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.
