There needs to be a Ciri vs Geralt Gwent match in the game or I'll cry. Actually, I'll cry either way. But one is of happiness and joy, the other is of sadness and despair.
@LeleiTheTigress there should be a quest where you battle insane gwent masters in order and every time you defeat one they allow to fight the next one until finally they reveal geralt is the final gwent master. Would go so hard.
I'm going to skip this if they can't handle this piece of lore correctly: Geralt must be the final boss of Gwent 2. Canonically speaking my addiction to TW3 gwent means he is the greatest gwenter on the continent. Don't mess this up CDPR.
Same. I really hope there will be some kind of qwent tournament with a secret final opponent, and when you manage to get to the finals its revealed that its Geralt. 😂
It'd be a pretty based take if Ciri doesnt want to have children so she becomes a Witcher because she can't keep her legs closed. We'd probably get some Stellar Blade level armor skins in the game
I fucking hate that kind of people complaining about everything just from one damn teaser trailer, it's just insanity. In person, acting like that, would automatically put you into a fucking pscyh ward.
@@ImNotLuthien I swear, so many people claiming that the game will be 'horrible' and was 'ruined' by new hires from one singular trailer, that likely won't be in the game like many, many of TW3 trailers. People need to calm down, stop being angry for two seconds, and realize that this isn't even gameplay, and knowing CD Projekt Red, it will all be explained in an actually compelling way!
The infertility aspect in order to forcibly change her own destiny was something I hadn’t even considered, that’s metal as hell I hope that’s an intended angle
All I can say is I can't wait to play the Witcher 4, been thinking about replaying the Witcher 3 again for the 5th time I mean I think I have 650 hours of play time on the Witcher 3 so yeah I d say it's way past time for a new Witcher game
The story in the trailer of the village girl being sacrificed because it's her destiny is a great parallel to Ciri's own story and helps raise the stakes for Ciri in this quest. They also said it would be a playable side quest in the game, which makes so much sense. Side quests that draws parallels to the main story line are amazing and very CD Projekt Red
I didnt really like because it felt like a step down in darkness/brutality in comparison to a few of the previous game trailers. I thought the trailer idea was to pay homage to the original feel of the witcher i.e "killing monsters" and while I understand that I thought the witcher 3s trailer was better executed in dialogue as well as brutality as well giving a good insight in the world as well as characters(vesimir and geralt) while this one feels more basic in comparison.
@@benmangerere358don’t pay attention to this guy, nothing he says makes sense. Literally everything he says is complaining about AnTi WoKe, whether your comment has said anything relevant to that or not. He’s just some DEI shill.
@@821lancevance fix your eyes, just in case you haven't attended pre school and don't know what Objective Viewpoint means, here you go An objective view is a viewpoint or approach that is unbiased and based on facts and verifiable evidence.
To tie into your idea that the crux of this story could revolve around Ciri running from her destiny I really like the idea that Ciris Elder Blood is what allowed her to survive the Trial of the Grasses but as a result her Elder Blood powers have gone dormant and part of the plot is her needing to slowly reawaken her powers and by extension accept her destiny and the responsibility that comes with it. This would be a great way to introduce an Elder Blood skill tree to the game and justify why she isn't as powerful as she was in The Witcher 3 as well as justify still needing to prepare for monster battles with potions, runes and oils for your swords, maintaining and upgrading your armor etc. This would allow for new magic and gameplay mechanics we've never had in these games before and still keep the foundation The Witcher has always had. This could also be how we bring Geralt and Yennifer back into the fold too, Geralt can teach her more swordfighting styles and techniques (kinda like having different styles to use in The Witcher 1) as well as how to make more complex potions and Yennifer can teach Ciri new and more powerful spells as you level up and become stronger.
additional theory: game begins as normal Witcher without elder blood, but behind the scenes her elder blood is fighting the mutations and as game progress we unlock elder blood skill tree, God of war style like Kratos unlocking his old demigod powers, oh yeah the elder blood abilities could also be like Kratos's rage of the titans with limited bar meter
@AhmadWahelsa interesting, that's a cool way of depicting her destiny literally at odds with her current choices, like having good and evil at war within yourself which has always been important for these games, figuring out what the right choice is in a world that rewards evil and punishes good.
@@AhmadWahelsa maybe even having two skill trees, the witcher and elder blood trees that lock the other out of some skills the higher up you go, possibly even replacing existing abilities. elder blood adds a passive health regen but makes you unable to drink swallow or other healing items, maybe even one that gets rid of witcher eyes and other features making NPCs more tolerant of your existence but you have a hard time actually convincing people you are a witcher when you really need to. The new main threat actively tracks and ambushes you in the open world but the witcher tree has an ability that prevents it at the cost of your dash ability.
@@memeaccount8095 This is definitely how I'd like progression to be handled especially if they plan on having progression carry over through each game in this new trilogy. For instance, if you choose to level up your ability to make stronger potions that make monster preparation easier you lock out Elder Blood abilities that deal more damage to monsters. Or if you choose to level up magic that allows you to dominate the mind you can avoid combat and even unlock new quests for yourself but this is more noticeable than if you were to use Axii which is more of a gamble but more discreet and as a result certain NPCs will be too afraid to talk to you. Blacksmiths could refuse your business entirely so you can't have them craft new weapons, herbalists won't let you buy or sell to them, and some Witcher contracts and Side Quests might be unavailable if the NPCs are too afraid.
I think you are right about Ciri. The developers have been posting coins as teases for the game. There's writing on one coin posted after the reveal that translates to "Days and nights pass and the blood remains the same." I think you are right on the idea of why Ciri wanted to do the trial to basically get rid of the elder blood, but as we'll learn in the game, the blood will remain the same. I've seen others have this same idea as well.
Except that she did get rid of it based on the trailer and the comments from the devs. You don't get it, they destroyed her entire character that was not only established in the books but also in their own games. Ciri would never go through this process willingly nor would Geralt, Yennefer or Triss would ever allow her character to do it.
@@rpgadventurer32 second book mentioned Ciri drank a potion but survives, thus leading her discovery about her elder blood i have a theory that game starts as Witcher Ciri without elder blood powers, but behind the scenes her blood is fighting against the mutation, and as game progress maybe we unlock elder blood skill tree, this trailer might be set just not far in the story campaign
@@AhmadWahelsa that's actually pretty interesting, I think BG3 did something similar with illithod powers, it works differently but the point is that you get an additional skill tree with effects the story.
Partially, i would say another reason why Ciri wants to undergo trial of grasses, is because she hates elder blood and think it's curse and has brought her and others unimaginable suffering , and she LOVES being witcher, so she can give up on something she hates and become something she loves. I think the story will be on the idea that Ciri diminish elder blood power as result of the trial of grasses, but it still remains and she can't change that and her fate remains same.
@@Shockazulu12 Who cares what Yen wants? Did you play The Witcher 3? A big part of Ciris story is breaking free from the control of other people. Her whole life has been about other people making decisions for her and she wants to be free to make her own.
@@Shockazulu12 Yep, and by "never allow" I don't mean "no dear, you can't have a stuffed unicorn for christmas", I mean "no, you need me to find the recipe, source the ingredients, perform the magical mumbo jumbo on the ingredients to make them suitable, recreate all the scientific and magic equipment to make the mutagens and decoctions because all the relevant equipment we know of is lost, rework, test, trial and then produce the mutagens to work for an ADULT WOMAN, THEN do the complex and lengthy creation of the mutagens for a working dosage... then actually administer it according to Witcher requirements which involves another Witcher (probably Geralt who would also say no)... THEN to nurse you through the lengthy, excruciating and debilitating mutation process because you wouldn't be able to feed/toilet/care for your own health during the process... so no, dear, I'm not doing it". So yeah, "let her" may not be accurate in the most dumbed down sense, but refusal to participate basically equals "it isn't freaking happening". She may be special, but even Ciri isn't THAT special.
crucial detail too, her eyes are still green after the potion, not yellow like all the other witchers. There'll 100% be an Elder Blood reason for her witchery-ness
Like you said, it's not about her not being able to become a witcher but her even considering this. First thing that crossed my mind when I saw her eyes was "What about the prophecy?". Her trying to escape it through mutations would be very interesting take and would love to see how it ultimately fails. Because we all know that destiny always wins.
She can't do it though. It doesn't make sense with the established lore about the trials both in the books and in the games. The Witches will never help her get sterilized they are against doing it in the books and the same is true for the Witchers.
@rpgadventurer32 it's clear you haven't read the books. I guess you're also okay with the games lore changes too. This conflicts nothing, no Source ever took the Grasses. I'm sure if it was Alvin no one would give a damn
This is the first video I'm ever watching by you but I have to say, thank you for making this and putting this whole "controversy" into a more objective light.
Easiest way I have to describe Ciri in the books is she's what Arya Stark was supposed to be. In the ASOIAF books Arya just wanders off to Braavos and you can tell GRRM just has no idea what to do with her story anymore. In the show Arya becomes an emotionless robot only out matched by Bran the even more emotionless robot. But remember the earlier seasons, when you saw this innocent spirited little girl slowly turning into a complete and utter psychopath and steadily getting more physically dangerous as she receives training from dangerous individuals? And sometimes it felt like the universe just had a personal grudge with her with how much horrific tragedy it threw her way? That's what book Ciri is like (only with actual justification for her weapons training). She was remarkably well adjusted in the Witcher 3 and I think it worked because the Wild Hunt were very removed from the ground level conflicts of the Continent itself. That didn't really push her buttons psychologically. But for book fans out there, imagine if Witcher 3 Ciri fully powered up had somehow ran into Leo Bonhart again. She'd have torn him apart limb by limb with her bare hands. And I wouldn't be too surprised if she fractured time itself by time traveling back 5 minutes so she gets to do it again.
Side tangent humans (including myself) really have this bad habit of over explaining stuff to show off how much we know 😂. This could’ve been trimmed down to: Ciri in the books is what Arya Stark is supposed to be. This innocent girl turning into a complete psychopath that steadily gets more dangerous as she gets training from individuals while the universe tortured her along the way. Only with Ciri she’s more well adjusted.
@@JakeTylenol And your entire post could have been left unsaid; you're trying to show how smart YOU are by acting like the internet's English teacher. I enjoyed the post you tried to denigrate; yours not so much.
@@madelinemcmillan4020the devs said Witcher 4 will focus more on sexism, identity politics than previous games. CDPR has more DEI hires compared to a decade ago. The devs on Twitcher preach "woke" nonsense and thats the lead designer
People liked the Witcher 3 because of the broad strokes- cool gruff guy slays monsters in a serious world and lays women. You and your ilk are gonna literally cry when no one wants to play as an old woman. Guaranteed to bomb. @madelinemcmillan4020
@@madelinemcmillan4020 Wasn't the point of contention that this is mainly a male series and due to the prevailing woke thought that is present that you need to insert a female in whatever successful franchise? Don't forget that is the reason people have a problem with it on top of witchers never being female.
That is not really true, Witchers as well may be orphans, "Surprise child" refers to a law of barter, where if someone can't pay you, you ask for the to give you something they don't expect after coming back home, which can be literally everything, children included. While yes some witchers were children claimed as the reward for the law of surprise, vast majority of them are boy orphans from various warzones, orphanages, etc.
even more so, i remember first encountering this concept in other book by the authership of Paul william andersen it im not mistaken. i think odin is asking a woman for a favor in return for his help, and a favor is something that awaits her home
My biggest thing they need to address is regardless of how brutal the trials may be, I want to see them from ciris perspective. I want to see how she survived them and what were the immediate repercussions of this, did she immediately lose her elder blood powers? She’s already very proficient with a sword so was she made a mutant and just immediately start slaying monsters? Is she part of the school of the wolf? Etc etc. all of this stuff I want to see be addressed throughout the story.
@ then I have no concerns! I also kinda figured they’d have to address these things no matter what in order for the game to make literally any sense at all. I just really hope they don’t kill off geralt for no reason.
Yeah, I'd imagine it'll probably be incorporated in a similar fashion to how they take you through Ciri's journey in TW3. It would be sort of insane to incorporate a skip like that where so much insane stuff must have happened and just not elaborate or let you see any of it
I'd bet money it's the Rey approach. Shes just now a witcher killing monsters. No explanation. If modern games are anything to go by, she will probably hate geralt for some dumb reason. He will probably be the old pissy hermit who secluded himself.
