Ladies and gentleman, we have reached the ending of the Witcher Saga! Kind of, sort of. There’s still Season of Storms after this but that’s a standalone novel.

***WARNING: THIS POST WILL DEFINITELY CONTAIN LOTS OF SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.***

Get ready for the epic conclusion you may not be ready for! The witchers’ problems get heated and more dangerous!! Warning you now, keep your tissue boxes near you. I know I say that for nearly every post but I’m very serious in this case. You will cry.

This whole review probably won’t make sense to anyone except me. I’m going to just be writing my thoughts of this book in a non-chronological and nonsensical manner. Which is fine since I use this blog as an online diary anyway.

Written as a frame story with sci-fi elements and cross-overs with Arthurian mythology (which was a real treat)!

The Idiocy But Accurate Portrayal of War

I’ve always admired how the very realistic depiction of prejudice between the elves and humans (plus really any other race that wasn’t elven) was described throughout the book. Sapkowski didn’t hold back on highlighting these human flaws of hatred and discrimination. I mean, this prejudice was one of the driving forces between the elves and humans battling for superiority through this war.

Which brings me to my next point: the war. This damn war between the Northern Kingdoms and the Nilfgaardian empire that served as the setting for the saga.

Was I satisfied with the wrap up of this war that spanned several books? Yes and no.

Why wasn’t I satisfied?

I’d like to have the story wrap up with “Yes, this is what we’re fighting for this whole time! Yes, there’s winners and losers in the war!” You know, like traditional dichotomous fairytales of good versus evil where good always triumphs over evil.

After all the time and effort spent on this war (a war that the characters acknowledged was bullshit while several others questioned what the hell they’re fighting, pillaging, destroying and robbing for), it pretty much simply concluded with the turning point in the war: The Battle of Brenna. The Nordlings were victorious at the Battle of Brenna and prevented the Empire from advancing forward and conquering more of their territories.

The whole conclusion to the war was a little anticlimactic. I felt that the war didn’t have any winners and losers. I guess I was hoping for an epic victory from the heroes’ side and the heroes completely squashing their enemies. But it felt like pointless fighting. Battle of Brenna happened and then all the rulers from each kingdom and empire gathered together for peace negotiations and drafting peace treaties. For the feared and powerful Nilfgaards to lose a battle so swiftly because of a minor oversight in their battle plans. Guess I was hoping for a more epic final battle between the Empire and Nordlings.

Brightside: there was an epic battle between Ciri and Geralt and Vilgefortz’s goons. This is really the more important battle anyway!

Why I was satisfied with how they wrapped up the war?

It was a realistic depiction of war. In many fictional stories (as far as I know), the climax and resolution of the series’ long war or battle rarely ever includes scenes on peace negotiations. I have always praised Sapkowski’s ability for social commentary and humanistic insight of our world’s issues through the story of the Witcher. 

So yeah, what the hell was all the fighting for? Nilfgaard didn’t end up with Cirilla. They didn’t necessarily conquer the northern kingdoms. They caused much destruction and death.

But I guess there are two main morals of the story that I gleaned. One, beings always change their minds and things are always unpredictable. Two, something has to end in order for the new era to begin. And though the new beginning didn’t follow the prophecy’s prediction exactly, a new beginning occurred nonetheless.

Memorable Moment in Aftermath of War

One of the most profound moments of the book was when the elves and humans crossed paths with each other after the war ended. Seeing how tired and gaunt the elves looked, the humans offered the starving elves some of their food rations. Putting their pride aside, the elves took the food eagerly and thanked the humans.

For the entire series, the elves have looked down on everyone. But at the end of the day, no matter your ranking or race, each being has the same basic needs. As this example shows, each being has to eat.

This was a memorable scene because though it seems like a minor detail, I hope that each race starts more similarities than difference in each other. That the new era will hopefully vastly improve tolerance and acceptance. Because they aren’t very different from each other. *snorts* Wishful thinking, huh? I hope we could achieve relative peace and no more wars in real life too.

At Least Ciri, Geralt and Yennefer Got To Be Together One Last Time

I’m really glad that Ciri, Geralt and Yennefer all got reunited one last time in the end. I mean, for goodness sake, they haven’t spent time together since Blood of Elves and barely in The Time of Contempt. I know I complained incessantly about this. Kept hoping with each passing book that the trio will be reunited. FINALLY! They were reunited and were sort of a family… for like a few pages.

Everything happy must have a sad side. And everything sad has a happy side.

Not that I thought Ciri’s life was going to improve much, but it was kind of shitty that she had been separated from Geralt and Yennefer for a long time, finally got to be with them again, then BAM! Inevitable chaos, fighting and death. The trio were forced to watch their friends die to while fighting alongside them against their enemies.

