Explanation of the Story

This is an article about the explanation of the story of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Read on for more information about the details of the story of the Witcher 3.

Main Story of the Witcher 3

The story of the Witcher 3 can done in a different order depending on the player's actions. The chronological order of the story can be changed by the player if they start a New Game+ since they start the game with a higher level. The explanation of the story below will be told in a way that follows the order of the suggested level of the quests assosicated.

White Orchard

Reunion at White Orchard

The story starts with Geralt in White Orchard trying to track down Yennefer. While trying to track down Yennefer, Geralt is tasked by the Nilfgaardians to kill the Griffin terrorizing White Orchard in exchange for information on Yennefer's whereabouts. After killing the Griffin, Yennefer arrives at the White Orchard Inn and tell Geralt to come with her to meet the Emperor of Nilfgaard.

Palace in Vizima

The Emperor's Contract

After arriving at the Palace in Vizima, Geralt meets Ehmyr, the Emeperor of Nilfgaard. Ehmyr tasks Geralt in finding Ciri and bringing her back to him. Geralt and Yennefer then plan on where and how to look for Ciri.

Velen

Geralt travels to Velen in search for Ciri's tracks. Geralt was informed by the Emperor that he had a spy that was also looking for Ciri and he might gain a lead from there. Geralt then learns that Ciri was in contact with the leader of the Velen Region and a Witch from Velen.

The Bloody Baron's Chores

Geralt goes to meet the Bloody Baron, the leader of the Velen Region, and is tasked to find his family who disappeared in exchange for information about Ciri. Once Geralt learned why the family disappeared, the Bloody Baron gave Geralt a bit of information on Ciri and told him that he wants to know where his family when if Geralt wanted to learn more.

Geralt now looks for the Witch who Ciri was in contact with, but instead found the sorceresses Keira Metz. Keira tells Geralt that she is not the Witch who Ciri came into contact with but a masked elf was looking for Ciri from her. Keira then led Geralt to investigate the lab of the masked elf in order to find more information on where Ciri went.

The Ladies of the Wood

After investigating the masked elf's lab, Geralt learns that the Witch Ciri came into contact with was actually the Ladies of the Wood. When Geralt tried to meet the Ladies of the Wood, he was tasked into dealing with a spirit trapped in the heart of a tree in order to meet the ladies.

Geralt dealt with the spirit trapped in the heart of the tree and met with the Ladies of the Wood who where actually the Crones of Crookback Bog. The Crones told Geralt about what happened to Ciri and revealed that the woman they were with was actually Anna Strenger, the Bloody Barons wife.

Geralt returns to the Bloody Baron and tells him that he found his wife working for the Crones of Crookback Bog. The Bloody Baron tells Geralt the last bit of information that he knows about Ciri and Geralt, who just ran out of leads in Velen, decides to go to Novigrad to find more leads on Ciri.

Novigrad

Looking for Triss

Geralt arrived in Novigrad to ask for help from Triss who has went into hiding because of the ongoing witch hunts. Geralt successfully tracks down Triss to the King of Beggars and asks her for help in finding Ciri. Triss then points Geralt to look for Corinne Tilly, an oneiromancer who might be of some help in finding Ciri in Novigrad.

Geralt goes into a haunted house to learn that Corinne is trapped in a nightmare which is being caused by a godling. Geralt makes a deal with the godling to free Corinne and let her stay in the house without anyone disturbing her. After that, Geralt meets with Corinne at the Golden Sturgeon to dream about Ciri and learn what happened to her in Novigrad.

Old Friends

Geralt learned from the dream that Ciri went to Dandelion when she was in Novigrad. Geralt goes to the Rosemary and Thyme to look for Dandelion but finds Zoltan instead. Zoltan tell Geralt that Dandelion went missing and they now work together to find Dandelion by speaking to the women he was recently with.

Geralt and Zoltan's investigation led them to Priscilla, the romantic parter of Dandelion. They learn from Priscilla that Dandelion was planning a heist to steal Sigi Reuven's treasure and is being chased by Whoreson Junior's men. Geralt then goes to Sigi Reuven's bathouse in order to talk to him.

Stolen Treasure

When Geralt arrived at Count Reuven's bathhouse, he discovers that Sigi Reuven was actually Sigismund Dijkstra. Geralt asks him if he knows where Whoreson Junior is and they are suddenly ambushed by Junior's men in the bathhouse. After dealing with the ambush, Dijkstra offers Geralt information on Dandelion if he helps him find his stolen treasure.