Imagine using a power that at any given time you use it that you leave a trail that can be followed by powerful beings. I'll be honest, I would lose my fucking mind.
@@jasonjohnson1697 Imagine having a power that makes you stand on par with powerful beings and deities and instead wanting to become like Geralt. Geralt is an outstanding Witcher, the best some may say, he is super powerful compared to humans; but he is nothing compared to both monsters, otherworld beings and "powerful beings" even comparatively to mages (like the one that mops Regis). Geralt is constantly complaining that he is doing a job, that admittedly he manages somehow through rather intellect and preparation like Batman some would say rather than power or pure skill. Now imagine knowing all this first hand as Ciri, and deciding: Yes, I want that. There is no logic there, if she is scared, she can stop using them all together. If she is tired, she can square up AND SHE CAN COME ON TOP. Hell, the only promising thing to me about these games if they somehow justify the lore is that she can rise up to threats and existances no sane witcher would, or could, like the Elder One even Geralt showed a hint of fear despite supposedly lacking emotions.
@@jasonjohnson1697 That would actually make for an amazing game. Running away from powerful beings while slowly becoming more powerful yourself, and eventually taking on those beings. Damn.
@Raizan-IO You forget the most important thing in the Witcher universe: the elder blood is more of a curse to Ciri than a blessing. She always WANTED to become a witcher. Her elder blood powers have only brought her pain. Even if she can "use it against powerful enemies", the ENTIRE point of the saga is that Ciri doesn't want to become the lady of time and space. She wants to be a witcher. And of course, there is a tragic undertone to all of this. It's called nuanced and complex character development.
Thank you for making this because I noticed everyone missed quoting the books and it drove me crazy because I actually read the books and they were saying things that it never said
Thanks for this video dude, I thought I was going crazy with the other videos on RUclips. I've been following you for years now, this channel is legit. Keep it up.
Yeah, I agree-that would make the most sense. There needs to be a real necessity for her to undergo the mutations; otherwise, it just wouldn’t feel justified.
I never really cared whether or not Ciri was going to be a witcher or the new protag up until now. I was just indifferent. After this video, I'm actually interested and excited about it.
because there's no anti-woke people here, it's peaceful... hear that? the sound of civil discussions? I missed this 😢 Hearing everyone's POV on both the lore and how Ciri goes through the trials and what that means for the game is refreshing.
yea he shuts down people who thinks there was always have been a witcheress 1:48 (woke people mindset) and people thinking that ciri shouldn't be the protagonist cause shes a woman (anti-woke mindset). i like the idea that the witcher trials could be a way to stop her elder blood so she could try to prevent her destiny. i always thought it could either be Vesimer (making a prequel) or Ciri who would be the next protagonist once geralt retires.
@@dr_diddyThey're here allright. They're like the plaque, they'll always find their way to spread into every nook and crany to scream "DEI THE BIG BAD GAAAAYYY BLACK PEOPLE MADE MY WHITE WOMAN GAAAAAAY"
Lovely video as always - I love your, very thorough, takes and consideration to source material! I saw an interesting quote on the mutation part from an IGN article: “That was a huge thing for us, to make that call [to mutate Ciri], not only for her, but for the game,” explains Małgorzata Mitręga, The Witcher 4’s executive producer. “But then it's so important and still leaves so much space for imagination, like when it happened, how it happened. It's just a tease showing something, but you don't know where you will experience it and how in the game. I think it's a huge change and I hope people did not expect it.” So it’s really interesting if they make it a part of the game itself!
I really dig your whole approach here, especially undergoing the trial being something that helps Ciri fleeing from her destiny which she obviously has never really liked and from the power she possesses and is afraid of. I would bet on that, sounds like a perfect cdpr route
He wasn't being reasonable he was being generous. They didn't say it couldn't be done is basically the answer but remember the contention is that this is a male series with only male witchers and also this modern ideology that every successful franchise needs a female counterpart against fans wills most times. Although if these female characters didn't fail so often then there wouldn't be much resentment.
@@5SecondsOfFrame It has nothing to do with a "modern ideology" tho, the only reason "female protags" fail isn't cuz of the fact that they're a woman, it fails because of bad writing. Or is Ripley from Alien somehow part of this "modern ideology," or Samus from metroid?
Dude, not sure if you saw the devs post on twitter about the other side of the coin and the translation of that text. Your last hypothesis is very likely to be right, even though she tried to suppress her elder blood its power still remains.
@@timetoshine2752 You can watch the IGN interview with Game Director, he said: "We want to allow players to define [Ciri] as she creates the codex on her own terms. The way he handles monsters, quests, and adventures is unique. - Sebastian Kalemba" One journalist also said "At the same time, the Reds admitted that the abilities used by Ciri are not just basic signs, but full-fledged magic. Book connoisseurs certainly remember the magical potential of Geralt's adoptive daughter, who already used teleportation skills in the third part. Kalemba describes the heroine as a "powerful source", a combination of the world of witchers and wizards."
There is also a major issue that needs to be addressed with her regaining access to her magick, which canonically, she supposedly lost access to after trying and failing to control the element of Fire. We know that she still possessed her Elder Blood Source Magick, since she was able to still traverse worlds after losing elemental and Chaos magick, but we don’t know how she regained it here. In the trailer, she is shown as transmuting water from the rock wall into a blast of lightning and kinetic force, which cannot be mistaken for Aard. She then follows it up by igniting her chain using either Igni or another related spell. Given that she relinquished her magick, and only had her Elder Blood to power her abilities, how is she now able to cast spells again? How is she able to perform elemental and Chaos magick? Were the Lodge able to help her reconnect with her gift, and if so, how powerful will she become throughout the game?
This video perfectly sums up how I feel. Despite everything, my biggest question was, "HOW can CDPR justify Ciri deciding to become a witcher?" In my mind, I surmised the same thing that you did (and I'm someone who didn't read any of the books). I only played TW3. Ciri literally spent her entire teen and young adult life running away from her fate, having to go into extreme isolation due to the destructive nature of her powers and because of her persuers, etc. It's understandable that she'd want to take her fate into her own hands and find a way to officially undergo the witcher mutations; possibly thinking that it would be a way to either greatly lessen or suppress her powers or get rid of them entirely, even if it meant there's a chance that she might not survive the necessary process. Now, is Ciri really living a better life as a witcher? Being a witcher pretty much offers its own kind of isolation, dangers, sacrifices, and hardships. How is Ciri handling and navigating her new reality? Is she grappling with some newly found inner conflict? I'm intrigued by how CDPR can expand upon her character and create more nuanced intricacies. From what we've seen so far of her, this current Ciri is already a stark contrast from the Ciri we've known so far.
A CDPR employee left this comment on Wera's review in response to her wording similar concenrs about Ciri's transformation into a full-blown Witcher: "I can't reveal any spoilers, but we definitely won't take the trial lightly - it's a huge deal, and how this could even work for Ciri, and how others react to this happening, is definitely a huge part of the story we're going to tell!" While I am still sceptical about it, I am truly intrigued by the idea. If done well, this could make for an awesome story
I am all for the idea of Ciri sterilzing herself to prevent her destiny. Especially once you take the Falka's Curse and the prophecy about the Destroyer into account. I mean knowing, that you'll be a mother of a man who will destroy the world may leave you a bit desperate. I guess some might say that there are less extreme ways of not having kids, but I guess becoming a witcher might be the most optimal from Ciri's perspective. And I absolutely wouldn't be surpised if the sterilization process didn't work, because either Elder Blood is too strong, or something during the mutations got botched, either way Destiny goes lol, lmao on Ciri. Also, the romances have already been confirmed, just putting it out there.
@@Mrm-7799- If they let Ciri get pregnant it means one of the cis gendered heteronormative males actually got to put hands on her and that is so not happening in their game for “ a modern gaming audience.” Nope! It’s sterilization and the Big Abby route for our Ciri because the male feminists at CD Projekt Red only know how to write that stoic wannabe man trope rather than writing an actual strong female character? Just like they manwashed Lady Galadriel in Amazons Rings Of Power and turned her into GUYladriel another stoic male action hero.
hard to believe this is the reason tho, there are easier ways to get sterilised that don't involve in incredibly high risk of mortality, and Ciri couldn't even be sure that becoming a witcher would sterilise her at at all, given that there have been no previous female witchers.
@@ottopi4949 yes, here is what the Director said in an interview with gamespot: "It's a part of the way we make games. It is a part of human nature. It's a very normal thing. Without that I think we wouldn't be able to tell the very full story." His last sentence makes me hopeful that the prophecy is going to happen anyway.
So.. what is justice, Ciri? Eye for an eye? Tooth for tooth? And where does it end? Whole world drowned in a river of blood, endless pile of bodies and on top - a witcheress, with her bloody sword above the head... - Vysogota of Corvo
Not a fan of Ciri going through the trials, I would rather see her develop her own abilities and be a different type of pseudo-witcher. However, while watching your video I realized that Ciri can travel through space and time. If she learned to control the ability better, she could 1) go back to the creation of witchers to learn how to make them, and 2) go back to her younger self to apply the trials. 2 brings up sci-fi temporal issues, but it is a commonly used trope.
If she's already a witcher... why stress the issue with her going through the trials, potentially dying, and putting major emphasis on her being "an exception" because of her bloodline? It's a weak explanation and an unnecessary one. She's already powerful, witcher-trained and an honorary witcher by all counts. This way just created a rift in the fanbase for seemingly nothing.
11:55 exactly, it almost seems like a reverse step for her since she’s always been exceptional. She was almost portrayed as beyond the need for the trials.
YEAAA she is powerful. This limits her potetional and watching a woman beat Witcher 3: she even made Ciri Empress to power control over the land then abuse her powers was the thought direction 😂
Glad to see someone go into more details about what is actually in the books. I've read the books twice and was nearly positive that it was never established anywhere that women couldn't become Witchers. And while the internet has been very confident about it not being possible, nobody has actually cited anything beyond, "It's somewhere in the books, I swear." For why Ciri becomes a Witcher, I have a guess... we don't know how exactly she stopped the White Frost and/or new conjunction of the spheres. It's entirely possible that doing whatever she did cost or greatly reduced her elder blood abilities, and CDPR has already come out and said she won't have her super OP abilities in the new game. If she lost those abilities but was still committed to becoming a Witcher (maybe feeling responsible for anything that came through in that new conjunction?), I can totally see her strong-arming Geralt, Yenn, Trish, and company with, "I'm hunting monsters no matter what... you can either help me become a true Witcher to give me a better chance, or I'm going to go out there with my bare minimum amount of Witcher sword play and magic skills I know and we'll just have to hope that's enough."
worth pointing out in the end of witcher 3 when ciri visits gearalt at corvo bianco she mentions killing a garkin and drinking black blood. idk if black blood is less toxic though
@@rpgadventurer32 Still drank a potion. :) Clearly that already kind of implies that her body can handle toxicity, maybe tied to her Elder Blood somehow.
black blood basically turns your blood highly acidic as we see in the blood and wine trailer where geralts blood drop hisses on the ground and dissapear.
@@bolg892 What it really implies, is that someone on the writing team made a mistake. Which is relevant to the topic -- I think it's healthy not to expect Witcher 4 to be consistent with either the books or the previous games. With the latest book, it turns out even Sapkowski can't keep some things straight (two swords on the back). Whenever there's a sequel (prequel, sidequel, whatever), lore shifts.
Ciri as a witcher is problematic for one reason. Because it's a damn DOWNGRADE for her. She had immense power, power all the lodge was jelous of, mages, kings, elves, sages, everyone wanted HER powers and potential and then she's.... reduced to a witcher? I mean, witchers are not liked in this universe, they are outcasts, looked down upon, they risk their life for pittance and Ciri, who has a ROYAL backhround, had EDUCATION, has POWERS and she's like, eh, no, I'd rather choose the life of an outcast, I want to be a tattered vagabond, I want my "father's" life, I want to step in Geralt's footsteps (not that Geralt didn't complain about his life and being a witcher enough!) and boom, she's a fully developed witcher, now she can live her dream life of being spitted on, sleeping on the roadside and work for alms! Good job girl, your potential, powers, knowledge and importance in the world just flew out the window. That's why it's problematic. Her as a protagonist is obvious - her as a witcher is not. This way she's nothing more than a female Geralt honestly.
