I would not let him kill the three people standing next to me. Why he thought that attacking us would have solved that problem, I will never know. I can't say I regret it either as I prefer the Nilfgaardian empire to a Northern empire.

I killed the tree because I did not trust it and assumed that it might be the Mother character from She who knows. I had no intention on releasing that into the world.

I chose to turn the Botchling into a Lubberkin because I liked what it represented: Saving an innocent from being a monster. That child did not deserve what was done to it. It was unloved and buried in some ditch. Nobody's story should end like that. I told the Baron though that he was a terrible person and I continued to hold that opinion until the very end of that quest. I'd rather have seen Anna with her daughter than with him, but Tamara rushed into another commitment that forbid her from taking her mother along.

And yes I do see the irony in being such a bleeding heart and having Emhyr as an avatar.

 

[Scholdarr.452]

Reasons of State

I sided with Roche because my Geralt likes Roche more than Dijkstra. (On top of that I disagree with the statement that Emhyr was a direct thread for Ciri because superpowers...)

The Tree

I killed the spriti in the tree for the same reason. There was no way to proof that the tree was telling the truth and so it wasn't sure if the children could be saved after all and releasing the evil spirit would most have most likely caused a lot of harm anyway.

 

[CTPhipps]

Infiltrating the Witch Hunters

In the end, my Geralt screwed up the whole plan of letting Triss get tortured in order to get the information they needed. He was antsy about the whole thing from the very beginning so the moment Triss screamed, my Geralt freaked out and started murdering all of them. In the end, it didn't do much of a favor for Dijkstra but the simple fact was Geralt only cared about two people in all this -- Dandelion and Triss.

Sorry, D.

He was less than pleased about that.

Monarch of Skellige

I was disappointed in this because I totally supported Cerys all the way and there was no reason NOT too. Hjalmar is kind of an idiot after all and I see no reason why he should be King. Likewise, Lady Bran gives a pretty convincing argument for her son but we cant side with her except to abet a mass murder.

 

[Songborn]

Monarch of Skellige

I was disappointed in this because I totally supported Cerys all the way and there was no reason NOT too. Hjalmar is kind of an idiot after all and I see no reason why he should be King. Likewise, Lady Bran gives a pretty convincing argument for her son but we cant side with her except to abet a mass murder.

Skellige was the easiest choice for me! Cerys showed patience, smarts and compassion, all qualities I believe to be essential for a leader. Hjalmar on the other hand seemed to be made to be Cerys' best warrior. He would be able to lead people in battle, but Cerys would be the one to make sure that battle was actually necessary. I was amused that Lady Bran's argument was just a huge critique on democracy, while normally democracy is often portrayed as the better option compared to a monarchy.

 

[CTPhipps]

Skellige was the easiest choice for me! Cerys showed patience, smarts and compassion, all qualities I believe to be essential for a leader. Hjalmar on the other hand seemed to be made to be Cerys' best warrior. He would be able to lead people in battle, but Cerys would be the one to make sure that battle was actually necessary. I was amused that Lady Bran's argument was just a huge critique on democracy, while normally democracy is often portrayed as the better option compared to a monarchy.

I think she was making a really CRUDDY argument too. I mean, you could easily just say, "I think it should be a single monarch which is hereditary because that will solve the CONSTANT CIVIL WARS on the island."

Which we see happen when Nilfgaard is invading.

Great job, Lugos.

 

[UndiscoveredAdv]

The Tree

In the end, I chose to have my Geralt destroy the Tree not because he was consciously choosing the village over the children but because he COULDN'T TRUST THE TREE. After the business with the Pesta, he wasn't really inclined to listen to any supernatural monsters anymore. The fact the villagers said that it had been murdering people left and right also inclined me to believe it needed to be taken down.

Geralt will be haunted by those killed for the rest of his life.

At first I decided to free it (because of the orphans), what it then asked (i.e. let me possess black beauty in some creepy ritual) made me nervous, but I still went with it. Nothing could have possibly prepared me for the utter horror that I felt upon seeing what had became of the Baron because of this decision, I was in absolute shock, and have never felt so bad in a game.

So, my Geralt magically went back in time and killed that horrible thing, though he will regret what became of the orphans for the rest of his days. I like to think that Jonny managed to smuggle them out before they came to any harm though, it helps me sleep at night.

 

[Gerald01]

Reasons of State

Gerald is not a murderer, nor a plotter, therefore he refused to take part in it past the Thaler mission.


The Tree
Tree is a monster. Witchers kill monsters.
Crones are monsters too. But Crones tell Gerald about ashen haired lady.


The Bloody Baron

Not much of a choice here, Baron just your average miserable Joe. Still needed to find Ciri, so humoured him.

Infiltrating the Witch Hunters

Gerald is not a murderer. Triss volunteered. A bit of torture never killed anyone. Triss has undying gratitude though, even though she murdered a guy right afterwards.

Monarch of Skellige

The ruler of Skellige is not his concern, he just sided with Cerys by chance, after helping every candidate equally, as her plan made the most sense.

