The Witcher 3: 10 Quotes That Will Stick With Us Forever
The Witcher 3 is one of the most popular games of the last decade. Loved by fans and critics alike it has sold millions of copies and become one of the most influential games ever made. Dozens of fully realized quests, beautiful graphics, intricate gameplay, and CD Projekt RED's fanatical eye for detail have created a masterpiece that will be lauded for years to come.
Another vital aspect of The Witcher 3 is its incredibly strong writing. The characters are all complex, and nothing is black and white. Here are 10 quotes from The Witcher 3 that stuck with players long after the game ended.
10 "Folks Don't Expect Witchers To Save Them From Themselves."
This quote is said by Geralt after a lengthy quest involving a small-time warlord known as The Bloody Baron. Initially tasked with finding the man's kidnapped wife and daughter, it soon becomes clear that there is more to this story than the Baron is saying. Eventually, he finds out that the Baron was abusive to his wife, who in turn had taken to provoking him into rages. Upon becoming pregnant with their second child, she makes a pact with a trio of evil spirits to rid herself of it and becomes their servant.
The storyline can end multiple ways, but in this one, the Baron finds redemption and sets out to find a way to heal the mind of his broken wife.
9 "You were always an unruly child. I adored that about you. Now FLY!"
At the midpoint of the game, Geralt has found Ciri, but the Wild Hunt is now aware of her location and swiftly comes to take her. They rally their allies to Kaer Morhen to try and fend off the assault. Though they fight valiantly, they are eventually overwhelmed by The Hunt. Ciri, and mentor to her and Geralt Vesemir, are the only ones left standing.
Vesemir is taken hostage by the hunt to get Ciri to surrender. Unwilling to be used as a bargaining chip, the old Witcher says the above quote before goading his captor into killing him.
8 "Don't Blame Yourself. No Witcher's Ever Died In His Bed."
Following the death of Vesemir, Ciri is understandably devastated. Geralt attempts to comfort her with the above line, with little success. While it is a small moment, the quote underscores the tragic nature of a Witcher's life.
Taken from their homes as children, the boys are put through brutal training before undergoing agonizing mutations to help them fight monsters. For the rest of their lives, they wander, rarely knowing a true home. For coin they fight off the creatures that prey on men, often receiving no gratitude for their work. No Witcher ever dies in their bed. They never get the chance.
7 "Kings Die, Realms Fall, But Magic Endures"
Blind sorceress Philipa Eilheart gives us this line that may provide some insight into powerful mages such as herself. Those gifted in magic can live a very long time, often hundreds of years. Many of them spend their time plotting to advance their agendas, often giving little regard to the lives of others as they do so.
Perhaps some of this callousness derives from attitudes like the above. If nothing but magic is permanent, then other people don't matter. If their plans might kill people or destroy entire kingdoms, it doesn't matter since those things would fall on their own anyway.
6 "Shut Your Trap And Fight!"
Crach an Craite is one of Geralt's oldest friends, and the leader of a fierce clan of Viking-like warriors on the Isles of Skellige. When the time comes for the final confrontation with The Wild Hunt, he gladly volunteers himself and his clan to aid the Witcher in the battle. While Geralt and Ciri fight their way through the Riders of the Hunt, Crach engages their leader Eridin in a duel.
Unfortunately, Eredin proves to be too much for Craite to handle. When asked for his last words, the warrior shouts the above and lunges at his opponent one more time.
5 "This Is My Story Not Yours. You Must Let Me Finish Telling It."
Even after defeating Eredin and The Wild Hunt, Geralt has no time to rest. The Conjunction of the Spheres, a phenomenon were multiple dimensions overlap has begun, and Ciri intends to use this event to destroy The White Frost, a supernatural force that will one day destroy every plane of reality unless it is stopped. At first, he thinks she has been coerced into doing so, but when he arrives, she makes clear that she is doing it of her own free will.
Geralt naturally does not want Ciri to go, but she explains that she must. At this moment, Geralt must accept her choice, and it's the hardest thing he has ever done.
4 "What The F**k Was That?!"
By the time of The Witcher 3 Geralt of Rivia has seen just about everything. Dragons, demons, women in lakes distributing swords, all of these are things he has run across in his career as a Witcher. So it's understandable that it would take something really strange to rattle him.
While pressed into the service of a demonic entity, Geralt finds himself at a haunted estate. While there, he encounters some... thing called the Caretaker. Geralt has never seen the like, and even the games own bestiary doesn't know what to make of it.
3 "Guess I could Have Been Someone Worse... Just A shame I Had No Choice."
Lambert is another Witcher from Kaer Morhen, and one of Geralt's oldest friends. Unlike his friend, Lambert has something of a chip on his shoulder about his life as a Witcher. Like most, he was taken from his home against his will. Even worse, his life had been essentially taken from him because another Witcher happened to save his abusive father one night.
Given that Witcher's face a harsh life, and that's even if they survive the mutations, it's not hard to see why he would lament his lack of choice in deciding his life.
2 "Hatred And Prejudice Will Never Be Eradicated. And Witch Hunts Will Never Be About Witches. A Scapegoat, That's The Key."
Novigrad is a city whose racial tensions have boiled over into outright pogroms. Those who aren't human are relentlessly persecuted and often burned at the stake. Much of this is at the behest of The Church Of The Eternal Fire, a racist religious organization that runs the city.
The non-humans, the Church says, are to blame for the misfortunes of the lower classes. Just like in real life, a minority is used as a scapegoat for those in power to escape blame. Geralt makes this observation after riding into town to see freshly burned corpses adorning the entrance.
1 "Evil Is Evil. Lesser, Greater, Middling, Makes No Difference. The Degree Is Arbitrary, The Definitions Blurred. If I'm To Choose Between One Evil And Another, I'd Rather Not Choose At All.
One of the prevailing themes of the series is that there is no such thing as a lesser evil. No matter what evil is chosen, evil is done. With that in mind, how do you know what the right thing to do is when every option seems wrong? In the end, you can only do what you think is right, and hope for the best.
This is one of the defining quotes of the series, and variation of it have appeared in the books, games, and tv show. It nicely illustrates the grey nature of morality presented in the series.