When I watched the trailer I was shocked rather than upset that ciri undertook the trial of the grasses, and I’m excited to learn not only her reasoning but also the consequences especially how the mutagens would react to her elder blood
@@MountAverage28 I think he only got banned from seeing Geralt and Olgieird😂 also his final words were: "I can't be killed, I will be back." I really hope to see him in The Witcher 4
I think Ciri wanting to be a Witcher could be as simple as wanting to belong. She's capable as a Witcher but maybe feels like a fake, a phoney, not a real Witcher without going through the trials. She may also just want to be like her dad, Gerelt, and wants to go through the trial like he did. As to why she'd risk such a deadly trial. Well that's easy. Human beings, and especially young people, think their the exception when it comes to probability. It's pretty well documented that people tend to ignore a high probability of failure. The psychological phenomena is called optimism bias. So I think it's simply Ciri feeling like she needs to do this to be a true Witcher and she's willing to risk it because of optimism bias.
I agree, at least for the parts of her wanting to belong and be like Geralt. I've read the books only after playing Witcher 3, so my memory might be fuzzy. But if I do remember correctly, at least the younger Ciri did always want to be a fully pledged Witcher. So my gut feeling does say, it's as simple as you say. She just wanted it.
Now thinking more about possibility that Ciri is trying to "run away from destiny": that thing fails at stage, as early as second Witcher series book: "Time of Contempt". In it Ciri and Geralt end up in Brokylon forest, one of the last bastions of the dryads. There dryads try to turn Ciri into one of them and give her "Waters of Brokylon" that turns girls (exclusively girls, btw) into dryads and... It had no effect. Furthermore it's strongly implied that who Ciri is and her destiny are the reasons for it. The fact that essentially same ritual as "Trial of Grasses" not just failed - had not effect, makes this "Witcher Ciri" even more unlikely. Ciri and her destiny are just too OP.
Great point. Instead they should have her try to use her elder blood powers to mimic being a witcher. You keep the established lore and can still use all the cool abilities in game.
I don't see anything wrong with Ciri being a Witcher. I'm glad the next Witcher game is a sort of continuation to the last. The books can be one thing, the games can be another.
CDPR is yet to fuck up a story. Many things could be said about both Cyberpunk and Witcher games but not that the stories are bad. Story, characters and world building is what CDPR excels at.
this is exactly what i've been saying to ppl and thank you for making a video for all ppl to see, very precise and reasonable and learn few new things too keep up your videos are amazing
The big question would be WHY would Ciri undergo the trial of the grasses? She's already trained in Witcher combat and was already way stronger in magic use than any witcher. And undergoing the trial of the grasses having a high probability of straight up killing her, it's just a very stupid choice. It's a whole lot of risk for not really any meaningful reward. She was already noticeably more powerful than Geralt in Witcher 3.
Have you seen the video? He literally talks about this and the possible reasons for it. And this is from an interview on IGN: “That was a huge thing for us, to make that call [to mutate Ciri], not only for her, but for the game,” explains Małgorzata Mitręga, The Witcher 4’s executive producer. “But then it's so important and still leaves so much space for imagination, like when it happened, how it happened. It's just a tease showing something, but you don't know where you will experience it and how in the game. I think it's a huge change and I hope people did not expect it.”
Finally, somebody being reasonable and knowledgeable. When it comes to why somebody already powerful like Ciri wants to be a post-Trials Witcher, with Elder Blood and unimaginable power, is as you stated by @13:00 point, it's her Elder Blood, and also the fact that she, albeit rebellious, wants to be a Witcher. She's admired the Witchers of Kaer Morhen, Geralt the most, whom she looks up to the most, and i think that she has always wanted to escape her Elder Blood and choose a life for herself. Witchers travel, they hunt, they kill. They solve problems and get paid. Ciri's life as a Witcher looks like freedom a opposed to one with her Elder Blood; constantly running away, always hunted, wanted to be bled dry just because of your ancestry. She would be the problem, and others paid to hunt her down. It's a life she never wanted, nor asked for. She was born in to it, likely resents it. And even in Witcher 3, couldn't realistically control those powers either. I mean, she could, but only to a degree. And it made her a huge target when she did use them. The Wild Hunt sniffed her out every time she cast a spell. Who's to say others can't? Why would she want to be trapped and hunted like she had for 24 years of her existence? And if not to alien races, then to her royal lineage either. No. She wants to choose a life for herself. To do something she actually feels is noble. And maybe, though this is speculation on my part, maybe she also wants a bit of revenge on the invading races. A Witcher lifestyle, mutations and all, solves every single one of her problems. And it's something, a lifestyle, that she has looked up to and admired before she was even 10.
It's a bit strange to assume that Ciri, who has been very insistent that she is bound by destiny to Geralt (in the books) will do a 180 degree turn and will now be against destiny.
I'm not even done with this video and I already appreciate it. This is what I have been debating the whole time and getting, well nasty responses. To me it just seems like being a Witcher is a step backwards. It's like Batman raising Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) and she takes golden kryptonite (forever losing her powers) to be Batwoman. I always saw her as being more powerful and exceptional than a witcher. It just seems like they took Ciri, and instead of exploring her as she was and her power, they just made her a female Geralt. Her personality, characters, powers, ability, and everything that set her apart is just replaced with Geralt's personality, characters, powers, ability. She doesn't seems a special anymore, she's just another witcher. So I'm just disappointed by it.
@@BiomechanicalBrickthen the writing is going in a bad direction. You guys seem to think this is real life or something. People are writing this terrible continuation of her character.
Where the hell do you guys get the "same personality as Geralt" meme? On top of the fact that it is just a 6 minute trailer, she was way angrier, emotional and prone to action than Geralt was ever shown to be in the games. Is it because of the "monsters" line? Even that was said with a different tone.
I’m super invested in Ciri after trying to save her for 250+ hrs (rookie hrs still I know). I’m STOKED to be playing her - as long as they make it make sense with the lore. I hope it will have something to do with her travelling to different worlds or timelines. I also hope she’s building a new Witcher school with Geralt. CPDR made my favourite game of all time - I trust them.
I think this is probably the most fair and reasoned analysis on this topic. I was somewhat indifferent to the reveal that Ciri was going to be the protagonist, in part because at least in the Witcher 3, she doesn't crack my top 10 favorite characters. Her becoming a Witcher when it was only ever successfully done on boys was another oddity (even though her Elder Blood can basically be written to do anything the writer wants), and the bigger thing that few are talking about (I'm glad you mentioned it) was that why she would feel the need to even become a witcher when her elder blood abilities make her outclass basically everything. I don't have the quote but there is a line from the books that describes Ciri as not a witcher, or a sorceress, but something unique to herself. Another thought I had was that I didn't want her powers being gimmicky abilities to fight monsters with, but then I saw a real rewrite of history. IGN's instagram comments (as well as Twitter/X, RUclips, Reddit, and other places) are full of people blatantly lying, such as the ones you quickly debunked in your video, but also ideas that "the whole point of the Witcher 3 was to have Ciri replace Geralt" which isn't close to being true, or that the Ciri sections were the best sections of the Witcher 3's base game. If people just said, "hey happy to play as Ciri again" I honestly wouldn't care, maybe I'd even agree. But this total rewriting of history and what the game is actually about screams that this is now a cause for tourists. I've even seen people say that the whole Witcher trilogy/book series is about Ciri taking over Geralt's role, which isn't the case, but maybe their only exposure to this world is the Netflix show. I was more looking forward to either a Witcher game set in the not so distant future or distant past, with an character that could be better defined by the player (maybe something like Commander Shepard from ME). I would also be fine playing as another witcher from the series but I understand that Eskel/Lambert would probably be unpopular. I also do not think this trailer was the best way to introduce the idea of Ciri being a Witcher (my favorite trailer is still the Witcher 2 boat attack) and in this current climate of lackluster game reveals, it often feels that the reveal that the character is female is meant to be the hook for certain people and a signal to leave for others (see Ghost of Yotei trailer). Tl;dr I was indifferent at first but the insane lore-smashing history-redefining support this choice made ticked me off. I really hope you are right and I think the idea that you posited about Ciri undergoing the trials to runaway from her destiny is a great concept. I just hope CDPR feel the same and didn't just do that to get Ciri to play more like Geralt.
Trying to run away from her destiny - which she did her entire life including in the Witcher 3 until she stopped running and fought back - would still not be a good enough reason to contradict the entire lore of the Witchers, the Witches, the trial and her character. She wouldn't be able to go through this process even if she wanted to. Geralt and the Witches would never willingly help her attempt this process.
@@rpgadventurer32 I’ve seen all sorts of comments from that Geralt and the others actually would allow it, to she’s just went behind their back to another Witcher school and adults can undergo the trials even though the fragment of one was nearly fatal to avalach. We shouldn’t have to justify the writer’s choices.
I think this whole lore thing is misdirection. The fact of the matter is that Ciri already had her power progression established in (and before) The Witcher 3, she is a Source and was starting to master that path, with all her pale aqua-colored speed-force abilities and whatever else. The idea of having Ciri continue down that (obvious and natural) skill tree was admittedly intriguing to me, but CDPRINO decided to downgrade her into a Mutant instead. Added to the fact that there isn't a single trace of her personality left (apart from the sanctimonious nagging, which is now grating instead of charming), and i could not have identified this character as Ciri if not for the scar and white hair.
With Avalach being the villain, triple twist, many worst villains rise with that conjunction going sideways or another conjunction, Ciri decides to end her bloodline at herself..and also a chance of loosing her powers so it can't be misused (but days and night shall pass while blood remains same, destiny can't be changed) Conjunction requiring new witchers & with new school lynx...they can make it safer....this is perhaps best foundation..we will see.
I have waited for that! Thanks, I really think you got great points and arguments. I hope this story go so deep into the lore, that Netflix feel ashamed to ever touch this lore!
It's just ciri was already more powerful than a Witcher so what's the point? Am I imagining her saving the bloody baron or what? Or killing a werewolf in Witcher 3 and 2 of the crones?
@sillylittlesheepjax6009 bro ciri could kill just about anyone hunting her. No one could make her do anything. The whole point of Witcher 3 was for to stop running and face her destiny not to fear the future.
@@Sekiryuutei96 It's not solely about killing everyone who is after her, I imagine she would have a hard time with Wild Hunt, because she wasn't at her full potential, it's about her being on a run and losing independence, that she so highly values. Don't criticize the game, without even seeing the reasoning - we have seen but one cinematic.
@@BRR42922 wild hunt is just one small army force of elves they are still there, then u have northern kingdoms and nilfgaard, then u have mages that want to use her power like philipa, then u have yet to come new bad guys from witcher 4. Whole point for her is to stop fighting for her life and ppl close to her being a target for others
Ciri acting as a Witcher? I’m alright with that. It fits both book and game Ciri and her devoted love of Geralt and the Wolf school boys. Ciri getting the Trial of the Grasses? Ehhhh… not the best idea imho, just because she’s already got a set identity and skill set. Still hopeful for this game, I’m not inherently against anything that’s been shown so far.
i know the felling, but i guess from a narrative, dialogue and story stand pot will be at least as good at cyberpunk/ dlc level. I`m more worried about the technical side of things, judging by their track record.
@ yeah I just had this thought when I tried to make cyberpunk run on my pc, played 70 hours when it was released but now my system no longer meets the minimum requirements... I dont think ill be able to play witcher 4. When anyone updates a game I thought the god damn goal was to make it run better, not worse.
After what looks like a decade time skip shouldn't Ciri be chilling in King Arthur's Court? That aside, whatever powers the Trial gave her seem to be a major downgrade. You go from basically teleporting around dashing from one mob to the next to pretty standard combat with a few spells thrown in.
The games take place AFTER the books. In the Witcher 1, Geralt wakes up with amnesia after having been pitchforked by a peasant and dying (or being implied to have died) in the books. That's where his story ends in the books. He's stabbed by a mob while trying to stop a pogrom. So, Ciri going away with Galahad in the books ALSO took place BEFORE the Witcher 1. I would assume that maybe she came back. Maybe the Wild Hunt found her in Camelot and she had to go on the run again.....which is when we see her in Witcher 3.