After Geralt learns and reports to Dijkstra how his treasure was stolen, he was tasked to look into the house of Margrave Henckel to look for clues. Geralt discovers that Caleb Menge was the one who stole Dijkstra's treasure and the same one who imprisoned Dandelion. Dijsktra arrives at the scene with Triss and Geralt reports most of the information he gathered to them.

Geralt and Triss infiltrate the Witch Hunter's base and the player can decide whether they can learn where Dandelion is being held at and possibly where Dijkstra's treasure is.

Old Contacts

Geralt looks into Junior's hideout and underground establishments to find where is he hiding at. Instead, Geralt learns that Junior has ties to the Redanians and tells Dijkstra. Dijkstra tells Geralt to meet with Vernon Roche for help and Roche tells Geralt to accompany him to meet his Redanian contact.

Geralt and Roche arrive at the chessclub near Oxenfurt and Geralt learns that the Redanian contact was actually King Radovid V. Radovid then reveals Junior's location in Oxenfurt and Geralt heads there immediately.

Finding Whoreson Junior

Geralt enters Junior's mansion and starts beating Junior bloody. Geralt then asks Junior about how Ciri and Dandelion came into contact with him and why. Junior reveals to Geralt the events that had happened after Ciri and Dandelion failed to deliver Dijkstra's treasure to him. After Junior's explanation, the player can decide whether Geralt kills Junior or not.

Geralt goes back to Priscilla and tells her of the events that happened to Dandelion. They decide to make a play in order to lure out Dudu and ask him for help. Geralt does the necessary arrangements for the play and they were successfully able to identify Dudu from the crowd and speak to him.

Freeing Dandelion

Geralt, Zoltan, and Dudu plan an ambush in order to free Dandelion when the temple guard tries to transfer Dandelion to another location. The ambush goes awry and Geralt goes to track down the Witch Hunter that ran with Dandelion. Geralt finds the Witch Hunter and is able free Dandelion. Dandelion then tell Geralt what happened when he and Ciri where running from Junior's men.

Skellige

After learning from Dandelion that Ciri has disappeared from Novigrad, Geralt sails to Skellige to look for more leads. There, he reunites with Yennefer and attends the funeral and wake for the late Bran Tuirseach. During the wake Geralt and Yennefer sneak of to steal the Mask of Uroboros from Ermion's workshop.

The Mask of Uroboros

After getting the Mask of Uroboros, they both go to the site of the magic cataclysm and use the Mask of Uroboros to investigate what caused it. They learn that Ciri and her companion arrived in the forest and are being attacked by the Wild Hunt. They also learn that Ciri was able to escape the Wild Hunt wounded and her friend's magic was the cause of the magic cataclysm.

After their investigation, they learn from Ermion that there has been an incident with the Wild Hunt at Hindarsfjall. Geralt and Yennefer head there immediately to ask the residents about what happened. When they arrived, they learned that a man named Skjall was involved with Ciri during the attack of the Wild Hunt and went to Freya's Garden to atone.

Forbidden Magic

Geralt and Yennefer then set off to Freya's Garden in search for Skjall. They successfully find Skjall but he has died from a fight with Morkvarg. Yennefer uses necromancy on the dead Skjall in order to make him talk and reveal the events that happened when Ciri was in Hindarsfjall.

They learn from Skjall the events that happened in Hindarsfjall including what happened to Ciri during her time there and learn that a mysterious boat passenger who is heavily deformed might be a link to finding Ciri. Geralt then set off to find that mysterious passenger in hopes of finally finding Ciri.

U.M.A. the Ugliest Man Alive

Geralt tracks down the mysterious passenger and learn that he is the heavily deformed man in Crow's Perch. Geralt then travels to Crow's Perch and tell the Baron's Sergeant the he will be taking Uma to Kaer Morhen.

Kaer Morhen

Visiting the Palace in Vizima Again

When Geralt was traveling towards Kaer Morhen with Uma, they were stopped by Nilfgaardian troops and forced to appear before Emperor Ehmyr. Geralt and Yennefer then explain to Ehmyr that Uma is the key to finding Ciri. Ehmyr then tasks Yennefer to lift the curse on Uma and learn where Ciri is currently at.

