TL;DR Summary of the Story from the Books and the First Two Games (Meant for Newcomers to Witcher 3)

WARNING: This guide contains massive spoilers of the Witcher saga and the first two Witcher games!

This tl;dr version (or perhaps not so tl;dr after all) of Geralt's story is especially meant for those who are starting Witcher 3 without having ever read the books or played the previous 2 Witcher games. It mainly contains stories from the books so it may also be helpful to those who have played all 3 games. I tried to summarize most of the story into short bulleted points. It does not contain everything, and it lacks a lot of detail. The main reason I'm posting this is that around a year ago I was in the same position where I wanted to be briefed before starting Witcher 3, and to date I have never found all this info jumbled up together in one place. I liked Witcher 3's story and lore so much that I spent a lot ("a lot" is an understatement) of time reading about Geralt's past, watching cutscenes from all 3 games etc. And I still see a lot of comments by people confused about Geralt's story. So I decided to post this here in hopes of helping some people understand better. I've also posted this guide on the /r/witcher subreddit, where it got a lot of feedback and minor corrections from other people in the Witcher community. This is the final, corrected version.

Introduction

So let's start with the very beginning for those who know nothing about Witcher. Geralt of Rivia is a witcher from the school of the wolf. Witchers are humans who undergo special training and dangerous mutations when children (trial of the grasses) so they become very good monster slayers. Especially in the past, witchers often made use of the "law of surprise" after saving someone's life, demanding "that which you already have but do not know" (commonly referring to an already conceived child that the father does not yet know about, to recruit for their witcher school). Geralt was an on-and-off lover of the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg. He was also friends with another sorceress Triss Merigold, a bard called Dandelion and a higher vampire called Regis among others.

Witcher Geralt

Politics

Regarding politics, there's a big empire in the south called Nilfgaard (black colors with a yellow sun emblem) which has similarities to the Roman empire. The north is divided into many independent kingdoms (namely Temeria, Redania, Aedirn, Kaedwen, Kovir, Cintra). The empire and the kingdoms are often at war against each other. There's also the Skellige isles to the west (culturally similar to vikings).

Map outlining the northern kingdoms with Nilfgaard to the south

Beginning of the Saga: Emhyr and Ciri's Story

• The son of then emperor of Nilfgaard - Emhyr - has been cursed, causing him to transform into a hedgehog-like being.
  
  
• He is banished from Nilfgaard and takes on a new identity, calling himself Duny (the fact that Emhyr and Duny are the same person is only revealed much later on in the saga).
  
  
• Duny falls in love and later marries Cintra's princess Pavetta.
  
  
• Geralt once saves Duny's life and, using the law of surprise, demands his next born child as a reward. Pavetta is already pregnant with Duny's child. This child is none other than Ciri.
  
  
• Geralt does not take Ciri with him when he meets her later on though, partly because she is a girl (witchers are all male).
  
  
• Important to note is that through Cintra's royal family runs "elder blood" (originating from a she-elf called Lara Dorren). Because of this Ciri is a powerful magical "source".
  
  
• After Duny's curse is lifted, he starts planning to take Pavetta and Ciri from Cintra back to Nilfgaard so he can take on Emhyr's indentity and become emperor of Nilfgaard. Things do not go as planned though. Duny/Emhyr has to leave without Ciri, and Pavetta gets killed in the process.
  
  
• Ciri keeps living with her grandmother queen of Cintra for a while. She also commonly visits Skellige in her childhood.
  
  
• Emhyr becomes emperor of Nilfgaard, and eventually the empire attacks and slaughters Cintra, killing the queen. Emhyr's agents fail to find and bring Ciri back to him.
  ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤNilfgaardian Emperor Emhyr
  
  
• Ciri becomes an orphan and gets adopted by a random family. By chance, Geralt ends up saving the life of her adopted father and thus meets Ciri again. He decides to take her with him to Kaer Morhen (witcher school of the wolf) this time.
  
  
• The emperor initiates a search for Ciri. Due to the Cintrians' unrest after the invasion, Emhyr plans to impregnate Ciri to further justify his reign over Cintra and to fulfil Ithline's prophecy (an elven prophecy mentioning a child of the elder blood and the end of the world).

