The Witcher 1 and 2: Full Story Recap
With many announcements made regarding the Witcher series, many players are picking up previous installments for yet another replay. If you’re only familiar with The Witcher 3 however, you might find the previous installments in the series to be a bit outdated and poorly executed when compared to the Wild Hunt. If you’re unfamiliar with the story, and you don’t feel like playing the previous games in the series, we’ve come to your rescue, in today’s post we’re going to give you a full story recap for both Witcher 1 and Witcher 2.
Witcher 1: Setting & connection to the books
Witcher games are not a direct adaptation of the books, they serve as sequels to the books. The first game in the series, Witcher 1 follows the events that transpired in the last book in the series The Lady of the Lake. Near the end of The Lady of the Lake, both Geralt and Yennefer seemingly die. The game picks up after these events and starts at Kaer Morhen where we learn that Geralt, in fact, did not die he managed to save himself but at a cost, he suffers from amnesia and is unable to recall any of the things integral to his past. The following section is dedicated to the Witcher 1 in-game chapters and their respective stories
Witcher 1: Prologue
During the prologue, Geralt is at Kaer Morhen, an ancient keep dedicated to the creating and training of Witchers that belong to the School of the Wolf. The first major event that you witness is two members of the Salamandra group breaking into Kaer Morhen, Azar Javed, and The Professor. Salamandra robbers take mutagens, potions, and spells that were traditionally used to turn ordinary human boys into Witchers, specialized genetically enhanced monster hunters. During the break-in, Witcher Leo is killed.
The remaining Witchers in Kaer Morhen decide that mutagens are too dangerous to be in circulations, besides, without them, they have no way of creating new Witchers since the “recipe” was lost throughout the ages. Geralt as well as the rest of the Witchers decide to go on a quest to find the motives behind the theft as well as to recover the mutagens.
Chapter I: Outskirts of Vizima
Geralt has no recollection of his past whatsoever, but with the help of Triss Merigold, he makes his way to Vizima, a capital of Temeria ruled by King Foltest. Initially, Geralt has access only to the outskirts of the town. There he hears strange rumors about a terrifying monster that haunts the city after nightfall. He also runs into and saves a mysterious boy who goes by the name of Alvin. Alvin is like Ciri, a source, an incredibly magically gifted child. Alvin prophecized that the end of the world is coming.
While you are trying to gain access to Vizima, you also get involved in a conflict between Scoia’tael (a group of militant elves) and Order of the Flaming Rose (an order designated to protect Temeria) At the end of Chapter I Geralt sees a warrant on the notice board with a bounty for whoever manages to bring the Professor to justice.
Chapter II: Vizima and dungeons
After entering Vizima you are thrown into a dungeon, you get your chance to leave the dungeon if you defeat a Cockatrice that made its nest in the sewers. You manage to take down Cockatrice and you learn that one of the Salamandra is currently sitting in prison waiting for sentencing. There are several people held in the city dungeon and you need to investigate each of them in order to prove their innocence.
One of the suspects Raymond Maarloeve is your best bet in pursuing Salamandra and your suspicions are revealed to be true when you discover a dead body in the Crypt. With the help of your friend medic Shani, you will be able to uncover the mysteries related to the body. You figure out that Raymond is actually Azar Javed and you head to the Swamp Forest to battle with him. He defeats you and you are rendered unconscious.
Chapter III: Swamp forest and meeting Princess Adda
Leaving the swamp forest you are no closer to catching Salamandara than you previously were. Triss organizes a soiree with the most influential people from the city. One of them is Princess Adda. One interesting thing about Adda is the fact that you already had dealings with her in the past. She is an incestuous offspring of Foltest’s relationship with his sister and you previously saved her from the curse that transformed her into a horrific monster. After you’ve seduced Adda, Triss will inform you that she discovered magical anomalies around the city.
This turns out to be Alvin again, a mysterious boy from Chapter I. When you recover Alvin who is threatened to be hurt by Salamandra you have a choice between delivering the boy to Shani or Triss. Meanwhile, the city is falling into chaos as The Scoia’tael attacks vital targets in the city. At the end of Chapter III, you find yourself in the Salamandra caves and you learn that Princess Adda is associated with the group. You also learn that the group is creating a powerful army of mutants. They are about to imprison you when Triss arrives just in time to teleport you.
