i’m always in agony that geralt couldn’t have recovered ciri without sacrificing his hanza: if they had not died, she would have died.
but geralt, being geralt, still wouldn’t have even made the decision to sacrifice them. despite his entire body, mind, and soul being devoted to the recovery of ciri, he still wouldn’t sacrifice innocents for her. they had to sacrifice themselves, because he wouldn’t do it.
‘I want to rescue Ciri and get her back. Until recently I thought I’d do it at any price. But no. I won’t pay that price, I won’t consent to taking that risk.’
and it is true that their sacrifices saved geralt and his family. milva saves geralt, cahir, and angouleme, regis saves ciri, cahir saves ciri and angouleme, regis saves geralt and yennefer. particularly the last one, because vilgefortz would not have been able to be defeated had he not expended all of his power destroying regis… (and angoulême dies foolishly, of course)
still, geralt refuses to weigh one family against the other, like the geralt he is, he refuses to play the game and make a decision. destiny chooses for him.
even so, in the wake of their loss, he was haunted by the guilt of the pyrrhic victory…
The Witcher looked down the corridor from where Ciri had exited, as though expecting somebody else to come out of it. Ciri shook her head. He understood.
‘Let’s get out of here,’ he repeated.
knowing that death dogs his footsteps, it cannot catch up with him, it settles for others…
He fell silent and turned gloomy.
‘You can’t do anything about it,’ Ciri said softly. ‘Don’t torment yourself, Geralt. It’s not your fault.’
Yes it is, he thought. It’s mine. Dandelion’s going to ask. And I’ll have to answer.
Milva. Cahir. Regis. Angoulême.
A sword is a double-edged weapon.
Oh, by the Gods, I’ve had enough of this. Enough. Time I was done with this!
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