@@MissSimsalot I can see that from a game mechanic perspective, but from a story perspective that is a big plot hole. Maybe they address it in game? Like she lost access to her Elder Blood magic and that's why she is using the normal magic she swore off. Still, it would have been a more consistent narrative to buff the monsters/antagonists than to remove or her powers.
@@colpul2103 Keep in mind that Geralt loses all his powers at the start of EACH Witcher game and then you spend the game advancing his skill tree as you gain experience.... Only to lose it again in the next game. Maybe Sorcery will be a skill tree, and you start at 0 and have the CHOICE to advance that skill tree as you gain levels?
IIRC the Trail of the Grass had a lot to do with hormones, and hormonal households between boys and girls are different worlds. One would hardly expect something developed for boys would work the same on girls. Whether Ciri might even be affected by the chemicals of the Trial of the Grasses at all remains to be seen. She drank from the Waters of Brokilon--which is how the Dryads turn girls onto new Dryads--and she simply said it was tasty water - no affect what-so-ever. Geralt thought Eithné--the queen of Dryads--was playing a trick and drank from the water himself and was immediately thrown into a psychedelic trip, as if he'd taken LSD. The Wiki describes the Waters of Brokilon as "a psychotropic, mutagen-containing substance which can turn human girls into dryads". So if the Waters of Brokilon have no affect on Ciri, one might on expect the Trial of the Grasses chemicals to have as little affect. On the other hand, the mushrooms the Witchers in Kaer Morhen and White Gull did have affects on her, but maybe because they are purely biological in nature. CDPR can twist and turn the story any which way they want. They have purchased that right from Sapkowski, but only as CDPR-Witcher-lore. The one thing I keep thinking about is Ciri's power over time and space. Basically by the end of TW3 she had complete control over it, ergo could blink out of the current time and place to blink back in to anywhere at any time, just like in the trailers for the Gwent stand-alone game where, when being attacked from behind she simply vanishes in and instant and then reappears directly behind her attackers less than a second later. Who needs Witcher abilities when you are the master of time and space? It's like the difference between 'I have a box of matches' and 'I have a nuclear power plant'. It will be interesting how CDPR deals with that, if at all. They might simply ignore it as if it never existed, or that after Cir returned from Tor Gvalcha, where she entered to fight the White Frost, she suddenly had lost her powers over time and space, which would be a huge twist in the lore of the books, which never spoke about the powers being dependent on the White Frost. We will see.
Well, she'd be an unstoppable demi-god for one. Not that fun of a game to just Thanos Snap every situation. It's also a trilogy so, they'll probably gradually give her Elder Blood powers back across 3 games. When she's fighting the big monster, she's drawing magic which isn't a Sign, so she still has some non-Witcher power. I'm not here to glaze CDPR though, I'm also skeptical. Need to see more. I just see at least some logic in nerfing her.
Thank you very much for providing much clearer information. Not just on the games but the books. I’m actually looking forward to reading the books. Thank you. ☺️
I am by no means a Witcher fan because I just recently picked up Witcher 3 and it is fun. I can't see a problem with the 4th one and just seems like people want to complain.
@@McSmurfy the people who worked on the previous Witcher games are no longer at the studio. Most notably is 2 lead writers who have left. Cdpr have also been making very stupid mistakes recently too.
At this point, I feel the ciri in witcher 3 and 4 have nothing else common other than their name. Seems like CD Project red is trying to recreate the character.
Look at the circumstances, she was constantly hunted and forced into a defensive position in Witcher 3, not able to develop further until the end of the game and still young. In the books she was always a lot more emotional and did some ugly stuff, so it is definitely in character to be ruthless when the situation drives her to be. Lore wise the Ciri from the current trailer, is actually far more near the original. Also we do not know how much time has past. It's quite possible that this scene happens 50+ years after Witcher 3 in theory at least.
@@AMnotQ I don't hate the new possible characterization though! It's the logical step for the franchise. Books end at Witcher 3. Ciri doesn't have any major threats. Based on the trailer it seems like she's a bit more mature now. So the old ciri that was stubborn, reckless and always on the run from threats, most likely changed. So she's a new person or at least in a new phase of her life.
Pointing out a couple realistic things to add to yet another one of your great videos. I think it’s best to separate the canon books with the games. In the books Ciri wants nothing more than to train with Geralt and the Wolves to become a Witcher. However, Yennefer notes that with extreme power of Ciri’s elder blood power, she would not need to undertake the trial of the grasses in order to complete her training. Ciri is basically trained in the Witcher fighting style by the time the coup of Thanedd happens. Ciri mentions on several occasions that she just wants to live a life with Geralt and Yennefer and be a Witcher like Geralt, not because there are no female Witchers, but because she admires Geralt so much and loves spending time with him. But remember… by the end of the books, Ciri has renounced all her Elder blood powers. In the games, she can do whatever necessary (and whatever CDPR wants) to become the main character in a new trilogy. This includes undertaking the grasses/mutations and/or whatever necessary to utilize her (previously renounced) powers. She’s CDPR’s new golden child so they’ll make her whatever is most profitable, whether lore friendly or not. Based on the W4 trailer, it appears she goes through some sort of “trial” or potion mixture to get the reflective eyes and increased senses. Sidebar… As for Wiedźmin… if you’ve never seen the 13 part series… you are missing out. It is BY FAR the best interpretation of the true character of (book) Geralt. It also has the best interactions between Geralt and Ciri, when he first meets Ciri as a little girl, before he takes her to Karen Morhen. The series is 20+ years old, low budget, and doesn’t follow the lore exactly, but much more so than the NF series and almost exactly verbatim to certain scenes from Sword of Destiny. It is truly a gem to watch.
changing voice actors probably has nothing to do with how old her voice sounds. Doing this withcer trilogy means theres got to be a like 8 -10 years commitment , that will for sure involve a lot of mocaps, probably thats why they picked a closer in age actress that probably shares a lot of facial markers with the ingame character model.
Speaking as a complete newbie in the Witcher world (I’ve only gotten thru The Last Wish and the W3 game) It’s funny that this video popped up in my feed. I started W3 again today. I noticed in the beginning when Ciri is training by herself….Vesemir and Geralt are talking. Vesemir says something along the lines of “She’s got to train if she is to become one of us” That’s not verbatim but he does say “if she is to become one of us” With all the outcry about Ciri in W4 going on, I saw in that moment that CDPR definitely had opened the door to her becoming a Witcher. Once again, I’m a newbie. I plan of getting into more of the books in 2025
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Finally, a video about Gwent's new upcoming expansion
Apparently there’s a game that comes with it but who cares GWENT TWO BABY
There needs to be a Ciri vs Geralt Gwent match in the game or I'll cry. Actually, I'll cry either way. But one is of happiness and joy, the other is of sadness and despair.
@@LeleiTheTigress papa Geralt gives his precious collection of gwent cards to ciri when she visits 🥹🥹
@LeleiTheTigress there should be a quest where you battle insane gwent masters in order and every time you defeat one they allow to fight the next one until finally they reveal geralt is the final gwent master. Would go so hard.
Finally someone who understands witcher lore 😂
I'm going to skip this if they can't handle this piece of lore correctly: Geralt must be the final boss of Gwent 2. Canonically speaking my addiction to TW3 gwent means he is the greatest gwenter on the continent. Don't mess this up CDPR.
Same. I really hope there will be some kind of qwent tournament with a secret final opponent, and when you manage to get to the finals its revealed that its Geralt. 😂
That would be such a fun ending.
It'd be a pretty based take if Ciri doesnt want to have children so she becomes a Witcher because she can't keep her legs closed. We'd probably get some Stellar Blade level armor skins in the game
Don't forget he's also the best fist fighter and the best jockey in all of the Northern Realms!
FR he should be a god-like gwent player 😂
It is nice to see a big voice in the Witcher community actually be thoughtful and reasonable instead of the usual misinformed or unstable people
I fucking hate that kind of people complaining about everything just from one damn teaser trailer, it's just insanity. In person, acting like that, would automatically put you into a fucking pscyh ward.
@@ImNotLuthien I swear, so many people claiming that the game will be 'horrible' and was 'ruined' by new hires from one singular trailer, that likely won't be in the game like many, many of TW3 trailers. People need to calm down, stop being angry for two seconds, and realize that this isn't even gameplay, and knowing CD Projekt Red, it will all be explained in an actually compelling way!
Plot twist. We get to make our own Witcher and ciri is vesimir role.
@@mundanephysics521 Doubt it.
@@mundanephysics521 "knowing CD Projekt Red, it will all be explained in an actually compelling way!"
Jesus you actually believe that.
The infertility aspect in order to forcibly change her own destiny was something I hadn’t even considered, that’s metal as hell I hope that’s an intended angle
Thought of that as well, makes sense because she mentions that she is tired of people trying to use her ability(in battle preparations)
“More Witcher 4 coverage in the coming DAYS” I’ll hold you to that Witcher
Days are still days, whether it is 3 or 730 of them, they're coming nonetheless 🙂
WEEKS! 😭, we need WEEKS 😢
Been waiting for your reaction to this
All I can say is I can't wait to play the Witcher 4, been thinking about replaying the Witcher 3 again for the 5th time I mean I think I have 650 hours of play time on the Witcher 3 so yeah I d say it's way past time for a new Witcher game
all the lore stuff and canon is quite irrelevant. this will be a bad game. because of the wuoksers and acticvysts.
they might even claim she is sterile . it goes well with modern women not having babies anymore🤣 you cant make this stuff up
@@nicechock F tier bait
@@nicechock Thank you for your very nuanced and constructive contribution.
The story in the trailer of the village girl being sacrificed because it's her destiny is a great parallel to Ciri's own story and helps raise the stakes for Ciri in this quest.
They also said it would be a playable side quest in the game, which makes so much sense. Side quests that draws parallels to the main story line are amazing and very CD Projekt Red
I didnt really like because it felt like a step down in darkness/brutality in comparison to a few of the previous game trailers. I thought the trailer idea was to pay homage to the original feel of the witcher i.e "killing monsters" and while I understand that I thought the witcher 3s trailer was better executed in dialogue as well as brutality as well giving a good insight in the world as well as characters(vesimir and geralt) while this one feels more basic in comparison.
@@benmangerere358 you would scream woke if it was ciri killing all those men just to save a poor girl in 'killing monsters'' geralt trailer
@@sillylittlesheepjax6009 I dont understand how you got to this conclusion nor what you mean exactly. Could you please explain?
It was the same side story in Witcher 3 when you fight an ancient Leshen
@@benmangerere358don’t pay attention to this guy, nothing he says makes sense. Literally everything he says is complaining about AnTi WoKe, whether your comment has said anything relevant to that or not. He’s just some DEI shill.
I've seen quite a number of videos on this issue and this is BY FAR THE BEST ONE YET....
FROM AN OBJECTIVE VIEW POINT!
Yeah so objective he's paid by a witcher ad. Do you know what the word objective means?
@@821lancevanceThe ad is for Naraka Bladepoint, it isn't a Witcher game lmao
@@821lancevance fix your eyes, just in case you haven't attended pre school and don't know what Objective Viewpoint means, here you go
An objective view is a viewpoint or approach that is unbiased and based on facts and verifiable evidence.
@@821lancevancedid you even watch the video & see his evidence?
To tie into your idea that the crux of this story could revolve around Ciri running from her destiny I really like the idea that Ciris Elder Blood is what allowed her to survive the Trial of the Grasses but as a result her Elder Blood powers have gone dormant and part of the plot is her needing to slowly reawaken her powers and by extension accept her destiny and the responsibility that comes with it.
This would be a great way to introduce an Elder Blood skill tree to the game and justify why she isn't as powerful as she was in The Witcher 3 as well as justify still needing to prepare for monster battles with potions, runes and oils for your swords, maintaining and upgrading your armor etc. This would allow for new magic and gameplay mechanics we've never had in these games before and still keep the foundation The Witcher has always had.