Chapter IV: Choose between The Scoia’tael and The Order of the Flaming Rose
Chapter IV begins with Geralt being teleported to an unknown Lakeside location. You notice that Dandelion is with you and soon after that, you run into Alvin again.
You need to figure out how to stabilize Alvin’s powers you also need to make a choice between The Scoia’tael, The Order of the Flaming Rose, or perhaps you wish to remain neutral, loyal to the Witcher school doctrine. Even if you choose the neutral path, Alvin will still run away near the end of the chapter.
Chapter V: Dealing with Salamandra once and for all
If you’ve decided to take the neutral path at this point of the game you will have to fight both The Scoia’tael and The Order of the Flaming Rose. No matter which faction you choose you will not be able to avoid the conflict and Vizima will be under horrible attacks, and you will eventually end up fighting at least one side. You also learn that Princess Adda is under a curse of Striga once again, the same curse you saved her from years ago.
You consult with your followers on the matter of how to remove the curse, and you proceed to search for Striga/ Princess Adda. In this part, you have the option to either kill her or lift the curse. This choice will affect the rest of the game. When you return to Foltest either bearing good or bad news he will inform you where Salamandra is stationed, so you can confront them one last time. The final confrontation with Azar Javed ends with him defeated and Salamandra destroyed, you return to King Foltest in the castle.
Epilogue: The King of the Wild Hunt
King Foltest and King Radovid will attempt to forge an alliance at this point, and if Princess Adda has been cured, Foltest will offer her hand in marriage to Radovid. They will also agree that The Scoia’tael and The Order of the Flaming Rose need to be dealt with depending on your choices throughout the game. You will also learn that the true mastermind behind Salamandra was Jacques de Aldersberg, the grand master of the Order of the Flaming Rose. He planned on building an army of mutants in order to dethrone King Foltest.
You need to confront Jacques de Aldersberg and the final fight will transport you to a frozen landscape. There you will learn that Jacques de Aldersberg has seen visions about the Wild Hunt his whole life, he developed an army of mutants to stop the events from his nightmares from happening. After defeating Jacques de Aldersberg, the King of the Wild Hunt appears and tries to claim him. You have a choice here you can sacrifice Jacques to the King, or spare him. If you choose to deny the King of the Wild Hunt you will have to fight him, but you will break the destructive cycle of destiny.
Remember the mysterious boy Alvin who disappeared? After eliminating Jacques you find in his possession an amulet you previously gave to Alvin, the only difference being that this amulet is worn with age. This insinuates that Alvin grows up to be Jacques and that the version of Alvin you’ve seen managed to both time-travel and travel between dimensions. This connection between Alvin and Jacques has been confirmed in Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
After the fight, Geralt makes his way to King Foltest to claim his reward for dispatching Jacques and his army of mutants. However, what you find in the castle is worrying and you interrupt the assassination attempt on Foltest’s life. You fight with the assassin and you see that he belongs to the order of Witchers, you recognize him by his glowing yellow eyes.
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings: Setting & connection to the Witcher 1
Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is the direct sequel to Witcher 1, it continues right where the first installment of the series left off. The player even has a choice to import the old saves in order for the experience to be as authentic as possible. However, it’s important to note that you don’t need to play the Witcher 1 for Witcher 2 to make sense. The in-game codex, journal, and tutorial do a good job of explaining the world and the characters to you. The story begins with Geralt in the dungeons of La Valette castle, this is the first location that you will explore. The following section of this post will be a recap of the events that transpired during Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.
The Witcher 2: Prologue
The game begins with Geralt being imprisoned in the La Valette dungeon. The castle belongs to Mary Louisa La Valette. Foltest’s mistress. During your “stay” at the dungeon, you are questioned by Vernon Roche leader of the Temerian Special Forces. You are accused of killing King Foltest, whose murder we witnessed in the epilogue of Witcher 1.