Geralt takes Uma, the Ugliest Man Alive to Kaer Morhen in order to lift the curse with the help of the other Witchers. Geralt is now tasked by Yennefer to help the other Witchers complete the preparations in order to lift the curse. After completing these tasks, Yennefer reveals to all the Witchers that she will subject Uma to the Trial of the Grasses in order to lift the Curse.

After successfully lifting the curse on Uma, they learn that the cursed man was actually Avallac'h. Avallac'h reveals to everyone that he hid Ciri in the Isle of Mists to hide her from the Wild Hunt. Geralt follows the firefly summoned by Avallac'h in order to get to the Isle of Mists.

Locating Ciri

When Geralt arrives in the Isle of Mists, he found a group of dwarves who locked themselves in a hut that could possibly contain Ciri. Geralt finds the other missing dwarves and brings them to the hut in order to enter. Upon entering the hut, Geralt finds Ciri in her death-like sleep and she gets revived after the firefly goes into her.

After Ciri wakes up, Geralt and Ciri find out that the dwarves left the Isle of Mists without them and the Wild Hunt has also arrived to capture Ciri. They are now forced to used Ciri's powers to teleport back to Kaer Morhen. Upon arriving in Kaer Morhen, Geralt and company now prepare for the defense of Ciri in the Kaer Morhen fortress from the Wild Hunt.

Defense of Kaer Morhen

During the battle of with the Wild Hunt, Vesemir and possibly Lambert, died and made Ciri's powers go out of control, forcing the Wild Hunt to retreat temporarily. After the battle, Geralt and company attend the funeral for the fallen Witchers and come up with a plan to defeat the Wild Hunt permanently.

While everyone was still asleep, Ciri wakes up Geralt to accompany her to Bald Mountain since she discovered that Imlerith will be attending a sabbath there with the Crones of Crookback Bog. The two travel to Bald Mountain in order to slay both Imlerith and the Crones of Crookback Bog.

Revenge for a Fallen Friend

After fighting them, Geralt was successful in defeating Imlerith but one of the Crones was able to escape from Ciri. They went back to Novigrad to make more preparations to defeat the Wild Hunt. During these preparations Geralt does multiple tasks given to him by Avallac'h and the sorceresses including traveling to the world of the Aen Elle to convince Ge'els to stop supporting the Wild Hunt, to which Ge'els agrees.

After learning from Ge'els that there is a way to bait out the Wild Hunt, Geralt is now tasked with making more preparations in order to set up the trap to bait the Wild Hunt at Undvik for the final battle. Geralt successfully completes these tasks and all of them sail to Undvik to execute their plans and bait the Wild Hunt into a final battle.

The Wild Hunt

During the final battle, Ciri was able to destroy the staff of Caranthir to stop his magic affecting the whole battlefield and then disappears. Geralt then appears to finish off Caranthir and charge towars the Naglfar to fight with Eredin. Geralt successfully defeats Eredin and Yennefer teleports Geralt out of the battlefield to look for Ciri.

They discover that Ciri and Avallac'h went to the tower of Tor Gvalch'ca and Avallac'h set up a great barrier around it. Geralt and Yennefer arrive at the tower of Tor Gvalch'ca but Geralt is the only who is able to enter with the help of Yennefer.

The Truth Revealed

Upon climbing the tower of Tor Gvalch'ca, Geralt runs into Avallac'h casting a spell to open the door between the worlds. After a short conversation with Avallac'h, Ciri interrupts Geralt before he could start a fight with Avallac'h and reveals to him that she asked for Avallac'h help in order to destroy the White Frost once and for all.

Ciri's Story

Ciri Returns

Ciri's Story in the game begins when she and Avallac'h teleported back to Skellige from hiding in other worlds causing the Magic Cataclysm in the forests. After battling the Wild Hunt in the forest the two were separated when trying to teleport away from the Wild Hunt.

Ciri Fleeing around Velen

Ciri ends up unconscious in Velen when the Crones of Crookback Bog found her. They took Ciri to their hut and debated whether they should give her to the Wild Hunt or cut her up for her Elder Blood.

Ciri overheard this debate and escaped Crookback Bog while narrowly evading the Wild Hunt. She wound up in a forest and found a girl named Gretka. Ciri was able to save Gretka and another man from a Werewolf that was in the forest.

After killing the Werewolf, Ciri and Gretka went to Crow's Perch and were taken in by the Bloody Baron. Ciri was able to befriend the Bloody Baron and his men and she asked him if she could take his mare for a race.

