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The Witcher books, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and by extension Geralt's whole life is a series of 'the lesser of two evils' choices. In the dark and dreary world Geralt lives in, the endings for all stories are just in different shades of grey instead of black (tragic) or white (happy).

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And, this is an aspect of the source material that CDProjekt Red, the developers of the Witcher games, got right for the most part. But, out of all the choices Geralt can make in Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which ones are the closest to just being purely negative? Let's take a look.

Updated February 4th, 2023 by Jacob Buchalter: The Witcher franchise feels like it's always in the back of the minds of the public, given that there's always some new piece of Witcher news. Whether it's Henry Cavill walking away from the Netflix show, the Vesemir-focused animated series Nightmare of the Wolf, or the Next-Gen update for the base Witcher 3 game, there's always something going on. So, it seems like an apt time to look back and pick out some of the worst choices that Geralt of Rivia can possibly make.

15 Turning In The Twisted Firestarter

Witcher 3 - Geralt Turning In Arsonist In Twisted Firestarter-1

White Orchard is basically The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's 'tutorial area'. It's where a lot of the mechanics of the game are slowly introduced, it's mostly separated from the rest of the world in regards to the plot, and the storyline hasn't really 'kicked off' yet while Geralt is roaming around this area. And, one of the early side quests players can take on in this town is called 'Twisted Firestarter'. In it, Willis, a Dwarven blacksmith, is one of the only non-humans in the village, and his forge has recently been burned down. Willis is sure that this fire was intentional, and asks Geralt to find who did it. Geralt does, and it turns out a drunkard named Napp did it while intoxicated.

Geralt has two choices here, either turn Napp in to the Nilfaardians or take a bribe from Napp and let him go. The obvious choice would be to turn in the racist against non-humans, but choices in the Witcher are never quite so black and white. If Geralt turns Napp in, he's almost immediately executed, and Willis is even further alienated from the rest of the village. Plus, despite offering to give him a discount for finding the arsonist, nothing in Willis' shop is any cheaper after picking this option.

However, if players take the bribe, they get more money for the quest overall, Willis still gets a new forge, and the problem doesn't escalate any further. Plus, the Nilfgaardians don't get as involved in the affairs of White Orchard, which for the most part is a net gain.

14 Bringing The Bones To Graham

Witcher 3 - Graham Looking Into Anabelle's Eyes As A Plague Maiden

It's funny, two of the worst choices anyone playing The Witcher 3 can make are tied to two quests in one small area. A Towerful of Mice is basically the same questline in which Geralt has to choose what to do with Keira Metz. But, before that, he needs to make the correct choice when it comes to saving or getting rid of Anabelle, the Pesta/Plague Maiden of Fyke Isle.

After listening to her horrifying story and how she came to pass (spoiler alert, it was pretty rough), Geralt needs to decide what to do to exorcise her. There are two choices, Geralt can either take Anabelle's remains from Fyke Isel and bring them to Graham, the man she loved before she died. Or, alternatively, Geralt can bring Graham to Fyke Isle to confront and apologize to Anabelle.

Both choices end in death, but if Geralt takes Anabelle's remains from Fyke Isle, much more death follows. Meanwhile, if Graham comes to her, the two kiss in a horrifying way (and Geralt shyly turns away), and Anabelle is put to rest alongside Graham. One option leads to the death of one man, while the other also kills Graham but also releases a plague maiden upon the surrounding area, leading to much more death overall. So, sadly, Graham needs to be a sacrifice, even unknowingly, so that more people survive.

13 Ciri Returning Home For Good

Witcher 3 - Cirilla Ending Splash Art In Final Narration

This next entry has a lot of spoilers for the end of the Witcher 3, especially in regard to Ciri, so beware. Ciri has a couple of different endings for her after the events of the "Something Ends, Something Begins" questline. One ending has her finally becoming a Witcheress, traveling around and taking jobs with her surrogate father Geralt. Another ending has her tragically pass during her final confrontation against the White Frost.

