Ceadmil!

The epilogue to The Witcher saga continues to spark heated debates among fans about what happened to Geralt. Did the Witcher survive, or did he die during the Pogrome in Rivia in June 1268? Many years later, we were given the epilogue to "Season of Storms", which was quite mysterious, as it suggested that the White Wolf might have returned to the Continent years later and this surprised many people, including me, because it had finally seemed as though he had died.

Every reader has the right to their own interpretation of the text, and today I’ll present mine to you, supported, of course, by specific excerpts from the books—because, after all, there could even have been a “resurrection” here.

Disclaimer here - i am using translator, because i own books in polish, so if you want check cites on you own you should have this on your mind that translated verison can be different than official english translation. Of course there will be spoilers from books. And i know, that games explained us how they "bring Geralt back" in Witcher 2. How he returned to Continent, but i want to focus only on books:

“Geralt was unconscious and as white as chalk. He lay motionless, but when they stood over him, he began to cough, wheeze, and spit blood. He started shaking, trembling so violently that Ciri couldn’t hold him. Yennefer knelt down beside him. Triss could see that her hands were trembling. She herself suddenly felt as weak as a child; her vision grew dark. Someone caught her, saving her from falling. She recognized Jaskier.

“It’s not working at all,” she heard Ciri’s voice, filled with despair. “Your magic isn’t healing him at all, Yennefer.”

“We’ve come…” Yennefer moved her lips with difficulty. “We’ve come too late.”

“Your magic isn’t working,” Ciri repeated, as if she hadn’t heard her. “What good is it, all your magic?”

You’re right, Ciri, Triss thought, feeling something tighten around her throat. We know how to summon hailstorms, but we can’t ward off death. Even though, on the surface, the latter seems easier.

“We sent for a healer,” said the dwarf standing next to Jaskier in a hoarse voice. “But he’s nowhere to be seen…”

“It’s too late for a healer,” said Triss, surprised by the calmness of her own voice.

“He’s dying.”

Geralt shuddered once more, coughed up blood, stiffened, and fell still. Jaskier, who was supporting Triss, sighed in despair; the dwarf cursed. Yennefer let out a wail; her face suddenly changed, contorting and becoming hideous.”

It seems that the Witcher died right at that moment. Ciri’s prophecy from Kaer Morhen had come true. After all, as it was written: “It can’t be word for word,” said Geralt, staring into the embers. “But the meaning if there’s any point in looking for meaning in this was this: Coën and I will die. Teeth will be our undoing. Both of us will be killed by teeth. His two. Mine three.”

Further descriptions of Geralt’s body suggest that he may already have been dead:
“Yennefer didn’t answer. She held Geralt’s limp head with both hands as it slipped through her grasp, repeating spells in a breaking voice.”

I will now move on to a few points that, in my opinion, suggest that the Witcher has returned to life.

1) The scene in which Ciri directs a beam of light at the Witcher.

What happens next? The unicorn Ihuarraquax appears, using his power to aid the Swallow: “The unicorn stepped closer, neighed again, pawed the ground, and struck the cobblestones hard with his hoof. He bowed his head. The horn protruding from its smooth forehead suddenly flared with a sharp light, a glow that momentarily dispelled the mist. Ciri touched the horn. Triss let out a muffled cry as she saw the girl’s eyes suddenly glow with a milky heat, as if she were surrounded by a fiery halo. Ciri didn’t hear her; she didn’t hear anyone. With one hand she still held the unicorn’s horn; with the other, she pointed toward the motionless witcher. A ribbon of shimmering light, glowing like lava, flowed from her fingers.”

I’d like to draw attention to the last sentence, which appeared earlier—specifically in "Time of Contempt", where Ciri healed the same unicorn with her power:

“Hael, Aenye!

