Chapter Summaries

Geralt and He Shenyan destroyed a village that trafficked in slaves, then rescued eight survivors and warned them to keep silent. After leaving them in a port town, the pair continued their journey and arrived in Novigrad in late October.

• He Shenyan explained that the village had served the Iron Sword Company as a slave-transfer station for thirty-seven years, and Geralt killed the villagers, including the children, as accomplices.
• Geralt and He Shenyan took five women and three men from the village and offered each of them two hundred Oren to start a new life.
• Geralt warned the survivors not to reveal what had happened, while a rescued poet questioned why the authorities had allowed the slave trade to continue.
• Three days later, the pair left the eight survivors in a port town and continued toward their destination.
• Geralt decided not to hunt the Gliding Lizard because it no longer threatened humans, and he and He Shenyan reached Novigrad in late October.

Geralt and He Shenyan rode through Novigrad, where children spread word that a witcher had arrived. Old Whoreson learned of Geralt's presence and arranged to have him found, while warning his men not to harm him.

• Geralt and He Shenyan discussed Dandelion's poetry as they rode through Novigrad.
• A child recognized Geralt as a witcher, and the children ran through the city shouting that there was a witcher in Novigrad.
• Alphonse Wiley, known as Whoreson, heard that a white-haired man carrying two swords had arrived and recognized him as the witcher from his past.
• Whoreson ordered Jack to send Worpol Roy and his beggars to find Geralt in exchange for returning three houses, and told Jack to prevent anyone from harming the witcher.
• Whoreson angrily vowed that his enemies all had to die.

Geralt and He Shenyan settled into an inn in Novigrad while the mage prepared a spell to locate a point in time. Meanwhile, Jack hired Worpol Roy to find where a witcher was staying, and Worpol delegated the dangerous task to Francis.

• Geralt asked He Shenyan whether his spell needed so much preparation, and He Shenyan explained that finding the right point in time was the difficult part.
• Geralt and He Shenyan received an expensive meal paid for by the mage at their Novigrad inn.
• Jack told Worpol Roy that Alphonse wanted to know where a witcher who had entered the city was staying.
• Worpol Roy asked whether the request involved Iron Sword Company and said he feared retaliation if it did.
• Jack offered payment for Worpol to send one or two underlings to gather the information instead of going himself.
• Worpol Roy called Francis in and gave him the job.

Alphonse Wiley learned that Worpol Roy refused to cooperate against the Iron Sword Company, so Jack arranged for a beggar to investigate instead. In Novigrad, Geralt reunited with Tavia while He Shenyan searched through time for a white ship and discovered that someone had identified Geralt.

• Jack told Alphonse Wiley that Worpol Roy feared the other powerful figures would unite against him if he helped, and Alphonse accepted the refusal.
• Jack explained that he had asked one of Worpol Roy's men to investigate the Iron Sword Company's human trafficking and locate the Witcher.
• Geralt met Tavia in Novigrad, where she told him she had retired from prostitution after Alphonse Wiley canceled her debt and sponsored her musical studies.
• He Shenyan searched through the gemstone for an era when a white ship had reached shore, but found no answer yet.
• He Shenyan sensed a ragged man in the crowd thinking that he had found the white-haired Witcher.

Geralt learned that Tavia had found a sponsor who recognized her singing talent, then He Shenyan brought him to meet people seeking his help. Jack Tallin revealed under He Shenyan’s magic that Alphonse Wiley wanted Geralt to help drive Iron Sword Company out of Novigrad, leaving Geralt amused and skeptical.

• Tavia told Geralt that her sponsor had paid for her singing lessons and encouraged her talent, and Geralt used Axii to calm her before sending her home.
• He Shenyan told Geralt that someone in the city was looking for him.
• Jack Tallin paid Francis Belin and warned him to flee because Worpol Roy had chosen him as a scapegoat.
• Belin explained that Iron Sword Company was trafficking people through Novigrad and said he wanted to oppose the corrupt city government.
• Geralt and He Shenyan entered the room, and He Shenyan used magic to make Jack reveal that Alphonse Wiley wanted Geralt to help drive Iron Sword Company from the city.
• Geralt mocked the idea that Alphonse Wiley was asking him for help.

