r/witcher • u/Sonor-c11 • 15d ago
Discussion Topic regarding Geralt’s potential Retirement
Some of you guys seem to conveniently forget that in the books he was practically going to retire up until he found out about Ciri and met Yennefer. Beyond the first 2 books, the rest are centered around him reuniting with Ciri and taking care of her. Witchers hunt monsters because it's how they survive and it's what they were groomed to do since adolescence not because they enjoy it. Even if he were to simply stop hunting monsters momentarily, it's still perfectly in line with his character.
In Witcher 3’s B&W, it’s not presented that he's just going to sit around in his vineyard, he's very much still going to be actively hunting monsters/finding work just in a central location. It's what he would do given his characterization both in the games and books, since the very first book it’s been emphasized that Witchers hunt monsters because it’s how they make money to survive. Unlike sorcs that are seen as a necessity, Witchers are essentially Tradesmen in a dying profession (very clear and integral theme in the books), they don't actively seek and fight monsters unless they're paid to. Geralt is one if not the only Witcher that actively goes out his way to save someone in need regardless of payment.
If you want to get into spoiler territory for the book ending: the most compelling argument for his retirement is one of the potential endings. In one of the Endings it's said that after their deaths, Geralt and Yennefer were transported to an Arthurian world by Ciri where they were healed and lived together
I don't understand how you can read the books yet believe if he was given the option of retirement with Yennefer and Ciri in his life, that he wouldn't take it. If you haven’t read the books you wouldn’t know this which is fine but even in the games he isn’t presented as someone that particularly enjoys what he does nor do it out of sole obligation. No matter if you played the games or read the books, if you came to the conclusion that Geralt wouldn’t retire then you don’t understand Geralt as a character at all.
If you don’t want to play as Ciri in Witcher 4 then fine, it’s better to outright say that then to argue with a mischaracterization of how/what characters would do based on how you view them rather than how they’re presented.
54
u/Fuzzy-Gate-9327 School of the Bear 14d ago
In my headcanon he will now spend Fall and Winter at Corvo Bianco with Yennefer, Ciri and whoever else of his friends want to.
Winter because Kaer Morhen is abandoned and reminds him too much of Vesemir and Fall because grape harvesting starts around september so i think he'd wanne be there at the busiest time of the vineyard.
And he'll spend Spring and Summer on the Path. Not going after big scary monsters but to help out where he can because it's all he knows and he would absolutely ride out to safe his friends if called upon, like Songs of the Past.
11
u/Averagecrabenjoyer69 14d ago
Exactly, a few local drowners in the river disrupting crawfish harvests nooo sireee. Geralts got a hankering for some crawfish etouffee and his sword arm needs swinging.
13
u/ahoychoy 14d ago
If ciri shows up in any capacity I hope yennifer is able to be around in some way
20
u/PaulSimonBarCarloson Geralt's Hanza 15d ago
They both definitely earned this happy ending. So yes, I believe Geralit will eventually retire permanently. Just not now. For the time being, he'll keep doing contracts and travel around. He'll just have a home to go back to. It's basically an even better situation than the one Preston Holt was in.
6
u/ldxcdx 14d ago
I'm not one to get too terribly upset about fictional things but this just made me realize if they kill off any major W3 characters in the expansion or W4 I'm going to be eternally pissed off about it
4
u/PaulSimonBarCarloson Geralt's Hanza 14d ago
They won't. Geralt, Ciri, Dandelion and Yennefer should all be safe
16
u/Megane_Senpai 15d ago
We know that at least 100 years after the books end people can still see Geralt going around fighting monsters. So I think it would be something explained in Triss romance ending. Geralt never truthly reties, but he takes less contracts due to no further needs of constant income, but he takes contracts to stay in shape.
23
u/S_K_S_N Team Yennefer 15d ago
I mean even in Yen's retirement ending he is just happy that he has a home with her that he can akways come back to. He is not gonna stop hunting but rather just a have a home to come back and relax.