Ciri as a child

Ciri with Geralt and Yennefer

• At Kaer Morhen Ciri is cared for by Geralt and his fellow witcher friends, and Triss. There she undergoes witcher combat training but does not undergo the trial of the grasses (where mutagens are administered to the witchers in training). Triss also tries to train her to control her elder blood powers.
  
  
• Ciri is sent to Yennefer who is a more experienced sorceress than Triss. Yen continues to raise and train her.
  
  
• At one point there is a meeting of mages on Thanedd Island. Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri are present. A powerful sorcerer Vilgefortz - who is working for Nilfgaard - leads a coup against the northern kingdom mages.
  
  
• Vilgefortz, having his own plans for Ciri, attempts to capture her during the coup but Geralt fights him. Vilgefortz badly injures Geralt but spares his life (Geralt's leg never healed properly). Ciri escapes by teleporting away.
  
  
• After this coup, a few female sorceresses, including Triss, get together and start the Lodge of Sorceresses. A member of the Lodge - Francesca Findabair - has captured Yennefer and compressed her into a statue because she thinks Yen was working with Vilgefortz.
  ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤYennefer of Vengerberg
  
  
• Yen is eventually decompressed and is forced to join the Lodge, but later escapes and starts looking for Ciri.
  
  
• Vilgefortz lures Yennefer in a hidden castle called Stygga Castle and keeps her there as bait for Ciri.
  
  
• Geralt, looking for Ciri, heads south to Toussaint and meets Regis, a higher vampire.

Ciri on the Run

• Meanwhile, Ciri finds herself in Nilfgaard and starts living with a group of bandits called The Rats. Eventually the bandits, including her lesbian lover, are killed by a bounty hunter called Leo Bonhart. He captures Ciri but she eventually escapes.
  
  
• Ciri flees to a different world/dimension, the world of the Aen Elle elves. This world is home of the Wild Hunt (a group of elven riders who can travel between worlds). Here Ciri meets the elf Avallac'h and also Eredin, general of the Wild Hunt. Avallac'h wants to breed her with King Auberon of the Aen Elle, to ensure that the elder blood passes back into the elven bloodline and to fulfil Ithline's prophecy.
  
  The Wild Hunt
  
  
• After Eredin betrays and kills King Auberon, Ciri escapes from this world with the help of a unicorn.
  
  
• Ciri eventually learns how to travel between worlds at will and spends a lot of time wandering in different worlds, all while hiding from the Wild Hunt (they want her for her elder blood powers).
  
  
• Ciri gets back to Geralt's world to hunt down Vilgefortz and rescue Yennefer, but she is captured in Stygga Castle as well.
  
  
• Geralt finds out about Stygga Castle and attacks it with the help of his friend Regis. Vilgefortz literally melts Regis but Geralt avenges him, managing to kill Vilgefortz this time.
  
  
• Ciri faces Leo the bounty hunter and kills him.
  
  
• Emperor Emhyr finds Ciri and takes her with him, but he ultimately abondons his old plans and decides to let her go with Geralt and Yennefer.
  
  
• Ciri is still not free though as the Wild Hunt are still looking for her.
  
  
• After more time passes by, Geralt finds himself in a riot where he decides to defend nonhumans (mainly elves and dwarves) against humans. He is mortally wounded by a man with a pitchfork. Trying to save Geralt's life, Yennefer spends all her life energy.

Between the End of the Books and the Start of Witcher 1

• Ciri comes and saves Geralt and Yen's lives, leaving them on a mysterious island, before disappearing again.
  
  
• Later on, the Wild Hunt capture and take Yennefer with them as bait for Ciri.
  
  
• Geralt searches for the Wild Hunt with another witcher (from the school of the viper) called Letho, until he finds them. He offers to trade himself for Yennefer and the Wild Hunt agree. Letho promises to take care of Yennefer.
  
  
• After some time, Geralt is somehow freed from the Wild Hunt but they have erased his memory.

Geralt trades himself for Yennefer to the Wild Hunt

Witcher 1 Starts Here

• Triss and Geralt's witcher friends find him and get him to Kaer Morhen.
  
  
• A group of bandits attack the fortress and steal their mutagenic secrets.
  
  Geralt at Kaer Morhen in Witcher 1
  
  
• Geralt goes on a search to find this group. Having forgotten all about Yennefer, he romances Triss.
  
