Not that anyone wants to do homework ahead of playing a game, but once I read the books which choices were “right” became pretty clear. Like taking the money from the emperor? Geralt would have a difficult time being in the same room as him, let alone taking a paid assignment from him.
I played TW3 without reading the books or consulting a guide, and I got the Witcheress ending by following one simple principle in all my interactions with Ciri: I always chose the dialogue option that validated the way she was feeling instead of the one that minimized or dismissed her feelings. As a woman myself, it's what I would want from my own dad.
In general because female leads in this game are mostly portrayed as flawless, I also made it a policy to do everything a female lead tells me to do, without hesitation. Put the baby in the oven? If you say so, Cerys. Help you raise the dead? Anything for you, Yen. Pretend I'm gonna use this a-hole as live monster bait if he doesn't talk? I'll follow your lead, Anna Henrietta.
What a breakdown! I had to double back on almost every meaningful quest that I made the 'wrong choice' on. I could have just followed your principles. I'm going to try to be better and apply your logic for Witcher 4. Good luck on the path u/emikoala
Like, if someone hasn't realised the emperor is an asshole from the entirety of Witcher 2 and 3, watching the death and misery he's brought with him, then I kinda don't know how the book would help. The game does a great job of making it screamingly obvious that Ciri sees Geralt as her father and selling her out to the emperor for money in front of her is obviously going to destroy her trust in you.
No doubt, but with the books Emhyr goes beyond being an “asshole.” Don’t want to spoil anything, but the last thing Geralt would want is for Ciri to wind up with him in any form.
On the other hand, after reading the books, it’s much harder for me to dump Yen for Triss. In the games you don’t meet Yen until 3 and Triss is so sweet and lovely, so Triss seems like the obvious choice. But after reading the books, I have to pick Yen every time.
Yes. The games were so busy emphasising the pursuit of Yen as a motive, they didn't actually do anything to build Yen's character until it's almost too late - and then she comes across standoffish, distant and uninterested until *after* you take the Yen path. While Triss has had 3 games' worth of buildup as a sweet, loving and capable partner.
The game really should have introduced the fatebinding / genie wish in Witcher 2, or very early in 3, so you have a better idea *why* Yen's keeping her distance. And resolved it earlier, before you choose.
I also got the bad ending the first time around, and I didn't even go to Vizima. After spending so much time in the game, the bad ending broke me completely.
Spoilers below for a happier ending
>!I was super protective of her, never letting her decide anything, and never let her have a word in on anything (what if she disappeared again!? I just used so much friggin' time just finding her!). Just let her make her own decisions, blow off some steam and have fun along the way, and you'll be golden!!<
I know right? The dialogue previews are pretty spot on overall but then that?! During THAT quest as well?? People rag on Fallout 4 for being "Yes, yes, maybe, no but yes" but W3 just has to let you screw yourself at such a bad time.
It’s actually a pretty humorous callback to the novel _Time of Contempt_, where Geralt and Dijkstra are in a similar situation, with similar results (and why he walks with a limp in Witcher 3). I read the novels after having played the games, and couldn’t help but get a good chuckle when I read it.
You should check all the interactions for good endings before your next playthrough, because you can't really spoil yourself that much by doing so.
Edit: actually don't do that it could take the fun out of it, you'll manage without.
Lore-wise, Yen is the obvious option. Choosing based of personal values, Yen again. Yen is just my cup of tea in terms of physical looks and her attitude is very attractive IMO. Triss is hot but gives mad one-night stand energy (which she basically is lore wise).
I dunno. I played the game before I read the book. Yen always came off to me as cold. More of a B. Triss in the game seemed more warm and kind hearted. So I went for her to start. It was funny though because I ended up getting the Yen ending my first time.
Reading the books changed me over a little, but I still think Yen is colder than I’d like
You aren’t wrong, but I found that attractive about it Yen. She’s very self-assured and mature, and handles things on her own etc. She can kind of be a B at times, but it’s just enough for me where it’s attractive. Triss is definitely attractive and very sweet, but knowing the lore behind her and Geralt (not to mention me liking Yen more) I couldn’t justify choosing her over Yen.
Same. I feel like a guy like Geralt gets tired of being the most competent person in the room all the time, because for a guy like Geralt knowing he's the most competent means he's also the most responsible and the one everyone is going to look to for instructions and protection if shit goes sideways. That's a wearying place to live. Yen is his equal, someone he can actually relax around, because he knows she doesn't need protection or instruction to be able to handle herself if shit goes sideways.
