10 Subtle Ways The Witcher 3's Story Is One Of The Very Best
4. Politics Is Thankless & Cruel
No one likes politicians. Even other politicians don't like politicians; especially if they're tortuous spymasters like Dijkstra, or genocidal maniacs like King Radovid V. Yet even these slimy creatures are subjected to the same storytelling rules as the other NPCs of The Witcher 3.
King Radovid's excuse for hunting and killing sorceresses is a poor one. As a young brat, he wasn't fond of Philippa's spankings. Hardly an excuse tying all mages to escape and lighting the fuse. Yet when we look at his psyche, his entitled upbringing, and the reputation and dubious actions of the mages, it is easy to see how his mind travelled to its horrific destination. Radovid trusted in Philippa, a mage, right up until suspecting she was manipulating him for her own power.
Soon after, he would learn how she founded The Lodge of Sorceresses, which by its very nature existed to preserve magic above all else, including the Kings the sorceresses served. With the ever present belief of an inevitable coup, coupled with the murder of his father and an invading empire from the south, it's of a little wonder that he turned out to be so coo-coo for a bonfire.
Anti-heroes and tragic villains infest the political preserve. The greedy Dijkstra recognises his King for the villain and leads a plot to assassinate him for the good of the people, uncharacteristically risking position and wealth to save sorceresses from the witch hunters. The guerrilla-like Scoia'tael non-humans, despite their vicious and unforgiving methods, are merely fighting for the survival of their diminishing cultures. Even the Bloody Baron that beat his own wife repents to bury his dead child. And you can see why, right? What a cutie!