The unicorn neighed wildly and tried to rise, bracing itself on its front legs. Ciri’s arm rose of its own accord, her hand formed the gesture on its own, and her lips cried out the spell of their own accord. A luminous, undulating brightness flowed from her fingers. The fire roared with flames. The waves of light radiating from her hand touched the unicorn’s wounded thigh, focused, and penetrated it.

“I want you to be healthy! I want this! Vess’hael, Aenye!”

So here we have the same spell that healed the mortally wounded unicorn. The only difference is that back then, Ciri drew power from the fire, whereas in the case of the witcher, she enlisted the help of the “little horse.” In both instances, there is mention of a mysterious “radiance” emanating from the girl’s fingers.

2) Geralt’s Condition on Apple Island.

Many people suggest that the place Geralt ended up in is the afterlife, a sort of Avalon from the world of King Artur, whose influence is particularly evident in this volume. In my opinion, it is simply another world to which he was taken along with Yennefer. Ciri wanted to give them their own place. What supports this view?

A) Geralt feels pain—“His stomach ached, his chest ached, his ribs ached, and the tight corset of bandages made it abundantly clear that the city of Rivia and the trident were not a nightmare.”

If Geralt was dead, why would he feel pain precisely where he was struck? Why would he need bandages if he were dead? Can you feel pain in the afterlife, too?

B) His beloved Yennefer was with the witcher; if Apple Tree Island were the afterlife, what would the sorceress be doing there? Did she die while casting spells? Perhaps, but the text in no way suggests that she died while healing the Witcher. It explicitly states that the sorceress was placed in the boat unconscious, not dead. “Jaskier was the first to figure it out. Perhaps because he knew the legend, having once read one of its poeticized versions. He picked up Yennefer, who was still unconscious.”

In this scene, Triss also asks if she can join the witcher and the sorceress. Ciri, however, replies, “Ciri,” Triss whispered. “Little sister… Let me sail with you…"

"You don’t even know what you’re asking for, Triss.”

What could that have meant? Ciri was likely aware that Triss would suffer if she found herself in a place where Geralt and Yennefer were happy together, and where she would have to watch them from the sidelines at best, because Geralt always chose Yennefer. So it wasn’t really about the girl transporting the Witcher and the sorceress to the afterlife.

3) Epilogue to “Season of Storms”

As you know, in the epilogue to the 2013 book, a character appears who bears a striking resemblance to Geralt. “That mare…” she managed to say, barely able to speak for excitement. “That mare is named Płotka. Because all your horses are named that. Because you’re Geralt of Rivia. Geralt the Witcher of Rivia.” He looked at her for a long time. He was silent. Nimue was silent too, her gaze fixed on the ground.

“What year is it?”

“One thousand three hundred…” “she raised her eyes in astonishment. One thousand three hundred seventy-three after the Rebirth.”

“If that’s the case,” the white-haired man rubbed his face with his gloved hand, “then Geralt of Rivia has been dead for a long time. He died one hundred and five years ago. But I think he’d be glad if…” He’d be glad that, after these one hundred and five years, people still remember him. That they remember who he was. Heck, they even remember his horse’s name. Yes, I think he’d be glad… If only he could know about it. Come on. I’ll walk you back.”

What does this quote mean? It means that Geralt hasn’t been seen on the Continent for 105 years. It’s widely believed that the witcher is dead. And his legend ended right there in Rivia. For this reason, I also believe that Geralt couldn’t have returned to the Continent the way it was portrayed in the games, since it was precisely during Nimue’s time that the legend of the White Wolf ended in Rivia, and Geralt had too much influence on what happened in the games for any historian, writer, or storyteller not to have mentioned it—but that’s just a brief digression 🙂.

Many people suggest that either Nimue dreamed this encounter —after all, the girl herself says, “I had a strange dream”—or that it wasn’t the Witcher at all, but an illusion created by the Aguara, since the figure speaks to her with the words, “Illusion—she heard from somewhere else, from very far away. “Everything is an illusion,” which the White Wolf had heard from that creature 128 years earlier (according to the letters, the events of *Season of Storms* take place in 1245). “An illusion,” he heard the aguara’s voice say. “Everything is an illusion.”

