#the witcher games spoilers

[moontheoretist]

There is nothing more annoying online than lore purists of any medium

I don't care if Blood Origin "breaks the lore", because this spin-off happens so long in the past that anything that people know NOW about the lore may just simply not apply to that setting, because they just kick-started the entire Witcher universe into creation, which means that everything needs to be figured out via experimenting. Not to mention that to me every person who didn’t read the Witcher in original language as well as people who have bad reading with comprehension skills automatically are not qualified to have any kind of conversation about the Witcher lore, because honeys, translations can and often do change so much shit you wouldn’t even know.

Every single one of those persons is all over the moon with games THAT ALSO BREAK THE LORE as far as books are concerned, but they have no problem with in-game Triss being literally a make-shift baby made from traits of book Triss and book Yenneffer, or that in-game Triss is wearing cleavage, despite the fact she didn’t do it in the books due to scars she got from the Battle of Sodden, or that she suddenly can take elixirs in the game, despite being allergic to them in the books. That’s apparently ok. Lesser vampires existing in the Northern climate, despite the fact that in books it was stated they don’t, is also fine by them. Geralt not being considered DEAD in the games and walking around the world doing quests is also apparently ok, despite the fact games happen in times, when he should be out of this world (game happens 5 years after Northern Wars and even game has the year wrong, because game says it happens in 1270, while in truth it happens in 1273, while Geralt supposedly died around 1268, when he was nearly 100 years old, but in fact was saved by Ciri and transported to another world called Avalon, and technically is considered dead in the books, because it is unclear if he truly died or not, as Avalon is the land of the dead and the journey there could be a one way street, not to mention that his death was prophesized by Ciri, so it’s very likely that even despite Ciri saving him, he could have died due to prophecy). And it is also ok that games are more slavic than books ever were! Books LAUGH at slavic traditions and make fun of us, because it was the purpose of them, to laugh at something that some thickheaded idiot would be proud of and behave like an idiot over, as it is a Polish pastime to laugh at and mock ourselves.

Dziesięć dni temu Internet obiegła informacja, że Andrzej Sapkowski zaczyna pisać nowego Wiedźmina. Tuż po publikacji wiadomości zapytaliśmy pisarza, czy zamierza uznać wydarzenia z gier jako kanoniczne i czy będzie się do nich jakoś w swoim nowym dziele odnosił. Dziś rano otrzymaliśmy odpowiedź o takiej treści:

Wyjaśniam: gra komputerowa w najmniejszym nawet stopniu nie może być uważana za kontynuację cyklu wiedźmińskiego, ani za sequel ani za ciąg dalszy wydarzeń opisanych w ostatnim tomie opowieści "wiedźmińskich", zatytułowanym "Pani Jeziora". Wszelkie adaptacje - filmy, komiksy czy też gry, w tym i gra "The Witcher", są wyłącznie adaptacjami, stanowią całkowicie odrębne byty fabularne, będące dziełem ich twórców. Do spisanych przeze mnie przygód wiedźmina Geralta nie mają one żadnego odniesienia a już absolutnie nie mogą być traktowane jako jakikolwiek kanon - albowiem kanon taki stanowią wyłącznie rzeczy mojego  autorstwa, wydane w formie drukowanej. Dlatego też, jeśli opowieść o wiedźminie faktycznie podejmę - niezależnie od tego, czy w formie prequelu, sequelu czy spin-offu - w najmniejszym nawet stopniu nie oprę się na żadnej adaptacji, elementy tych adaptacji całkowicie pominę - w rzeczywistym kanonie opowieści wiedźmińskich nie ma bowiem na nie miejsca.