During the race with the Bloody Baron, they were attacked by a Basilisk and Ciri was able to fend off the Basilisk but, the Bloody Baron was abducted by the Basilisk. Ciri was then forced to use her powers in order to save the Bloody Baron and defeat the Basilisk.

Ciri Scheming in Novigrad

Since Ciri used her powers in Crow's Perch, she was forced to leave and went to Novigrad. There, she met with Dandelion to ask for help in repairing the Phylactery to lift the curse on Avallac'h. Dandelion suggested that they go to Whoreson Junior in order to repair the Phylactery and Junior told them that he wanted Dijkstra's treasure in exchange.

Junior betrayed the two and kidnapped and tortured Dudu. Ciri was able to rescue Dudu from Junior but Dandelion and Ciri were on the run again. Both of them fled towards Temple Isle but, Dandelion was caught by the Temple Guard and Ciri managed to escape by teleporting away before she was shot by a crossbow.

Ciri Returns to Skellige

Ciri landed back in Skellige where she fell unconscious on the shores of Hindarsfjall. Skjall to her to his home to let her recover there. Ciri was then invited by Skjall's sister to go to the sauna after she woke up.

When she was about the depart, the Wild Hunt attacked Hindarsfjall and Skjall helped her escape with Avallac'h before being slain by the Red Riders of the Wild Hunt. Ciri tried to go back to Hindarsfjall to help Skjall but she was put into a death-like sleep by Avallac'h and he hid Ciri in the Isle of Mists.

Ciri Finally Fighting Back

After a few events, Ciri was found by Geralt and they were forced to teleport back to back to Kaer Morhen in order to escape the Wild Hunt. Ciri, even when instructed to stay inside the fortress, went out to help Triss battle the Wild Hunt.

When the Wild Hunt was able to breach through the inner courtyard and froze everyone except Ciri and Vesemir, they tried to fight against Imlerith but were unable to do win. Ciri was about to surrender when Imlerith took Vesemir as hostage before Vesemir attacked Imlerith again causing him to snap Vesemir's neck.

Ciri's power went out of control in a form of a deafening scream, forcing the Wild Hunt to retreat right before Avallac'h was able to stop Ciri from destroying the fortress and everyone in it.

Ciri's Revenge

After Vesemir's and possibly Lambert's funeral, Ciri continued to train with Avallac'h and got angry because she was not progressing well. The next morning she asked Geralt to accompany her to Bald Mountain since she discovered that Imlerith will be there.

The player can decide whether Ciri can visit her father, Ehmyr, before travelling to Bald Mountain with Geralt. During their time in Bald Mountain, she was able to defeat two of the three Crones while the third one escaped.

Ciri's Personal Matters

Ciri and Geralt go back to Novigrad and had Geralt help her with a few matters to take care of. Ciri then attends a meeting with the Lodge of Sorceresses where they give her an invitation to join the Lodge.

Ciri then asks Geralt and Yennefer to accompany her in investigating Avallac'h's lab in Skellige. The player can choose whether Ciri and Geralt find Skjall's body and make a grave for him at Hindarsfjall.

Ciri's True Intentions

Ciri now goes to Undvik with the others and start battling the Wild Hunt. During the battle Ciri was able to find and fight with Caranthir while successfully destroying Caranthir's weapon. After her battle with Caranthir, she disappears with Avallac'h to enter the tower of Tedd Deireadh.

Ciri reveals to Geralt that she asked Avallac'h for help in order to destroy the White Frost. After this Ciri goes through the portal to destroy the White Frost. Her fate is determined by the players decision during the game.

Epilogue

The ending is determined by the player's choices when interacting with Ciri and the political affairs of the world. Below are the three endings available in the game.

Best Ending

Geralt purchases a silver sword from a master blacksmith and give it to Ciri as a gift. The two then roam around the world as Witchers while Geralt teaches Ciri everything he knows about being a Witcher.

Good Ending

Geralt and company return to White Orchard Inn the Geralt meets with Ciri to go on a hunt with her. After the hunt, Ciri departs to Nilfgaard to become the new Empress.

Worst Ending

Geralt goes back to Crookback Bog to kill the last Crone and retrieve the Medallion that Ciri got since it is his last memento of Ciri. After retrieving the medallion the game ends where Geralt is in the hut while hordes of monsters surround the hut presumably killing Geralt.