However, in my opinion, the character couldn’t have been the Aguara's illusion, simply because he’s quoting her… In that case, she might just as well have been Yarpen Zigrin. Below is a quote of what the dwarf said to Geralt just before the massacre.

“‘Progress,’ he said solemnly, ‘will dispel the darkness, because that’s what progress is for—just like, to put it bluntly, an ass is for shitting. It will get brighter and brighter, and we’ll be less and less afraid of the darkness and the Evil lurking within it. Perhaps a day will come when we’ll stop believing altogether that anything lurks in that darkness. We’ll mock such fears. Call them childish. Be ashamed of them! But darkness will always, always exist. And there will always be Evil in the darkness, there will always be fangs and claws, murder and blood. And there will always be a need for witchers.”

And what does the character from Season say?:

“‘Darkness still exists,’ he confirmed. “Despite the progress that is taking place—progress that we’re led to believe is meant to dispel the darkness, eliminate threats, and drive away fears. So far, progress has not achieved any major successes in this regard. So far, progress has only convinced us that darkness is nothing more than a superstition that dims the light, that there’s nothing to fear. But that’s not true. There is something to fear. Because darkness will always, always exist. And Evil will always run rampant in the darkness; there will always be fangs and claws, murder and blood in the darkness. And there will always be a need for witchers.”

The ending is practically identical. Aguara probably didn’t hear the Yarpens words spoke to Geralt right before the Rivian Pogrome🙂.

Furthermore, the character ultimately doesn’t deny that she is Geralt. In fact, she even suggests that she might be him. “—But…” she stammered. “But that was a hundred years ago… How is it possible that... How is it possible?

“Questions like that,” he interrupted her, still smiling, “must not be asked by a future student of Aretuza. A school where they teach that nothing is impossible. Because everything that’s impossible today will become possible tomorrow. That motto should be inscribed above the entrance to the academy that will soon be yours. Have a safe journey, Nimue. Take care. This is where we part ways.”

4) Andrzej Sapkowski reportedly confirmed to CD PROJEKT RED that Geralt survived the Rivian pogrome. Michał Madej, lead designer of The Witcher 1, mentioned it in the game’s behind-the-scenes footage that Mr. Sapkowski confirmed to the developers that the White Wolf survived the events in Rivia. Direct cite: " It's so mysterious that people who read those books are always arguing if Geralt survived or not. So Andrzej Sapkowski told us. He survived and so we can bring him back".

You can find it for example on YT named - The Witcher - Making Of video 2/5 - Story 1;00-1;10.

In my opinion, there may be one counterargument to the above theory. It’s the way Ciri tells this story to Galahad.

“And that,” Galahad asked after a moment, “is the end of the story?”

“Not at all,” Ciri protested, rubbing her foot against her other foot to brush off the dried sand that had stuck to her toes and soles. “Would you want the story to end like that? As if! I certainly wouldn’t!”

“So what happened next?”

“The usual,” she snorted. “They got married.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Oh, what’s there to tell? There was a grand wedding. Everyone came—Jaskier, Nenneke’s mother, Iola and Eurneid, Yarpen Zigrin, Vesemir, Eskel… Coën, Milva, Angouleme… And my Mistle… And I was there, drinking honey and wine. And they—I mean Geralt and Yennefer—had their own home later on and were happy, very, very happy. Just like in a fairy tale. You understand?

- Why are you crying, O Lady of the Lake?

But in my opinion, it was simply Ciri’s imagination of how she would want the story to really end. What a “happy ending” would be for her. She would want Mistle and the rest of her friends to live, but the world of The Witcher isn’t a fairy tale, even though in the future of the Continent, this story will grow into a legend.