~ Tylko u nas: Andrzej Sapkowski nie uznaje gier z serii Wiedźmin za kanoniczną kontynuację swoich dzieł by Krzysiek Ogrodnik in gram.pl (published 10.02.2012)

Translation:

Ten days ago, information circulated on the Internet that Andrzej Sapkowski was starting to write a new Witcher. Right after the publication of the message, we asked the writer if he intends to consider the events of the games as canon and whether he will somehow refer to them in his new work. This morning, we received the following reply:

Let me explain: a computer game cannot even be considered a continuation of the Witcher cycle, nor a sequel, nor a continuation of the events described in the last volume of the "witcher" stories, entitled "Lady of the Lake". All adaptations - films, comics or games, including the game "The Witcher", are only adaptations, they are completely separate fictional entities, which are the work of their creators. They have no reference to the adventures of the witcher Geralt written by me, and they absolutely cannot be treated as any kind of canon - because such a canon consists only of things of my authorship, published in printed form. Therefore, if I actually take up the story of The Witcher - regardless of whether in the form of a prequel, sequel or spin-off - I will not rely on any adaptation in the slightest, I will omit the elements of these adaptations completely - there is no place for them in the real canon of the witcher stories.

~ Only here: Andrzej Sapkowski does not consider The Witcher games to be a canonical continuation of his works by Krzysiek Ogrodnik in gram.pl

Sapkowski considers games and the Netflix TV show to be faithful adaptations of his books as long as fanfics are concerned, because he considers as canon only something that he personally creates with his own hands. Blood Origin’s departure from the lore of the books, is therefore ok, because 1) those are different times and not everything is the same as in the original saga 2) it’s not canon just as much as the Netflix show or games, so it can do whatever the hell it wants with the lore. It can play, it can experiment, and it can depart from it as far as it wants in order to tell an interesting new story.

[hot-house-orchid]

[lafaiette]

I'm watching GameRiot's playthrough of Veilguard, and one of the minor characters you meet is 99% voiced by Simon Templeman, Loghain's VA. Either they hired him to voice someone new, OR there might actually be a way for our past choices to matter.

[seance]

THE WITCHER: WILD HUNT INTRO MONOLOGUE

[hanzajesthanza]

"Toussaint - the land of love and wine!" "Exactly how I remembered it..."

[theundeadelf]

them: "jaskier is not gay or bi oh my god, he's a wOMaNiZer, they're changing the books/games, why radovid"

jaskier: "they'll come for the elves and the dwarves, anyone they deem the other-"

jaskier: "i'm just trying to work out what pleases me"

jaskier (about geralt): "watch me BURN all the memories of you, you turned your back on me, what for do you yearn, it came from the heart, perhaps a broken one-"

jaskier (at his own clone): "you know, i'm not not into it"

joey batey: "idk I think he just falls in love with everyone, he doesn't really see gender"

joey batey (about jaskier and radovid): "I want to see who is going to lower their mask first"

them: 💢💢💢

[letmelickyoureyeballs]

Witcher Spoiler: Eskel

They did Eskel so dirty in the show. First, they make him an asshole and then they kill him?! They took the nicest little cinnamon roll who was one of Ciri's older brothers, completely changed his entire personality, and then killed him in a way that didn't make sense at all

Eskel is one of my favorite Witchers from the books and the games, and I'm so sad about how the show absolutely ruined him. You're telling me the man who cares for a goat called Lil' Bleater is whatever the show made him to be

[endiness]

me, every time i see people bring up not only the games but the books against radovid and his relationship with jaskier:

[finleycannotdraw]

eternally upset by the fact that there’s no button to hug people in tw3, especially after harrowing events (like the reason of state quest)

also eternally upset by. dijkstra

[murderspice]

looking at the wiki after finally finishing thronebreaker really threw me for a loop this morning guys

[kirkwallguy]

started replaying the entire da series in preparation for veilguard welp guess that's pointless now 🙃 (also you are so right that it's exactly like tw3, which to this day annoys me with how it literally contradicts basically all choices you can make in tw2)

i feel the same honestly ive abandoned my replays until veilguard... may as well just load an old save and play trespasser for all the difference it'll make 😬😬

and yeah the witcher honestly follows a really similar trajectory to dragon age in a way, the second game was really interesting with its branching paths and then the third game was critically acclaimed but threw a lot of the nuance of the story out