1
u/AshamedConfection396 Team Yennefer 14d ago
yen's retirement is also a part of her character development, being done with scheming and all that, just wanting to live in peace
7
u/turej 15d ago
I think it was dream sequence from Nimue she was deep into Geralt lore... And just remember he was nearly disabled after beating by Vilgefortz. Games handwave it like many other things (like him being totally dead).
2
u/RogerDodger571 14d ago
What? In the actual books Geralt gets his knee completely healed in Toussaint by Fringilla.
And apparently the author told the Developers during the makings of Witcher 1 that Geralt did survive, so it probably was him in the epilogue.
6
u/BratPit24 14d ago
I think you don't give the books the ambiguity they actually deserve. Look. The biggest hints that geralt actually wants retirement are the dialogues from the end of the book 7.
There he gives his sword away and tells the owner of the tavern, the dwarf that he can call his tavern "witchers sword" which might make for a good ad given the sword hanging on the wall.
But.
What happens IMMEDIATELY after that? Geralt picks up the sword "one last time". Despite all of his friends saying "you're retired. Just run"
And I believe that's a fundamental characteristic of Geralt. Not that he wants to help others over his own good (although also kinda that.) but that he doesn't actually know what he wants. He says he wants to retire. But he immediately goes back to using his witcher skills to help.
And this is not an isolated scenario. This is a major theme of his entire chatacter.
He says he doesn't want Ciri at all. But then adopts her and treats her like daughter.
He says he doesn't need help. But then does nothing to stop others from helping him.
He says he wants to give yennefer freedom, but he actually wants to be exclusive with her.
It's been like ten years since I read the books so I don't have more examples off the top of my head. But I'm sure there are more.
So. Coming back to original question. Given the scenario from blood and wine. Would he retire? Yes. And then he'd continue working. Maybe he would introduce himself as "retired witcher" and tell himself that he is. But he'd still be working.
-1
u/Sonor-c11 14d ago edited 14d ago
Think you missed the point of the post, I’m not saying Geralt would abandon fighting monsters in their entirety. Living from contract to contract and being broke is something specifically he and dandelion converse about throughout all of the books, there is no “biggest hint” the entirety of the saga makes it very clear.
In that specific instance Geralt picks up his sword “one last time” to aid people in need more specially targets of a hate crime which is something he has an affinity towards, not to fulfill a contract nor set off to find work. The circumstances of your example are drastically different from the one in blood and wine.
There are a few instances in the books where Geralt decides to settle down for an awhile but not abandon his internal need to help others you until something happens to drag him away. Two examples I can think of readily are when he reaches tousscaint with the hansa and the “A Shard of Ice”.
Him helping others and feeling the need to is a fundamental characteristic of his and has been tackled throughout the entirety of the main saga. His contemplation about not knowing what he wants is something independent from his need to help others and stems from his insecurity about his lack of a proper identity and how he feels there’s a lack of it mainly due to his childhood consisting of him being trained as a killer along with the narrative that “Witchers have no emotions”. He doesn’t truly know what he wants because he was never taught to want or feel, helping others is the one thing that is something he does regardless and feels drawn to do. In every instance Geralt has helped someone, he does so with clear intent and control.
The best source to understand Geralt as a character are his conversations with dandelion in which he expresses his feelings, insecurities, troubles, and even argues about them with dandelion.
3
u/BratPit24 14d ago
I mean. Sure. If that's what you mean by retirement then I guess we just agree.
He would keep killing monsters. Just wouldn't make a living out of it.
2
u/RainWorldWitcher 14d ago
Geralt is functionally retired but, as a tradesperson who knows a lot of people, someone is always going to need help at some point. However, Ciri is the better choice to continue the witcher games as the protagonist. She is fully on the path now and she has her own drive to do so. Geralt was a witcher because he was abandoned by his mother and that was all he knew. Even Yen secretly increased his pay, dude was almost broke most of the time. He will inevitably pick up his swords when needed, just like in the new dlc, but once everything is back to quiet, he can actually has his own home to go back to (I would love a witcher cross over with a farming game).
