If you give him to Triss, you get to play poker against the wraith. Far better than killing a devourer. Personally though, I liked Shani's character better. Lets just say I'm not attached to bossy women like Triss. In the books she's shown to be far more clingy. In the game she's modelled more on the lines of Yennefer.
I was torn on this. I first thought "Triss, because Alvin will need to be trained in magic." Then I thought Shani because I thought that she would be a better "mother" but when she started ragging on me I loaded a previous save and changed to Triss.
Sorry about the spoiler. I'll repent.Here's another:Triss wants you to be strict with Alvin before she accepts your ring.Shani wants you to be liberal before she accepts your ring.There.Think of the kid as well before you decide for him. Discipline or care.
My moment of truth has come. I must now choose and I have them both on me.They dont like each other much do they? I dont suppose I can just leave the kid in the hospital until the end of time? That is choose to not choose.**EditAh I see the game forces the choosing. And adds the "Who can protect him" twist. That would almost make me have to pick Triss over Shawni as I believe her more able to defend herself and Alvin.Another thought I had - In a world where magic is real. A time and place where an individual can touch reality and bring changes though mere will. A world where the ability is a talent burning brightly inside the living human mind, were I the one with such fiery thoughts, my need to learn more, to be more, to accept and own the magic would be overwhelming. How could I then deny Alvin his same hunger.
The truth is, i never liked Shani much. Triss has a difficult personality, yes, but i like her. In my many play-throughs i have done both, but i mostly give Alvin to Triss.And i really don't like Shani when she tells about her "Everyone knows she can't have her own kids, and you gave her Alvin?"She seems to me like a spoiled girl, i want to kick her.*Peace to all who like Shani*
Actually I kinda like Shani which is why I picked her first and second times.Triss is hiding something from Geralt and not to be trusted which made me pick Shani.A relationship that is not trushworthy is no relationship at all.A relationship requires trust.I will one day I'll pick Triss to see how things unfold.
To expand on what Corylea said: I'd to point out some additional things, but first, i have to mention something about Shani:I like Shani, personally speaking, much better than Triss. There're a number of reasons for this, and I swear it has next-to-nothing to do with the fact that she has an absolutely stunning pair of legs. (Yes, yes, I know it's considered a little bit 'pathetic' to lust after a game character, but... I can't help it. Very simply put: She's just visually appealing.)...Except when she's wearing that ridiculous nightgown. Whatever has gotten into her?The only thing worse is that ludicrous dress that Triss insists on wearing.I like Shani better because she's genuinely nice, genuinely friendly and genuinely wants to help people. All around and in every way, she's a beautiful person.And I think she'd make a 'good mother' to Alvin, but while that would be the very concern for any normal kid . . . well, Alvin is in no way normal . . . which leads me to my point:- - - - - - - - - -There're two issues that separate Alvin from other children, and these are the two most important issues, in his case, and both issues can only be handled by Triss, while Shani, despite her best intentions and all her attempt to love Alvin to the best of her ability, cannot hope to handle at all or even learn how to handle either. These are, in order:1. SAFETY. He has to be kept safe. Shani has neither the power nor the contacts nor the wherewithal to keep him safe, nor does she, I don't think, really grasp the danger he's in and will continually remain in until he masters his powers and thus is able to defend himself, which brings me two #2:2. POWER. It's made evident by Ch. 3 that Alvin possesses such powers that unless he can gain control over them: dire consequences will result. Shani doesn't even understand these forces, so she certainly can't help him. Only Triss can come to understand and thus help him control his powers.These two issues are paramount. His "comfortable and stable childhood" is, unfortunately for him, tertiary to these two needs.Sharing between Shani and Triss, like Corylea suggests as the ideal, is unfortunately impossible. Jealousy and mistrust of one another cannot be cast aside. So far as I can determine (at least by the start of Ch.3): it'll always be there.- - - - - - - - - -Next: Ahmet's & Reaper's point about Triss's untrustworthiness and duplicity would obviously be a major concern if this were real life.A far along as I am, at the beginning of Ch.3: the best thing I think Geralt can do for Alvin is to marry Triss and make sure he fills in the spaces that Triss cannot. Unfortunatley: Geralt has his own problems, and I'm not talking about his 'Witcher wanderlust" or his "Witcher's resignation" to an inevitably young death . . . whatever you want to call it. There are deep conflicts in him that I would think are very likely ineradicable elements that've become part of his core being. Amnesia or no: this is one of those aspects of him that cannot be forgotten.What those problems are I have no clear idea. I haven't read the books.Like I've said before: Triss is a highly skilled manipulator, and so accustomed to this skill that she barely even thinks about it. She's essentially a politician. In fact: whence does she get her wealth? Better question: from whom does she get he wealth? Again: I haven't read the books, so I don't know the true answer to this, although there's of course only one [obvious] person I have in mind.In her ambition, Triss has also learned to be cold and aggressive, even a little bit arrogant at times. Even in dealing with her 'love' Geralt, she has trouble expressing her fealings. As a political animal, as a power-hungry sorceress, I don't think that sensitivity would exactly be one of the things she's particulary trained herself for.So... in short: Triss would not make a very good mother at all. She'd be cold, distant, inattentive. Perhaps Alvin could help her to learn that sort of 'motherly instinct' that she has, seemingly, never had. Maybe.Anybody who's read the books: correct me if I'm mistaken.