This could also be how we bring Geralt and Yennifer back into the fold too, Geralt can teach her more swordfighting styles and techniques (kinda like having different styles to use in The Witcher 1) as well as how to make more complex potions and Yennifer can teach Ciri new and more powerful spells as you level up and become stronger.
additional theory: game begins as normal Witcher without elder blood, but behind the scenes her elder blood is fighting the mutations and as game progress we unlock elder blood skill tree, God of war style like Kratos unlocking his old demigod powers, oh yeah the elder blood abilities could also be like Kratos's rage of the titans with limited bar meter
@AhmadWahelsa interesting, that's a cool way of depicting her destiny literally at odds with her current choices, like having good and evil at war within yourself which has always been important for these games, figuring out what the right choice is in a world that rewards evil and punishes good.
@@MrEffectfilms it could be similar to how the infamous games do it, where depending on if you chose good or evil your powers develop differently
@@AhmadWahelsa maybe even having two skill trees, the witcher and elder blood trees that lock the other out of some skills the higher up you go, possibly even replacing existing abilities. elder blood adds a passive health regen but makes you unable to drink swallow or other healing items, maybe even one that gets rid of witcher eyes and other features making NPCs more tolerant of your existence but you have a hard time actually convincing people you are a witcher when you really need to. The new main threat actively tracks and ambushes you in the open world but the witcher tree has an ability that prevents it at the cost of your dash ability.
@@memeaccount8095 This is definitely how I'd like progression to be handled especially if they plan on having progression carry over through each game in this new trilogy. For instance, if you choose to level up your ability to make stronger potions that make monster preparation easier you lock out Elder Blood abilities that deal more damage to monsters. Or if you choose to level up magic that allows you to dominate the mind you can avoid combat and even unlock new quests for yourself but this is more noticeable than if you were to use Axii which is more of a gamble but more discreet and as a result certain NPCs will be too afraid to talk to you. Blacksmiths could refuse your business entirely so you can't have them craft new weapons, herbalists won't let you buy or sell to them, and some Witcher contracts and Side Quests might be unavailable if the NPCs are too afraid.
I think you are right about Ciri. The developers have been posting coins as teases for the game. There's writing on one coin posted after the reveal that translates to "Days and nights pass and the blood remains the same." I think you are right on the idea of why Ciri wanted to do the trial to basically get rid of the elder blood, but as we'll learn in the game, the blood will remain the same. I've seen others have this same idea as well.
Except that she did get rid of it based on the trailer and the comments from the devs. You don't get it, they destroyed her entire character that was not only established in the books but also in their own games. Ciri would never go through this process willingly nor would Geralt, Yennefer or Triss would ever allow her character to do it.
@rpgadventurer32 did u watch the video?
@@rpgadventurer32 second book mentioned Ciri drank a potion but survives, thus leading her discovery about her elder blood i have a theory that game starts as Witcher Ciri without elder blood powers, but behind the scenes her blood is fighting against the mutation, and as game progress maybe we unlock elder blood skill tree, this trailer might be set just not far in the story campaign
@@AhmadWahelsa that's actually pretty interesting, I think BG3 did something similar with illithod powers, it works differently but the point is that you get an additional skill tree with effects the story.
She uses the elder blood abilitys in the trailer so😂
The reason Ciri went through the trial of the grasses is to become a childless cat lady
Partially, i would say another reason why Ciri wants to undergo trial of grasses, is because she hates elder blood and think it's curse and has brought her and others unimaginable suffering , and she LOVES being witcher, so she can give up on something she hates and become something she loves.
I think the story will be on the idea that Ciri diminish elder blood power as result of the trial of grasses, but it still remains and she can't change that and her fate remains same.
@@professorparadox795 Yen would never allow that
@@Shockazulu12 Who cares what Yen wants? Did you play The Witcher 3? A big part of Ciris story is breaking free from the control of other people. Her whole life has been about other people making decisions for her and she wants to be free to make her own.
@@Shockazulu12 Yep, and by "never allow" I don't mean "no dear, you can't have a stuffed unicorn for christmas", I mean "no, you need me to find the recipe, source the ingredients, perform the magical mumbo jumbo on the ingredients to make them suitable, recreate all the scientific and magic equipment to make the mutagens and decoctions because all the relevant equipment we know of is lost, rework, test, trial and then produce the mutagens to work for an ADULT WOMAN, THEN do the complex and lengthy creation of the mutagens for a working dosage... then actually administer it according to Witcher requirements which involves another Witcher (probably Geralt who would also say no)... THEN to nurse you through the lengthy, excruciating and debilitating mutation process because you wouldn't be able to feed/toilet/care for your own health during the process... so no, dear, I'm not doing it".
So yeah, "let her" may not be accurate in the most dumbed down sense, but refusal to participate basically equals "it isn't freaking happening". She may be special, but even Ciri isn't THAT special.
@@Johnspartan296So she decided upon a path where everyone dictates what she is going to do?
crucial detail too, her eyes are still green after the potion, not yellow like all the other witchers. There'll 100% be an Elder Blood reason for her witchery-ness
Hey, Polish Witcher fan here. Fan of the channel also since like, 40k subs.
Your pronunciation of "Sapkowski" is pretty good!
How can their be Polish Witcher fans? It's an American IP. Piss off!
Like you said, it's not about her not being able to become a witcher but her even considering this. First thing that crossed my mind when I saw her eyes was "What about the prophecy?". Her trying to escape it through mutations would be very interesting take and would love to see how it ultimately fails. Because we all know that destiny always wins.
She can't do it though. It doesn't make sense with the established lore about the trials both in the books and in the games. The Witches will never help her get sterilized they are against doing it in the books and the same is true for the Witchers.
She'll probably do it without them then@@rpgadventurer32
@@rpgadventurer32 Very easy to explain
Ciri: "help me through the trials and I'll teleport you to boob world."
Geralt: "say less."
@@rpgadventurer32 did you watch the video...
@rpgadventurer32 it's clear you haven't read the books. I guess you're also okay with the games lore changes too. This conflicts nothing, no Source ever took the Grasses. I'm sure if it was Alvin no one would give a damn
This is the first video I'm ever watching by you but I have to say, thank you for making this and putting this whole "controversy" into a more objective light.
Easiest way I have to describe Ciri in the books is she's what Arya Stark was supposed to be. In the ASOIAF books Arya just wanders off to Braavos and you can tell GRRM just has no idea what to do with her story anymore. In the show Arya becomes an emotionless robot only out matched by Bran the even more emotionless robot.
But remember the earlier seasons, when you saw this innocent spirited little girl slowly turning into a complete and utter psychopath and steadily getting more physically dangerous as she receives training from dangerous individuals? And sometimes it felt like the universe just had a personal grudge with her with how much horrific tragedy it threw her way?
That's what book Ciri is like (only with actual justification for her weapons training). She was remarkably well adjusted in the Witcher 3 and I think it worked because the Wild Hunt were very removed from the ground level conflicts of the Continent itself. That didn't really push her buttons psychologically.
But for book fans out there, imagine if Witcher 3 Ciri fully powered up had somehow ran into Leo Bonhart again. She'd have torn him apart limb by limb with her bare hands. And I wouldn't be too surprised if she fractured time itself by time traveling back 5 minutes so she gets to do it again.
Side tangent humans (including myself) really have this bad habit of over explaining stuff to show off how much we know 😂.
This could’ve been trimmed down to:
Ciri in the books is what Arya Stark is supposed to be. This innocent girl turning into a complete psychopath that steadily gets more dangerous as she gets training from individuals while the universe tortured her along the way. Only with Ciri she’s more well adjusted.
@@JakeTylenol And your entire post could have been left unsaid; you're trying to show how smart YOU are by acting like the internet's English teacher. I enjoyed the post you tried to denigrate; yours not so much.
@@bionicRod kay
Been waiting for your thoughts, was intrigued to see what you had to say. For myself, I’m super excited to play as Ciri
Hopefully she is a woman and not pretending to be something else
is all I would say...
That's because you suffer from autogynephilia.
Nice to see a sensible explanation. Good job man!
Thank you for ACTUALLY acknowledging the criticisms people have and being understanding of them. That's not as common as it should be.
while also calling out the people who just never paid attention
@@madelinemcmillan4020the devs said Witcher 4 will focus more on sexism, identity politics than previous games. CDPR has more DEI hires compared to a decade ago.
The devs on Twitcher preach "woke" nonsense and thats the lead designer
People liked the Witcher 3 because of the broad strokes- cool gruff guy slays monsters in a serious world and lays women. You and your ilk are gonna literally cry when no one wants to play as an old woman. Guaranteed to bomb. @madelinemcmillan4020
@@madelinemcmillan4020 Wasn't the point of contention that this is mainly a male series and due to the prevailing woke thought that is present that you need to insert a female in whatever successful franchise? Don't forget that is the reason people have a problem with it on top of witchers never being female.
@@madelinemcmillan4020or people willfully ignore things for whatever reasons......... 😅
Ciri is also often referred to as a 'surprise child', which is the way the witchers are chosen.
That is not really true, Witchers as well may be orphans, "Surprise child" refers to a law of barter, where if someone can't pay you, you ask for the to give you something they don't expect after coming back home, which can be literally everything, children included. While yes some witchers were children claimed as the reward for the law of surprise, vast majority of them are boy orphans from various warzones, orphanages, etc.
even more so, i remember first encountering this concept in other book by the authership of Paul william andersen it im not mistaken. i think odin is asking a woman for a favor in return for his help, and a favor is something that awaits her home
My biggest thing they need to address is regardless of how brutal the trials may be, I want to see them from ciris perspective. I want to see how she survived them and what were the immediate repercussions of this, did she immediately lose her elder blood powers? She’s already very proficient with a sword so was she made a mutant and just immediately start slaying monsters? Is she part of the school of the wolf? Etc etc. all of this stuff I want to see be addressed throughout the story.
In an interview they said that the whole process of becoming a witcher is a part of the plot!
@ then I have no concerns! I also kinda figured they’d have to address these things no matter what in order for the game to make literally any sense at all. I just really hope they don’t kill off geralt for no reason.
Yeah, I'd imagine it'll probably be incorporated in a similar fashion to how they take you through Ciri's journey in TW3. It would be sort of insane to incorporate a skip like that where so much insane stuff must have happened and just not elaborate or let you see any of it
@@atyaatdsau13 more like forced diversity
I'd bet money it's the Rey approach. Shes just now a witcher killing monsters. No explanation. If modern games are anything to go by, she will probably hate geralt for some dumb reason. He will probably be the old pissy hermit who secluded himself.
Leaving a comment for the algorithm. Thank you for clearing this up, Neon! I've been binge watching your Witcher vids since 4 was announced.
My biggest concern is why Ciri would want to undergo the trials as well.
Imagine using a power that at any given time you use it that you leave a trail that can be followed by powerful beings. I'll be honest, I would lose my fucking mind.
@@jasonjohnson1697 Imagine having a power that makes you stand on par with powerful beings and deities and instead wanting to become like Geralt.
Geralt is an outstanding Witcher, the best some may say, he is super powerful compared to humans; but he is nothing compared to both monsters, otherworld beings and "powerful beings" even comparatively to mages (like the one that mops Regis). Geralt is constantly complaining that he is doing a job, that admittedly he manages somehow through rather intellect and preparation like Batman some would say rather than power or pure skill. Now imagine knowing all this first hand as Ciri, and deciding: Yes, I want that.
There is no logic there, if she is scared, she can stop using them all together. If she is tired, she can square up AND SHE CAN COME ON TOP. Hell, the only promising thing to me about these games if they somehow justify the lore is that she can rise up to threats and existances no sane witcher would, or could, like the Elder One even Geralt showed a hint of fear despite supposedly lacking emotions.
Because she only heard good things about them from her mentors
@@jasonjohnson1697 That would actually make for an amazing game. Running away from powerful beings while slowly becoming more powerful yourself, and eventually taking on those beings. Damn.
@Raizan-IO You forget the most important thing in the Witcher universe: the elder blood is more of a curse to Ciri than a blessing. She always WANTED to become a witcher. Her elder blood powers have only brought her pain. Even if she can "use it against powerful enemies", the ENTIRE point of the saga is that Ciri doesn't want to become the lady of time and space. She wants to be a witcher.
And of course, there is a tragic undertone to all of this. It's called nuanced and complex character development.
Thank you for making this because I noticed everyone missed quoting the books and it drove me crazy because I actually read the books and they were saying things that it never said
Thanks for this video dude, I thought I was going crazy with the other videos on RUclips. I've been following you for years now, this channel is legit. Keep it up.
