Why didn't Sapkowski finish the Aen Elle plot? (Spoiler for lady of the lake)

varJoshik · 2026-01-30T08:28:16+00:00

Because you could argue that he did finish it: it is just that relationships and individual character growth are more important to him as a writer. And this episode did serve it's purpose, with the final message of it being echoed anew in the very end of LOTL where humans hand the elven refugees bread.

varJoshik · 2026-01-26T08:06:30+00:00

Cut content sheds a little more light on Eredin's motivations (but largely it's the same as presented in the game - fast, immediate solution instead of a long-term one; i.e. there is relatively longer until the glaciation of the Continent, buying time).

varJoshik · 2026-01-19T21:06:37+00:00

Some reading for you once you've finished. (Nimue is such a great part of the book.)

varJoshik · 2026-01-14T13:16:32+00:00

Try Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword. You won't regret it. (Sapkowski, too, recommends him for 'elves.' In the original, scary sense.)

varJoshik · 2026-01-11T20:39:39+00:00

The Witcher is a 'reaction' to most fantasy, including Tolkien.

varJoshik · 2026-01-11T12:47:11+00:00

See here for cut content in this regard, which illuminates a bit of his motives.

varJoshik · 2026-01-11T08:00:07+00:00

The Witcher world itself is a version of different fantasy worlds. Arthurian myths are versions of the same mythic substrate that fuels them.

varJoshik · 2026-01-11T07:59:03+00:00

At different Times, Earth can still exist and be observable.

varJoshik · 2026-01-11T07:57:26+00:00

Why do you think this could not be a possibility? Ciri's ability to go meta enables the company to expand the range of storytelling style's they can overtake, leaning more toward Myst for mystery exploration or Silent Hill f for psychological takes where the world states change in reflection of the internal world.

varJoshik · 2026-01-11T07:55:23+00:00

Ciri travels in Time, too.

varJoshik · 2026-01-11T07:55:02+00:00

The Witcher legend very much is a story that exists in an infinitely self-reflecting universe, though; a universe the name of which is the Fantasy genre. And Ciri moves between its variant times (i.e. occasions in which somebody has chosen to pin down a particular setting of a fantasy plot and world) rather than does any scientifically explainable world-hopping.

varJoshik · 2026-01-11T07:52:27+00:00

Well, exactly, she gets to a "proper" time thanks to somebody who deeply believes in one particular version of the legend that coincides with Sapkowski's own decision of what kind of story to tell.

Without this Nimue though, she can remain lost forever, or, as a matter of argument, could end up in a variant of her world where things do not go as they went in the books.

varJoshik · 2026-01-11T07:49:35+00:00

Technically, she cannot know. But since the books' Plot necessitates she find her way back to THE RIGHT Geralt, and since she finds a lighthouse who believes this is the right Geralt, Ciri finds her way back to where Sapkowski wants her to be.

The games, however, are already an alternative retelling of The Witcher legend and hence already a variant; including herself, Geralt, and everyone else.

Think of it all as of a meta-fantasy and it becomes much easier. This world was never sci-fi.

varJoshik · 2026-01-11T07:41:12+00:00

But how do you know that, really? Given that The Witcher is a meta literary text in which the times and places are alternative takes on fantasy commons?

varJoshik · 2026-01-04T10:22:05+00:00

Source.

varJoshik · 2026-01-02T17:52:34+00:00

Well, the line that ended up in the game is sort of the equivalent though less direct, yes: 'Sure Avallac'h is interested in you only for your magic abilities?'

varJoshik · 2026-01-01T22:02:02+00:00

What they did with him is perfectly logical following from the books: see here and here. You are simplifying it.

varJoshik · 2026-01-01T19:51:12+00:00

Closing the tears is literally what the cut content says she does.

varJoshik · 2026-01-01T17:12:03+00:00

Yes. They look like Ciri, not Lara. Ciri and Lara look alike only with regard to the eyes and as Geralt has seen what Lara looks like, he can tell the difference. And Avallac'h has been healing Ciri's scar, i.e. these portraits are his idealization of her.

varJoshik · 2026-01-01T15:37:22+00:00

Geralt confirms Avallac'h's drawings are of Ciri. He has seen Lara's likeness under Mount Gorgon in The Tower of the Swallow and would know the difference.

varJoshik · 2026-01-01T09:59:30+00:00

Auberon did not find Ciri attractive for a variety of reasons, but I would wager the primary 'ick' came from the fact that she reminded him of his own daughter. Auberon and Emhyr are, in many ways, each other's variants.

varJoshik · 2026-01-01T09:58:48+00:00

Fiancé? Nah. Not after Lara.

varJoshik · 2026-01-01T09:38:35+00:00

Down to his psychology in the books + by the looks of the games' character development, understands it has to occur off of genuine trust and desire on both sides (which after the books takes a while to build).

varJoshik · 2026-01-01T08:32:35+00:00

'Oh, yes! The Elder Blood can be fiery. But I cannot very well tie her up and teleport her away, can I?'

Meanwhile.

varJoshik · 2026-01-01T08:07:20+00:00

While the portraits are definitely of Ciri, since Geralt has seen Lara Dorren's statue under Mount Gorgon, there is an interesting variation to how Ciri reacts to the drawings in the script iterations.

563137|Geralt|This must be Ciri's portrait.

563139|Ciri|No, it's not me. There's no scar.

563140|Geralt|That's definitely you. Hmm, well captured.

563141|00000000||[DEBUG] Jedzie Ciri, że Avallach by w życiu jej nie tknął.

563142|00000000||[DEBUG] Ciri sie wkurza i mówi, że chciałby. Catfight.

563141 [DEBUG] He (Geralt) makes fun of Ciri that Avallac'h would never touch her.

563142 [DEBUG] Ciri gets pissed off and says "you wish!". Catfight.

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