#blue stripes

Yesterday, I watched what is probably the most painful scene in the entire trilogy for me, and the only thing I could do was let out a heavy sigh and a few tears from the corners of my eyes. I sat there, almost in tears, staring at the screen for five minutes.

Roche had lost everything: he had lost the king who had raised him and pulled him out of the slums, he had lost the country that had fed and clothed him and given him countless privileges, and he had lost the family that he had cherished and nurtured, and now all he had left was a nearly adopted daughter in the form of Ves, with whom he had a faint hope of saving his country through an illegitimate child who had just learned the alphabet. It was even more painful to watch the girl in this scene. She was in hysterics, and when she noticed the two men, she ran up to Geralt, sobbing and gasping for air, and hugged him, telling him that the king had been harassing her in every possible way, and of course, she had been against it, and he had even laughed at her like she was some kind of animal. Did the Blue Stripes deserve such a hellish fate? Did Ves deserve such abuse? Did Roche deserve to lose everything in an instant?

“ I’ll kill them… Every last one of them. ”

At that moment, I felt and realized how tight the noose was around Vernon's neck, cutting off his access to air. He was the commander of an elite unit, a disciplinary authority figure, and their brother, uncle, father, grandson, and a familial figure, considering that each member of the Blue Stripes had been personally trained by Roche and selected from a pool of candidates. He knew every detail about them, even the insignificant ones: such as who sharpened their knives more sharply, who ate more than their share, and who was undernourished. He knew their preferences and tastes, their shaving habits, and who could cross-stitch and who secretly wrote poetry. He knew them like the back of his hand, not just because he was supposed to know them, but because he wanted to know them, and he would take each soldier's secrets to the grave. They were not just a group of soldiers united under the flag of their country, but a family. Yes, there were challenges, but they were still a family. Despite knowing their commander like the back of their hand, they still trusted their lives to him. It was in this moment that the noose tightened not only around Roche’s soldiers but also around him. This realization slowly drove me insane.

"He led his men to the scaffold by underestimating Detmold's skills and Henselt's nature. He failed to keep an eye on them, leaving them alone in a snake pit, and he lost control of the situation. He neglected to address the internal conflicts and informants among the Kaedwen soldiers» — this sense of guilt is likely to linger for the rest of his life, seasoned with the loss of his Foltest.

The only person besides him who can preserve the stories of the past is Ves, who has suffered, lost, and become as tired as the commander himself from the events that have taken place. However, it is not the rope that is tightening around her neck, but rather around her wrists. She has tried her best to prevent the deaths of her comrades, but she has been rendered helpless. For her, as a soldier, this has been a particularly difficult loss, as well as for her as a member of this small family. Ves has been acting as the "senior" member of the squad, serving as a replacement for the commander, who is trusted by everyone and known to be able to handle the challenges that come their way. However, she has failed to prevent the nightmare from unfolding. At the same time, Henselt's treatment has been particularly painful for her, considering the nature of her past before the arrival of Vernon. This has played a cruel and inappropriate joke on her character in the context of the events taking place in the camp.

I have an idea in my head that Ves is still having bad dreams (and that she's having them in general), and in these nightmares, she's being choked by a part of the squad, while another part of the former squad is holding her down with their hands and ropes, like a runaway horse. This is where her fears and past come together, and the horse in this context represents her as an animal. She's strong, willful, resilient, and extraordinary, but she's also not free from herself. Horses are sensitive creatures, and they're quite massive, with slightly different personalities depending on their breed and age. Herders often keep dogs with their herds to prevent predators from attacking and causing harm to the animals. I feel a connection forming here.

I genuinely feel sorry for the squad and the commander, and it's hard for me to watch this scene, and I'm even crying as I type this damned text. It's going to be much more difficult for me to play TW3 again, knowing how exhausted Vernon is and how much pain it's going to take for him to utter a single word about the royal wars. Even the simple lines about crossing the Yaruga and maintaining the borders in the Russian localization sounded so... devastating, if I may. I hadn't noticed it before, but it always took me a while to realize.

Despite all this, Vernon continues to hold on and tries to unite the remnants of his people and his country, doing whatever it takes to ensure that what he loves can survive and flourish as before. This deserves immense strength and personal respect for him as a well-written character, leaving me with no doubt about the loyalty he shows towards the legacy of Foltest. Ves also continues to hold on, standing side by side with Roche and going all the way. She continues to believe and trust in her captain after what has happened, as he has done so much not only for the country they serve and those who have already been consumed by the worms, but also for her own sake. Their partnership is truly remarkable in my eyes.

there's a sense of kinship between them that defies categorization. They don't feel like a parent and a child, and they certainly don't feel like partners. It's something deeply personal, forged in the crucible of platonic and familial closeness. They embody the essence of attachment to someone close and the only thing they have left from their past. When Vernon ultimately loses Ves in TW3, the dialogue takes on a haunting and desperate tone. It's as if he's losing the last and most significant person in his life.