Witcher 3 Songs of the Past DLC opens up some wild options

With the official announcement of a new DLC for The Witcher 3, titled Songs of the Past, fans of the massively successful RPG must be wondering when the expansion will take place in the timeline. The answer is trickier than it looks: Not only do we have to consider the multiple endings of The Witcher 3 and what we know about the upcoming The Witcher 4, but also how the games interact with the established events in the short stories and novels written by Andrzej Sapkowski.

When CD Projekt Red acquired the license to make The Witcher games, Sapkowski was already done telling Geralt’s story: the last installment in the five-book series was published in Poland in 1999, eight years before the first The Witcher game came out. By having the three games take place after the conclusion of the pentalogy, CD Projekt Red was able to weave an original story that does not immediately contradict Sapkowski’s work. But with the third game, things got more complicated due to the presence of Ciri.

Cirilla of Cintra is a key character in the books: While Geralt’s charisma makes him the face of the franchise, the pentalogy truly revolves around Ciri’s journey. In the ending of the saga, as narrated in The Lady of the Lake, Geralt and Yennefer depart for an unknown land where they’re supposed to live happily ever after, while Ciri travels to another world where she joins King Arthur’s court at Camelot. The Witcher 3 picks up when the girl returns to her original world, using the Wild Hunt as a plot device to explain Ciri’s absence and Geralt’s amnesia, and to set up the main conflict in the story.

At the end of The Witcher 3, Ciri stops the White Frost from destroying the world. Considering that she appears as the main character in The Witcher 4, we can assume that the canon ending is the one where she survives and becomes a Witcher like Geralt. So, what does this all mean for the new DLC, The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past?

The easiest answer is that the expansion could serve as a bridge between The Witcher 3 and the upcoming fourth installment in the series, but Ciri’s presence in the DLC is not that likely, considering she’s the protagonist of The Witcher 4. A lot of The Witcher 3 revolved around the interaction between Geralt and Ciri, and with Geralt confirmed to appear in The Witcher 4, we can expect plenty of mentoring in that game too. To stand out, Songs of the Past could take a different path and focus solely on Geralt instead.

Indeed, the title of the DLC suggests that this could be a story from Geralt’s past, meaning that CD Projekt Red is taking a page from Sapkowski’s book.

The Polish author did in fact write two more books set in The Witcher universe after The Lady of the Lake, even though they are both prequels. Season of Storms is set between the short stories in the first book of the series, The Last Wish, while Crossroad of Ravens depicts Geralt shortly after he completed his training as a Witcher. Songs of the Past could take a similar approach and bring players to an earlier time in Geralt’s life. In that case, the DLC would be launched directly from the game’s main menu, an option already available for Blood and Wine.

Image: CD Projekt Red

It seems unlikely that Songs of the Past would be a straight-up adaptation of the stories told in Season of Storms or Crossroad of Ravens. CD Projekt Red has always preferred to tell its own stories, and its relationship with Sapkowski is a bit rocky, given that the author sued the company in 2018 to secure royalty payments, despite selling the video game rights for a lump sum.

Alternatively, the “past” from the title should not have to be taken literally. Rather than setting the DLC during an earlier time in Geralt’s life, perhaps this expansion will take place a few years after the end of The Witcher 3, just like Blood and Wine, and bring back a threat from Geralt’s past. Considering the man’s profession, there are plenty of choices.

Vilgefortz, the evil mage and leader of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, would be the perfect candidate. He was a major antagonist in the books and was killed in The Lady of the Lake, but we’ve already seen supposedly dead characters return in the books. The vampire Regis, for example, appeared in Blood and Wine, and he was killed in the books by Vilgefortz himself, marking an interesting potential connection between the two DLCs.

Photo: Katalin Vermes/Netflix

In terms of new locations to explore, there are still many important regions in The Witcher’s world that have not appeared in the games. Big candidates could be Nilfgaard, Cintra, and even the exotic land of Zerrikania. With Kovir being the setting of The Witcher 4, it’s safe to assume this northernmost kingdom won’t appear in the DLC.

Having Songs of the Past take place during Geralt’s early years as a Witcher would be the most original choice. On the other hand, Blood and Wine was incredibly successful, so it’s possible that CD Projekt Red will simply choose to double up and set the new DLC a few years after the end of The Witcher 3. Perhaps they will also insert a little tease for The Witcher 4 in the story. No matter what, when, or where, I’ll just be happy to step foot in the world of The Witcher again.