That’s all from me! In my opinion, Geralt died during the massacre, but Ciri brought him back to life, and then, somehow, after more than 100 years, he returned to the Continent. The story has come full circle—the ancient serpent Uroboros has closed the loop. Geralt saved Nimue, who later guided Ciri to the right time and world. 🙂

What about you? Does my reasoning convince you? Or do you think I’ve overinterpreted any of these fragments of novels, and that, in your opinion, the Witcher actually died in the books? Let me know what you think!

Fanart found on The Witcher Wiki, credited to “Risef 15.”

I appreciate the removal of the Netflix sticker but CoR being black instead of white drives my OCD crazy!

My Witcher book collection came today, and I'm very excited to read them. I have them all on Audible, but I didn't like the narration at all and only listened to two chapters of Blood of Elves, so I purchased them so I could read them myself. I've never read the series, but I've played all three games multiple times throughout the years. The outer bookcase came a bit damaged, but eh, it's whatever.

In which order of the 4 books not in the chronological series do you read?

Hey guys! I'm a modeler and I want to make a diorama based on Skellige from the third game. I need this specific house model for it, so I can 3D print it and paint it. Does anyone know if I can extract the specific house model from the game files? And if so, how?

So, I've recently read all witcher books, and I got all games and started witcher one, to my displeasure i'm finding it tedious and not really that fun by chapter 2. So how much would i miss if i jumped straight into witcher 2?

[https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/8132?tab=files](https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/8132?tab=files))

This one to be exact

It works ok but any major enemy damage like the white frost or the sand blasts from the hearts of stone guy kills you in one hit leading you to have to have constantly adjust the slider and back again, it had issues with the ciri sections but i lived with it

Now im in the dlc i want to go back to the vanilla damage, once the mod turned off by mistake and it led to geralt and enemi9es doing no damage to each other so the game was unplayable

Also the save before it was installed was probably 50 hours ago

If you turn off the mod in mod manager the settings stay in place.

How do i remove it

I got a collection for Christmas and am finally sitting down to read them all. I noticed some in the collection didn’t have numbers, so I Googled it and this came up.

Occasionally, someone comes asking about the reading order of the books. Because this happens so often, it’s tempting to simply reply, ‘in publication order.’ Please don’t do that. That answer is incorrect.

Following that advice, a newcomer might end up reading in the English publication order, with SoD as the fifth book. Similarly, Czech readers might end up reading the short stories between TTotS and TLotL.¹

Even if a new reader looks at the Polish publication order, they might end up starting with SoD and reading TLW second.²

I get that it’s annoying getting the same question over and over, but in lieu of strict moderation, it’s better to ignore posts asking for the reading order than to add to the confusion. If you do wish to help, bookmark your favourite answer from an earlier post or <shameless-plug>this blog post</> so you can quickly point them in the right direction.

P.S. Other incorrect answers: * ‘In chronological order.’ — This is both unhelpful and wrong. It’s unhelpful because someone starting the series has no idea about the timeline of events. It’s wrong because strict chronology would dictate reading the short stories in TLW out of order, and reading SoS in the middle of TLW. * ‘In written order.’ — This is confusing and incorrect. It’s confusing because someone unfamiliar with the series doesn’t know the writing order or whether it differs from the publication order. It’s incorrect for the same reasons ‘publication order’ is incorrect. * ‘In the order in which the writer released his books’ — This is incorrect because TLW (pl. Ostatnie życzenie, pub. 1993) was released after SoD (pl. Miecz przeznaczenia, pub. 1992).

¹ The Czech translation was started while Sapkowski was still writing the series, and the short stories unique to TLW were translated only after most of the saga was done.

By the way, if you ever wondered where Triss’ surname came from: Sapkowski picked Merigold to mess with the Czech translator who picked Marigold for Jaskier’s name.

² It’s unlikely that they will stumble upon the original ‘The Witcher’ book published in ’86.

edit: Added ‘In the order in which the writer released his books’ in the P.S. section because I don’t know how much more explicit I can make it that Polish publication order is not correct reading order.