As one of the most popular fantasy games out there, The Witcher 3 has a lot of fans. The game continues to captivate players even almost 6 years after it came out. However, not all people are so unanimously excited about it. There are some who were quick to point out that some things in the game don’t quite make sense and that The Witcher 3 has quite a few plotholes.
While it’s true that the game isn’t perfect and contains several obvious mistakes, the plotholes many people point out aren’t, in fact, plotholes. It’s possible to explain them and why they make sense in the context of The Witcher 3 based on what people know about the game’s world and the characters.
10 Witch Hunters Are Able To Capture Mages
Mages are some of the most powerful people in The Witcher 3. That’s why it might be difficult to understand how are the witch hunters able to capture them in the first place. The truth is not all mages have equal powers.
For example, Albert Vegelbud, the young man Geralt and Triss save during the quest A Matter of Life and Death, has no powers. He simply is interested in alchemy, and that’s enough for the mage hunters to go after him. The hunters also persecute herbalists (like Tomira from White Orchard) who, once again, actually can’t do magic. And as for actual mages, the witch hunters travel in larger groups and use dimeritium to ensure the defeat of the mages.
9 Dandelion Settles In The City Where He Was To Be Executed
Geralt’s good friend Dandelion isn’t the most careful man out there. He even decides to open a cabaret in Novigrad even though he was sentenced to death in the same city. That feels like an irresponsible move from Dandelion. Except that he’s no longer in danger, not really. Caleb Menge, the man who wanted Dandelion dead, has been killed by Geralt and Triss. And the other witch hunters are too busy hunting actual witches to pay attention to Dandelion.
8 Triss Is Concerned For Philippa Eilhart
Triss and the powerful sorceress Philippa Eilhart have had some conflicts in the past. Triss went as far as to rebel against Philippa and she testified against her. Yet she seems worried for Philippa in the third game like their unpleasant shared past never happened. One quite reasonable explanation is that Triss knows they’re going to need Philippa to defeat the Wild Hunt and she just wants to protect Ciri and Geralt.
7 Only Higher Vampires Can Kill Vampires
Some players have pointed out that Geralt contradicts himself. He says that only a higher vampire can kill another higher vampire - but Geralt himself kills multiple higher vampires in the game, most notably bruxae. But this isn’t a mistake on his side, merely an error in the terms used.
There are higher vampires such as bruxae and alps who have human form and are intelligent. Above them are the actual Higher vampires, such as Dettlaff and Regis - and those are the ones who can only be killed by another member of the same species.
6 Emhyr Knew Ciri Was Back
The emperor of Nilfgaard is the one who kickstarts the main plot - Geralt looking for Ciri. Some people online wondered how Emhyr knew that Ciri was back in the first place after she had traveled between words. The answer is quite simple. Ciri, what with her appearance and powers, doesn’t exactly blend in with a peasant crowd. So it was easy for Emhyr’s extensive network of spies to spot her when she came back and appeared in Velen.
5 The Wild Hunt Takes A Long Time To Get To Kaer Morhen
The Wild Hunt takes awhile to get to Kaer Morhen and battle Geralt, Ciri, and the rest of their friends. According to some fans, the Hunt should have arrived at Kaer Morhen faster. However, opening portals to a distant location might be challenging for the Wild Hunt Navigators who aren’t as powerful as Ciri.
Also, transporting an entire army takes longer than transporting two people. Finally, if the Wild Hunt realized Geralt and the others were waiting for them, ready to take a stand, they might have taken the time to come up with a functioning working strategy.
4 People Hate Witchers
Some people tolerate Geralt or even befriend him. But most humans treat witchers with suspicion, fear, or disdain. People often call Geralt ‘freak’ - even though he helps them when they’re in trouble. It might seem like a plothole but it isn’t.
As the game proves multiple times, most notably with non-humans and mages, ordinary humans tend to be afraid of anybody who doesn’t look or act like them. Geralt’s appearance as well as his chosen line of work and powers all separate him from most people, and that’s why they treat him the way they do.
3 Syanna Manipulated Dettlaff
Syanna manipulates Dettlaff to do her bidding for her. But considering how deeply in love Dettlaff was with her, she might have just asked him to kill the knights for her and be done with it instead of pretending to kidnap herself. However, the fact she didn’t tell Dettlaff isn’t a plothole - instead, it’s the proof that Syanna knows Dettlaff well.
Dettlaff has very little control over his actions when he feels betrayed. So if Syanna came to him and explain who she was and why she wanted the knights dead, Dettlaff would have hardly reacted in a positive way when he would learn she lied to him about her true identity. As a result, it was significantly safer for Syanna to operate from the shadows. And her scheme would have worked out if it wasn’t for Geralt’s involvement.
2 Dandelion And Zoltan Work Together
Some players also believed it was a plothole that Dandelion and Zoltan would work together. After all, with their different life experiences, they also have different characters. However, the explanation is far more prosaic. Both of them need a steady source of income and a job that won’t be extremely dangerous. Plus, Zoltan’s fighting skills would coincide well with Dandelion’s business prowess in case someone wanted to endanger them after all.
1 Geralt Wears Two Swords
Both in the books and in the Netflix show, Geralt only wears one sword with him. Some people who haven’t read the books and only saw the show thought the show did it wrong. But the games are the ones who are doing it wrong. Except it’s not a plothole since it makes sense in the context of things. Geralt’s work is much more unpredictable in the games than it is in the show where he usually knows who’s about to fight him. So it works well for him to have both of his swords - the steel one and the silver one - at hand.