Geralt explains what happened, that another Witcher is responsible for the assassination, and that he escaped with Scoia’tael. Vernon luckily believes you. You and Vernon decide to storm the castle to escape the La Valette forces, the son of Mary Louisa La Valette stands in your way, you have the option of killing him or sparing his life. No matter what your choice is you will end up in Flotsam with Triss and Vernon.
Chapter I: Choosing between Roche and Iorveth
You arrive at Flotsam and meet Dandelion and Zoltan. They got into serious trouble and are about to be hanged for their crimes. You need to diplomatically maneuver in order for them to be released you also learn that a monster kayran is terrorizing the city. Síle de Tansarville a sorceress is going to help you with the monster since she is hunting it as well.
Meanwhile, you and your companions are attacked by Scoia’tael led by elf Iorveth. You learn that Letho, a Witcher responsible for assassinating Foltest turned against them. In this part of the game you will need to choose between Iorveth and Roche, your choice will affect the rest of the game in a significant way.
Chapter II: Rebels and King Henselt
No matter what choice you made you will arrive at Aedirn in Vergen. If you’ve decided to side with Iorveth you will arrive in Vergen as the battle between rebels and King Henselt of Kaedwen is breaking out. In this scenario, you side with the rebels and King Henselt is your enemy. You learn that an ancient curse has been unleashed on the battlefield, Philippa Eilhart helps you to break the curse and you learn from her that Triss is being held at Nilfgaardian camp.
Geralt attempts to free Triss but is taken captive himself at the Nilfgaardian camp. Roche helps you at the camp and you proceed to defend the city of Vergen which Henselt is soon to attack. You defend the city with the help of the Scoia’tael, and the rebel leader Saskia (a dragon).
If you’ve decided to side with Roche, you arrive at Aedirn as one of the allies of King Henselt. You meet sorcerer Dethmold who helps you to break the same curse we’ve mentioned before and informs you that Triss is being held at Nilfgaardian camp. King Henselt decides to execute Blue Stripes (Roche’s forces) due to Roche spreading rumors about Henselt being in league with Nilfgaard. King Henselt is victorious after rebel forces but his treachery hasn’t been forgotten. You have to choose to either spare him or kill him for what he has done to Blue Stripes. No matter who you side with, you will end up in Loc Muinne in the third chapter.
Chapter III: Triss or Phillipa or Anais
If you’ve decided to side with Iorveth after the battle you will head to the Summit of Leaders at Loc Muine. Once you and Iorveth arrive there you will find Phillipa imprisoned. There is another great choice in front of you since at this point you need to choose to either save Triss or Phillipa. Saving Phillipa means that you will get a special dagger that is used to mind-control Saskia, the aforementioned dragon we mentioned during Chapter II.
You will learn that Phillipa and the other mages put Saskia under mind control in order to weaken or dispose of Kings to weaken the individual kingdoms in order to establish the mage Conclave once again. Here you can choose to either kill Saskia or break her free from her mind control if you have the dagger.
If you’ve decided to side with Roche you learn that Foltest’s children have been kidnapped you have the option to save either Triss or Anais (Foltest’s daughter). Siding with Roche means that Anais will be used to strengthen the relations between Redania and Temeria. You never learn about the fact that Saskia was the dragon all along and that she was mind-controlled.
Epilogue
How the game ends depends on your choices as well. If you’ve decided to save Triss the Conclave of Mages is re-established. If you didn’t save Triss, Letho does it for you. He tells you how all the events that transpired were just a ploy of the Nilfgaardian empire to destabilize the Northern Kingdoms for the upcoming invasion.
You also start to remember your former life, you remember Yennefer, and you remember Ciri your ward and adoptive daughter who was a source just like Alvin was. You learn that before you suffered a bout of amnesia both you, Letho, and Yennefer were attacked by the Wild Hunt, you exchanged your life for Yennefer’s, and Letho was tasked with guarding Yennefer. You somehow managed to escape the Wild Hunt and you’ve found yourself with amnesia at Kaer Morhen (Witcher 1 prologue).
The last scenes in the game show the advancing Nilfgaardian army as they attack the northern kingdoms, first in their way is Temeria, where the first quest of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt takes place.
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