FINALLY HE POSTED LFGGG
I almost hope the story is her discovering some problem that the witcher mutations will help fix/prevent, and that transformation is later in the game
Well, more than likely, considering this is years later, we might get lore talking about it, or her reminiscing about it with somebody in the story🤔
My theory is that among one of the many reasons is that she wants to be sterile and be free from the Elder Blood thing for good
Yeah, I agree-that would make the most sense. There needs to be a real necessity for her to undergo the mutations; otherwise, it just wouldn’t feel justified.
@benross9174nice idea if they use it in an lore accurately explain her mutations it will work, and as long as they keep the bullshit woke agenda
@@Weiswolfe Weis... what the fuck are you talking about?
I never really cared whether or not Ciri was going to be a witcher or the new protag up until now. I was just indifferent. After this video, I'm actually interested and excited about it.
this is the most calm rational take I've seen on RUclips. good shit bro
because there's no anti-woke people here, it's peaceful... hear that? the sound of civil discussions?
I missed this 😢 Hearing everyone's POV on both the lore and how Ciri goes through the trials and what that means for the game is refreshing.
@@dr_diddy nah man they're here and it's insufferable 😆
yea he shuts down people who thinks there was always have been a witcheress 1:48 (woke people mindset) and people thinking that ciri shouldn't be the protagonist cause shes a woman (anti-woke mindset).
i like the idea that the witcher trials could be a way to stop her elder blood so she could try to prevent her destiny. i always thought it could either be Vesimer (making a prequel) or Ciri who would be the next protagonist once geralt retires.
@@dr_diddy Anti-woke people aka normal people.
@@dr_diddyThey're here allright. They're like the plaque, they'll always find their way to spread into every nook and crany to scream "DEI THE BIG BAD GAAAAYYY BLACK PEOPLE MADE MY WHITE WOMAN GAAAAAAY"
Love you man. I look forward to alot to more, and a long journey together with the new game and all ❤
You are such a breath of fresh air and voice of reason around all this. Instant sub.
Lovely video as always - I love your, very thorough, takes and consideration to source material!
I saw an interesting quote on the mutation part from an IGN article:
“That was a huge thing for us, to make that call [to mutate Ciri], not only for her, but for the game,” explains Małgorzata Mitręga, The Witcher 4’s executive producer. “But then it's so important and still leaves so much space for imagination, like when it happened, how it happened. It's just a tease showing something, but you don't know where you will experience it and how in the game. I think it's a huge change and I hope people did not expect it.”
So it’s really interesting if they make it a part of the game itself!
I really dig your whole approach here, especially undergoing the trial being something that helps Ciri fleeing from her destiny which she obviously has never really liked and from the power she possesses and is afraid of. I would bet on that, sounds like a perfect cdpr route
Thank you so much for being incredibly reasonable. I was looking forward to you comment on this and was not disappointed!
He wasn't being reasonable he was being generous. They didn't say it couldn't be done is basically the answer but remember the contention is that this is a male series with only male witchers and also this modern ideology that every successful franchise needs a female counterpart against fans wills most times. Although if these female characters didn't fail so often then there wouldn't be much resentment.
@@5SecondsOfFrame It has nothing to do with a "modern ideology" tho, the only reason "female protags" fail isn't cuz of the fact that they're a woman, it fails because of bad writing. Or is Ripley from Alien somehow part of this "modern ideology," or Samus from metroid?
Dude, not sure if you saw the devs post on twitter about the other side of the coin and the translation of that text. Your last hypothesis is very likely to be right, even though she tried to suppress her elder blood its power still remains.
Who Posted it ? Can you pls tell me the acc Name. Want to read it
@@timetoshine2752 You can watch the IGN interview with Game Director, he said:
"We want to allow players to define [Ciri] as she creates the codex on her own terms. The way he handles monsters, quests, and adventures is unique.
- Sebastian Kalemba"
One journalist also said "At the same time, the Reds admitted that the abilities used by Ciri are not just basic signs, but full-fledged magic. Book connoisseurs certainly remember the magical potential of Geralt's adoptive daughter, who already used teleportation skills in the third part. Kalemba describes the heroine as a "powerful source", a combination of the world of witchers and wizards."
There is also a major issue that needs to be addressed with her regaining access to her magick, which canonically, she supposedly lost access to after trying and failing to control the element of Fire. We know that she still possessed her Elder Blood Source Magick, since she was able to still traverse worlds after losing elemental and Chaos magick, but we don’t know how she regained it here. In the trailer, she is shown as transmuting water from the rock wall into a blast of lightning and kinetic force, which cannot be mistaken for Aard. She then follows it up by igniting her chain using either Igni or another related spell. Given that she relinquished her magick, and only had her Elder Blood to power her abilities, how is she now able to cast spells again? How is she able to perform elemental and Chaos magick? Were the Lodge able to help her reconnect with her gift, and if so, how powerful will she become throughout the game?
Thank God, I’ve been waiting for this. Thank you NK for all your work.
I was so excited for ur video!
This video perfectly sums up how I feel. Despite everything, my biggest question was, "HOW can CDPR justify Ciri deciding to become a witcher?" In my mind, I surmised the same thing that you did (and I'm someone who didn't read any of the books). I only played TW3.
Ciri literally spent her entire teen and young adult life running away from her fate, having to go into extreme isolation due to the destructive nature of her powers and because of her persuers, etc. It's understandable that she'd want to take her fate into her own hands and find a way to officially undergo the witcher mutations; possibly thinking that it would be a way to either greatly lessen or suppress her powers or get rid of them entirely, even if it meant there's a chance that she might not survive the necessary process.
Now, is Ciri really living a better life as a witcher? Being a witcher pretty much offers its own kind of isolation, dangers, sacrifices, and hardships. How is Ciri handling and navigating her new reality? Is she grappling with some newly found inner conflict? I'm intrigued by how CDPR can expand upon her character and create more nuanced intricacies. From what we've seen so far of her, this current Ciri is already a stark contrast from the Ciri we've known so far.
@@13BeachesInVenice take her fate into her own hands, like choosing to face the white frost?
DEI wokeness. What else would be the reason?
@@vincentlee7359witcher 3's best ending is having ciri become a witcher. The game set up ciri to become a witcher.
@@vincentlee7359 Bruh
@@vincentlee7359 grow up
A CDPR employee left this comment on Wera's review in response to her wording similar concenrs about Ciri's transformation into a full-blown Witcher:
"I can't reveal any spoilers, but we definitely won't take the trial lightly - it's a huge deal, and how this could even work for Ciri, and how others react to this happening, is definitely a huge part of the story we're going to tell!"
While I am still sceptical about it, I am truly intrigued by the idea. If done well, this could make for an awesome story
I am all for the idea of Ciri sterilzing herself to prevent her destiny. Especially once you take the Falka's Curse and the prophecy about the Destroyer into account. I mean knowing, that you'll be a mother of a man who will destroy the world may leave you a bit desperate. I guess some might say that there are less extreme ways of not having kids, but I guess becoming a witcher might be the most optimal from Ciri's perspective.
And I absolutely wouldn't be surpised if the sterilization process didn't work, because either Elder Blood is too strong, or something during the mutations got botched, either way Destiny goes lol, lmao on Ciri. Also, the romances have already been confirmed, just putting it out there.
I really hope that's the case. I really want to see this prophecy as a plot for the next Witcher games and If Ciri becomes infertile it 's all wasted.
@@Mrm-7799- If they let Ciri get pregnant it means one of the cis gendered heteronormative males actually got to put hands on her and that is so not happening in their game for “ a modern gaming audience.”
Nope! It’s sterilization and the Big Abby route for our Ciri because the male feminists at CD Projekt Red only know how to write that stoic wannabe man trope rather than writing an actual strong female character?
Just like they manwashed Lady Galadriel in Amazons Rings Of Power and turned her into GUYladriel another stoic male action hero.
hard to believe this is the reason tho, there are easier ways to get sterilised that don't involve in incredibly high risk of mortality, and Ciri couldn't even be sure that becoming a witcher would sterilise her at at all, given that there have been no previous female witchers.
Have the romances been confirmed?
@@ottopi4949 yes, here is what the Director said in an interview with gamespot: "It's a part of the way we make games. It is a part of human nature. It's a very normal thing. Without that I think we wouldn't be able to tell the very full story." His last sentence makes me hopeful that the prophecy is going to happen anyway.
So.. what is justice, Ciri? Eye for an eye? Tooth for tooth? And where does it end? Whole world drowned in a river of blood, endless pile of bodies and on top - a witcheress, with her bloody sword above the head... - Vysogota of Corvo
Not a fan of Ciri going through the trials, I would rather see her develop her own abilities and be a different type of pseudo-witcher. However, while watching your video I realized that Ciri can travel through space and time. If she learned to control the ability better, she could 1) go back to the creation of witchers to learn how to make them, and 2) go back to her younger self to apply the trials. 2 brings up sci-fi temporal issues, but it is a commonly used trope.
It would have made a lot more sense for her to be like Vilgefortz, because that mirrors the books, games and previous events better.
I mean you gotta admit, playing as Ciri would be so dope.
But I can't rizz up my sorceresses
They can definitely combine all the endings with something big like Avalach being The villain and conjunction...
If she's already a witcher... why stress the issue with her going through the trials, potentially dying, and putting major emphasis on her being "an exception" because of her bloodline? It's a weak explanation and an unnecessary one. She's already powerful, witcher-trained and an honorary witcher by all counts. This way just created a rift in the fanbase for seemingly nothing.
He explained it through the video, watch it carefully.😅
Bro definitely did not comprehend or at the very least, watch the video. 😅
It’s almost like you should wait to see the story justification before deciding it’s stupid and there is no reason for it…..
@@nathanhargenrader645 or they could have not revealed a major plot point with serious lore ramifications without the explanation. Crazy huh?
@@comatoast87or could of watched the very detailed video.
11:55 exactly, it almost seems like a reverse step for her since she’s always been exceptional. She was almost portrayed as beyond the need for the trials.
YEAAA she is powerful. This limits her potetional and watching a woman beat Witcher 3: she even made Ciri Empress to power control over the land then abuse her powers was the thought direction 😂
Great video dude
Glad to see someone go into more details about what is actually in the books. I've read the books twice and was nearly positive that it was never established anywhere that women couldn't become Witchers. And while the internet has been very confident about it not being possible, nobody has actually cited anything beyond, "It's somewhere in the books, I swear."
For why Ciri becomes a Witcher, I have a guess... we don't know how exactly she stopped the White Frost and/or new conjunction of the spheres. It's entirely possible that doing whatever she did cost or greatly reduced her elder blood abilities, and CDPR has already come out and said she won't have her super OP abilities in the new game. If she lost those abilities but was still committed to becoming a Witcher (maybe feeling responsible for anything that came through in that new conjunction?), I can totally see her strong-arming Geralt, Yenn, Trish, and company with, "I'm hunting monsters no matter what... you can either help me become a true Witcher to give me a better chance, or I'm going to go out there with my bare minimum amount of Witcher sword play and magic skills I know and we'll just have to hope that's enough."
worth pointing out in the end of witcher 3 when ciri visits gearalt at corvo bianco she mentions killing a garkin and drinking black blood. idk if black blood is less toxic though
Except that she's not a full Witcher at that ending. She has her green eyes and teleportation powers intact. She's the same Ciri.
@@rpgadventurer32 Still drank a potion. :) Clearly that already kind of implies that her body can handle toxicity, maybe tied to her Elder Blood somehow.
Yea a LOT of people forget this part
Idk why anyone thought we weren't getting ciri as the next protagonist
black blood basically turns your blood highly acidic as we see in the blood and wine trailer where geralts blood drop hisses on the ground and dissapear.
@@bolg892 What it really implies, is that someone on the writing team made a mistake. Which is relevant to the topic -- I think it's healthy not to expect Witcher 4 to be consistent with either the books or the previous games. With the latest book, it turns out even Sapkowski can't keep some things straight (two swords on the back). Whenever there's a sequel (prequel, sidequel, whatever), lore shifts.
