The Witcher 4 launched its first trailer at The Game Awards 2024, showcasing Ciri as the protagonist. The trailer was a short story that depicted a village choosing a teenage girl to be sacrificed to appease a monster. To save his daughter, her father hired a witcher to slay the monster instead. The witcher is revealed to be Ciri, who saves the girl and slays the monster. Upon returning to the village, she discovers the villagers turned on the man and his daughter, and killed the girl themselves.
This is a continuation of The Witcher‘s classic theme of destiny and the inevitability of fate, which is discussed at length in the books and The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. It’s continued in The Witcher 4 in the example of the girl’s fate, where it’s clear she’s destined to die, regardless of Ciri’s intervention. Ciri herself is a character who struggles against fate. Thanks to the Lara Gene, Ciri’s the topic of prophecy, has been hunted, was fated before birth to meet Geralt, and is the heir of several nations. Ciri’s own struggle against her fate will likely play a large role in The Witcher 4.
Related
Geralt Actor Asked Not to Say Anything About The Witcher 4
Geralt of Rivia voice actor Doug Cockle reveals that he’s been asked by developer CD Projekt Red not to discuss anything about The Witcher 4.
The Inevitability of Fate Endures in The Witcher 4
The trailer itself makes the core themes of The Witcher 4 clear, showcasing both an internal and external struggle for Ciri. The monster speaks to her as she fights it, saying “Fate cannot be changed. You cannot change anything,” indicating the fate that awaits the girl whose life Ciri saved, who was destined to die anyway. This could also hint at the struggle for Ciri in the larger narrative of The Witcher 4, which could involve Ciri fighting against fate and destiny, something that concerned Geralt as well.
Fate has always concerned Ciri since the discovery of Pavetta’s Elder Blood. As a carrier of the Lara Gene, Ciri’s spent her life being hunted by those after the power of her blood, prophecies about her actions, and how her actions could affect the world. These are all things she cannot change nor run away from and, although she defeated the Wild Hunt in The Witcher 3, it may be that she must face her destiny in other, more subtle and significant ways in the journey that lies ahead of her. One of these ways may be in seeing how fate affects others and seeing the outcome of her actions firsthand.
Ciri Was Always One of the Witchers
Aside from the themes of the inevitability of fate, the trailer also drives home Ciri’s growth as a character from the perspective of a father. As many fans watching the trailer would have played The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt and would have the perspective of Ciri as a daughter, the narration at the beginning of the trailer of a father reminiscing about his daughter growing up. The imagery of a daughter being washed and dressed, contrasted with Ciri preparing for a monster hunt, is deeply appropriate and prepares players to accept her as an adult and as the player character.
This introduces a theme of growing and moving forward, while also showing a great deal of Ciri’s personality and character. She doesn’t say a lot to the villagers, but her anger at the situation is made clear, even before she returns to find the girl murdered. Ciri is the same character players know, but her years of experience have brought maturity and made her more grounded.
The Witcher IV is a single-player, open-world RPG from CD PROJEKT RED. At the start of a new saga, players take on the role of Ciri, a professional monster slayer, and embark on a journey through a brutal dark-fantasy world. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, it aims to be the most immersive and ambitious open-world Witcher game to date.