The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s Blood and Wine DLC is one of the game’s two main expansions, and it presents the player with plenty of new quests to undertake. One interesting side quest is “The Warble of a Smitten Knight,” which involves the young knight Guillaume de Launfal and his mission to save Vivienne de Tabris from a strange curse.
This quest inThe Witcher 3has two possible endings. While the one where Guillaume and Vivienne end up together may seem like the better one, a few subtle details in the quest may prove otherwise — albeit inconclusively.
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‘The Warble of a Smitten Knight’ in The Witcher 3
In the Tourney Grounds, the wounded Guillaume de Launfal approaches the Witcher to ask for his help. Guillaume believes that Vivienne de Tabris, the woman he fancies, is the victim of some curse, so he wants to hire Geralt to help lift it. Should the player accept the job, Guillaume will then explain why he believesVivienne ofThe Witcher 3is afflicted by a curse.
According to the young knight, Vivienne was the most beautiful woman inDuchess Anna Henrietta’s court inThe Witcher 3, yet he found it strange that she kept other men at a distance. Thus he “resorted to trickery” to get her attention. He recounts one instance where he hid outside her seamstress’ home and waited for her to leave before “accidentally” bumping into her, then offering to escort her home. Guillaume admits that it was difficult to get Vivienne to engage in conversation, but after some time, he says “she even began to respond.”
However, as they neared the end of their route, Vivienne let out a loud screech before running off, refusing to speak to the knight again after the incident. Guillaume then describes how Vivienne would often trek into the woods at night, saying that he’d tried to follow her on some occasions, only to lose her in the brush. Thus, he needs the Witcher’s help to cure Vivienne.
If the player goes through with the quest, they’ll have to participate in a knightly competition while also investigating Vivienne’s mysterious curse in between rounds. This involves snooping through her tent and following her into the forest to see her in her cursed form. At this point, Vivienne will reveal that she changes into thiscursed form every night inThe Witcher, and that the symptoms only continue to get worse as she grows older.
Geralt will then lay down two potential methods of curing the curse. The first involves transferring the curse to an unborn oriole, which will shorten Vivienne’s life span to about seven years. The second requires transferring the curse to someone else, who will then acquire the curse’s muted effects. Not wanting anyone else to live a life like hers, Vivienne opts for the first method. She also asks Geralt to refrain from disclosing her secret to anyone, even Guillaume.
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A Selfish, Smitten Knight
After this encounter, Geralt returns to the Tourney Grounds. Should the player choose not to tell Guillaume about Vivienne’s curse, the young knight will get angry. He’ll claim that he’s willing to do anything for Vivienne, so he should know what ails her. Geralt will try to explain why he’skeeping the truth a secret, but Guillaume will scoff at Geralt’s “lecture,” commenting that he can’t believe he gave up his spot at the tourney for this.
After the end of the tourney, Geralt will meet with Vivienne one last time at her tent to talk about the egg method. There, he’ll catch Guillaume snooping on her yet again, and Vivienne angrily demands that he leave her alone. By the end of the quest, Geralt will use the egg method tolift the curse inThe Witcher 3, and she’ll embrace her newfound freedom. Vivienne thanks the Witcher, who notes that she should thank Guillaume as well, but she asks that Geralt pass the message on for her instead. When pressed on the matter, she’ll reveal that she’d rather not thank him in person.
To complete theWitcher 3quest, Geralt must return to Guillaume and inform him of Vivienne’s fate. However, the young knight won’t be happy about how things turned out as he isn’t included in her “happy ending.” Geralt simply replies, “You helped her. But that doesn’t mean she owes you her love.” Guillaume then pays the Witcher and storms off, remarking that he should keep his advice to himself.
This particular quest route showcases the problems with Guillaume’s character. The smitten knight is so infatuated with Vivienne that he’ll stop at nothing to ensure that he saves her and gets her in the end. His reasons for wanting to lift the curse are almost purely selfish, which is why he’s so heartbroken when Vivienne leavesToussaint to travel theWitcherworld.
In (Slight) Defense of Guillaume
That said, Guillaume isn’t without his virtues. If the player instead chooses to tell him about Vivienne’s affliction, this will open the otherpotentialWitcher 3endingto the quest. In it, Guillaume wholeheartedly agrees to take on the curse in her stead, and it works. Just as Geralt thought, the symptoms of the affliction are much less pronounced in Guillaume, and the two get to live their “happily ever after.” Thus, though Guillaume’s motivations may have been selfish, he nonetheless had the courage to do what needed to be done to help Vivienne.
However, many players still aren’t happy about this conclusion. Some believe that Vivienne may have felt forced into her relationship with Guillaume as she literally owed her life to him. Still, by the end of themain questline ofThe Witcher 3’sBlood and Wine, Geralt can find Vivienne and Guillaume happy together at Beauclair Palace, so they may truly have their “happily ever after,” after all. Though it is tough to say if this excuses Guillaume’s past behavior.
“The Warble of a Smitten Knight” is yet another morally ambiguousquest inThe Witcher 3. It’s excellently woven so that the player can never know which course of action is the best. Thus, they can only go with what they believe is right, and even that is unclear. As such, players are divided on what the best ending for this quest is. Some think that Vivienne should be free, even if that means a shortened life span, while others opt instead for Vivienne and Guillaume’s happily ever after. Whatever ending the player chooses, it’s a reflection of the virtues they uphold.
The Witcher 3: Wild Huntis available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
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