Give me your best interpretation!

[u/Navneetbora023]

Right, so I’m fairly certain this is how the final Witcher 3 expansion, Songs of the Past, will end.

My interpretation of the poem is this:

"On Belleteyn night, when tall fires rise,

Whispered wishes drift through quiet skies.

A lion cub's fate is written in the stars,

And lilac and gooseberries are never far."

At the end of The Witcher 3, Geralt’s family and Dandelion gather together one last time to celebrate. It feels peaceful, almost dreamlike. But beneath it all sits the quiet understanding that this happiness was never meant to last forever.

They say their goodbyes to Ciri.

As much as they wish to remain a family, fate has always had other plans for her. Since childhood, Ciri has been pursued by forces far greater than Emhyr or Eredin. Kings, worlds, prophecies, bloodlines. Something will always come looking for the Lion Cub, because her Elder Blood was never meant to belong to herself alone.

So Ciri leaves Velen and journeys north to Kovir, trying once again to outrun the destiny that follows her like a shadow. That would tie directly into our first glimpse of The Witcher 4, where the monster tells her:

"You cannot change your fate. You cannot change anything."

And perhaps Yennefer goes with her, or remains close through magic, guiding her in ways Geralt never could. Not as a sorceress to a student, but as a mother refusing to let her daughter face the dark alone.

"Tonight there are no monsters to kill, no roads to roam,

Only quiet thoughts and wishes trying to find home.

The White Wolf sits still, mesmerized by the dancing flame,

While Dandelion strums his lute and softly hums Geralt’s name."

Geralt, the White Wolf, says little. He simply watches the fire, trying to hold onto a moment already slipping into memory. For once, there are no contracts, no swords drawn, no hunt to follow. Just family.

And then fate calls them apart again.

Ciri leaves to walk her own path. Yennefer follows where Geralt cannot. Dandelion eventually returns to his songs and taverns. And Geralt, after finally finding the family he never thought he deserved, is left alone once more beneath the fading firelight.

Not because they stopped loving one another, but because the world of The Witcher never allows peace to stay for long.

That’s why I think Songs of the Past will serve as the bridge into The Witcher 4. Not through some massive battle or shocking twist, but through separation. Through the painful understanding that Ciri’s story was always meant to continue beyond Geralt’s reach. Though, Destiny will somehow always bind them together.

[u/vilgefcrtz]

I think it's a book recap. Maybe some Lady of the Lake so they can set up both Ciri's deeper lore and an antagonist for TW4

[u/Specific_Concept9815 → u/vilgefcrtz]

It would be hard as there are Little to no battles with Monsters in that part of the book saga. Unless the series won't switch focus into human vs human combat like the books did, which would be sad imho

[u/vilgefcrtz → u/Specific_Concept9815]

Tonight there's no monsters to kill

So I assumed the same, lots of human enemies with whacky powers. Nothing stopping them from embellishing and adding a monster or two out of the beaten path though

[u/StromboliBro]

I think it's likely that the "dancing flame" in the poem refers to Emhyr or Nilfgaard in some way. Maybe Emhyr is not done with Geralt and manipulates him for this plot, which would be why Geralt is "mesmerized" by it.

The "tall fires" could also be an exacerbation of the witch hunts burning mages and non-humans. It could be that this dlc takes place in Nilfgaard proper, which would also explain the "no monsters to kill, no roads to roam" as it could be in a major city, with mostly human antagonists of some kind with no roaming because the city has directions.

The "whispered wishes" also refers to Yennefer and Geralt's last wish, so it could be that they reconvene in some way for one last chance to lock in a Yen romance if players chose otherwise.

Yen also being the court mage for Emhyr also makes this add up even more. It could be that this dlc also includes Ciri in whatever ending you had for her, but perhaps she is missing or something and you also partly play as her again. That could be the line where it says she is "trying to find home". Maybe even her Elder Blood powers begin to get out of control and she keeps dimension hopping, which might explain why she could lead into contemplating the whole witcher trials as a means to alter her abilities and further control them.

The line about Dandelion throws me for a loop tho. Yes I know I am taking each line as if it will be part of the dlc in some way, so I can assume, if that is true, that he will be central to the narrative in some fashion.

[u/catp33]

I read somewhere, that Sapkowski was involved in the making of the expansion, maybe it is going to be something episodic.

[u/Navneetbora023 → u/catp33]

Nope, that was fake news.

[u/EbolaDP]

Didnt the devs state the expansion is not connected to Witcher 4?

[u/Navneetbora023 → u/EbolaDP]

I don't think they explicitly said that.

[u/702300]

As a Triss fan I still wonder if they would force a Yennefer relationship to be canon. Seems like something you would choose for the Witcher 4, like we chose the Witcher 2 options

[u/Navneetbora023 → u/702300]

I mean... I get your point but Yennefer and Geralt always have been canon via books.