And the final of three endings have Ciri and Geralt ultimately come to terms with their positions in life, with Ciri returning to become the next Empress of Nilfgaard. While there are some positive implications to this ending, and it's certainly better than the ending where she dies, Ciri becoming Empress is the ending she would want the least. All her life, Ciri has just wanted to be free to see the world, experience new things, bond with people, and make a life for herself. She was persecuted, hunted own, used by countless people, and told what she 'had' to do all her life. So, to have an ending where she just 'gives up' and accepts her destiny is so tragic.

12 Letting Keira Metz Go To Radovid

Witcher 3 - Keira Metz Narration Ending Before Showing Her On Stake

Keira Metz is a charming and powerful Sorceress, one who used to belong to the Lodge of Sorceresses and toes the line quite well between helping those around her for her own selfish needs and actually being altruistic for the sake of it. And, at the end of the questline for “A Towerful of Mice”, she demonstrates this by using Geralt’s expertise to exorcise a Plague Maiden so that she can take the formula for the Catriona plague to Radovid V The Stern in exchange for her safety.

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This is, of course, the same Radovid who spends his free time torturing magic users of any kind and putting their heads on pikes. So, obviously, her half-baked plan isn’t going to work. Instead, players must convince her to go to Kaer Morhen during the 'For the Advancement of Learning' questline. This is by far the best option, as the other two involve Geralt killing her himself, or letting her go to Radovid, only to be brutally executed.

11 Choosing, Well, Anything During Whispering Hillock Questline

Witcher 3 - Talking To Spirit Trapped In Whispering Hillock

The Whispering Hillock quest is one of the earliest ones in the game that forces players to come to terms with the whole 'lesser of two evils' thing. Basically, no matter what decision Geralt makes in regard to this spirit trapped in the roots of a tree, there will be irreparable consequences. On one hand, if Geralt frees the spirit and even gives them a new body to dwell in (a horses body, to be exact), the Spirit saves the children held hostage by the three Crones in Crookback Bog but also attacks Downwarren, a village that follows the orders of the Crones simply because they were left with no other real 'alternative'.

Alternatively, if Geralt kills the Spirit, Downwarren is saved (sort of), but the children are kidnapped by the Crones and most likely killed. Either way, the outcome is awful, and this isn’t even taking into account what happens to Anna, the wife of the Bloody Baren who was keeping the children safe in the first place.

10 Not Helping Cerys (Or Hjalmar) Ascend To The Throne

Witcher 3 - Cerys Ending Splash Art In Final Narration

The Witcher 3 is a ridiculously huge game, like, seriously big. And, surprisingly, it has two different open-world (technically 5, including White Orchard, Kaer Morhen, and Toussaint) maps to explore as well. Players will spend the first half of their game exploring the wilds of Velen and Novigrad, while the second half takes place, mostly, in Skellige. On his hunt for Ciri, Geralt ends up in Skellige, and as soon as he gets there, the guy gets dragged into their selection process for their next ruler.

Now, the game doesn’t really make it clear that the whole “King’s Gambit” line of tasks is actually a side quest and not a mainline quest, but it is. And, if players choose to ignore Cerys and Hjalmar altogether, Svanrige becomes the next ruler instead, and Skellige undergoes a civil war of sorts. It might not be the worst thing for the country in the long run, but compared to Cerys’ ideals, it’s a lot worse. There's an argument to be made for siding with Hjalmar being a bad choice, but that's a bit more up in the air than of Svanrige leads Skellige.

9 Refusing To Put The Baby In The Oven

Witcher 3 - Actual Pop Up With Both Baby-Related Choices During Skellige Questline

And, speaking of Cerys an Craite, before the whole 'King’s Gambit' side quests even occur Cerys has to complete a legendary task so that she’s even “worthy” of competing for the throne. It gets a bit convoluted and hard to explain, but, essentially, Geralt and Cerys team up to save Jarl Udalryk from the curse of a creature called a Hym. Hyms latch on to a person’s guilt and feed off it. Luckily, one of the ways to get rid of it involves tricking the monster by having it hop onto a person who 'thinks' they committed a grave act and feels immense 'guilt' for it, but it turns out the act that caused their guilt didn't actually happen.