[casualwriters]

Mid Spoiler for season 3

Throwing the cloak down from sneaking out to understand what was going on with your sister and farther, the chase of finding her was driving him mad, and to occupy his mind was the wedding he had no care who you love or what you wanted all he wanted was to keep the kingdoms strong. Stopping by the corridors to rest your eyes it was a long day in Nilfgard hearing Rumors that Cahir was back and begging your father for another chance so he killed Gallante, you were well known to ease dropping on your farther conversations. "Princess " the guard smiled at you as you enter the door "have a good night" bowing your head to him opening your door to see Cahir leaning on the vanity table where the maids help do your hair.

"Cahir" the name felt weird on your lips "y/n" a rare smile infected his face. Walking over you hugged him " you can't be here" your faces were close frowning ''the marriage" he said. Cutting him off "can we not" you were forbidden to even talk to one of your farther guards more so fall in love with one you both knew if any news got out he would be stripe from his title and not welcome to Nilfgard you couldn't do that to Cahir that was the only so called family he had even if he was thinking what he was doing was wrong. Cahir kissed your forehead smiling there was no one who fitted you more. Cahir he brought the more reasonable side wrapping his arms around your, waist he lifted you up causing you to squeal. "Stop that" laughing he sat down on the bed you followed "when is it" he broke the ice as your head fell on his shoulder, " A couple days, less than a week" smiling at him

"We can still make the most of them " he chuckled holding your hand smiling looking up at him " mm a night with you can't be that bad guard" chuckling he kissed your lips as you soon enjoyed talking and spending the few more days with your guard.

[yellowspiralbound]

The Witcher & why fanon and canon are not as separate as they are in other medias

Okay so I just answered and reblogged this poll about what parts of the Witcher you interact with (fanon vs canon) and it made me realize that a lot of fans might not be aware of the fact that fanon and canon are not neatly seperated when it comes to the Witcher. It’s kind of a clusterfuck actually. So allow me to attempt to explain it. Before the post, let me make sure everyone understands that I am referencing the translations of the books. I have not read them in the original Polish. If anyone has and some of what I say is inaccurate, please let me know. Extremely long post ahead. 

First, we have to accept the fact that we are working with not one but three different canons. The books are, of course, the original canon. It is what everything else stems from. The games are often considered a follow up but are not necessarily canon to the books and were not intended to be. The original Witcher game was never intended to be a sequel to the books - that’s why Yennefer and Ciri are basically never mentioned. However, as the second and third game developed, the creators shifted gears and focused on creating a cohesive story set after the events of the books, Now, many if not most fans forget this. Then there is the show canon, which draws from the books but is largely it’s own thing. 

So what is the “real” canon? For some, the answer is anything written by Sapkowski...but there are stories set on the Continent and written by Sapkowski that are, by and large, considered superfluous to canon such as the Something Ends, Something Begins short story which Sapkowski wrote as a wedding gift for some friends. Beyond that, there is debate as to whether Sapkowski’s final depiction of Geralt is well...Geralt. While many book fans tend to believe that the Geralt met by Nimue at the end of Season if Storms is an illusion, I have spoken with many who believe it to be the real Geralt. So which is it? Sapkowski certainly hasn’t said as far as I am aware, so good luck figuring it out. And if Sapkowski’s work is the be all end all of canon...what are the games? 

Are they a form of fanon that Sapkowski has given his blessing to? Nope. Sapkoski hates video games. Like there are decisions he made in Season of Storms (published after the first two Witcher games) that I’m fairly certain he made specifically to fuck with the game producers (like Dandelion being a blonde for example). Everything I’ve ever learned about the man suggests he would do this. And yet Season of Storms also hands the game producers their golden goose: a Sapkowski-written ending where Geralt doesn’t die, where he continues to travel and hunt monsters. Which is exactly what Geralt did in the games. And after that Sapkowksi actually met with some of the producers for the third game, something I don’t believe he did for the first two (feel free to correct me if he did). So did Sapkowski take inspiration from the games for this ending? It’s possible. I personally don’t think it likely but we know it’s possible because of a certain character in Season of Storms: Brehen. 

