The Cost of Betrayal Walkthrough | Story Choices: Kill or Spare Ciara?

This page is a walkthrough for The Cost of Betrayal Quest in the game Assassin's Creed Valhalla (AC Valhalla). Read on to learn more about the quest objectives, stealth routes, notables, and more!

Starting Location

The quest starts in Dublin immediately after the A Scourging of Snakes quest.

Quest Walkthrough

No.	Objectives	Guide
1	Travel to Durrow	Head west towards Durrow and enter its church to initiate a cutscene.
2	Talk to Ciara	Ciara's house is located at the end of the street before the Church to the left. Enter her home to start another cutscene.
3	Follow Flann to Tara	Ride with Flann to Tara. A third cutscene will play out as soon as you both arrive there.
4	Kill the Soldiers	Eliminate all of the soldiers under Ciara's control.
5	Defeat Flann	Ciara manages to control Flann after a brief cutscene. This results in a boss fight against Flann himself. Click here to see our boss guide against Flann Sinna!
6	Fight Ciara	Ciara will separate from the Lia Fail after we wrest Flann from her control. Another boss fight will ensue after the cutscene. Click here to see our boss guide against Ciara!
7	Decide Ciara's Fate	Choose to either kill or spare after the boss fight. A series of cutscenes will play out once you have decided, marking the end of the Wrath of the Druids story arc! This decision can slightly affect the ending of the Wrath of the Druids story arc. Click here to know the consequences of these decisions!

Boss Strategies

How to Beat Flann Sinna

• Flann's weak spots are easy to hit. Take advantage of these vulnerabilities to deal significant damage!
• Most of Flann's attacks can be easily parried. Always be mindful of this throughout the fight.
• Flann tends to get knocked off-balance whenever you parry his lateral swings. Parry these attacks as much as possible to land heavy hits of your own for free!
• Abilities such as Kick of Tyr and Harpoon Impalement excel in knocking Flann off his feet. Use them to your advantage.

How to Beat Ciara

Phase One

• Ciara can blink to different locations to disorient you during combat. She can also chain attacks together with her blink to further throw you off. Always be prepared to dodge or parry at a moment's notice!
• Ciara can channel power from the Lia Fail to summon three druid spirits. After summoning all three, the spirits will dash towards you one by one — Dealing massive damage once they connect. Stay on your toes and dodge these spirit dashes at all costs!
• Ciara can conjure energy pools directly underneath her or on the surrounding area. These pools deal damage over time and can slow you significantly as long as you're in them. Take note of their locations at all times and avoid stepping inside them.
• You can use Harpoon Impalement to pull Ciara out of energy pools.
• Most of Ciara's melee attacks can be parried. Try to parry as much as possible to easily break her stun bar.

Phase Two

• Ciara enters Phase Two of the fight once she drops to about 50% HP.
• She starts this phase by summoning five druid spirits that help her channel the full power of the Lia Fail. If this charged attack goes through, the Lia Fail releases a massive energy pulse that deals massive damage in the entire fight area. You can prevent this attack from happening by eliminating all of the druid spirits.
• Ciara retains all of her attacks from Phase One and deals more damage in general.

Story Choices: Kill or Spare Ciara?

This particular decision only determines Ciara's immediate fate after her boss fight and some minor dialogue during the final moments of the Amber Sun quest.

The Wrath of the Druids story arc's ending is unaffected by this decision so this ultimately boils down to whether you want Ciara to live after the story arc or not.

Killing Ciara

Ciara realizes the error of her ways and that her deeds made her similar to the Children of Danu. With this in mind, she asks Eivor to grant her a swift death — To which Eivor agrees to do.

Flann Sinna comes to his senses shortly after. He strikes the Lia Fail with his great sword, causing the stone to disappear from Tara. While both of them lament Ciara's death, Eivor tells Flann that this is what she wanted in the end.

The story arc ends in Gortknaw, where Eivor, Sichfrith, and Flann reflect on recent events and bid their goodbyes to one another.

Sparing Ciara

Eivor convinces Ciara to make the Lia Fail disappear from the world, preventing its power from falling into the wrong hands forever.

Flann Sinna tries to make amends with Ciara as soon as he regains consciousness. She forgives Flann but has ultimately decided to walk away from her role as the Bard of All Ireland. She leaves the two without mentioning her plans or destination going forward.

Similar to killing her, the story arc ends in Gortknaw, where Eivor, Sichfrith, and Flann bid their goodbyes to one another after reflecting on recent events.

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Quest Walkthroughs