He Shenyan discovered that the Iron Sword Company’s members had been magically influenced into committing atrocities, then killed eight assailants who begged for death. Meanwhile, Alphonse Wiley prepared to fight the human traffickers, setting the stage for a violent confrontation in Novigrad.

• Jack revealed under He Shenyan’s psychic control that Alphonse Wiley had once been trafficked and refused to deal in human trafficking.
• He Shenyan sent Geralt away and confronted eight armed members of the Iron Sword Company, questioning them about their crimes and discovering magical influence in their minds.
• Edmund Curtis and the other men asked He Shenyan to kill them and punish the Mage who had turned them into monsters, and He Shenyan killed them.
• Alphonse Wiley told Jack that he had never hidden being sold in Novigrad as a child and ordered his men to gather for an assault on the traffickers.

Geralt investigated a gang member’s murder in Novigrad and learned that Whoreson had started a war against the city’s other gangs. After men from the Iron Sword Company ambushed him, Geralt began cutting them down.

• Geralt found a man stabbed to death and identified him as a gang member by the tattoo on his neck.
• Geralt overheard guards say that Whoreson was fighting the other three gangs and had attacked even the beggars.
• Geralt moved most of the corpse into the bushes, then deflected a volley of arrows with the Quen Sign.
• Geralt charged the twelve Iron Sword Company attackers and killed at least two of them with a sword strike.

Jack Tallin and Whoreson’s gang launched a brutal assault across Novigrad, while Worpol Roy sought Dijkstra’s help to exploit the chaos and eliminate the gangs. Dijkstra warned that the Iron Sword Company had compromised the city’s forces, leaving them dependent on Alphonse Wiley to survive.

• Jack Tallin killed the people inside a bungalow and set it ablaze as Old Whoreson waited outside with a crossbow.
• Old Whoreson told Jack about his childhood home, his artist father, and his love of sunflowers, poetry, and art before leading his gang to war.
• Whoreson’s men seized thirteen casinos and underground fight pits controlled by the other three city giants and their allies in the Iron Sword Company.
• Worpol Roy visited Dijkstra and urged him to send for an army so they could wipe out the gangs amid the unrest.
• Dijkstra said the Iron Sword Company had bought off Novigrad’s forces and warned Worpol that they might have to rely on Alphonse Wiley to survive.

As war ravaged Novigrad’s slums, Bach Jonas and Henrietta Mofuri Asa argued over the guards’ order to stand aside until He Shenyan urged Bach to resist. Geralt killed twelve attackers and reflected on how rulers treated civilians as expendable, while He Shenyan suggested this time could be different.

• Bach Jonas told Henrietta Mofuri Asa that the guards had been ordered not to intervene in the war, and admitted the mayor would make him a scapegoat.
• A mysterious voice pressured Bach Jonas to lead the guards against the Iron Sword Company and the gangs, promising their families would be safe.
• He Shenyan appeared before Bach Jonas in a black robe and told him to stop the war.
• Geralt killed twelve men, then cleaned his face and sword while He Shenyan provided water.
• Geralt recalled protecting an innocent family during a 1249 coup in Poviss and described the king’s proclamation condemning the civilians who had died.
• He Shenyan told Geralt that this time might be different.

He Shenyan explained to Geralt why he would not intervene directly in Novigrad’s troubles and resolved to give its people the chance to rely on themselves. Meanwhile, Jack Tallin uncovered a hidden space beneath a gang hideout and found people in the darkness below.

• He Shenyan told Geralt that powerful beings who solve problems for people can make them dependent, and said he wanted to give Novigrad’s people a third choice: relying on themselves.
• Jack Tallin prepared to burn a gang hideout after killing its occupants but heard muffled screams beneath the floorboards.
• Jack and Tari pried up the floorboards and revealed a staircase leading into a hidden space.
• Jack shone a torch into the darkness, and Tari recoiled when he saw what was inside.