To do this, Cerys kidnaps the Jarl's kid and tells Geralt to throw it in a hot oven. The obvious and non-sociopathic choice here would obviously be to say no to putting a baby in an oven, but the choice does make more sense within the context of the quest. If the player chooses to get rid of the Hym the other way that doesn't involve a baby in an oven, then Geralt has to get through a pretty tedious questline called 'Possession' that ends in a boss fight that can easily kill Udalryk during this fight if Geralt isn’t extra careful.

8 Taking Money For Bringing Ciri To Emhyr

Witcher 3 - Emhyr Looking Sternly At Geralt

As anyone who watched the Netflix series probably knows by now, Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, otherwise known as Ciri, is kind of an important character. She’s got the Elder Blood in her, and that’s something both her father Emperor Emhyr, and Eredin, leader of the Wild Hunt, desperately want.

Fans of the books likely know how gross and insidious both Emhyr and Eredin's reasons are for wanting it, so it’s a good thing for Ciri that she got out of there. But, players can actually bring Ciri back to Emhyr if they so choose, and they’ll be rewarded with quite a bit of money. But, this path basically ruins the relationship between Ciri and Geralt, two of the most likable characters in this setting, so almost no one goes down this route.

7 Refusing The Last Wish & Breaking Yennefer's Heart

Witcher 3 - Yennefer Looking Sad After Event Of The Last Wish Quest

And speaking of awful betrayal, let's talk about Yennefer of Vengerberg. She is likely the most important person in Geralt's life, other than Ciri or Triss, and it shows. The guy does anything for Yennefer, well, once he remembers her that is. Those who are familiar with the books (though this isn't a plot point in the books), Netflix show, or even the previous two Witcher games know about Yen and Geralt’s love and how it “technically” is the result of a Djinn’s power.

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And, what's extra neat, is that players can take on a sidequest where Geralt and Yen hunt down another Djinn to nullify this "Last Wish" and see if their affection is the real deal. Once it's nullified, Yen asks if there are any feelings for her remaining, and players completely have the option of turning her down at this point and saying no. But, how could anyone possibly do that? Obviously, there are fans out there who are bigger fans of Triss than Yennefer, but, after learning of Yen’s past with Geralt and Triss’s manipulation, how could anyone choose to break Yennefer’s heart? This choice and the quest as a whole are the most divisive questline for the fanbase, as many feel that the writing and justifications during this quest border on fanfiction.

6 Betraying Roche & Ves To Djikstra

Witcher 3 - Close Up On Roche Apperance In Witcher 3

This decision may be one of the heaviest in the game, especially since politically it feels like the right call, but interpersonally it feels like pure evil. Basically, Geralt at one point during the “Reason of State” series of quests has to choose between Djikstra (the oddly charming schemer) and Roche (Geralt's friend and a die-hard Temerian loyalist), two fan-favorite characters.

And, this isn’t just a simple decision either, Geralt has to choose which one dies. If Geralt was truly neutral, it would make more sense not to intervene between Dijkstra’s and Roche’s conflict, but by the point in this well-hidden questline that this choice appears, Geralt has already assisted in assassinating Radovid, so he’s long past neutral. So, most players end up choosing to protect Roche, but neither decision is really “good” by standard definitions. Additionally, this is another decision that feels like it directly contradicts who Djikstra is as a character. In what world did this hyper-intelligent and overly-cautious schemer think he could take out a Witcher, Roche, and Ves with just himself and a couple of guards? It makes no sense.

5 Not Convincing Sylvia To Forgive Her Sister

Witcher 3 - Geralt And Slyvia Talking About Forgiving Anna

Blood and Wine is the second major DLC for The Witcher 3, and it introduces the land of Toussaint with a whole lot of missions, characters, and content to experience. In it, Geralt quickly discovers that Toussaint is ruled by someone named Anna Henrietta. During his time there, Geralt solves the case of a mad vampire by the name of Dettlaff, travels to a mystical illusionary world of fables, and learns about all the mysteries that involve Sylvia Anna, Henrietta’s sister. Sadly, there's only one real 'good' ending for Sylvia.

At the end of her questline called 'Pomp and Strange Circumstance' If Geralt doesn’t go into the Fablesphere to get Sylvia, or if he doesn’t convince her to forgive her sister, the sisters die. It’s odd that out of the four possible endings, only one has both sisters survive, but considering how harsh this setting is, it makes sense that the most difficult result would be that everyone is happy.

