[Lysenko]

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1. Grand Master knew the whereabouts of Alvin every step of the way, since he remembers his own childhood. However, he had every reason NOT to interfere with how the things progress

Ah, but you're overlooking the fact that that's why he HAD to interfere. If he hadn't sent his men to capture Alvin and kill Geralt it would have been just as destructive to the causal loop as if he'd actually succeeded in killing off the Witcher earlier.


And no, Geralt could not have prevented Alvin from becoming Jacques de Aaldersburg because it already happened from Geralt's position. Without getting into the various conjectures about the logic of time travel, the simplest way of putting it is that it is presumed (given what we know IRL of physics) that even if time travel WERE possible (which it most likely is not), a time traveller can never change the past, with the past being defined relative to his starting point. Therefore since the Grand Master already existed prior to Alvin's birth (possibly even prior to Geralt's), it was inevitable that Alvin would become the Grand Master.

This is why in many fantasy settings (like the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher) magical time travel is a big no-no. It doesn't bother me as a plot element in this story, though, since it was done well and gave the character of the Grand Master a real tragic edge.

As for some of the other questions raised:

"Where did all the other Witchers get off to?" - The other Witchers are probably either still searching for clues or have gone back to their normal lives. Remember that Witchers, once they're done with their training, spend most of their lives in solitary travel and only rarely gather together at the Witcher schools and strongholds. I haven't read the books yet, but it's pretty clear from the glossary entries and so on that MOST Witchers stay out of political conflicts and have no allegiance to any one kingdom (monsters in Redania needing killing just as much as monsters in Temeria, for example). I think Geralt's involvement in political struggle is the exception, not the rule, which ties into the next issue...

"What's with the assassin?" - I think it's pretty clear that the assassin is A) a Witcher (the potion belt, altered eyes, combat style, etc)  and B) not one that we saw in the game. Just because Geralt seems shocked doesn't mean he personally recognizes him. Remember that Witchers are supposed to be apolitical and focused primarily on killing monsters and dealing with the victims of magical curses. Finding a witcher as an assassin would be pretty shocking.

As another note: While the mutations express differently in different Witchers (Geralt's white hair is unusual), some of the changes are universal. The unusual eyes are SUPPOSED to be a universal change, and that's made clear in both the dialogue in the Prologue and in the glossary entries even if it's not reflected as clearly in the in-game character models of the other Witchers (the third stage of the mutation after the Trial of the Grasses is mentioned as including changes to the eyes to give witcher's better low-light vision).

Finally, a bit of recommended reading for people intrigued by or troubled by the idea of the predestination paradox (aka the closed temporal loop, aka causal loop, etc, etc). The short story "By His Bootstraps" by Robert A. Heinlein is one of the better examples of this sort of paradox and does it in an interesting way.

[szelo]

Dont forget about destiny. Maybe Grandmaster tried to change his (Alvin) destiny. Maybe he tried to prevent himslef from teleport and never become a grandmaster because he knew he is going to be madman ? :P

BTW. The thing druid's talking about is polish incident in Rospuda valley (park, where rare species of birds live) where government tried to make a highway through the middle of it. But polish equivalent of greenpeace stopped them :P

P.S. Sry for my bad language.

[romeo_longsword]

Thanks for the info about the Amulet.

As for Grandmaster = Alvin, I started to believing more and more, at the end, if you say to The King of The Wild Hunt that, he may have Grandmaster, than he would say somthing like, "Than Jarc (the grandmaster's name which i can not spell) is mine, whom you know him under another name".

So I guessed King of the wild hunt knew he was Alivn.

Of couse, this could also mean, Grandmaster also could be somebody else beside Alvin.

[sandwich88]

I got some loose ends, the quest about identity doesent update (its not completed) it still says triss is the love of my life).
The sword i got from the lady of the lake says it has a destiny of its own, sadly i dont know what that destiny is........

oh also anyone found three pieces of yellow meteorite? (only found two, no one could forge the sword also)

Cheers

[absurf]

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I got some loose ends, the quest about identity doesent update (its not completed) it still says triss is the love of my life).

