One of the many things that fans love about The Witcher 3 is it’s complicated yet likable characters. Players truly care about Geralt, his friends, and many of the people he meets during his adventure, which means it’s painful when something bad happens to them. Unfortunately, in the Witcher universe, bad things occur regularly.
Things like death, suffering, and heartbreak are common throughout The Witcher 3’s emotional story. And each heart-wrenching cut scene hurts even more because of the game’s excellent writing and haunting soundtrack.
10 Geralt And Ciri’s Final Goodbye
Geralt is blindsided at the start of this scene, as Ciri reveals she is going to Nilfgaard to become the Empress. She makes the decision for the right reasons, but it doesn’t make it any less sad.
The Witcher finally got Ciri back in his life, and now she is leaving. And as the two will be living in different worlds, it’s unlikely that they would see much of each other again. After a heartfelt conversation, she gives up her signature sword, engages in a goodbye hug, and departs.
9 Geralt Breaks Yen’s Heart
In Skellige, Yennefer and Geralt track down a Djinn and force it to remove the link that binds the pair together. Yen does this to find out if the feelings between her and Geralt are real or if it’s just the spell.
For Yen, it is real, and she admits as such. Geralt, on the other hand, says he doesn’t feel the same way in one version of the scene. The Sorceress tries to remain strong, but it’s clear how hurt she is by his rejection.
8 Boy Accidentally Kills His Own Sister
During the Blood and Wine expansion, an Orphanage gets attacked by a Vampire. The adult guardians flee, leaving the children behind as bait. Geralt hears all of this from the only surviving child.
The boy then recounts the events of the attack. He explains that while hiding from the creature, his sister started to cry, so he covered her mouth to keep her quiet. But he admits that he held his hand there for too long. Geralt interrupts the story at this point as he doesn’t want the child to have to admit that he suffocated his sister, yet it’s clear that he did.
7 Yen Ends Síle’s Suffering
When recruiting sorceresses to help them against the Wild Hunt, Geralt and Yennefer find Síle De Tansarville (if she’s alive) in Diereadh prison.
Síle is in a critical condition and knows she’s going to die. She requests to be put of out her misery. Either Geralt or Yen can do it, but the scene is even more tear-jerking if it’s the Sorceress. Yen doesn’t have the suppressed emotions of Geralt, and you can see by her expression how hard it is for her to do the deed.
6 Anna’s Death
There is more than one way for The Bloody Baron’s wife, Anna, to die depending on Geralt’s choices. The saddest, though, comes when the Witcher fails to lift the curse on her.
Anna bursts into flames right in front of her family after Geralt’s mistake. Her daughter, Tamara, never gets to say goodbye. And The Bloody Baron doesn’t get the chance to apologize for his misdeeds. Thus, Anna dies without ever making peace with those closest to her.
5 The Bloody Baron’s Fate
After Anna passes, Geralt goes back to Crow’s Perch to meet with The Bloody Baron. However, when he gets there, he finds The Baron’s body hanging from a tree in the middle of the fortress. It turns out the pain and guilt of his wife’s death were too much for him to bear, so he killed himself.
The Baron was a broken man who had done some terrible things. Still, it is truly sad to see his body once he is dead.
4 Hearing Triss’s Torture
To get a meeting with the leader of the Witch Hunters, Triss pretends to be Geralt’s captive. The Witcher gives her over to the cruel group (under her command) as he attends the meeting.
Then during his conversation with the leader, Geralt can hear the Sorceress’s screams as they torture her in the next room. To follow Triss’s plan, and get the information he needs, the Witcher can’t break his cover by intervening. He just has to sit there and listen.
3 Nidas’s Wife
While in Novigrad, Geralt can come across a man named Nidas, who wants the Witcher to retrieve a black pearl for him. Once Geralt collects the rare object, he goes to see the man to receive payment.
It’s in this scene where Nidas divulges more about his wife. He explains that she has a condition that makes her forget things, even him. The couple had always talked about a promise he made to get her a black pearl; so, he was hoping that by giving her one, it would help her memory, but he reveals it didn’t.
2 The Worst Ending
If Ciri dies while stopping the White Frost, then Geralt goes to Crookback Bog to put an end to the final Crone. Once he kills her, he frantically searches for Ciri’s medallion that the Witch took earlier.
Upon finding it, he grasps it tightly as he sits heartbroken over the loss of his adoptive daughter. Multiple creatures then advance on his position as the scene fades to black. His fate is left ambiguous, though his presence in the DLC seems to suggest he survives. However, that does not diminish how sad it is to see Geralt so grief-stricken.
1 The Battle Of Kaer Morhen Ending
The Battle of Kaer Morhen is filled with action-heavy moments, but the final scene is different. After getting unfrozen and wondering what happened, Geralt notices Vesemir’s dead body. And the look on the usually aloof Witcher’s face is heartbreaking.
Geralt can shrug off most things, but the death of his long-term mentor is not one of them. To make matters worse, Ciri starts to blame herself for his death. Both of their reactions make this scene even sadder than the moment Vesemir dies.
NEXT: 10 Scariest Moments In The Witcher 3