  
• Along the way he also does some work for King Foltest of Temeria - one of his royal advisors being Triss - who also wants to get to the bottom of the Kaer Morhen attack.
  
  
• The group behind the theft had been planning to raise an army of mutated monsters and take over the throne of Temeria from Foltest but Geralt foils their plans.
  
  King Foltest of Temeria speaking with Geralt in Witcher 1

Witcher 1 Ends and Witcher 2 Starts

• The witcher Letho is secretly hired by Nilfgaard emperor Emhyr to kill as many northern kings as he can to stir up chaos throughout the kingdoms.
  
  Witcher Letho
  
  
• He succeeds in killing King Demavend of Aedirn with the help of the Lodge of Sorceresses (they have a plan of their own to set up a small nation ruled by mages).
  
  
• Letho then succeeds to kill King Foltest of Temeria with the help of the Scoia'tael (a nonhuman rebel group who kill humans because of the rampant discrimination against nonhumans). Geralt is framed for this murder.
  
  
• Geralt is freed by Vernon Roche (a Temerian commander) who realizes his innocence. They go in search for clues about the real assassin. During the journey Geralt gradually regains the memories of his past, and starts remembering Yennefer and Ciri.
  
  Temerian patriot Vernon Roche with Geralt
  
  
• After a meeting in Loc Muinne, The Lodge of Sorceresses is framed for both regicides, so most of the member mages are either imprisoned or go into hiding (Triss was also a member of the Lodge but she did not know about their plans).
  
  
• When he finds out the full truth, Geralt finally has to take the decision of either killing Letho or sparing him.
  
  
  Triss Merigold

Witcher 2 Ends Here

Witcher 3 starts about 6 months after these events. Yennefer has sent a letter to Geralt asking him to meet her urgently. Apparently Ciri has appeared in this world again, and the Wild Hunt may be on her trail. Nilfgaard have started their invasion into the north. So far they have easily taken over the now king-less Temeria and Aedirn. Their main remaining obstacle is King Radovid of Redania (just north of Temeria).

Wartime in Temeria

Other Characters I Haven't Mentioned

Members of the witcher school of the wolf at Kaer Morhen:

• Vesemir:
  The leader of the pack, Ciri used to refer to him as "uncle".
  
  
• Lambert
  
  
• Eskel
  
  
  Witcher Vesemir

Other members of the Lodge:

• Philippa Eilhart:
  She used to be an advisor to Redania's king. King Radovid gauged out her eyes in Witcher 2 due to the Lodge's connections with the northern kings' assassinations. She is suspected to have been behind the assassination of King Vizimir of Redania (father of Radovid).
  
  Philippa Eilhart with King Radovid in Witcher 2
  
  
• Sile de Tansarville:
  Geralt had the choice of either letting her die in a faulty megascope or saving her life in the end of Witcher 2 (Philippa and Sile were probably the two main masterminds behind the Lodge's plot).
  
  Sile de Tansarville in Witcher 2
  
  
• Other notable members:
  Keira Metz, Margarita Laux-Antille, Sabrina Glevissig, Fringilla Vigo

Sigismund Dijkstra:
He used to be a Redanian spy in the time of King Vizimir (working with Philippa). Geralt broke his leg during the Thanedd coup. When Vizimir was assassinated, he started getting to know too much and thus had to go into hiding.


Sigismund Dijkstra

Shani:
A medic with a passion for treating injured soldiers and civilians during battles. She met with Geralt multiple times while he was on his travels, both in the books and in Witcher 1.


Shani

Conclusion

That's all for now! I hope I did Geralt's story justice. Feel free to ask any questions that you might have.

[dark_nuance]

great guide, exactly what I was looking for ++

[Derivat949]

Dang I forgot Emhyr wants to breed his daughter. What a scumbag

[⚡RAID | The Best]

[Archie]

THanks mate

[Bobzzo]

Great summary mate, though I've read the 6 books after my first playthough of the Witcher III and before my second one, it made me re-make few different choices I've done during the Witcher I and II playthoughs.

[Nullbyte]

Super useful for those who want a refresher on the witcher lore

[zachgtaylor]

since i only played about half the first two games and that was a long time ago. I appreciate your summary!

[Stabbity]

Amazing. I can now enjoy the game

[seans2003]

Thanks, it helps a lot of questions I had about the story.

[jshaffer905]

feel like i just spoiled future seasons of the Netflix show