Brehen, for those of you who may not remember/know, is a Cat witcher that Geralt meets at the very end of Season of Storms. Now this is important, Geralt’s meeting with Brehen is the first time ever that Sapkowski insinuates there are different schools of Witchers. And you might be thinking “What about the medallions of different animals that Bonhart had?” It isn’t ever really implied they’re from different schools. Coen, who has a griffon, is shown with the wolves all the same during Blood of Elves. Of course, the game producers had already decided to take the different medallions as representations of schools but It is only when Brehen begins to use the word “us” that there is a confirmed implication of schools by Sapkowski. Is this proof that Sapkowski used the games as inspiration for Season of Storms? Not at all. What it is, is solid evidence that both the game producers and Sapkowski had been influenced by a third party: the pre-CDPR comic run. 

Now, this is where things get interesting. The pre-CDPR comic run is not that well known outside of Poland (and perhaps even in Poland, I am not sure). I discovered their existence on the Witcher subreddit and promptly read the fan translations of them that you can find online. Only one of the six comics released between 1993 and 1995 is an original story. This comic, Zdrada or Betrayal, is where the story of the Cat and Wolf tournament often is from. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go read basically any fanfiction with Aiden in it. It will more than likely be brought up. This comic is the first instance of a school system like the one we have now. Now, this comic was based on an idea by Sapkowski. He gave the author of the comic run, Maciej Parowski, a basic idea and Parowski expanded upon it. To what extent Parowski expanded the idea isn’t really known. The schools could be entirely his own invention, but it is more likely that Sapkowski suggested them. It is extremely likely, however, that Parowski’s characterization of the Cats as a school influenced Sapkowski - especially considering the 18 year gap between the publication of Zdrada and the publication of Season of Storms. So when did Parowski’s fanon interpretation of Sapkowski’s outline become canon? Did it become canon? I personally consider it canon but not everyone does. 

Essentially what it boils down to is that there is a high chance that Parowski’s fanon directly influenced both Season of Storms and the Witcher games. And yes you can argue that Parowski’s work isn’t fanon because it was based on an idea by Sapkowksi but...that’s what all fanworks are - stories based on the original ideas of the author. The same can be argued about the show. Large parts of the show are Lauren Hissrich’s fanon interpretation of Sapkowski’s work yet it is a canon in its own right. 

In conclusion, Sapkowski never avoided fanwork like say, Neil Gaiman. In fact, he actively encouraged it in the case of Parowski and Hissrich. Whether or not he ever encouraged the game producers in any capacity is...highly debatable. There’s some serious tension there guys. I personally think that he did with his choice in how to end Season of Storms but that’s just me. From what I know of Sapkowski, the man is, quite frankly, far too proud to ever admit to being wrong about video games and the producers so draw your own conclusions on that one. 

But yeah, fanon has had a serious influence on canon in the case of the Witcher and there are so many different canons that separating the two entirely is more or less impossible. And I haven’t even talked about the pre-CDPR TTRPG, the CDPR TTRPG, the mobile gwent game, or the CDPR comic run, all of which fall into the liminal space of “not fanon but not canon either.” 

Please feel free to correct me if any of this is wrong or if you have read the original Polish copies of the books and some stuff I’ve talked about is translation error. Also if anyone has a translation of the pre-CDPR TTRPG stuff please contact me. I would do unreasonable things for a translation of them and would be eternally in your debt. 

[r4tfromm3rcury]

Best cringefail (dead) vampire

Book spoilers in tags

[lith-myathar]

.

[endiness]

i don't care about the hair and wardrobe that much, but i have to say it lowkey makes me wary that freya's said part of ciri's new look in s4 was inspired the games because, like. full offense to its stans, but hands down the vast majority (if not all) of the bad decisions the show has made can be tied back to pandering to game stans tbh. and i do include hiring hc and demayo within that.