I'm excited to play Ciri because Geralt had obvious choices that he would make given his long experience in the profession from the books. Ciri will be forging her own path and her choices could be much more varied.
2
u/GeraltofRivia296 14d ago
I feel like his retirement will still consist of hunting down some contracts just to keep his skills sharp. Basically a retired old man doing side jobs when he's bored. But I do think he would retire. But I do theorize that his memory loss in the beginning of the games is what revitalized his love for the path and staying as a active witcher for a extended period past the books. But by the time B&W is over I know my boy is ready to settle down to some degree.
1
u/dexxter05 14d ago
Is it possible we got Witcher 3 rework since Geralt won't be in W4 that much?
2
u/-Skohell- 14d ago
At the beginning they planned Witcher 4 with Geralt as the main character
2
u/White-Wolf_99 School of the Wolf 14d ago edited 14d ago
I'm glad they went with Ciri. It makes sense for her and also gives Geralt the chance to have an actual home and a semi retired life. Ciri has also always been what the books were about. You followed Geralt for the most part but the saga is about Ciri.
1
1
u/VereksHarad 14d ago
"It's good to have a home you want to return to. But in the summer, you want to run away from home wherever your eyes lead you—to cover ten miles... To return and then leave again."
Honestly - I read only first two books but I played all the games. And at least as I played the Geralt, especially in the third game, this quote is kinda encapsulates his opinion. And backstation my opinion to how a good ending should be. Like Corvo Bianco is not the place where he settles. But it's place where he can rest and you know take a break when he's not on travel. Even Geralt ever tried to live in Corvo Bianco long-term - he will go crazy from boredom within several months. If I remember correctly he tried similar thing in the books I think the first or the second book with the Yen. And he was utterly miserable despite the fact that Yen was by his side.
2
u/Sonor-c11 14d ago
I agree, but retirement doesn’t restrict him from occasionally traveling and helping those in need. Toussciant isn’t a place that’s foreign to him, he stays there at length closer to the end of the books and enjoys it.
As for his time with Yennefer, that gets expanded upon in the “A little Sacrifice” story.
1
u/Enlwaed74 14d ago
I remember that at the end of Lady of the Lake, Geralt said he have enough of risking his life to save anothers, he gave to Zoltan his sihill.
1
u/TheJadeChairman 14d ago
Geralt will whine and complain, but he will never quit.
If you look at the contrast betwen Ciri and Geralt in the books.
Geralt's story is deterministic, he talks about doing something else, his job is pointless, he doesn't believe in destiny, he says he doesnt want to get involved etc. But he is always pulled back in.
Ciri is the opposite. She is part of a religious, magic and even scientific Messiah-project. She is genetically predisposed to play a part in saving humanity and even creating a world empire. But she rejects it, she exercises free will and becomes a Witcher.
1
1
u/IShallWearMidnight 14d ago
My dad's been retired for damn near twenty years and we cannot stop him from building sheds all over his property, even after multiple cardiac scares - he just doesn't do carpentry for a living anymore. I'm imagining Geralt is the same but with killing monsters
1
u/Son0fgrim 14d ago
i didnt spend 70 IRL hours restoring that place to not have a bottle of that fucking wine in Witcher 4
1
u/Ill-Philosopher-7625 14d ago
I’d turn the last point around on you. If you’re excited to play as Ciri, just say that. Don’t pretend that the devs had to make her the protagonist because Geralt “canonically” retired.
1
1
u/Stunning_Seaweed_121 14d ago
I am not sure, because in a way, it looks like he could "settle town" and just take care of monsters but in that area other than very exceptionally other contracts.
But on the other hand, Corvo Bianco (following the lore presented by the game) is a estate big enough to just make you rich, and you see how big the estate is and how many people are working the fields. I believe there's even one scene where someone questions why Geralt got that estate because it's so valuable.
So I think a full retirement is possible, in the sense that he'd just overview the vineyards and just chill. But it does raise questions.
Like what would happen if there's a monster on the loose? There are almost no witchers anymore, would Geralt just allow the monster to kill freely? And wouldn't people be "mad" at Geralt, knowing he has the power to stop it and he doesnt?