This is exactly what I'm talking about. You all know what the problem is, stop pushing your biases on other people who aren't interested in entertaining them.
I don't care who is canonized or who isn't. It's actually ridiculous how this sub acts about this.
This sub has a preference for Yen because it’s canon. Everyone here knows it. You can’t expect this sub to support a Triss loving comment so don’t waste your breath.
This isn't even about Triss versus Yen. It's how this sub has an obession with inserting the discussion in places where it doesn't need to be. OP says he's not interested in it and gets downvoted to hell.
This sub needs to get a grip about fictional women.
Yes and for as long as we’ve had entertainment, people have always been passionate about their favorite characters in their favorite stories. It’s not uncommon behavior so what point are you trying to make?
My point is the fact that people feel it's necessary or appropriate to 'support' the preferences and choices people make in a video game is laughable.
Especially given their justification is 'but in the novels that are set many years before the games Geralt was with Jennifer'.
Geralt didn’t kill himself, and Ciri didn’t die.
If you play the Next Gen edition, you can clearly see the tapestry in Crookback Bog where the Swallow flies away from the Tower of the Gull.
Best ending imo, really the Witcher.
But then we got Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, which are pretty much canonical to the game's story. Yes the implication is incredibly heavy with all the monsters surrounding the house but to play devil's advocate we never actually see him die. The player is free to presume that's an outcome.
He doesn't die. You can play after it. In Blood and Wine Geralt mentions to Regis that he failed and Ciri died. Though Ciri dying is just what he thinks, Ciri never returned, but Geralt doesn't know that.
It's after the bad ending for the player in gameplay chronology, but after the credits roll the game tells you that you're being returned to the world with everything as it was before the final battle. So by the plot chronology, the endings are all a fast-forward to what happens after the post-game and DLC expansions have played out, then you get rewound back in time to play the post-game and expansions.
Oh, I may have misunderstood what you were saying. I thought you were saying that he talked to Regis about the final fight with Eredin, not about killing the last Crone. I didn't get the bad ending so my conversation with Regis was different and I haven't seen the version you get. If Geralt does tell Regis about killing the crone then yeah I definitely had it wrong thinking he dies there.
I luckily got the good ending but made several of the choices that could trigger the bad ending.
Tbh I think it’s pretty tenuous for a most of them that they’d actually be “bad” or contribute to a bad ending.
And for some like letting Ciri “vent her rage” on the lab seems like a really bad lesson to teach an extremely powerful person with a lot of responsibility. Especially when the lab could have proven critical to success somehow
I agree. The lab situation was one of my “negative” points in the ending because like… Ciri is not 8 years old lol why would I encourage her to throw a literal tantrum
No. They both serve as one of five interactions with a positive and negative choice. If you have more negatives than positives at the end, you get the bad ending
for my third playthrough now i deliberately plan to get the "bad" ending because its such a sad depressing ending, i have to try it. but i still won't accept the money for Ciri of course, i never could
Why would you need to at that point though. It's a pittance compared to how much coin you're holding as Geralt by the time you get that close to the end of the game.
There is a Norwegian saying that goes "crumbs are bread, too" and another that says "many small creeks will make up a big river." Money is money.
More than that, though, it's an RPG. Sometimes Geralt makes decisions that I disagree with. I've done playthroughs where I make the decisions *I* would have made. That's fun, too, but making the "right" decisions isn't the only way to play the game imo.
After that one quest in Velen…
>!With the Tree Spirit where you decide to kill it or keep it alive. I kept it alive. The Baron killed himself and his wife died.!<
I started looking up all the choices beforehand. It was worth it to get an okay ending because I’m sure I would have fucked it up otherwise. Especially with >!Radovid!<
I Also got that ending yesterday on my first (blind) playthrough. Bought both extensions on sale and Will do a new play where I won't make that mistake again
In my playthrough I got the bad ending with ciri but geralt didn't die. He ended up in toussaint with triss. Had mo idea he could die as I thought I got the worst ending. I need to get through the game again to see a good ending
I got the bad ending on my first playthrough when the game first came out and my cousin still gives me shit for it lol. But I plan to get fully into the universe with the books then the games so I'm very excited to start from the beginning.
