The world of The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is complex and certainly involves a lot more happening than a lost godly daughter being chased by weird otherworldly elves. Amidst all the terrible happenings within Geralt’s circle of friends and family, a huge continental war is actually raging, making things a lot more difficult for the witcher. With that in mind, it’s important for the players to understand what the political situation is in Geralt’s world.
After all, plenty of decisions, such as making Ciri the Empress or even deciding whether to betray Roche or Dijkstra call for fictional geopolitical knowledge. Simply knowing which kingdoms are powerful or destitute ought to make the players’ decision more meaningful and weighty. So don’t abstain from politics even in The Witcher 3 and know which is which among all these 10 fictional dark fantasy kingdoms, ranked by their power starting from the weakest.
10 CINTRA
Cintra, Ciri’s original home kingdom, is sadly not what it used to be. It was once one of the biggest power players in the continent and its queen, Calanthe, even led her soldiers and won battles through sheer ferocity alone, earning her the moniker the Lioness of Cintra.
That did not last. Cintra quickly fell to Nilfgaard during the latter’s first invasion. This wasn’t depicted in the game since the fall of Cintra happened in the books (and in the Netflix show) but it should still be relevant for the players to know what happened to Ciri’s mother’s kingdom. Now, since it’s the first to fall chronologically, it’s now the weakest and is just a mere annex or province of the Nilfgaardian empire by the third game.
9 AEDIRN
Aedirn is prominently featured in The Witcher 2 during one of the main paths in the said game. It’s where Geralt meets Saskia the dragon and all kinds of important political developments took place, including the founding of another nation or a coronation of a successor. Back in its heyday and in the first invasion of Nilfgaard, Aedirn fought alongside Temeria, Kaedwen, and Redania (the four Northern Kingdoms) to thwart off Nilfgaard.
Even so, those developments didn’t matter much as in the second invasion of Nilfgaard (during the games), Aedirn quickly fell. It’s all thanks to Letho of Gullet who turned out to be an agent of Nilfgaard sent to assassinate the kings of Temeria, Aedirn, Kaedwen, and Redania.
8 TEMERIA
Temeria was certainly one of the few kingdoms that Nilfgaard feared - one that could halt its North-ward invasion. When King Foltest was still alive, Temeria was one heck of a powerhouse. Then Letho of Gullet succeeded in assassinating Foltest.
After that, everything in Temeria came crumbling down with no mature heir and no solid unity among its nobility. It easily caved to Nilfgaard’s invasion and by the start of the third game, Vizima, Temeria’s capital was already a forward base of the Nilfgaardian army. Still, it put up more of a fight than Aedirn and its commando unit, the Blue Stripes remained active even after Temeria fell.
7 KAEDWEN
Kaedwen was the last to fall among the original four Northern Kingdoms that pushed back Nilfgaard’s first invasion. That’s because it’s perched safe right beside Redania and above Aedirn with its own strong army. Then the unexpected happened and Redania betrayed Kaedwen and invaded its own ally. By the start of the third game, Kaedwen is a part of Redania.
This way, Redania had a bigger territory and military pool - big enough to contend with Nilfgaard. Why didn’t Redania just work together with Kaedwen against Nilfgaard? Because Radovid, the King of Redania is a little unhinged and didn’t fully trust Kaedwen especially when two of the original four Northern Kingdoms have already fallen to Nilfgaard.
6 BROKILON
Brokilon is more of a walled sanctuary than a kingdom but since it does have its own Queen (a dryad named Eithne) and its own stalwart and hostile non-human defenders, then it might as well be its own sovereign. Needless to say, Brokilon has always been a thorn in Nilfgaard and the Northern Kingdoms’ sides.
This huge forest area is largely impenetrable due to its landscape and the only way to conquer it would be to completely burn the whole forest down. Many kingdoms have tried to take it from the dryads and elves but to no avail. The result? It has outlived Temeria, Aedirn, Cintra, and Kaedwen come the third Witcher game.
5 KOVIR AND POVISS
The confederation of Kovir and Poviss is the safest place to be in the timeline of The Witcher 3. It’s at the northernmost part of the world map, above Redania, meaning its enemies are far away and most threats would only come from one direction.
As such, Kovir and Poviss has prospered well on its own, enough to become a safe haven for the prosecuted mages of Novigrad. It’s also powerful enough to afford its own advisor from the Lodge of Sorceresses even if it might earn Redania’s ire, meaning it could be powerful enough to stand against Redania.
4 SKELLIGE
Skellige was one of the most formidable forces in the game and is usually unstoppable once they have a king to unite them. It just so happens that one of the big quests in The Witcher 3 is making sure that Skellige has a proper king.
So the result is that Skellige quickly became a power player once again in the war especially since they also join after the coronation. They’re one of the few factions that Nilfgaard also fears the most and cannot invade successfully due to their location and hierarchy system.
3 ZERRIKANIA
Zerrikania isn’t exactly featured prominently in any Witcher game but seeing as how they’re influential enough to affect the political families in the Northern Kingdoms, they’re definitely a force to be reckoned with.
They fear neither any attack from Nilfgaard nor its neighboring kingdoms due to their location, giving them ample time to build up their economy and military power. They also worship dragons and have powerful warriors, each one likely more valuable than the common foot soldier in the Northern Kingdoms and Nilfgaard.
2 REDANIA
Throughout the whole story of The Witcher 3 it was mostly two superpowers duking it out in a chess game, namely Redania and Nilfgaard. Redania wasn’t even that powerful until it decided to betray Kaedwen and assimilate its own ally.
The result is that Redania was the only thing left standing in Nilfgaard’s way from the total domination of the Northern Kingdoms. It was all thanks to the cruelty and borderline madness of Radovid who survived Nilfgaard’s assassination attempts and grew more suspicious.
1 NILFGAARD
Finally, by far the most powerful faction in The Witcher 3, the Empire of Nilfgaard. Initially, Nilfgaard was but a mere city that grew larger and became more powerful thanks to Emhyr var Emreis’ rule and cunning.
The number of kingdoms they conquered in The Witcher lore is worryingly high, making them the most feared nation in all three games. Even in the books, they’re mostly the troublemakers and plenty of villains came from their faction. Anyway, their chosen color and motif were black so that was already a given.
NEXT: In-Game Vs. Reality: What The Witcher 3 Characters Look Like In Real Life