Jack and the others discovered chained women and corpses in a basement as violence spread through Novigrad. Bach Jonas mobilized the guards to contain the gangs and protect civilians, while He Shenyan left to kill people he suspected were behind the conflict.

• Jack and the others found five chained women eating dog food and five rotting corpses in a basement.
• Bach Jonas ordered guards to secure Novigrad's gates and harbor, preserve civilian lives, and find Alphonse Wiley.
• Elrio reported that fires were raging in the shantytown and that Wiley's men had found abducted women.
• Bach sent Elrio's men to support the eastern and western guards, dismissing the mayor and councilmen's authority.
• Geralt spoke with He Shenyan at their inn, and He Shenyan said he suspected a mage organization was manipulating events before leaving through a portal to kill someone.

At an opulent island banquet, masked members of an organization discussed Vilgefortz’s death and Francesca Findabair’s fate as the evening’s main course. The gathering waited for her arrival, revealing that its members intended to consume her.

• Julian said Vilgefortz was dead and lamented that the organization had lost a rare candidate for membership.
• Veronika asked whether the group would avenge Vilgefortz, and Julian clarified that the main course was Francesca Findabair, whose unusual magic had made her a target.
• Veronika flirted with Julian and Pansy, then asked Pansy about his duties as the organization’s person in charge.
• Yvette confronted Veronika, accusing her of using her body to manipulate men, and Veronika answered with a pointed reminder that Yvette had attended the banquet.
• Julian stopped Veronika and Yvette from quarreling and reflected that everyone at the gathering had come to feed.

Francesca entered the hidden hall expecting to join the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, but An and the supposed mages revealed they intended to consume her to steal her power, memories, and magical talent. Francesca fought back, and just as the crowd turned on her, Wald vanished and the hall went dark.

• An led Francesca into a hall where twenty-nine supposedly dead sorcerers had gathered, and Francesca believed she was about to join the Brotherhood’s highest circle.
• An announced that Francesca was the banquet’s main course, and a white-haired man named Wald explained that the sorcerers planned to share her magic, memories, and talent by eating her.
• Francesca recognized several famous mages among the crowd, realized An had deceived her, and refused Wald’s demand that she kneel.
• Francesca struck Wald with lightning and broke free of the clothes meant to seal her magic, while An urged the crowd to kill her.
• Wald regenerated and prepared to attack Francesca, but he suddenly vanished when someone touched his shoulder, and the hall plunged into darkness.

He Shenyan attacked An Lis and the Reclusive Ones after their magic failed, confronting An Lis over her crimes. He left the hall filled with corpses as Francesca watched in fear.

• The hall’s magical lights went out, and An Lis and the others found they could no longer cast spells.
• A voice in the darkness confronted An Lis, and Julian Nailis’s severed head rolled to her feet.
• He Shenyan seized An Lis and accused her of trafficking people and stealing sorcerers’ power, memories, and talent.
• He Shenyan pulled An Lis’s bones from her body and destroyed her soul, then revealed the corpses scattered across the hall.
• Francesca stared at He Shenyan, still frightened.

He Shenyan rebuked Francesca for neglecting her magical training in favor of politics, prompting her to reconsider how she had spent the past fourteen years. He then watched events unfold in Novigrad and continued using the blue gem to search the Sea of Time for the coordinate 1240 BC, though the gem was turning black and growing unstable.

• He Shenyan told Francesca that she had wasted her talent by neglecting meditation and pursuing political influence instead of developing her magic.
• Francesca reconsidered her years in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers and realized she had wasted her talent.
• He Shenyan left Francesca alone and observed that ordinary people were close to winning the war in Novigrad.
• He Shenyan examined the blue gem, searched the Sea of Time for 1240 BC, and worried that the gem's growing blackness would make it unstable.

He Shenyan worked on a method of traveling through time by anchoring many Timelines to 1240 BC, since the world had no temporal turbulence. While waiting for food with Geralt at an inn, he recounted his recent encounter with Francesca and explained how destroying the Hermits could help her establish an Elven city in the Valley of Flowers.