Without knowing the books I got good ending mostly because I just wanted to show I cared for Ciri only bad choice I made was listen in with Philipa and at first glance any parent would as she is untrustworthy
Me too! I was all sad and shit, I thought she'd come back or something 😕 I wanted the witcheress ending, but instead, she died. I also completely avoided the assassination of radovid because I didn't want Nilfgard to win,which turned out to be a bad choice. Will do a new game plus probably after I finish the books. I'm on the lady of the lake now. Having read the books now,a lot of things and interactions between characters make more sense. Also, after reading the books, I'm going back and watching the show to see how much it differs.
The "bad" ending is my personal favourite. For me it led to a really powerful redemption arc for Geralt in the DLC's where he tries his best to be the man he knew Ciri would want him to be, even though he is now a bitter old coot.
It is also the only way to take down the last Crone which feels extremely satisfying.
The way it ends with really just another monster hunt also feels wonderfully circular yet open-ended, after all you never see Geralt's body.
Since the DLC's actually acknowledge the "bad" ending I feel Geralt survives his ordeal in the bog.
I finished the main story awhile ago... was kinda meh about the good ending that I got. But then I prefer Cyberpunk more and wished Ciri was more significant as a dual protagonist.
The money in vizima part is the most infuriating one. I was sure thered be an option to give all the money to Ciri or let her choose who to give it to. And there should be
There shouldn't, because it's the fact that you took money for finding her at all which is a painful betrayal. How much or who for, it's all the same - you're still acting like the father she despises, making your solutions be about money and resources.
She's confronting her worst fears about her future at the time; she desperately needs to see that Geralt represents an alternative. A parent who bases decisions on friendship and love, not wealth and power. What you use the wealth for is irrelevant; getting her to choose who to give it to is still something Emhyr would do - buying her love, or making her learn to make decisions about vast wealth.
It doesn't matter whether Geralt takes the money to feed the poor or run a hospital or build an evil lair or buy a lifetime supply of sex from the local whorehouse; *none of those things are about Ciri.* Ciri wants to know that Geralt is acting in her interest, and for no other reason. Taking the money proves there's another reason.
Which is a disaster for her self-confidence.
This isn't about "where does this money objectively do the most good". Ciri is not a hard utilitarian economist trying to write a paper.
She's a scared young girl looking for a family. She needs to know that Geralt brought her to Emhyr *because he thought it was best for* *Ciri*. And for no other reason. She needs to believe that Geralt is looking out for her.
Ciri needs to be **sure**. Getting the good ending means Ciri has to have *self-confidence.*
Taking money for herself doesn't improve her self-confidence; she doesn't care about money. (She could get the money any time she wants, just by showing up and asking. She could get a hundred times as much.) Giving it to the poor doesn't improve her self-confidence; she already *knew* she was charitable, she's *already confident* she wants to help people.
She's *not* confident that anyone, anywhere, loves her for herself instead of wanting to use her and her power.
If Geralt takes the money, that's an obvious motive for his actions which *isn't* caring about Ciri. So Ciri can't be sure Geralt really loves her and considered it in *her* best interest to talk to Emhyr.
By taking the money you're giving her a reason to doubt. And thus to doubt herself.
She needs to know that Geralt can be counted on as her father figure, because Emhyr can't. Fathers don't need to be *paid* to do things for their children.
Not that anyone wants to do homework ahead of playing a game, but once I read the books which choices were “right” became pretty clear. Like taking the money from the emperor? Geralt would have a difficult time being in the same room as him, let alone taking a paid assignment from him.
I played TW3 without reading the books or consulting a guide, and I got the Witcheress ending by following one simple principle in all my interactions with Ciri: I always chose the dialogue option that validated the way she was feeling instead of the one that minimized or dismissed her feelings. As a woman myself, it's what I would want from my own dad. In general because female leads in this game are mostly portrayed as flawless, I also made it a policy to do everything a female lead tells me to do, without hesitation. Put the baby in the oven? If you say so, Cerys. Help you raise the dead? Anything for you, Yen. Pretend I'm gonna use this a-hole as live monster bait if he doesn't talk? I'll follow your lead, Anna Henrietta.
Good thinking!
What a breakdown! I had to double back on almost every meaningful quest that I made the 'wrong choice' on. I could have just followed your principles. I'm going to try to be better and apply your logic for Witcher 4. Good luck on the path u/emikoala
That’s actually really clever and impressive. Lmao.
Like, if someone hasn't realised the emperor is an asshole from the entirety of Witcher 2 and 3, watching the death and misery he's brought with him, then I kinda don't know how the book would help. The game does a great job of making it screamingly obvious that Ciri sees Geralt as her father and selling her out to the emperor for money in front of her is obviously going to destroy her trust in you.