4 Giving Oligerd's Soul To Gaunter (Especially For Free)

Witcher 3 - Geralt And Olgierd Looking Up At Gaunter Floating

Gaunter O’Dimm and the mysteries surrounding him have to be one of the most interesting things introduced in the CDProjekt Red games. He's one of the main characters in Hearts of Stone, where Geralt works for him to pay back a favor, helping Dimm claim the soul of a man named Olgierd Von Everec. There’s a lot to figure out throughout the Hearts of Stone main questline, but at the end of the day, it really comes down to whether Geralt saves his soul, or challenges O’Dimm.

And, if players choose to bring Olgierd to Gaunter, Geralt is rewarded with their choice of reward from Gaunter from a pool of 'boons'. Some of them are fantastic, like a horn that spawns food infinitely, a saddle that turns Roache into a demonic steed, or a bottle of vodka that never goes empty. Each one has its own uses, but oddly enough, Geralt can also ask for money and even more odd, he can ask for nothing at all. Choosing either of these is an awful choice, as the monetary reward is only 5000 crowns, not even enough to upgrade the Runecrafter’s shop, and it turns out that asking for nothing isn't some test where Geralt gets the best reward for being selfless, he just literally receives nothing as a reward.

3 Letting Things Get Bad With Ciri & Forbidding Her From Acting During The Last Quest

Witcher 3 - Geralt Waiting For Ciri Who Won't Come During Worst Ending

Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon has three potential endings in The Witcher 3. And, a lot of them have to do with specific decisions or dialogue choices players make in regard to their relationship with Ciri throughout the second half of the game. Basically, pick the wrong options enough times during the mainline quest, and Ciri won’t feel confident during her final battle against the White Frost which leads to her demise. Now, in an attempt not to spoil too much, let’s say that Geralt doesn’t take this too well, and makes some decisions of his own if things go badly.

To avoid this darkest of dark endings, it's pretty simple, just be a good adoptive father to Ciri. Honestly after looking at the choices players would have to make and things they’d have to say to Ciri to get this "bad" ending, it'd be pretty difficult for any regular person to stumble into this ending by accident. Most of the time, players only see this ending when they aim for it explicitly.

2 Not Taking Whoreson Junior Out Of The Picture

Witcher 3 - Ciri Almost Attacking Dudu Disguised As Whoreson

Much like his name may suggest, Whoreson Junior is not the best kind of guy. He's really twisted, to say the least, and his laundry list of depraved deeds and crimes only grows ever second he takes another breath. Learning about all of this is the result of a few quests in Novigrad involving Ciri, Dudu the Doppler, Dandelion, and Geralt.

And, at the end of the questline, Geralt has the choice to spare or slay this obviously demented wannabe crime lord. There are some moral arguments to be made here, for sure, but most players tend to unanimously agree that sparing him is the wrong choice. And, funnily enough, killing Junior is also the choice that works out the best for everyone. It leads to Doppler Dudu taking his place and turning his business around for the good of Novigrad, for example.

But, if he survives, Junior becomes a beggar and faces endless humiliation. While this second option does sound pretty good, there’s no mention of Dudu taking his place anymore it, so this choice keeps a piece of scum alive and prevents Novigrad from getting any better.

1 Trying To Romance Both Triss & Yennefer

Witcher 3 - Still Frame From Cinematic Where Geralt Tries To Have Both Triss And Yennefer

And lastly, everyone knows Geralt likes to sleep around, but, players should really try and get this hound dog to keep it in his pants. Throughout the game, Geralt has the choice to 'romance' his fair share of women such as Keira Metz, Shani, Syanna, Triss, Yennefer, Sasha, and tons of courtesans at multiple brothels across the game.

Now, most of these options, awkwardly enough, benefit Geralt from a gameplay standpoint to pursue, but that’s because they’re usually just a “fling” or “night of passion”. Trying to go for both Triss and Yennefer as loving partners is what will lead to a world of hurt in their exclusive ending and should be avoided at all costs for those who want the characters to have happy endings (though the cutscene is hilarious).

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

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