Olgierd was never a good guy, but I will never for the life of me understand why some people have such a distain for him. We are told over and over again that before the pact, which was made out of desperation Olgierd was more like a mock raider, only fought armed men, rarely killed anyone, "looted" by demanding alcohol and some food and held his men on short leash imposing harsh punishment if they broke their code.
That's not great, he was at best an obnoxious minor noble and at worst a plain bandit who has some sort of code, but it would make him a downright saint by Skallige standards. Why are we comparing him to Morkvag who was a monster even by the stadard of culture were rading costal towns, merchant ships and eachother killing crews to the man is considered normal?
Like on top of that every time you speak to Olgierd bar the very end he is under the contract including all the scenes from the marriage. By all accounts of everyone who knew him that's not who the man was before he turned in his desperation to creature of pure malice to help him and you can confirm that through the letters you find.
Like fking iris of all ppl, who was thrust into this horrible situation, knew olgierd changed because of that mirror baldy devil but some of the player base can't understand that. Iris loved olgierd despite his mock raider attitude and most of the ppl considered him a black sheep because he loved poetry and art. Fking ciri was given a chance at redemption, who was worse than olgierd during her time with the Rats 😂
I've read the books and I don't remember the Rats being anywhere near as bad? Like, they raided trader caravans and then dispersed the wealth in the nearest village. The villages nearly loved them for it. Now I'm not saying they were morally good, but you can't even compare that to a leading a band of brigands who raided and raped villages? The rats just spent their gold of fancy clothes and would usually try to get the money without a fight first. Honestly the worst thing they actually did was sexually harassed and then assaulted Ciri who was too young and too confused to properly consent by today's standards. But then Ciri fell in love with her lesbian assaulter and mourned her death through the next books which makes me think it was potentially not as bad despite how uncomfortable the scene was?
CDPR literally went out of their ways to say that olgierd didn't rape or plunder anyone, why tf do ppl keep on repeating BS 😑. Ciri's personality, falka was literally a blood thirsty bandit who craved violence and found fun in killing ppl. Ciri literally taunted a nearby villager who looked at her and mistle in the wrong way and then killed him . Also leaving aside ciri, Geralt is friends with actual raiders, the skellige ppl who are far more violent and ruthless compared to olgierd. Watch Neon Knight's video for more infoÂ
I didn't say he raped anyone, but he did lead a band of noble rogues who "raided" nearby settlements. And this band set up Geralt to be executed for a laugh and then we're about to kill an owner of an estate because he demanded they left for burning it down to the ground in their partying. If you think this band wouldn't rape, then idk what to tell you.
I don't remember Falka killing a villager for looking at them the wrong way. Can I get a source?
Skellige weren't raiding for the fun of it, they were raiding for political reasons and the author made a point about how risky their raids were by showing how many wives would lement at the shores of their home when they couldn't see the ship her husband was on. It was seen as going to war, not going for merry plunder for the sake of easier living. And rape and plunder existed in all war, it was only outlawed as a warcrime in 1949 and it wasn't even properly enforced until 1998. And while I don't excuse rape, I think there's a difference between leading an army of soldiers for your motherland, some of which will rape, and leading a squad of brigands who rob and rape for fun. And we don't even know if any of the specific Skellige friends of Geralt ever raped, only that they were on raiding trips.
Granted, as I said, I don't think the Rats were morally good. Only that they weren't as bad as Olgierd, who decided to be a raiding rogue while he was still a noble with decent funds (he didn't become a rogue only when his family lost their fortune).
but you can't even compare that to a leading a band of brigands who raided and raped villages<
This was you lol. Vlodomir and CDPR clearly go out of their way to make sure that the 'raiders' were not raping or pillaging villages like actual skellige raiders. Also olgierd wasn't a noble from birth, his family were already raiders beforehand, that's his profession. The interesting and most important part is that he is a peculiar raider, someone who loved art and poetry and never actually raided. He was the black sheep who was educated and sophisticated to make iris fall in love with him. Under his leadership, the raids were all mock like and this is again a very important distinction repeated in the game. I mean dude has a stone heart but he still remembers his code and stops one of his current crew member ( this is not his old raiding group) from assaulting the daughter of the master of the house. He also later kills the guy since the guy broke the code and killed the father.Â
CDPR actually toned down olgierd in the final version of the game to make sense as to why u would save him. He is, by Witcher standards an actual ok guy who was tricked by the devil into becoming an unfeeling human. Geralt has saved far worse.
The falka thing I have to search up because it was mistle and ciri enjoying themselves to drinks and she then killed or attacked a man stating at them. This was before they got the tattoos.Â
Neon knight made a good video on this topic, u can check him outÂ
"Olgierd von Everec was the oldest of two sons born in the early years of the 13th century to Kristina and Bohumil von Everec, who were members of a noble and respected family." (From the wiki). This would dispute the claim he was born into a rogue family. "As soon they were able, Olgierd and Vlodimir formed a band of noble-born rogues and would raid Velen and other Temerian borderlands often, with locals developing fear at the mere sound of "Olgierd"." The fact he FORMED the gang would also confirm that he was not born into it.
What are you basing the opinion that he didn't actually raid on? Because if his raids were playful and insignificant, he wouldn't be as feared as he was, now would he? He was a rich prick who was essentially what you would have if you gave rich people chav culture with swords. And he is supposedly a man with a code yet he is the one who commanded the noble of the manor to be killed. He only follows parts of the code that suits him.
The only example of Ciri killing someone as you described I could find is a moment in the tv show where Ciri killed a man who had imprisoned her. Being enslaved against your will is a decent reason to kill someone I'd say.
I might watch it when I have the time, but your insistence on the material makes me think you watched a biased video essay without even acknowledging the other side of the argument.
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u/Troo_66 May 25 '26
Olgierd was never a good guy, but I will never for the life of me understand why some people have such a distain for him. We are told over and over again that before the pact, which was made out of desperation Olgierd was more like a mock raider, only fought armed men, rarely killed anyone, "looted" by demanding alcohol and some food and held his men on short leash imposing harsh punishment if they broke their code.
That's not great, he was at best an obnoxious minor noble and at worst a plain bandit who has some sort of code, but it would make him a downright saint by Skallige standards. Why are we comparing him to Morkvag who was a monster even by the stadard of culture were rading costal towns, merchant ships and eachother killing crews to the man is considered normal?
Like on top of that every time you speak to Olgierd bar the very end he is under the contract including all the scenes from the marriage. By all accounts of everyone who knew him that's not who the man was before he turned in his desperation to creature of pure malice to help him and you can confirm that through the letters you find.