- - - - - - - - - -One last thing, as far as the Geralt-Shani vs. the Geralt-Triss match-up, which hasn't been mentioned: In my personal opinion: Triss and Geralt are made for each other. (Powerful sorceress meets powerful witcher, both outcasts in their own way, each with their own variety of powers and talents.) ...While Shani, I think, would quickly or at least eventually get tired of Geralt -- or vice versa. Shani and Geralt are not well-matched. With them: it seems a relationship largely based on lust, while Triss' and Geralt's relationship seems largely based on mutual respect.Hope I haven't rambled too much.
Evnissyen, you're right about how Triss would be as a mother and Shani as a mother. You'll see it through your game. However, how can you give a child to a sorceress who has unknown intentions? How do you know she won't sell Alvin to an organization who would dissect him or even vivisect to understand his powers better? But one can't be sure if Shani would be able to protect Alvin or tutor him. So, it's really a hard decision.
Yeah... actually I guess I was a little elaborate there, but... well, it'd be an elaborate subject and a really tough choice if this were real-life.It's true we don't really 'know' Triss, at this point, though we're expected, I guess, to trust that the 'old' Geralt knew her enough to trust her, and that Triss is 'good', or at least good enough (and trustworthy enough) to earn the trust and good intentions of the witchers at Kaer Mohren (except for Lambert, but even he at least only seems to be 'holding judgement').I think it's telling, actually, that in Geralt's journal it says he's never met a mage without political ambitions... it sort of shows that even Geralt's impulse is not to trust a sorceress....Yet, he seems to trust Triss, and Triss doesn't seem anxious that he might suddenly 'remember' something she doesn't want him to. And she seems fully confident to play the difficult wife with him before he's even agreed to marry him. So... this suggests to me that she doesn't feel there're any skeletons that he knows of and hasn't yet remembered.But e-ahmet is right that we don't really know what Triss' intentions for Alvin are... and that despite the fact that Triss can protect him from others while Shani can't . . . we still don't know if Alvin truly is 'safe' with Triss, whereas Shani seems like a completely trustworthy person who would make a very good mother.Also, to give Shani some credit: she does know a little magic -- since whenever she's nearby and Geralt is injured, Shani casts a healing spell on him . . . and the story she tells him about her experience with [spoiler, won't tell] suggests that she can tell whom to avoid and at least has some perceptiveness... . Unfortunately she can't actually physically protect him, as Triss can, and this is important . . . thus I give the boy to Triss, despite my reservations.Also, she's smart enough and perceptive enough to know -- and her attentiveness to him and his needs and 'difficulties/problems' would bring her to this conclusion really quickly -- that she would need to get the help of somebody familiar with magic, so that his powers don't end up spiraling out of control.Also, having a good and attentive mother who can make him feel happy and secure could help him, I'd think, to keep these powers from spiraling out of control....Thus maybe Shani would've been the better choice, after all.Hell, I don't know... .But it's not as if the game falls apart if you make the wrong choice... .EDIT:Also, one wonders why Triss has spent so much time with the Witchers at Kaer Mohren . . . it's not because of Geralt, I don't think, but probably she's going where the Power is. Like in her home city of Vizima: she's politicking, she's looking for connections with the most powerful players.Geralt shouldn't be much different, I wouln't think -- given her character: her choice to marry Geralt should be a tactical choice. Marrying a 'freak' whom normal humans distrust and even hate has its negatives, but Geralt also has fame -- to an extent -- and physical power . . . for whatever that's worth. I'm not sure what else he has. He doesn't have money, for one thing. Or connections. Also, his choice to side with the Scoia'tael can't be good for her, politically, so... now I wonder about that choice. Is it really smart politics?As for Alvin, it's made obvious almost right away at the start of Ch.3: she wants to take him in not because she suddenly has a great desire to be a mother -- as Shani seems to experience -- but because she wants full and exclusive control over 'the boy with the power', so to speak....Still... the other Witchers -- including Vesemir, who I imagine is no fool -- trust her . . . and like I said, Geralt knows her better than anyone, we're led to think, and she seems to have no anxiety over him regaining any memories that would be unfavorable to her.