I didn't complete that quest too. I was wondering what update there would be after the entry which says Triss is the love of my life.

[FastMemFirst]

People, think easy. I do not believe CDP made a game whose story only reveals to the Einsteins of this world, so forget about that time travel things.
For me, the game is somehow open ended. Geralt saved the King but there is still a lot of work for him to do. The game is made to have at least one sequel. The assassin Witcher in the end movie simply is a cliff hanger. Yes, thats marketing. Remember Flash Gordon? ;)

[romeo_longsword]

Quote

I got some loose ends, the quest about identity doesent update (its not completed) it still says triss is the love of my life).
The sword i got from the lady of the lake says it has a destiny of its own, sadly i dont know what that destiny is........

oh also anyone found three pieces of yellow meteorite? (only found two, no one could forge the sword also)

Cheers

From the top of my head:
1 you get from the shop at murky water
2 you get from a quest reward at murky water - i am not sure but i think its from James/Jamie at the Inn, or somebody completely different.
3 You get from one of the tomb caves which you travel from Hayefearstone (sp).

[McCrazy]

I don't think, that the Witcher Assassin is anyone known. After all, Vesemir told you in the Prologue, that there are 2 other Witcher-Schools. For me that one did not resemble anyone of the Witchers from the Prologue. Maybe the eyes of all Witchers are like that after the three Trials. When talking to other Witchers I never really saw, what eyes they have. Even the eyes from Geralt looked 'normal' in some dialoges.

[fall19]

i think they left all of this questions so they can make an exp (a exp like night of the raven for gothic 2) ...but i dont think its posible to make the witcher 2 ...to meny endings (choices)

[sandwich88]

Is it just me, or do i remember alvin saying that he enjoyed the game "killing the elf" and he always became the grand master?

I told him that he should stop playing that game :P

[Solothores]

Following this link over here (I recommend to click only, if you either don't intend to replay for the different choices or don't have a problem with spoilers of stuff you haven't encountered yet)
http://gamebanshee.c...images.php#null

You can see many of the flashback event concept art, that has been created for the witcher. I don't know if all of it has been included into the game, though.
But I definitly recognize those that happened to me, because of my decisions, it's interesting to see the variations that have been created depending on your choice.

Cheers
S.

[rk47]

I am convinced Alvin is the Grandmaster.
I remember when I saved him at Murky Waters, he said he wanted to be a witcher. But I told him, no. Be a Knight instead.
He really did. And when he returned back to the past, he grew up and climbed the ranks. Ofcourse, he could not stop the Murky Water incident from happening, else the younger Alvin would never return to the past and caused the Grandmaster to be born.  :P

Good twist there. I duno who to credit, the devs or the novel writer. Good job both of you!  ;D

[Solothores]

Btw: Here is a high-res art render of the assassin that is giving so much headaches from the final cutscene.
http://gamebanshee.c...creenshot21.jpg

[VisVenti]

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Btw: Here is a high-res art render of the assassin that is giving so much headaches from the final cutscene.
http://gamebanshee.c...creenshot21.jpg

There's one thing that I am absolutely sure about, he is certainly NOT a witcher trained at Kaer Morhen. Therefore, he's not not anyone known to Geralt, and I cannot recognize him as any character from Sapkowski's books.

A cliff hanger? I'd tend to agree. Perhaps a suggestion that maybe someone else besides the Order/Salamandra has gained access to the stolen witchers' secrets.

[Solothores]

There is a nice write-up from Martin Pagan (One of the freelance writers hired to do the first draft of the english localization)
Source: http://boards.gamefa...39306286&page=2



During the course of the game, we are told that Geralt was killed by a pitchfork. I don't know about you guys, but i refuse to believe that the freaking white wolf can get killed by an angry mob. It's almost as bad as saying that Geralt died choking on a blueberry. Or a chicken sandwich.