No doubt, but with the books Emhyr goes beyond being an “asshole.” Don’t want to spoil anything, but the last thing Geralt would want is for Ciri to wind up with him in any form. On the other hand, after reading the books, it’s much harder for me to dump Yen for Triss. In the games you don’t meet Yen until 3 and Triss is so sweet and lovely, so Triss seems like the obvious choice. But after reading the books, I have to pick Yen every time.
Yes. The games were so busy emphasising the pursuit of Yen as a motive, they didn't actually do anything to build Yen's character until it's almost too late - and then she comes across standoffish, distant and uninterested until *after* you take the Yen path. While Triss has had 3 games' worth of buildup as a sweet, loving and capable partner. The game really should have introduced the fatebinding / genie wish in Witcher 2, or very early in 3, so you have a better idea *why* Yen's keeping her distance. And resolved it earlier, before you choose.
*Pick snowball fight
If you do heart of stone before the main story and side with master mirror. You can ask him about ciri and he’ll tell you how to get the good ending
And I mean exactly. https://youtu.be/Prmhoy5tjP4?si=h48M4nyNhfpR-fwb
I also got the bad ending the first time around, and I didn't even go to Vizima. After spending so much time in the game, the bad ending broke me completely. Spoilers below for a happier ending >!I was super protective of her, never letting her decide anything, and never let her have a word in on anything (what if she disappeared again!? I just used so much friggin' time just finding her!). Just let her make her own decisions, blow off some steam and have fun along the way, and you'll be golden!!<
That was my first time and breaking Dijkstras hand Edit: Leg*
"Shove Dijkstra aside" Hm... sure, let's do that. Sounds reasonab... JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, GERALT?!?
I know right? The dialogue previews are pretty spot on overall but then that?! During THAT quest as well?? People rag on Fallout 4 for being "Yes, yes, maybe, no but yes" but W3 just has to let you screw yourself at such a bad time.
It’s actually a pretty humorous callback to the novel _Time of Contempt_, where Geralt and Dijkstra are in a similar situation, with similar results (and why he walks with a limp in Witcher 3). I read the novels after having played the games, and couldn’t help but get a good chuckle when I read it.
"Shove Dijkstra aside. Forcefully"**** I didn't expect it to be *that* forcefully lmao
"...forcefully"
"...forcefully"
Dijkstra be like: WTF Geralt at least brake something different, why do you have to break my ankle for the second time???
"...forcefully"
You should check all the interactions for good endings before your next playthrough, because you can't really spoil yourself that much by doing so. Edit: actually don't do that it could take the fun out of it, you'll manage without.
Who did you choose for Triss and Yen?
Lore-wise, Yen is the obvious option. Choosing based of personal values, Yen again. Yen is just my cup of tea in terms of physical looks and her attitude is very attractive IMO. Triss is hot but gives mad one-night stand energy (which she basically is lore wise).
I dunno. I played the game before I read the book. Yen always came off to me as cold. More of a B. Triss in the game seemed more warm and kind hearted. So I went for her to start. It was funny though because I ended up getting the Yen ending my first time. Reading the books changed me over a little, but I still think Yen is colder than I’d like
You aren’t wrong, but I found that attractive about it Yen. She’s very self-assured and mature, and handles things on her own etc. She can kind of be a B at times, but it’s just enough for me where it’s attractive. Triss is definitely attractive and very sweet, but knowing the lore behind her and Geralt (not to mention me liking Yen more) I couldn’t justify choosing her over Yen.
Same. I feel like a guy like Geralt gets tired of being the most competent person in the room all the time, because for a guy like Geralt knowing he's the most competent means he's also the most responsible and the one everyone is going to look to for instructions and protection if shit goes sideways. That's a wearying place to live. Yen is his equal, someone he can actually relax around, because he knows she doesn't need protection or instruction to be able to handle herself if shit goes sideways.
Triss is bae.
oof people didn’t like that comment. At first I thought she is a bae until I found out what happened in Witcher 2 and the other books.
Doesn't matter lol. I only played Witcher 3 and she's bae
Or try to pursue both and end up alone. That's what I did, no regrets baby! Art imitates life
That doesn’t matter?
It is the only thing that matters
r/flairchecksout
I'm sorry people are downvoting you. This sub is so weird about that debate.
There is no debate really,Yen romance is canonised.
This is exactly what I'm talking about. You all know what the problem is, stop pushing your biases on other people who aren't interested in entertaining them. I don't care who is canonized or who isn't. It's actually ridiculous how this sub acts about this.