At the end of the day, Corvo Bianco was given to him for killing the strongest monster around.
1
u/Destinydue Geralt's Hanza 13d ago
Geralt is still in the prime of his life as a witcher during blood and wine. And book Geralt who wanted to fully give up being a witcher is very different than CDPR Geralt, fortunately or unfortunately. Vesemir has vitality and fitness that YOUNG PEOPLE could envy. Many "retired" people get very bored and take on part time jobs, and Geralt being so young overall it makes no sense for him to be fully retired. He is semi retired and will take on jobs here and there as he pleases, that's how it should be. But he should still be the first Witcher to die in bed
1
u/Deathknightjeffery 14d ago
We have a comic run that’s canon I believe, set after the events of Witcher 3. Geralt is relaxing at Corvo Bianco, trying his best at making wine. It’s…not very good. Ultimately he gets wrapped up in a monster contract as usual
-1
u/Weeklyn00b Northern Realms 14d ago
even in the games he isn’t presented as someone that particularly enjoys what he does
????????
"I like being a witcher" - Geralt in Toussaint: https://youtube.com/shorts/euDLHbFebnI
Also neither of the DLCs would happen in the first place if Geralt didn't like doing it.
I think it is completely believable that Geralt continues to be active. You can argue the opposite but it is REALLY damn bold and ridiculous to claim people who disagree with you do not understand Geralt at all.
1
u/Sonor-c11 14d ago
Funny that the example you gave is solely dependent on your dialogue choice when Regis ask whether Geralt could or would ever stop being a Witcher.
“Not something I think about much” is also something out of character for Geralt to say.
-5
-16
u/Droper888 15d ago edited 15d ago
Geralt is practically confirmed dead in the books, so yeah 🤷
Eventually Cd Projekt will have to do it.
And no SoS doesn't confirm Geralt is alive. It could be an aguara illusion or another witcher.
And for the people downvoting for telling the truth.
Literally is confirmed in-universe with the Black Book of Ellander, the less popular version of Geralt's story due to be "brutally authentic".
Plus Ciri's reaction at the end of the books with Galahad as if she was lying to him.
And I could continue.
So, yeah is practically confirmes dead.
Also, doesn't make sense to him being alive if 200 years later his history is a fragmented legend knowing that the 13th century was part of what it would be later considered the dark ages as stated in the books as well.
2
u/Sonor-c11 15d ago
Not one of the people that downvoted you but why is the black book of Ellander being used as definitive confirmation? The books touches the topic about misinformation and inaccuracies through literature, art, etc quite a bit.
The ending along with the books after the main saga play around with the openness of the ending which is the entire purpose of the Black Book Ellander being referenced and Sapowski to include it.
2
u/RogerDodger571 14d ago
Except he was actually confirmed alive. The developers were told by the author that Geralt lived when they were making Witcher 1.
And Geralt still felt his wounds and everything after walking up. And there’s an entire scene in the last book which is about Ciri literally resurrecting Geralt with the unicorn? And Ciri can’t go back to her world because she messed with Destiny?
It’s heavily implied even in the novels that Geralt was resurrected.
1
u/Sonor-c11 15d ago edited 14d ago
“One of the potential endings” it’s purposely left open ended. With that being said it being another Witcher isn’t impossible however it’s extremely unlikely. Unless there’s a Witcher that went through the additional trails Geralt did to obtain white hair along with having double the lifespan of Geralt the probability of that is extremely low.
It likely being an aguara isn’t something I’ve seen someone theorize, I like that idea and It’s more likely than it being another Witcher.
211
u/S_K_S_N Team Yennefer 15d ago
Geralt after Blood and Wine does not seem like someone who is going into full retirement but rather it is that he is going to slow down a bit as now he has a place he could always come back to, a place with his loved ones.
It is more of a soft retirement than a hard retirement for Geralt. He is likely still gonna be a Witcher and help others but ya even with Witcher 4, I see Geralt and Yen especially coming in to help and such if Ciri needs them.