No, read the books. Geralt was killed dead by a peasant during a pogrom of nonhumans. Yennefer, his beloved sorceress, tried to heal his wounds but expended too much magical energy and died as well. Then Ciri, Geralt's ward and a child bound to him by destiny, used her great powers to carry both Geralt and Yennefer to Avalon where they "lived" happily ever after. Geralt died at the end of the Witcher saga. Period.

So, I think that the person who actually wounded, and almost killed Geralt was actually Alvin/Grandmaster that was in the future, right before Geralt deals the finishing blow at the last part of the game. (More on that later) Future Alvin took Geralt away from the scene afterwards, hence explaining the disappearing body. Now, Geralt don't know who Alvin was at that point, but the fact that Alvin saved Geralt must have put him on Geralt's good book.

Nope, read above. Besides, the Grand Master doesn't come into being until Alvin meets Geralt because it is only then that the time loop comes into being. Without Geralt there is no Grand Master and Geralt died 5 years before meeting Alvin.

During the 5 years that continued, Alvin then taught Geralt how to manipulate his dormant witcher powers, and also tell him about the his own ideal, and the coming of the ice age. Geralt must have decided to side with Alvin after hearing these words. Thus, Alvin sent Geralt to the future to kill the King, and Alvin will then teleport assassin Geralt away just before Geralt kills assassin Geralt to the start of the game where he has amnesia. (More on this later as well)

Nice try but still wrong. There cannot be two Geralts. The "assassin Geralt" as you call him has no scars on his face that Geralt has so this cannot be the same person.

Now, why doesn't Alvin just kill the king himself, or send Geralt to assassinate the king there and then? It's because he needs Geralt to die and lose his memory, so he would meet up with the young Alvin in the village in Chapter 1. If Geralt didn't appear, Alvin would have died, and thus his future self will cease to exist.

Once again, the Grand Master doesn't come into picture before Alvin meets Geralt, the time loop starts in the game, not before it. And it takes place only once because Geralt kills the Grand Master in the vision.

So, what's the point of sending Geralt to the future if Alvin knows Geralt will be killed by Geralt? It was Alvin's one chance, for Geralt to kill the king before the other Geralt kills him. If Geralt was fated to die there, he surely will, but if he managed to kill the king before he dies, the outcome of the battle will change.

Well, just read all of the above :)

Think of it like that:
Geralt killed the king just before he died. Future Alvin teleports wounded Geralt to start of the game. This leads to the event where Geralt saves Alvin. Forward to the end of the game, where Geralt is about to deal the finishing blow to Alvin. Who appears? The King of the Wild Hunt. (cough Sauron ripoff cough) As you remember, he wanted to take Alvin away. This means that Alvin must had struck a deal with the Wild Hunt to save himself from Geralt before he dies. (Normally, if assassin Geralt fails to kill the king, he will just teleport himself to save the assassin Geralt and take him to the start of the game.) As Alvin knows that the king is dead, he will then appear with his army to take over Temeria . (He can just time travel to that particular point.)

The King of the Wild Hunt merely wants to increase the numbers of the Wild Hunt. He does not strike deals with mortals, he is not a devil figure although the participation in the wild hunt could be considered punishment for causing chaos in the world. Grand Master sowed so much chaos that the King of the Wild Hunt wants his soul to increase the chaos of the Wild Hunt. By killing the Grand Master, Geralt denies the wraith Alvin's soul thus gaining a little redemption from all the chaos he himself has sown (think back to the scene with Leo's ghost).

HOWEVER, against all odds, Geralt kills the King of the Wild Hunt (Fire spells FTW xD) and finishes Alvin off before he can do anything. This made history go in a set direction, with the inevitable coming of the ice age if Alvin's prediction was right. And then you see the ending, with Geralt killing the assassin Geralt, who came to kill the king. This time, Alvin wasn't there to save Geralt, and so the infinite time loop ends.