Ciri as a witcher is problematic for one reason. Because it's a damn DOWNGRADE for her. She had immense power, power all the lodge was jelous of, mages, kings, elves, sages, everyone wanted HER powers and potential and then she's.... reduced to a witcher? I mean, witchers are not liked in this universe, they are outcasts, looked down upon, they risk their life for pittance and Ciri, who has a ROYAL backhround, had EDUCATION, has POWERS and she's like, eh, no, I'd rather choose the life of an outcast, I want to be a tattered vagabond, I want my "father's" life, I want to step in Geralt's footsteps (not that Geralt didn't complain about his life and being a witcher enough!) and boom, she's a fully developed witcher, now she can live her dream life of being spitted on, sleeping on the roadside and work for alms! Good job girl, your potential, powers, knowledge and importance in the world just flew out the window. That's why it's problematic. Her as a protagonist is obvious - her as a witcher is not. This way she's nothing more than a female Geralt honestly.
LOL
When I watched the trailer I was shocked rather than upset that ciri undertook the trial of the grasses, and I’m excited to learn not only her reasoning but also the consequences especially how the mutagens would react to her elder blood
YAYYY you posted, been waiting for this!!! I'm personally looking forward to Ciri being the protagonist in the witcher 4
I hope Gaunter O’Dimm makes an appearance!
isnt he like bannend from the human world for thousands years or something dont remember exactly
@@MountAverage28 I think he only got banned from seeing Geralt and Olgieird😂 also his final words were: "I can't be killed, I will be back." I really hope to see him in The Witcher 4
He was an excellent character. I hope so too
kinda overdone imo
I hope he's romanceable. "I can fix him".
I think Ciri wanting to be a Witcher could be as simple as wanting to belong. She's capable as a Witcher but maybe feels like a fake, a phoney, not a real Witcher without going through the trials. She may also just want to be like her dad, Gerelt, and wants to go through the trial like he did.
As to why she'd risk such a deadly trial. Well that's easy. Human beings, and especially young people, think their the exception when it comes to probability. It's pretty well documented that people tend to ignore a high probability of failure. The psychological phenomena is called optimism bias.
So I think it's simply Ciri feeling like she needs to do this to be a true Witcher and she's willing to risk it because of optimism bias.
I agree, at least for the parts of her wanting to belong and be like Geralt. I've read the books only after playing Witcher 3, so my memory might be fuzzy. But if I do remember correctly, at least the younger Ciri did always want to be a fully pledged Witcher. So my gut feeling does say, it's as simple as you say. She just wanted it.
Looking forward to KCD 2 videos from you!
Now thinking more about possibility that Ciri is trying to "run away from destiny": that thing fails at stage, as early as second Witcher series book: "Time of Contempt".
In it Ciri and Geralt end up in Brokylon forest, one of the last bastions of the dryads. There dryads try to turn Ciri into one of them and give her "Waters of Brokylon" that turns girls (exclusively girls, btw) into dryads and... It had no effect. Furthermore it's strongly implied that who Ciri is and her destiny are the reasons for it.
The fact that essentially same ritual as "Trial of Grasses" not just failed - had not effect, makes this "Witcher Ciri" even more unlikely. Ciri and her destiny are just too OP.
Great point. Instead they should have her try to use her elder blood powers to mimic being a witcher. You keep the established lore and can still use all the cool abilities in game.
I don't see anything wrong with Ciri being a Witcher. I'm glad the next Witcher game is a sort of continuation to the last. The books can be one thing, the games can be another.
Females cannot be witchers
@@TimMiller-n7kSaid who? Why couldn't Ciri become a Witcher?
@@TimMiller-n7kliterally never said in the books or games so where did you get that from.
@@sirjoesphjoestar8361 read the books
@oscarmccoy9102 read the books if you want to know
Outstanding video 🙏 been looking for someone who actually puts thought into this
Boy oh boy I have been waiting for this for a long time
I really hope they bring Avallac’h back. His character arc was way too rushed. I really need them to explore Ciri’s heritage and Destiny more.
If Avallac'h will be back, I'm 99% sure he'll be a villain. Let's meet here in 2-3 years when the game will be out and we'll see if I'm a prophet.
@@panpawe9738 I hope so.
@@panpawe9738in the 2012 version of the story, Avallac'h was a boss fight
@@moonknightish yup, I know - that's one of the reasons I think he might have a bigger role to play.
I hope Tir Na Lia is explorable this time
CDPR is yet to fuck up a story. Many things could be said about both Cyberpunk and Witcher games but not that the stories are bad. Story, characters and world building is what CDPR excels at.
this is exactly what i've been saying to ppl and thank you for making a video for all ppl to see, very precise and reasonable and learn few new things too keep up your videos are amazing
The big question would be WHY would Ciri undergo the trial of the grasses? She's already trained in Witcher combat and was already way stronger in magic use than any witcher. And undergoing the trial of the grasses having a high probability of straight up killing her, it's just a very stupid choice. It's a whole lot of risk for not really any meaningful reward. She was already noticeably more powerful than Geralt in Witcher 3.
Have you seen the video? He literally talks about this and the possible reasons for it.
And this is from an interview on IGN:
“That was a huge thing for us, to make that call [to mutate Ciri], not only for her, but for the game,” explains Małgorzata Mitręga, The Witcher 4’s executive producer. “But then it's so important and still leaves so much space for imagination, like when it happened, how it happened. It's just a tease showing something, but you don't know where you will experience it and how in the game. I think it's a huge change and I hope people did not expect it.”
Finally, somebody being reasonable and knowledgeable.
When it comes to why somebody already powerful like Ciri wants to be a post-Trials Witcher, with Elder Blood and unimaginable power, is as you stated by @13:00 point, it's her Elder Blood, and also the fact that she, albeit rebellious, wants to be a Witcher. She's admired the Witchers of Kaer Morhen, Geralt the most, whom she looks up to the most, and i think that she has always wanted to escape her Elder Blood and choose a life for herself.
Witchers travel, they hunt, they kill. They solve problems and get paid.
Ciri's life as a Witcher looks like freedom a opposed to one with her Elder Blood; constantly running away, always hunted, wanted to be bled dry just because of your ancestry. She would be the problem, and others paid to hunt her down.
It's a life she never wanted, nor asked for. She was born in to it, likely resents it. And even in Witcher 3, couldn't realistically control those powers either. I mean, she could, but only to a degree. And it made her a huge target when she did use them. The Wild Hunt sniffed her out every time she cast a spell. Who's to say others can't? Why would she want to be trapped and hunted like she had for 24 years of her existence? And if not to alien races, then to her royal lineage either.
No. She wants to choose a life for herself. To do something she actually feels is noble. And maybe, though this is speculation on my part, maybe she also wants a bit of revenge on the invading races. A Witcher lifestyle, mutations and all, solves every single one of her problems. And it's something, a lifestyle, that she has looked up to and admired before she was even 10.
It's a bit strange to assume that Ciri, who has been very insistent that she is bound by destiny to Geralt (in the books) will do a 180 degree turn and will now be against destiny.
In the Witcher 3 under Ciri’s description….. “for Cirilla is also a highly-skilled Witcher”
I'm not even done with this video and I already appreciate it. This is what I have been debating the whole time and getting, well nasty responses.
To me it just seems like being a Witcher is a step backwards. It's like Batman raising Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) and she takes golden kryptonite (forever losing her powers) to be Batwoman.
I always saw her as being more powerful and exceptional than a witcher. It just seems like they took Ciri, and instead of exploring her as she was and her power, they just made her a female Geralt. Her personality, characters, powers, ability, and everything that set her apart is just replaced with Geralt's personality, characters, powers, ability.
She doesn't seems a special anymore, she's just another witcher. So I'm just disappointed by it.
I undestand your point, but i think we need to play the game first to know if she is just female Geralt
according to the video not being special anymore could be ciri's goal
@@BiomechanicalBrickthen the writing is going in a bad direction. You guys seem to think this is real life or something. People are writing this terrible continuation of her character.
@@Rodrigo-n4o going in a bad direction? the witcher 3s story wasnt good
Where the hell do you guys get the "same personality as Geralt" meme?
On top of the fact that it is just a 6 minute trailer, she was way angrier, emotional and prone to action than Geralt was ever shown to be in the games. Is it because of the "monsters" line? Even that was said with a different tone.
Algorithm comment for the algorithm gods 🙏
Praise the Algorithm Omnissiah!!!!
Praise be the Algorithm 🙏🙏
It's tradition. Chosen it is. By the gods.
There are no gods here. Only algorythms.
Algorithms howling
I’m super invested in Ciri after trying to save her for 250+ hrs (rookie hrs still I know). I’m STOKED to be playing her - as long as they make it make sense with the lore. I hope it will have something to do with her travelling to different worlds or timelines. I also hope she’s building a new Witcher school with Geralt. CPDR made my favourite game of all time - I trust them.
If it took you 250+ hours to finish The Witcher 3 I don't think you even qualify as a rookie.
I wanted a create-your-own-witcher but I’m equally excited for Ciri
I think this is probably the most fair and reasoned analysis on this topic. I was somewhat indifferent to the reveal that Ciri was going to be the protagonist, in part because at least in the Witcher 3, she doesn't crack my top 10 favorite characters. Her becoming a Witcher when it was only ever successfully done on boys was another oddity (even though her Elder Blood can basically be written to do anything the writer wants), and the bigger thing that few are talking about (I'm glad you mentioned it) was that why she would feel the need to even become a witcher when her elder blood abilities make her outclass basically everything. I don't have the quote but there is a line from the books that describes Ciri as not a witcher, or a sorceress, but something unique to herself.
Another thought I had was that I didn't want her powers being gimmicky abilities to fight monsters with, but then I saw a real rewrite of history. IGN's instagram comments (as well as Twitter/X, RUclips, Reddit, and other places) are full of people blatantly lying, such as the ones you quickly debunked in your video, but also ideas that "the whole point of the Witcher 3 was to have Ciri replace Geralt" which isn't close to being true, or that the Ciri sections were the best sections of the Witcher 3's base game. If people just said, "hey happy to play as Ciri again" I honestly wouldn't care, maybe I'd even agree. But this total rewriting of history and what the game is actually about screams that this is now a cause for tourists. I've even seen people say that the whole Witcher trilogy/book series is about Ciri taking over Geralt's role, which isn't the case, but maybe their only exposure to this world is the Netflix show.
I was more looking forward to either a Witcher game set in the not so distant future or distant past, with an character that could be better defined by the player (maybe something like Commander Shepard from ME). I would also be fine playing as another witcher from the series but I understand that Eskel/Lambert would probably be unpopular.
I also do not think this trailer was the best way to introduce the idea of Ciri being a Witcher (my favorite trailer is still the Witcher 2 boat attack) and in this current climate of lackluster game reveals, it often feels that the reveal that the character is female is meant to be the hook for certain people and a signal to leave for others (see Ghost of Yotei trailer).
Tl;dr I was indifferent at first but the insane lore-smashing history-redefining support this choice made ticked me off. I really hope you are right and I think the idea that you posited about Ciri undergoing the trials to runaway from her destiny is a great concept. I just hope CDPR feel the same and didn't just do that to get Ciri to play more like Geralt.
The IGN interview with CD project red made me lose all hope.
Trying to run away from her destiny - which she did her entire life including in the Witcher 3 until she stopped running and fought back - would still not be a good enough reason to contradict the entire lore of the Witchers, the Witches, the trial and her character. She wouldn't be able to go through this process even if she wanted to. Geralt and the Witches would never willingly help her attempt this process.
@@rpgadventurer32 I’ve seen all sorts of comments from that Geralt and the others actually would allow it, to she’s just went behind their back to another Witcher school and adults can undergo the trials even though the fragment of one was nearly fatal to avalach.
We shouldn’t have to justify the writer’s choices.
I think this whole lore thing is misdirection. The fact of the matter is that Ciri already had her power progression established in (and before) The Witcher 3, she is a Source and was starting to master that path, with all her pale aqua-colored speed-force abilities and whatever else. The idea of having Ciri continue down that (obvious and natural) skill tree was admittedly intriguing to me, but CDPRINO decided to downgrade her into a Mutant instead. Added to the fact that there isn't a single trace of her personality left (apart from the sanctimonious nagging, which is now grating instead of charming), and i could not have identified this character as Ciri if not for the scar and white hair.