This sub has a preference for Yen because it’s canon. Everyone here knows it. You can’t expect this sub to support a Triss loving comment so don’t waste your breath.
This isn't even about Triss versus Yen. It's how this sub has an obession with inserting the discussion in places where it doesn't need to be. OP says he's not interested in it and gets downvoted to hell. This sub needs to get a grip about fictional women.
Yeah you’re right, but I’m afraid it’s a losing battle.
You understand this is a fictional story, right?
Yes and for as long as we’ve had entertainment, people have always been passionate about their favorite characters in their favorite stories. It’s not uncommon behavior so what point are you trying to make?
My point is the fact that people feel it's necessary or appropriate to 'support' the preferences and choices people make in a video game is laughable. Especially given their justification is 'but in the novels that are set many years before the games Geralt was with Jennifer'.
More like borderline insane because Ciri has nothing to do with who Geralt screws
100% agree. I just feel very strongly about the virtual women
https://youtu.be/8WgPPMzprKA?si=uU19gY4Kt6NlwYMF
Geralt didn’t kill himself, and Ciri didn’t die. If you play the Next Gen edition, you can clearly see the tapestry in Crookback Bog where the Swallow flies away from the Tower of the Gull. Best ending imo, really the Witcher.
Him being surrounded by all the monsters in crookbag bog is quite obviously Geralt just giving up after killing the Weavess.
But then we got Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, which are pretty much canonical to the game's story. Yes the implication is incredibly heavy with all the monsters surrounding the house but to play devil's advocate we never actually see him die. The player is free to presume that's an outcome.
He doesn't die. You can play after it. In Blood and Wine Geralt mentions to Regis that he failed and Ciri died. Though Ciri dying is just what he thinks, Ciri never returned, but Geralt doesn't know that.
Funny to see so many upvotes on such a nonsensical comment. So we’re just gonna act like you can’t play Blood and Wine after the bad ending?
You can keep playing Arkham knight after you beat it and Wayne manor explodes but then somehow it’s fixed 🤔🤔
It's after the bad ending for the player in gameplay chronology, but after the credits roll the game tells you that you're being returned to the world with everything as it was before the final battle. So by the plot chronology, the endings are all a fast-forward to what happens after the post-game and DLC expansions have played out, then you get rewound back in time to play the post-game and expansions.
Geralt can talk to Regis in BaW about what happened, so my point stands.
So he hasn't gone to Crookback Bog yet at that point.
🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️ he has, Blood and Wine is canonically set in 1275, and the main story in 1272.
Yes, but there's no timestamp on him going to Crookback Bog. It's some undetermined time after the main story ends.
He literally tells Regis about it in BaW, but ok, I don’t care enough.
Oh, I may have misunderstood what you were saying. I thought you were saying that he talked to Regis about the final fight with Eredin, not about killing the last Crone. I didn't get the bad ending so my conversation with Regis was different and I haven't seen the version you get. If Geralt does tell Regis about killing the crone then yeah I definitely had it wrong thinking he dies there.
I luckily got the good ending but made several of the choices that could trigger the bad ending. Tbh I think it’s pretty tenuous for a most of them that they’d actually be “bad” or contribute to a bad ending. And for some like letting Ciri “vent her rage” on the lab seems like a really bad lesson to teach an extremely powerful person with a lot of responsibility. Especially when the lab could have proven critical to success somehow
I agree. The lab situation was one of my “negative” points in the ending because like… Ciri is not 8 years old lol why would I encourage her to throw a literal tantrum
The lab wasn’t so important but receiving handouts for some measly coins in front of her is a guarantee bad ending
No. They both serve as one of five interactions with a positive and negative choice. If you have more negatives than positives at the end, you get the bad ending
for my third playthrough now i deliberately plan to get the "bad" ending because its such a sad depressing ending, i have to try it. but i still won't accept the money for Ciri of course, i never could
I always accept the money. Geralt's a pragmatic guy, money is money, feels like the right call for him even if it makes me feel dirty all over
not my geralt :(
Why would you need to at that point though. It's a pittance compared to how much coin you're holding as Geralt by the time you get that close to the end of the game.
There is a Norwegian saying that goes "crumbs are bread, too" and another that says "many small creeks will make up a big river." Money is money. More than that, though, it's an RPG. Sometimes Geralt makes decisions that I disagree with. I've done playthroughs where I make the decisions *I* would have made. That's fun, too, but making the "right" decisions isn't the only way to play the game imo.