 

[UndiscoveredAdv]

Infiltrating the Witch Hunters

Gerald is not a murderer. Triss volunteered. A bit of torture never killed anyone. Triss has undying gratitude though, even though she murdered a guy right afterwards.

At least she managed to get her fingernails back, though I still couldn't let her go through with it, I, and Geralt, snapped.

 

[Gerald01]

At least she managed to get her fingernails back, though I still couldn't let her go through with it, I, and Geralt, snapped.

It doesn't help that the only alternative is a massive bloodbath, unlike something a bit more subtle

 

[CTPhipps]

It doesn't help that the only alternative is a massive bloodbath, unlike something a bit more subtle

To be fair, it's a massive bloodbath of Witch-Hunters.

Not much of a downside, is it?

 

[UndiscoveredAdv]

To be fair, it's a massive bloodbath of Witch-Hunters.

Not much of a downside, is it?

That's how I saw it, you kill a lot of them in the game as it is, and for less I might add. I really tried to go through with it, stick to the plan, but I couldn't let them torture her willingly, that whole scene is constantly giving you the chance to intervene, testing your willpower I guess.

 

[Gerald01]

To be fair, it's a massive bloodbath of Witch-Hunters.

Not much of a downside, is it?

Why would that be? They're human beings. Sure many are maybe corrupt and brutal, but some may just do it as their job, or because they are legitimately concerned about out of control magic users.
By this rationale, adhering to the Lodge or similar organisations warrants one to automatically deserve death.


Am I right in supposing you instead would not say the same of the Squirrels?

 

[CTPhipps]

Why would that be? They're human beings. Sure many are maybe corrupt and brutal, but same may just do it as their job, or because they are legitimately concerned about out of control magic users.
By this rationale, adhering to the Lodge or similar organisations warrants one to automatically deserve death.

The Witch-Hunters strike me as more KKK or Friends of Humanity versus Magical FBI.

I'm also a bigger fan of the Lodge from AOK than the books or W3 too.

After all, what does Geralt do?

Kill monsters.

Of course, this trailer always bugged me a bit.

Because, in the game's setting, she REALLY COULD BE guilty of cannibalism and murdering the wounded.

 

[Songborn]

To be fair, if you don't freak out and just ask too many questions you get attacked anyway. To put it in the words of a great master: "They started it!"

 

[UndiscoveredAdv]

To be fair, if you don't freak out and just ask too many questions you get attacked anyway. To put it in the words of a great master: "They started it!"

That's what I did, I asked them not to torture her because they'd "damage the goods" that didn't work, so I tried to mind-trick them, which then made them hostile. I wasn't intending to kill them all, I just blew my cover.

 

[Gerald01]

The Witch-Hunters strike me as more KKK or Friends of Humanity versus Magical FBI.

I'm also a bigger fan of the Lodge from AOK than the books or W3 too.

After all, what does Geralt do?

Kill monsters.

Of course, this trailer always bugged me a bit.

Because, in the game's setting, she REALLY COULD BE guilty of cannibalism and murdering the wounded.

"They look like the big baddies I was told to loathe" is not a vald argument (ops, forgot, anything goes in Willow-world).

Joking aside, I really disliked that trailer because it's out of character for G. to do that.
Maybe that was really a witch/bandit, how does he know she's not?

EDIT: just saw your edit, yes exactly, it doesn't make sense.

 

[CTPhipps]

To be fair, if you don't freak out and just ask too many questions you get attacked anyway. To put it in the words of a great master: "They started it!"

The Witch Hunters kind of forfeit any right to be treated as human beings in a world as stark and brutal as the Witcher when they start torturing and murdering the innocent.

I'm not a big fan of torturing EVIL people in RL.

Kiling Philippa Eilhart is something I'm all for but Geralt would make it quick.

---------- Updated at 07:23 PM ----------

"They look like the big baddies I was told to loathe" is not a vald argument (ops, forgot, anything goes in Willow-world).

Joking aside, I really disliked that trailer because it's out of character for G. to do that.
Maybe that was really a witch/bandit, how does he know she's not?

You really misunderstand my moral system, friend.

No, I'd be down on the WItch Hunters for their actions than their membership. I don't hate Nilfgaard, for example, just have issues with Emhyr and those are personal ones versus the belief he's worse than Radovid (which he's not).

And yes, I couldn't help but think, "Hey, remember when Geralt helped Abigail and she turned out to be an evil Witch?"

Not that Geralt wouldn't have protected her anyway.

 

[UndiscoveredAdv]

Joking aside, I really disliked that trailer because it's out of character for G. to do that.
Maybe that was really a witch/bandit, how does he know she's not?

I never got that trailer, especially the monologue over it (which I believe is in the books, but not in this specific context), unless I'm missing some deeper meaning, Geralt says he'd rather not choose at all, and then proceeds to 'choose'.

 

[Gerald01]

Not that Geralt wouldn't have protected her anyway.

This is a contradiction though, he can't be for "fair trial" and "rule of law" when he himself acts like Judge Dredd (or at least the games forces you to) lots of times.
Maybe's such an hypocrite he believes himself capable of fair judgement versus others who're just trying to do the same thing, but I doubt it.
Possibly just bad writing.