And despite the three of them being the sole survivors of the fight, Ciri inevitably ends up alone again in the world (Yennefer and Geralt meet their end later on). I guess, another DUH moment for me. Ciri’s been alone the entire series. I guess it was always meant to be for Ciri to not have a happily ever after with Geralt and Yennefer (again, this is grimdark). Though they were so damn close to having one!!

Like Ciri, I guess I’ll just imagine that Geralt and Yennefer got married and had a happy, peaceful domestic life with Ciri. It soothes my grieving soul a little more.

Death Scenes

If you’ve read the series so far and have come to love any of our heroes, The Lady of the Lake will make tears flood out of your eyes. All your favorite characters will die. I was crying as they all died – like fetal position, ugly crying like people do when they watch (for the first time) the scene where Jack dies in The Titanic. And you know what hits you even harder?! That they pretty much all of them died within the span of one chapter!! THANKS FOR BREAKING MY HEART IN ONE FELL SWOOP!

Side note: The epic fight scene between Ciri and Bonhart and Geralt and Vilgefortz – *chef’s kiss* You’ll like the climax. It was well worth reading the whole series to get to this satisfying fight scene between the witchers and their hunters in The Lady of the Lake.

Silver lining though, their deaths were well-written. Though it was sad to that they died, I felt some comfort knowing that the author wrote their endings thoughtfully. Each character who died, died in a way that brought justice and was relevant to their character. Character consistency until the end!! Great job! Just as I’m skipping down the trail, believing all in fantasyland is chipper and sound, these are the moments that remind me what kind of story I’m reading. Grimdark. This may have fairytale elements and tropes but this series is far from the happily-ever-after that is usually depicted in other fairytales. This has the darkness and realistic vision of the Grimm brothers’ stories. This is a long-winded way of saying, don’t get your hopes up for a happy ending – your favorite characters will die.

Which includes, yes, the protagonist (you thought they were off the hook and have immunity from being on the author’s character death list?).

The ironic yet honorable death of the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia. The last conversation he had with his dwarven friends, some of the few who survived the war, was that he was giving up his witcher’s sword and profession. He wasn’t willing anymore to stick out his neck for strangers. He wanted to spend his time in a relatively non-threatening domestic lifestyle for the rest of his existence.

However, until the very end, Geralt was a witcher through and through. He protected strangers. He fought for people whose problems were of no concern to him and yet he still stuck out his neck for them. No surprise, all this altruism could only result in consequences for the giver.

Geralt died in battle (as Ciri actually predicted earlier in Blood of Elves). As every witcher knows the fate of their existence. I wanted Geralt to have a happy ending. Wanted him to find peace and be with Yennefer and Ciri. However, I can accept his ending was a justified witcher’s ending. And I mourn for this expert swordsman who had a very sensitive, good human heart. But another witcher has risen when one dies: Ciri. And that’s why this tale isn’t just about the Witcher but also about the Witcher Girl.

Biggest Reveal (that shocked me to the core!!)

Emhyr var Emreis is Ciri’s father Duny who was believed to have perished in a marine accident years ago.

So I know I’ve been bitching about how we don’t get much of Emhyr’s character in the book. We do get more scenes with him in The Lady of the Lake. At first I was ambivalent about his character. Still regarded him as this malicious, ruthless emperor where the concept of compassion or a heart is non-existence in his vocabulary.

But I realized he might not be as bad as I originally thought.

When he finally caught up to Ciri, he wanted to keep the secret of his paternal connection to Ciri from his daughter so that he could marry her and fulfill Ithlinne’s prophecy. He even planned to execute Geralt and Yennefer after they found out he’s Ciri’s father.

At the last minute, he changed his mind and allowed his daughter to stay with the witcher and sorceress. Though he claimed to only marry Pavetta (Ciri’s mother) out of obligation and that he concocted the whole plot of the marine accident, when Pavetta actually died from his scheme, he did feel sadden by it. He ended up marrying Ciri’s double/stand-in in order (instead of killing her like he originally planned to do when he found the real Ciri) to maintain business and political plans and appearances but he also cared about the girl.

It should have been a warning to me that the real enemy might not have been Emhyr the whole time (especially since Emhyr was barely in any scenes until this book). The real villain was Vilgefortz and all his minions.

All in All…

Superb series! Would certainly read again! I can’t get enough of the Witcher! Though I would have liked to get more background on some of the characters. I felt I didn’t get to spend enough time with some of my favorite characters!! Oh well, that’s what fanfiction is for.

All Book Reviews for The Witcher Saga (in series order):

1. The Last Wish
2. Sword of Destiny
3. Blood of Elves
4. The Time of Contempt
5. Baptism of Fire
6. The Tower of Swallows
7. The Lady of the Lake
8. Season of Storms