While exploring the world ofThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Geralt comes across multiple contracts. Each of these requires the player to track down a monster and kill it. That said, some Witcher contracts aren’t as cut and dry as they seem. While a monster is always involved in these quests, there are some contracts wherein killing it isn’t the only option, and the decision ultimately falls on Geralt. One example of this is the “In the Heart of the Woods” quest in Skellige.
In the village of Fayrlund inThe Witcher 3world, a man is dead, entangled in a clump of tree branches. Harald, an elder of the village, speaks of a Woodland Spirit. He says that the murdered villager is a sign that the Spirit is seeking revenge because Fayrlund has strayed from the “old paths.” To this, Sven, a younger villager, retorts that the Spirit is nothing but a monster. It doesn’t care about the village or its way of life. Given the two sides, the player must decide how to deal with the mysterious Woodland Spirit.
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Killing the Malevolent Beast — Sven’s Route
Sven believes the Spirit isnothing more than a monster, so he wants Geralt to kill it. Should the player opt for this option, the Witcher explains to Sven that they first need to get rid of the villager that had been marked by the creature as this will prevent it from coming back to life in the woods. Upon hearing this, Sven immediately accuses the elders, even naming Harald specifically. Clearly, he disdains how much the older townsfolk revere the ancient leshen. When Geralt names his sweetheart as the marked one, Sven is taken aback but still goes along with killing or banishing her.
With the marked one gone, Geralt cankill the ancient leshen. Though by the time he returns to the village, Sven and the other younger townsfolk have slaughtered the village elders. “You rid us of the beast, we rid ourselves of its accomplices,” Sven tells the Witcher. Geralt then receives his payment and the quest ends.
Appeasing the Woodland Spirit — Harald’s Route
Harald, on the other hand, views the ancient leshen as a benevolent entity that brings blessings to the village of Fayrlund. Despite Geralt’s warnings that the Spirit is a dangerous old leshen, Harald is unfazed. The elder states thatit was the Woodland Spiritthat made them powerful, invincible warriors. It was also the Spirit that filled the forest with wildlife, ensured that their women gave birth to strong children, and made them the best hunters in Skellige. Thus, it would be a disservice to the village to kill it. Harald then offers an alternative to killing the ancient leshen — undertaking an old hunting ritual.
Accomplishing this ritual would supposedly bring Fayrlund back to the “old ways” and appease the Spirit. Even as Geralt considers this option, he has his doubts on whether it will work as hinted by his dialogue lines. Still, Harald sends him on his way to the altar. The ritual requires the player tocollect five white wolf heartsand sacrifice them at an altar in the woods. Doing so will trigger a cutscene where, in one shot, the ancient leshen can be seen watching the Witcher from a distance.
When Geralt returns to Harald, the elder will hand over his payment, and the player will be given one last chance to caution Harald on what the ancient leshen is capable of. In doing so, Geralt will warn the elder that so long as the ancient leshen resides in the woods, the killing will never end. Even so, Harald doesn’t listen. Sven and company then show up, announcing that they killed the rest of the elders and have come for Harald. The Witcher is then given one last choice between defending Harald or letting him bebefore the quest comes to a close.
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Choosing Between Two Evils in The Witcher 3
Whatsets this Witcher contract apartfrom the rest is that it presents a compelling moral dilemma. The question of right or wrong is a tricky one, as both sides have their fair share of good points and clear faults.
On one hand, Harald and the other village elders want to stick to their old way of life. Alongside traditional hunting and gathering, these “old ways” also entail the worship of the Woodland Spirit. No matter how much Geralt tries to warn Harald of the leshen’s power, the elder stubbornly refuses to pay heed to the Witcher. Instead, he chooses to believe that the Spirit is a force of goodfor the people of Fayrlund. Its mysterious rituals, after all, made them the best hunters on the island, even though it cost the lives of some of the townsfolk.
In stark contrast, Sven and the younger townsfolk want to do away with the old traditions. They believe the village’s worship of the ancient leshen is absurd as it is nothing but a monster. The supposed blessings that the beast brings do not justify its killings. While this stance on its own would seem like the sounder option among the two, the situation is muddied by how Sven chooses to achieve it. For Sven and his allies, the best way to move forward was through bloodshed. Based on his actions at the end of the quest, it’s clear that he had no intention of making any sort of compromise with the elders. Sven is a murderer —one who killed morein one day than the leshen ever had in years.
The question then becomes which isthe lesser evil. Playes need to decide whether it would it be better to try and appease a creature with questionable motives and leave an entire village to its mercy, or if it would it be better to kill it off and allow another murderer to spring forth in its wake. Whatever the player decides, there is no happy ending here.
In Andrzej Sapkowski’s bookThe Last Wish, Geralt openly states, “Evil is Evil… If I’m to choose between one evil and another… I’d rather not choose at all.” Yet in the quest, he does exactly this —choose one evil over the other. In fact, the Witcher does this in many of the other quests in the game. Granted, player choice is a huge factor to consider, and it can be argued that it’s not Geralt’s choice, but instead, the player’s. However, the Geralt of the game ultimately makes a decision and sticks with it. Despite not wanting to choose between two evils, it seems Geralt still does so when push comes to shove. So much for Witcher neutrality.
The Witcher 3: Wild Huntis available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
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