As we watched Geralt and Regis sitting in the cemetery outside of Beauclair, relaxing, and reminiscing over the “great and weighty events” the pair has incited throughout the years of the Witcher universe, we as fans of the brooding, loyal Witcher with a heart of gold knew his days as our protagonist were over. And CD Projekt Red confirmed that the White Wolf will no longer be the titular character of the Witcher gaming universe we have come to adore.
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In that tweet from the official Witcher account, clearly it shows that the saga of Geralt of Rivia is over, and a new Witcher is going to take his place. But who could that be? Our old friend Letho the Kingslayer? A younger Vesemir? Eskel or Lambert? Ciri? Or somebody entirely new? By the look of the tweet, I think it is going to be my final guess.
Why? Well, the main reason as to why I think that this new Witcher saga will be following a new Witcher with a new set of supporting sorcerers, sorceresses, knights errant, elves, dwarves, gnomes, etc. is the image shown. The ears, mouth, and eyes of the medallion look like some kind of feline creature. A cat.
If that is the case, then that would mean we are going to be following a member of a new Witcher school.
All our witcher friends we have meet so far have come from Kaer Morhen, the home of the School of the Wolf. Geralt, Vesemir, Lambert, Eskel, and Ciri have all been trained under the teachings of the Wolf and have the medallions to prove it (apart from Ciri, as the Weavness stole hers). So, we have seen what a School of the Wolf medallion looks like.
The one in the tweet is not it.
(Screenshot: Where The Cat And Wolf Play)
So, does that mean we are playing as a witcher from the School of the Cat? Maybe. It would be an interesting witcher school to explore. The School of the Cat was one of the six schools that we could obtain and equip armor for our Geralt to wear, along with having only one of four Grandmaster amour sets (the fourth coolest armor set in the game, in my opinion). But not only that, the School has a great history.
The School started from a group of ambitious witchers, all looking to enhance their mutations and gain standing in the world. Rejecting the long standing witcher traditions of independence, they hired themselves out as assassins, spies, bodyguards, etc. to the local rulers and kings. This, along with a failed plot with the King of Kaedwen to eradicate the School of the Wolf, earned them a notorious reputation as dishonorable, ruthless mercenaries. Before the start of the Witcher games, the school was eradicated and their members hunted into extinction.
But that is not entirely true, as we have already seen some of their members during our encounters with Geralt.
Gaetan, the man in the featured image, was a witcher from the School of the Cat Geralt encountered during the quest “Where the Wolf and Cat Play”. Also, during the events of Witcher 3, Geralt meets the Cat witchers Jad Karadin and Mad Kiyan. Moreover, Geralt comes across another Cat witcher called Brehen in Andrzej Sapkowski novels.
However, we most definitely will not be playing as any of these witchers as they were all killed by the ending events of a Witcher 3. Well, you can actually spare Karadin and Gaetan from death, though Karadin’s life as a witcher was already over by the time we met him and Geatan was an injured man on the run if you let him go. Most likely, both will be considered dead for canon purposes by the time the next game comes out.
So, how can we play as a School of the Cat witcher if they are all dead? Well, however you deal with Geatan, if you search his hideout, you can find a letter that was address to him by a fellow member of his School named Joel. He and another witcher named Schrodinger escaped the School’s slaughter and were hiding from the major cities. Perhaps we will follow one of their journeys in the next installment.
Although, another key point in all of this is that the School of the Cat medallion and the one in the tweet are not all that similar. Unless CD Projekt Red decided to redesign the School of the Cat medallion, the tweet medallion looks to be a different feline school. And there is one last person known to have a cat-like medallion. Ciri.
Yes, Ciri does have a cat medallion as, in the novels, she kills the bounty hunter Leo Bonhart, who was tasked with killing her. After killing him, she takes the medallions of slain witchers the hunter had previously taken. She only keeps a cat one, and its symbol can be seen while playing as Ciri on the healthbar screen in game. What makes this medallion different from the game versions is that it was never overtly described by Sapkowski. This fact could have the medallion actually belong to a different feline-inspired school.
So, perhaps this tweet was a nod to Ciri becoming the new Witcher, which is something I think we would all love. The only issue I see is how would the developers deal with the various Ciri endings and keep the appearance of choice for gamers if Ciri does become the next witcher protagonist. As for my playthrough, I almost always have her become the Empress of Nilfgaard and not a witcher. So, I could see a minor official canon vs. head canon issue occur if Ciri is the new witcher.
(Screenshot: Something Ends, Something Begins)
If it does ending being a whole new school of witchers, then we will undoubtedly be in a whole new area of the world of the Witcher. Maybe the game will be set in Nilfgaard or Zerrikanian or Ofir with a brand new school. Or maybe in the far north of Kovir as the medallion is surrounded by what seems to be snow. Well have to wait and see.
Though, in the end, it does not matter if it is Ciri, or a new Cat witcher, or Vesemir, or any other witcher we have already seen is to be the protagonist as I’m sure CD Projekt Red will come through and produce another masterpiece regardless.
Oh, if you want to read more about the School of the Cat, I left a link to the Witcher Wiki. It is where I got most of my information about the School and it has great information on all other Witcher content. Also, don’t forget to pick up one of the Witcher books while you’re at it. Go check them out!
Image Sources: Feature Image: (Screenshot)(The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt)
In Text Image 1: (Screenshot)(The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt)
In Text Image 2: (Screenshot)(The Witcher3: The Wild Hunt)
Other Sources: School of Cat Info: (School of the Cat | Witcher Wiki | Fandom)
Witcher Tweet: (The Witcher on Twitter: “https://t.co/XtbfqscMWr https://t.co/eK6ZIbfLRa” / Twitter)