Again, wrong. The icy Vizima is not a set future. It is a possible future created by the mixing of Ithlinne's prophecy and the Grand Masters delusions whose source was in his magic-fueled dreams. You needn't come up with things that aren't inside the game, all you need to know about the events is inside the game and in the books, which, I assume by the beginning of your post, you haven't read. This isn't Soul Reaver, thankfully! ^^

Well, this is my take on the ending.. Any other people have different opinions? xD

I do, and I have presented it :)

[Killoran]

IMO the assassin at the end looks nothing like Geralt, no white hair no scar on the face,  he looks more like lambert.
Defently a witcher as it has the eyes

http://www.xfire.com...5835fc179a5.png

[DoRk]

Can someone from the staff at least tell us IF it is possible to know without reading the books - which is impossible for english/german readers pretty pretty please
*glassy sweet puppy eyes about to cry face* :'(

1) who the mysterious assassin in the end video is
2) just what the deal with the king of the hunt is
3) if alvin really is the future/present leader of the order of the flaming rose
4) how/why the white wolf was ressurected

i read the first book -last wish- and i dont quite get it all.

and btw didnt the goddes of the lake talk about some boon later on ? what was that exactly ? any ideas

well for my part i do think that alvin actually is the grandmaster, the assassin is most likely part of some remaining mutant assassin uber-witcher created by the flaming rose leader.
(room for addon, i guess) - hmm that somehow reminds me of castle wolfenstein.... creating an uber-race, eliminating minor races...  just a thought.

also the witcher must have met the king of the hunt before and i think they made some kind of a deal...
"We meet again white wolf, have you fullfilled your destiny?" and "I once promised i would follow you"....

Perhaps we will never know, but hey if the white wolf doesnt quite get it him self... how should we?  :)


edit: just cant stop, how about this: gerald died at the end of the books. thats fact by now. the king of the wild hunt gathers some or all of the dead.
what if gerald somehow knew of his great destiny and kew he was still needed - he made a pact with the king of the wild hunt - he gets ressurected and in return turns over the souls of all or some of the guys he slays. geralt looses his memory kills the evil guy, king of the wild hunt comes nevertheless to claim what is rightfully his.

[gedoe]

When I finished the game I was wondering what the sorceresses involvement in the whole thing was? Maybe they were just trying to gain influence in Vizima, but I wonder if there is something more to it.

[Solothores]

1) There are many theories about it. Some official said it was intended to be somewhat confusing. So I guess there is no other way as to gather clues and come-up with some speculation, 'till we get additional extensions, an expansion pack and sequel ;) I doubt you will get anything else.
2) He seems to be on his path to take some sort of arch-villain position in relation to Geralt's fate & destiny. I guess you will  have to wait for further releases to get a final resolution. I am sure it was not his last appearance and he might be pretty pissed, depending on your choice.
3) I think all clues have been placed in the game. Judging from the nature of the Witcher, I doubt that you will receive an official resolution. So it's up to you to make your interpretation based on what clues you could gather. As it seems to be canon, that Geralt on himself doesn't resolve this part, as he fails to pick-up the connection and thus maybe never knows.
4) You know, this question might be actually the driving story arch, that might span and connect with all future releases. You see, even at the end of the epilogue, Geralt still suffers from his amnesia. He regained some major elements of his identity, but still a lot is there to remember and I am sure he is as curious as you, to what exactly happened to him, that he again walks among the living, and for what cause?

[DoRk]

@gedoe
true, whom has triss spoken to in the mirror ? triss said she would make the witcher do something for her/them... that was never explained was it ?

@Solothores
well spoken, but i think theres only a fragment of the clues needed within the game to make the puzzle whole. as you said we need to see what story future titles will tell. if there are any.
*crosses fingers*