With Avalach being the villain, triple twist, many worst villains rise with that conjunction going sideways or another conjunction, Ciri decides to end her bloodline at herself..and also a chance of loosing her powers so it can't be misused (but days and night shall pass while blood remains same, destiny can't be changed)
Conjunction requiring new witchers & with new school lynx...they can make it safer....this is perhaps best foundation..we will see.
I have waited for that! Thanks, I really think you got great points and arguments. I hope this story go so deep into the lore, that Netflix feel ashamed to ever touch this lore!
GTA 6, Ghost of Yotei and now Witcher 4. I can't be the only one noticing a pattern here.
Yup. Games that look cool are upsetting losers
@@krasmasov6852facts
@@krasmasov6852 I'm sure you're a real winner and not an npc
@@theodorherzl4695 Winner is when you cry that a game has a woman protagonist?
You should’ve been noticing this “pattern” about 20 years ago. But it’s fine if you’re slow and still need time to catch up.
It's just ciri was already more powerful than a Witcher so what's the point? Am I imagining her saving the bloody baron or what? Or killing a werewolf in Witcher 3 and 2 of the crones?
bec she doesnt want to run anymore or everybody wanting to have her kid
@sillylittlesheepjax6009 bro ciri could kill just about anyone hunting her. No one could make her do anything. The whole point of Witcher 3 was for to stop running and face her destiny not to fear the future.
@@Sekiryuutei96 It's not solely about killing everyone who is after her, I imagine she would have a hard time with Wild Hunt, because she wasn't at her full potential, it's about her being on a run and losing independence, that she so highly values. Don't criticize the game, without even seeing the reasoning - we have seen but one cinematic.
@@sillylittlesheepjax6009 Who is she running from? The wild hunt is dead and she stopped the white frost.
@@BRR42922 wild hunt is just one small army force of elves they are still there, then u have northern kingdoms and nilfgaard, then u have mages that want to use her power like philipa, then u have yet to come new bad guys from witcher 4. Whole point for her is to stop fighting for her life and ppl close to her being a target for others
So refreshing to listen to someone with a brain talk about this, thank you for the insight brother.
Thank you for making this!
Ciri acting as a Witcher? I’m alright with that. It fits both book and game Ciri and her devoted love of Geralt and the Wolf school boys. Ciri getting the Trial of the Grasses? Ehhhh… not the best idea imho, just because she’s already got a set identity and skill set. Still hopeful for this game, I’m not inherently against anything that’s been shown so far.
I pray on all fours 6 hours a day that this game wont suck.
i know the felling, but i guess from a narrative, dialogue and story stand pot will be at least as good at cyberpunk/ dlc level. I`m more worried about the technical side of things, judging by their track record.
@ yeah I just had this thought when I tried to make cyberpunk run on my pc, played 70 hours when it was released but now my system no longer meets the minimum requirements... I dont think ill be able to play witcher 4. When anyone updates a game I thought the god damn goal was to make it run better, not worse.
I would confidently bet money that there will be nothing "problematic" about the game unlike what was talked about during Witcher 3's time.
@@piggypoo How come? What was problematic with witcher 3?
@Brink240 well I heard the lead writer of witcher 3 and cyberpunk left the company soo.....
After what looks like a decade time skip shouldn't Ciri be chilling in King Arthur's Court? That aside, whatever powers the Trial gave her seem to be a major downgrade. You go from basically teleporting around dashing from one mob to the next to pretty standard combat with a few spells thrown in.
The games take place AFTER the books. In the Witcher 1, Geralt wakes up with amnesia after having been pitchforked by a peasant and dying (or being implied to have died) in the books. That's where his story ends in the books. He's stabbed by a mob while trying to stop a pogrom. So, Ciri going away with Galahad in the books ALSO took place BEFORE the Witcher 1. I would assume that maybe she came back. Maybe the Wild Hunt found her in Camelot and she had to go on the run again.....which is when we see her in Witcher 3.
@@PaulLefebvre At any rate, again Ciri's powers seem to be a major downgrade from the Witcher 3.
@colpul2103 tbh I think thats a good thing. Ciri would have been very OP if she would still have her teleportation abilities at the start of w4
@@MissSimsalot I can see that from a game mechanic perspective, but from a story perspective that is a big plot hole. Maybe they address it in game? Like she lost access to her Elder Blood magic and that's why she is using the normal magic she swore off. Still, it would have been a more consistent narrative to buff the monsters/antagonists than to remove or her powers.
@@colpul2103 Keep in mind that Geralt loses all his powers at the start of EACH Witcher game and then you spend the game advancing his skill tree as you gain experience.... Only to lose it again in the next game.
Maybe Sorcery will be a skill tree, and you start at 0 and have the CHOICE to advance that skill tree as you gain levels?
I actually started reading the books because of this… got my answers, and just haven’t stoped.
Ciri is committed to the 4B movement.
good
I just wish she was in the 2B movement 😔
IIRC the Trail of the Grass had a lot to do with hormones, and hormonal households between boys and girls are different worlds. One would hardly expect something developed for boys would work the same on girls.
Whether Ciri might even be affected by the chemicals of the Trial of the Grasses at all remains to be seen. She drank from the Waters of Brokilon--which is how the Dryads turn girls onto new Dryads--and she simply said it was tasty water - no affect what-so-ever. Geralt thought Eithné--the queen of Dryads--was playing a trick and drank from the water himself and was immediately thrown into a psychedelic trip, as if he'd taken LSD. The Wiki describes the Waters of Brokilon as "a psychotropic, mutagen-containing substance which can turn human girls into dryads".
So if the Waters of Brokilon have no affect on Ciri, one might on expect the Trial of the Grasses chemicals to have as little affect. On the other hand, the mushrooms the Witchers in Kaer Morhen and White Gull did have affects on her, but maybe because they are purely biological in nature.
CDPR can twist and turn the story any which way they want. They have purchased that right from Sapkowski, but only as CDPR-Witcher-lore. The one thing I keep thinking about is Ciri's power over time and space. Basically by the end of TW3 she had complete control over it, ergo could blink out of the current time and place to blink back in to anywhere at any time, just like in the trailers for the Gwent stand-alone game where, when being attacked from behind she simply vanishes in and instant and then reappears directly behind her attackers less than a second later. Who needs Witcher abilities when you are the master of time and space? It's like the difference between 'I have a box of matches' and 'I have a nuclear power plant'.
It will be interesting how CDPR deals with that, if at all. They might simply ignore it as if it never existed, or that after Cir returned from Tor Gvalcha, where she entered to fight the White Frost, she suddenly had lost her powers over time and space, which would be a huge twist in the lore of the books, which never spoke about the powers being dependent on the White Frost. We will see.
She had her own powers why would they ruin that and make her a Witcher it's a huge missed opportunity
What powers? Her screaming really loud?😂
@scubasteve3032 her blood gives her un explored powers they could of went with that
@@austinhendrick7128 hopefully they do explore and develop her character rather than just making her a Mary sue.
@@scubasteve3032 exactly bro all I'm saying why make her just another Witcher she is unique why ditch that
Well, she'd be an unstoppable demi-god for one. Not that fun of a game to just Thanos Snap every situation. It's also a trilogy so, they'll probably gradually give her Elder Blood powers back across 3 games. When she's fighting the big monster, she's drawing magic which isn't a Sign, so she still has some non-Witcher power. I'm not here to glaze CDPR though, I'm also skeptical. Need to see more. I just see at least some logic in nerfing her.
Thank you very much for providing much clearer information. Not just on the games but the books. I’m actually looking forward to reading the books. Thank you. ☺️
I am by no means a Witcher fan because I just recently picked up Witcher 3 and it is fun. I can't see a problem with the 4th one and just seems like people want to complain.
Pretty much describes folks in fandoms lately.
@@xanderx51 Can't enjoy things just to enjoy them.
@@McSmurfy the people who worked on the previous Witcher games are no longer at the studio. Most notably is 2 lead writers who have left.
Cdpr have also been making very stupid mistakes recently too.
@@RodgerSkelton Ah, that seems to be why games don't do well these days. Bad writing and original writers going away
@@RodgerSkelton The lead writer of Witcher 3 is still at the studio and working on Witcher 4
But Ciri isn’t in the Witcher 4. It’s her stunt double…
Biri
At this point, I feel the ciri in witcher 3 and 4 have nothing else common other than their name. Seems like CD Project red is trying to recreate the character.
Look at the circumstances, she was constantly hunted and forced into a defensive position in Witcher 3, not able to develop further until the end of the game and still young.
In the books she was always a lot more emotional and did some ugly stuff, so it is definitely in character to be ruthless when the situation drives her to be. Lore wise the Ciri from the current trailer, is actually far more near the original. Also we do not know how much time has past. It's quite possible that this scene happens 50+ years after Witcher 3 in theory at least.
You have seen a single trailer where she speaks like 3 sentences. What are you, a fortuneteller?
@ it's an opinion not a prediction or forecast!
@@y_0_1_0your opinion kinda sucks tbch
@@AMnotQ I don't hate the new possible characterization though!
It's the logical step for the franchise. Books end at Witcher 3. Ciri doesn't have any major threats. Based on the trailer it seems like she's a bit more mature now. So the old ciri that was stubborn, reckless and always on the run from threats, most likely changed. So she's a new person or at least in a new phase of her life.
Pointing out a couple realistic things to add to yet another one of your great videos.
I think it’s best to separate the canon books with the games.
In the books Ciri wants nothing more than to train with Geralt and the Wolves to become a Witcher. However, Yennefer notes that with extreme power of Ciri’s elder blood power, she would not need to undertake the trial of the grasses in order to complete her training. Ciri is basically trained in the Witcher fighting style by the time the coup of Thanedd happens.
Ciri mentions on several occasions that she just wants to live a life with Geralt and Yennefer and be a Witcher like Geralt, not because there are no female Witchers, but because she admires Geralt so much and loves spending time with him.
But remember… by the end of the books, Ciri has renounced all her Elder blood powers.
In the games, she can do whatever necessary (and whatever CDPR wants) to become the main character in a new trilogy. This includes undertaking the grasses/mutations and/or whatever necessary to utilize her (previously renounced) powers. She’s CDPR’s new golden child so they’ll make her whatever is most profitable, whether lore friendly or not. Based on the W4 trailer, it appears she goes through some sort of “trial” or potion mixture to get the reflective eyes and increased senses.
Sidebar…
As for Wiedźmin… if you’ve never seen the 13 part series… you are missing out. It is BY FAR the best interpretation of the true character of (book) Geralt. It also has the best interactions between Geralt and Ciri, when he first meets Ciri as a little girl, before he takes her to Karen Morhen. The series is 20+ years old, low budget, and doesn’t follow the lore exactly, but much more so than the NF series and almost exactly verbatim to certain scenes from Sword of Destiny. It is truly a gem to watch.
the ONLY thing about the trailer I didnt like was Ciri's changed voice actor😭 I get she's prob 10+ years older but her voice is just SO different lmao
changing voice actors probably has nothing to do with how old her voice sounds. Doing this withcer trilogy means theres got to be a like 8 -10 years commitment , that will for sure involve a lot of mocaps, probably thats why they picked a closer in age actress that probably shares a lot of facial markers with the ingame character model.
They Lied to with cyberpunk 2077 release I'm not gonna Trust them
They even delayed Cyberpunk's release because a violent felon died while resisting arrest. They're not good people.
Ciri goes through the trail of the grasses because shes actually trans and changes HIS name to Carl
I knew it!
Now that's good to know. I was wondering about that a lot.
Speaking as a complete newbie in the Witcher world (I’ve only gotten thru The Last Wish and the W3 game)
It’s funny that this video popped up in my feed. I started W3 again today. I noticed in the beginning when Ciri is training by herself….Vesemir and Geralt are talking. Vesemir says something along the lines of “She’s got to train if she is to become one of us”
That’s not verbatim but he does say “if she is to become one of us”
With all the outcry about Ciri in W4 going on, I saw in that moment that CDPR definitely had opened the door to her becoming a Witcher.
Once again, I’m a newbie. I plan of getting into more of the books in 2025
It feels like the "There were always female custodians" type of thing, only CD Project Red doesn't actually own the franchise or the canon.
Ciri had to become a witcher because they needed to keep the gameplay mechanics
I dont witcher much at all, but its nice to see someone tackle a topic like this in a reasonable manner, good stuff.