• He Shenyan described three methods of time travel and continued calculating anchors across multiple Timelines to reach 1240 BC.
• Geralt learned that his meals and washing at the inn were included in his stay, but visiting the brothel required extra money.
• He Shenyan joined Geralt and said he had finished his business, leaving the decision about Francesca's intelligence for later.
• He Shenyan told Geralt about his encounter with Francesca and said the Valley of Flowers could suit her plan for an Elven city.
• Geralt urged He Shenyan to continue explaining while they ate.

He Shenyan explained to Geralt how Francesca could use the Iron Sword Company’s human-trafficking scheme to force the Brotherhood of Sorcerers to support her political demands in Dol Blathanna. He predicted that the Mages would instead pursue her, leaving her to prove she could survive them.

• Geralt recognized Dol Blathanna as the Valley of Flowers and discussed its history and the conflict between its Elves and humans with He Shenyan.
• He Shenyan explained that the Iron Sword Company was backed by the Hermits and that exposing its crimes would threaten the Brotherhood of Sorcerers’ reputation.
• He Shenyan described the Wizards’ Guild and the Supreme Council of Sorcerers, and argued that their members would help Francesca to protect their court positions and conceal the scandal.
• Geralt warned that the Mages might kill Francesca rather than negotiate with an Elf Sorceress.
• He Shenyan predicted that Mages around the world would pursue Francesca and said she deserved to die if she could not handle them.

After the gangs helped end the riots in Novigrad, Whoreson told Captain Bach Jonas he was retiring and leaving the city to search for his homeland. The next day, newspapers reported that his son Cyprian Wiley had murdered him, while Geralt discovered He Shenyan in a situation that made him cry out in alarm.

• He Shenyan told Geralt that Francesca's fate was her own responsibility and praised Andrea as his true apprentice.
• Novigrad's guards quelled the riots, leaving Whoreson as the city's last underworld kingpin.
• Whoreson confronted Bach Jonas, condemned the city leadership's failure to act, and announced that he was retiring and leaving Novigrad.
• Whoreson told Bach that he had been abducted to Novigrad as a child and had begun giving alms to atone for his past.
• Novigrad newspapers reported that Cyprian Wiley had murdered his father, Alphonse Wiley.
• Geralt told He Shenyan about Whoreson's death, then entered the Mage's room and cried out in shock.

He Shenyan shut himself inside a Pocket Dimension to calculate for what felt like 731 years, surrounded by gemstones containing dead timelines. He returned the room to normal but still could not find the time anchor point he was searching for.

• Geralt found He Shenyan floating in a void and tossed him a glass of water when he asked for it.
• He Shenyan said he had spent 731 years calculating inside the Pocket Dimension, though Geralt had experienced only about a day.
• Geralt saw that the void was made of countless blackening gemstones reflecting death.
• He Shenyan ended the Pocket Dimension and told Geralt he still could not find the time anchor point.

After Geralt urged He Shenyan to rest instead of pursuing a desperate plan to travel back to 1240 B.C., He Shenyan joined Tony Stark for burgers and caught up with him. The meal ended with Pepper confronting Tony over his behavior while He Shenyan watched with amusement.

• He Shenyan explained that he planned to find a Time Anchor in the Sea of Time and return to 1240 B.C., when Ithlinne and the Elves first arrived aboard the White Ship.
• Geralt told He Shenyan he looked exhausted after 731 years of endless calculation and urged him to rest, and He Shenyan agreed.
• He Shenyan met Tony Stark at a burger joint, where Tony complained about people comparing his shaved head to fictional characters.
• Tony asked where Steve was, and He Shenyan said Steve was in another universe fighting aliens, Demons, cultists, or renegade super soldiers.
• Jarvis corrected Tony about Morgan’s age and revealed that Pepper was listening, prompting Pepper to project herself and confront Tony about meeting a womanizer magazine owner.
• Pepper warned Tony not to appear in the news with another woman, while He Shenyan watched their argument with interest.