<PERSON>'s ending to the saga in 'the lady of the lake' is clouded with ambiguity making it unclear whether it is conventional or not and what the ending actual is. We are meant to interpret the ending in our own way based on what we took from the saga. But realistically, there are three possible endings: 1. <PERSON>, with her power escorts a dying (or already deceased) <PERSON> and <PERSON> and takes them to an isle (lets call it the isle of Avallach for arguments sake considering that's the name the games give it), and here they are revived and healed due to the magical nature of the place, and there they live out their days and live happily; and <PERSON> goes traveling, where she ends up in an Arthurian-inspired fantasy world (not England, just a heavily Arthurian-inspired world). For whatever reason, she cannot return to the Isle, which the game hints at being due to the Wild Hunt which, although the game isn't cannon to <PERSON>'s own image of the saga, its still plausible as <PERSON> consulted with CD projket red on several areas regarding plot and story. <PERSON> then goes travelling and becomes a witcheress travelling this Arthurian landscape and traversing between worlds. 2. <PERSON> and <PERSON> both die and are transported to an afterlife or heaven. This isn't too different to the first theory though in this, they are both dead. There's nothing to say that an afterlife doesn't exist in the saga. Ghosts and specters are a heavily and influential part of the cannon and are indisputably part of the lore. If these exist, surely an afterlife can. This is supported by the fact that the characters could see deceased past friends in the mist carrying <PERSON> and <PERSON>. The afterlife and the intricacies of said afterlife in the witcher world are never completely explored so it isn't too far fetched to assume the two are transported to an Avalon or heaven, hence why Ciri cant reach them. 3. The saddest and grimmest of all I am afraid- They are both dead. No afterlife, no magical isle, they are dead. Finished. Gone. 72
Fin. Ended. Done. The part of the chapter where <PERSON> awakens and <PERSON> is with him in the meadow could just be an imagining by <PERSON>, falsified along with the story that they get married after, to help her cope with her grief. Now, you must conclude, which of these three is the cannon. I believe that the third is the least likely. Why would <PERSON> write of <PERSON> awakening with <PERSON> if it didn't happen in some way, shape or form, be it in another world or an afterlife. Also, he gave CD projket red consultation on several aspects of the game plot. Also, in Season of Storms it is hinted that <PERSON> saves a young <PERSON>, future Lady of the Lake, which, although an ambiguous passage in an ambiguous time frame, adds fuel to the argument- why would <PERSON> do that. He wouldn't simply write of <PERSON> and <PERSON> waking up in another world and of <PERSON> (potentially) saving someone several decades later unless it happened; he wouldn't write these things unless they were canonical in some form. You could argue that in Season of Storm, he is hinting to the reader subtly that <PERSON> survived. Now. Do they survive in another world as in the game, or do they go to an afterlife? Well, if Season of Storms is to be taken literally then they survive and go to a world to heal and be resurrected. Though, why would their deceased friends be transporting them there too if this was the case? You could argue that the past friends carrying <PERSON> and <PERSON> was just <PERSON>'s way of throwing the reader off and making an ambiguous ending. I believe that the most likely ending is that they go to a magical land typical of fairytales to be resurrected; I believe this because I enjoy, no, I LOVE the games, and I want their canonical ending of the books to be true. Also, this too good to be true ending is on the surface very stereotypical of fantasy stories. It's a happy ending they live happily ever after! Well, wouldn't a stereotypical ending just be countertypical of a saga which strives on being countertypical, making the ending stereotypical but countertypical to its own respective saga. That's a whole other fox whole no one wants to go down. Heads are spinning. Regardless, that's what I believe. 663