Witcher 3 endings for the main story (Witcher 3 endings) have three fates for Ciri: death, witcher, empress. You do not settle it with one line before the finale. In the closing stretch from Blood on the Battlefield to Isle of Mists five dialogues come up and you need at least three good ones, otherwise Ciri dies in the White Frost. You only get the empress if Nilfgaard also wins the war in Novigrad.
The first time I played the game, I made bad choices in the dialogues with Ciri and ended up with her death, the game does not warn you in advance. I had to reload and I loaded back to the battle of Kaer Morhen, the whole closing stretch again. Save before the finale, from a save after Tedd Deireadh, The Final Age you cannot undo it from there. The epilogue is called Something Ends, Something Begins.
Five choices with Ciri
The closing stretch only starts after the battle of Kaer Morhen, where Vesemir falls and Ciri is with Geralt again. The game does not show in the menu which line is good and which is bad, you have to watch it yourself.
In Blood on the Battlefield you sit in the winter camp, Ciri is at rock bottom after the battle and Geralt has two ways to talk to her. Then you decide whether you go with her to the emperor in Vizima first, or straight to the Isle of Mists. In Final Preparations you deal with the Lodge of Sorceresses, in Child of the Elder Blood with Avallac’h’s laboratory, and at the end with the boy from Skellige who helped Ciri and paid for it with his life.
| # | Quest | Good choice | Bad choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blood on the Battlefield | “Think I know what might cheer you up”, snowball | “You don’t have to be good at everything” and drinking |
| 2 | Blood on the Battlefield, road to Vizima | You go to the emperor and refuse the money | You take the reward from Emhyr |
| 3 | Final Preparations | You let Ciri go to the Lodge alone | You go with her and speak for her |
| 4 | Child of the Elder Blood (laboratory) | “Go for it”, you let her smash the lab | “Calm down” and the necklace |
| 5 | Child of the Elder Blood (Skellige) | You go with her to Skjall’s grave | “We’ve no time for that” |
Row 2 only applies when you go to the emperor first in Blood on the Battlefield. When you do not go to Emhyr, that choice never comes up, you have four moments and the empress is gone, she can still survive though. Emhyr offers you a reward for his daughter, Geralt can take it, or say that Ciri is not merchandise.
Three endings
Ciri dies
The epilogue sends you back to Velen, into the swamps by the orphans. The land from the first third of the game, fog, wooden shrines, a path you already know and you do not expect to return to it in the finale. Geralt follows the crone through the swamp. No goodbye talk, no White Orchard, the epilogue ends here, in the closing video a huge pack of monsters swarms Geralt and it is not clear whether Geralt survives or dies.
The same swamps as in the Ladies of the Wood quest. The medallion is the only thing left of her. This is the darkest variant.
Ciri the witcher
Ciri survived and either you did not go to the emperor, or Nilfgaard did not win the war. In Vizima Geralt will lie to Emhyr that Ciri is dead, so the emperor leaves her alone. Then in the abandoned Nilfgaardian camp near White Orchard he gets the sword Zireael from the blacksmith, he hands it to Ciri at the inn and she starts as a witcher. On the road you meet soldiers according to who won the war, Nilfgaardian or Redanian. The witcher epilogue with the lie to the emperor is the strongest one for me emotionally and I agree with it.
Ciri the empress
Ciri survived and you went to Emhyr and at the same time Nilfgaard won the war in the North. It is clearly a good ending for the world, but not for Geralt. You have one last day together by White Orchard, a ride on horseback through the land you know like the back of your hand from the start of the game, a stop by the water, fishing, talking on the road like there is nowhere to rush yet. Ciri knows she is leaving to rule Nilfgaard.
Ciri leaves for the throne, Geralt stays on the Path, jobs, contracts and more adventures. It is not a bad ending.
Empress, politics in Novigrad
A visit to Emhyr is not enough. You decide the war in the North in Novigrad. Radovid hunts mages, Dijkstra plots an assassination and Roche with Ves and Thaler are in it up to their necks. Here it depends on who you decide to help.
| Quest | What to do |
|---|---|
| Now or Never | Help with the mage escape from Novigrad, without that the assassination of Radovid does not unlock |
| An Eye for an Eye | Finish it, it is a quest from Triss’s line |
| A Deadly Plot | Prepare the assassination |
| Redania’s Most Wanted | Finish it before Reason of State |
| Blindingly Obvious | Be matter-of-fact with Dijkstra, give him the info about Ciri and Emhyr, Reason of State unlocks |
| Reason of State | Radovid dies in the assassination. At the end stand up to Dijkstra, save Roche, Ves and Thaler, kill Dijkstra |
At the end of Reason of State you can walk away and leave Dijkstra to deal with Roche’s people himself. Dijkstra then holds Redania, Nilfgaard loses the war. When you kill him, Roche has room in the North and Nilfgaard can win.
The overall feel of the game is in the Witcher 3 review. More guides are on the Witcher 3 hub. Hidden choices in Velen are in the hidden quests.