Tackling the amount of political turmoil in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt can seem daunting, but it is possible for players to obtain every kingdom ruler's ending if they pay attention to dialogue choices and specific quest lines. Typically, there is no such thing as an expressly wrong choice for such an expansive roleplaying game, but some of the mentioned monarchs can cause generations of future problems if let onto the throne.
[Warning - Spoilers for The Witcher 3 follow.]
There are eight possible rulers in Witcher 3, each with their pros and cons, and very few can coexist alongside one another. Emhyr var Emreis could stay emperor of Nilfgaard and rule the North, either Radovid or Dijkstra will be king of Redania and usurp control from Emreis, one of the two an Craite siblings or Svanrige could rule Skellige, Anna Henrietta of Toussaint will either live or die under Geralt's watch, and Ciri could potentially become empress of Nilfgaard. Sensibly, for players to secure their favorite ruler's throne, a few heads will have to roll along the way.
Various rulers will have hefty impacts upon the witcher protagonist Geralt's circumstances. For example, if Radovid stays alive and on the throne, it will have invariably led to both the death of many mages and a revolt against Emhyr var Emreis in Nilfgaard. Ciri becoming empress will both keep her safe, but will also remove her in a way from Geralt's life, and Dijkstra's path to power is a bloody one littered with the corpses of Geralt's friends and allies.
Emhyr var Emreis Wins the War
While Emhyr var Emreis is not the best person to control the North, he is also not the worst. He is somewhat fair in his rule despite his less-than-savory past, and could be considered the least evil of the continent’s current monarchs. His rule is one of the more probable endings in The Witcher 3, as the only requirements needed are that neither Radovid nor Dijkstra rules Redania. This can be done by aiding in the assassination plot against Radovid to ensure it goes smoothly and then siding with the Temerians when Dijkstra betrays Roche and Geralt at the end of "Reason of State".
Dijkstra Takes Over For Radovid
Players are set up to have a complicated relationship with Sigismund Dijkstra, making his potential rule even more divisive. In order to seat him on Radovid’s throne, players will first need to evacuate the mages from The Witcher 3's city of Novigrad. This will then open up the questline to assist Dijkstra and Vernon Roche with Radovid’s assassination. Once the coup is successfully completed, Dijkstra will betray his Temerian allies, and ask Geralt to make a choice on who he sides with. Players must side with Dijkstra and allow him to kill Roche to secure his spot as the new ruler of Redania.
Radovid The Stern Wins the War
Arguably one of the worst political outcomes in Witcher 3 is that Redania's Radovid the Stern stays in his seat of power. While he is well-versed in the art of war and is highly intelligent, he also has a vicious hatred for all non-humans and magical creatures. Aside from playing chess and battle strategy, he spends a great deal of his time burning mages, dwarves, elves, and dopplers alive. Radovid winning the war is a fairly probable outcome, as all Geralt needs to do is ignore the quest "Now Or Never", automatically ensuring Radovid’s victory.
Anna Henrietta Lives or Dies in Toussaint
In The Witcher 3’s DLC Blood & Wine, players get wrapped into the royal affairs of Anna Henrietta and her sister Syanna. Anna Henrietta is notoriously beloved by her people, now among the sole royalty of Toussaint after her husband Raymund ed away. Her older sister, Sylvia Anna, has the unfortunate stroke of being born during an eclipse, a bad omen, and bearing the Curse of the Black Sun and was thus cast out of the kingdom.
After getting involved with the vampire Dettlaff van der Eretein and conspiring in a string of brutal murders, Sylvia Anna has her sights set on murdering her sister to reclaim her birthright. In order to keep Anna Henrietta alive and on the throne, Geralt must either allow the vampire Dettlaff to kill Sylvia Anna or convince her to forgive her younger sister for past grievances.
Cerys an Craite Becomes Queen
Players will have the chance to meddle in the affairs of Skellige royalty and who will be the new ruler after the untimely death of King Bran, determining a good chunk of The Witcher's future lore. Cerys is Crach an Craite’s daughter who, while just as entitled to the throne as everyone else, is met with wariness by the people. In order to put her on the throne, players must head out to assist her on her individual quest line The Possession. After successfully completing the quest, Geralt needs to side with her reasoning after the berserker attack at Kaer Trolde. If placed on the throne, she is a fair and just leader who drives Skellige toward some of its most prosperous years.
Hjalmar an Craite Becomes King
Diametrically opposed to his sister, Hjalmar is quick to act without thinking and often rushes in head first to situations whenever help is needed. He is one of Geralt’s long-time friends and will arrive to help at the battle at Kaer Morhen regardless of whether he is placed on the throne. Similar to Cerys, players will need to help Hjalmar successfully complete his individual quest The Lord of Undvik. They will need to side with Hjalmar after the berserker attack, but unlike Cerys will not discover who was the culprit behind the attacks. Regardless, Hjalmar will take the throne and rule in true Skelliger fashion by organizing raids against Nilfgaard regularly.
Svanrige Rules Skellige
While there rarely are wrong choices in The Witcher 3, allowing Svanrige to take the Skellige throne is as close as players can get. He is the son of the late King Bran and Birna, and compared to the other options is a rather milquetoast ruler. His mother Birna is the one that orchestrated the berserker attack in order to expedite her son to the throne, and if Geralt doesn’t help the an Craite clan she will succeed. Ignoring both Cerys and Hjalmar’s quests and also refusing to help them investigate the attack at Kaer Trolde will secure Svanrige’s victory and push Skellige into turmoil. He makes questionable decisions as king, and eventually drives the entire region to a civil war between the remaining jarls and families.
Ciri Becomes Empress of Nilfgaard
Ciri becoming the empress of Nilfgaard is heavily impacted by player decisions in The Witcher 3. First, Ciri has to survive until the end of the game. This is a tricky task as it is based upon dialogue choices that are easy to skew. Ciri’s life depends on how good of a father Geralt is to her after they reunite before the battle at Kaer Morhen. He must go have a snowball fight with her, her to visit Skjall’s grave, allow her to trash the laboratory, let her go and speak to the Lodge of Sorceresses on her own, and must decline payment from Emhyr. Among other necessary tasks is aiding and freeing the mages in Novigrad, helping assassinate Radovid, and then siding with the Temerians during the Reason of State questline, effectively killing Sigismund Dijkstra. If any of the aforementioned is incomplete, either Radovid or Dijkstra will take control over the North, and Ciri will become a Witcher.
The Witcher 3's manual save function and ability to keep multiple save files of the same playthrough can allow players to play through multiple different kingdom ruler endings with little to no consequence. If players save at the right time or have the time and patience to replay The Witcher 3's main story, it is possible to experience all of the ruler's endings with little backtracking. While some endings are more difficult to obtain than others, The Witcher 3 is fairly forgiving with in-game choices and backtracking is always an option.