Actually she hasEvnissyen said:
That's maybe why she doesn't want to help with Geralt's amnesia but that's a spoiler from Sapkowski's books and I don't want to ruin it since you may read them yourself.
Maybe, but... face it: Alvin needs a mother (Geralt, after all, can't take care of him), and Shani and Triss are the only two women Geralt has a history with and can therefore 'trust'... well.. unless you include Turuviel, I suppose, maybe, but... we don't meet her until later on, and... she's not exactly the mothering type, not just because she's a warrior, and how is she going to take care of a boy everyone is after while at the same time trying to fight a major battle against the Order?I suppose the game could have offered us a third choice but... that means lots more programming, and graphical work.
It says something important about Triss that raising the kid in a cathouse seems like a better option.fchopin said:
Evnissyen talks about how Triss could protect Alvin better than Shani, and she gives a lovely analysis of the situation, but in practice, it doesn't work out that way.
At the beginning of Chapter 4, Alvin is kidnapped no matter who you give him to. And when Alvin relates the events to Geralt, he says, "Yeah, she's pretty good at taking care of herself" no matter which of the women you've chosen. I think Triss should be able to protect Alvin better than Shani, but in practice, it doesn't work out that way.
Hey, that's he! No matter how sensitive I might seem (ahem)... . (Look at the symbol! The symbol! It has an arrow!)Do I need to post a picture of myself as proof, or something?Corylea said:
True.
In fact: giving her to Shani is I think the only thing I regret. In regard to I think everything else I feel like I made the best decision. But if I ever play through the game again: I'll give the boy to Shani. Not because it makes any narrative difference (I know it doesn't) but because I'll just feel better... for some strange reason that means this game penetrates me more deeply than your typical game -- which means, of course, good writing.I'm sure I'll also end up siding with the Order, because what's the point in playing a game a second time if you aren't going to make significant changes in your gameplay? . . . although I swear I won't enjoy it. And I liked having Yaevinn as a loyal companion. He proved to be a good, honorable man, loyal to his friends.
I didn't like killing Siegfried at all, but it was his choice, and he proved to be a blind fool, which is hard for me to respect, and he attacked me... . Nor did I feel guilty at all about killing White Rayla (sure she was pretty, and sure I love her haircut (actually: except that mine was black: I used to have the same haircut)... but she was a vicious racist just like the Order. A mercenary no different from the people she was hired by. I have no sympathy.Toruviel, on the other hand... well, first of all: she's an old friend of Geralt. Hard to justify opposing her, knowing that. Second: she had less of a choice in her involvement in the war than Rayla. She was fighting for her own people's livelihood, she wasn't just a sellsword.
Ahuh. Child-support, man. It's a killer, I hear.Thankfully I don't have any rugrats of my own. (Phew!)So, go kill those monsters and earn those orens, babe, you've got big expenses now!
Sorry! The symbol used to be right under the picture, then they changed the forum, and now the symbol is at the very bottom, and I tend to forget that they've moved the damned thing. For most posts, that doesn't matter that much, since the top and bottom are close together, but yours tend to be quite long, so your symbol was off the edge of the screen when I was looking up how to spell your name.Evnissyen said:
I've played the Scoia'tael path a few times and the Neutral path a few times; I've never been able to bring myself to side with the Order. If I take the game seriously enough to care about it, I take it too seriously to side with the Order. And if I take it lightly enough to side with the Order, I'm not invested enough in what's going on to care. So, no Order for me. I'm okay with that. More than okay, actually.