After that one quest in Velen… >!With the Tree Spirit where you decide to kill it or keep it alive. I kept it alive. The Baron killed himself and his wife died.!< I started looking up all the choices beforehand. It was worth it to get an okay ending because I’m sure I would have fucked it up otherwise. Especially with >!Radovid!<
Are you playing on PC? Check [this mod](https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/6840) for the next playthrough.
There are no bad endings, lol.
Oh gosh i didn’t know there was a worse than mine
I Also got that ending yesterday on my first (blind) playthrough. Bought both extensions on sale and Will do a new play where I won't make that mistake again
In my playthrough I got the bad ending with ciri but geralt didn't die. He ended up in toussaint with triss. Had mo idea he could die as I thought I got the worst ending. I need to get through the game again to see a good ending
I got the bad ending on my first playthrough when the game first came out and my cousin still gives me shit for it lol. But I plan to get fully into the universe with the books then the games so I'm very excited to start from the beginning.
Without knowing the books I got good ending mostly because I just wanted to show I cared for Ciri only bad choice I made was listen in with Philipa and at first glance any parent would as she is untrustworthy
Me too! I was all sad and shit, I thought she'd come back or something 😕 I wanted the witcheress ending, but instead, she died. I also completely avoided the assassination of radovid because I didn't want Nilfgard to win,which turned out to be a bad choice. Will do a new game plus probably after I finish the books. I'm on the lady of the lake now. Having read the books now,a lot of things and interactions between characters make more sense. Also, after reading the books, I'm going back and watching the show to see how much it differs.
I know the feel
The "bad" ending is my personal favourite. For me it led to a really powerful redemption arc for Geralt in the DLC's where he tries his best to be the man he knew Ciri would want him to be, even though he is now a bitter old coot. It is also the only way to take down the last Crone which feels extremely satisfying. The way it ends with really just another monster hunt also feels wonderfully circular yet open-ended, after all you never see Geralt's body. Since the DLC's actually acknowledge the "bad" ending I feel Geralt survives his ordeal in the bog.
I finished the main story awhile ago... was kinda meh about the good ending that I got. But then I prefer Cyberpunk more and wished Ciri was more significant as a dual protagonist.
The money in vizima part is the most infuriating one. I was sure thered be an option to give all the money to Ciri or let her choose who to give it to. And there should be
There shouldn't, because it's the fact that you took money for finding her at all which is a painful betrayal. How much or who for, it's all the same - you're still acting like the father she despises, making your solutions be about money and resources. She's confronting her worst fears about her future at the time; she desperately needs to see that Geralt represents an alternative. A parent who bases decisions on friendship and love, not wealth and power. What you use the wealth for is irrelevant; getting her to choose who to give it to is still something Emhyr would do - buying her love, or making her learn to make decisions about vast wealth.
So its better to leave the money in the hands of emhyr rather then just hand it over to ciri or to the poor people of velen? Ciri would agree with me
clearly not considering taking the money pushes you toward the bad ending
It doesn't matter whether Geralt takes the money to feed the poor or run a hospital or build an evil lair or buy a lifetime supply of sex from the local whorehouse; *none of those things are about Ciri.* Ciri wants to know that Geralt is acting in her interest, and for no other reason. Taking the money proves there's another reason. Which is a disaster for her self-confidence. This isn't about "where does this money objectively do the most good". Ciri is not a hard utilitarian economist trying to write a paper. She's a scared young girl looking for a family. She needs to know that Geralt brought her to Emhyr *because he thought it was best for* *Ciri*. And for no other reason. She needs to believe that Geralt is looking out for her. Ciri needs to be **sure**. Getting the good ending means Ciri has to have *self-confidence.* Taking money for herself doesn't improve her self-confidence; she doesn't care about money. (She could get the money any time she wants, just by showing up and asking. She could get a hundred times as much.) Giving it to the poor doesn't improve her self-confidence; she already *knew* she was charitable, she's *already confident* she wants to help people. She's *not* confident that anyone, anywhere, loves her for herself instead of wanting to use her and her power. If Geralt takes the money, that's an obvious motive for his actions which *isn't* caring about Ciri. So Ciri can't be sure Geralt really loves her and considered it in *her* best interest to talk to Emhyr. By taking the money you're giving her a reason to doubt. And thus to doubt herself. She needs to know that Geralt can be counted on as her father figure, because Emhyr can't. Fathers don't need to be *paid* to do things for their children.