After your unexpectedly eventful flight from White Orchard you’ll find yourself leaving behind the rustic, battle-torn, monster-filled countryside for an even more dangerous venue - occupied Vizima. Once the capital city of Temeria, now fallen to the Nilfgaardians. Given your experiences with the Nilfgaardians in White Orchard, they can prove every bit as treacherous as any monster, and Geralt’s not quite as adept at playing politics as he is at swinging a sword. This page will provide a walkthrough for the main quest Imperial Audience, helping you navigate the Byzantine politics of the Nilfgaardian court, and pick the best answers to Morvran Voorhis’s questions.

Objectives¶

Answer Morvran Voorhis’s Questions¶

Following the scene detailing your flight from White Orchard, things will pick up with Geralt being groomed… not for his own benefit, but rather for the dignity and sensibilities of the Nilfgaardian emperor, with whom an audience is imminent. During Geralt’s mandatory shave he’ll be questioned by Morvran Voorhis, and if you chose not to simulate a Witcher 2 save at the start of the game, this will be a brief exchange where your responses don’t matter, mostly having to do with the fate of the Nilfgaardian cavalry that escorted you to Vizima. In this case the game will automatically select the following world states for various choices you could have made in The Witcher 2:

The Witcher 2 Default Choices¶

If you elected to simulate a Witcher 2 save, however, these questions are more meaningful and impactful, as they’re effectively allowing you to choose what happened during key choices in The Witcher 2, effectively setting your world states for the future. The answers for each question Morvran Voorhis asks and their consequences will be covered below.

The Fate of Aryan La Valette¶

Son of the treacherous Maria Louisa La Valette whom Geralt encountered at the start of The Witcher 2. You could choose to engage the young noble in combat or convince him that crossing swords with a century-old mutant widely regarded as one of the best swordsmen in the north wasn’t a good idea. In the former case, Aryan La Valette will be dead in The Witcher 3, while in the latter case he’ll have escaped the castle’s dungeon with Geralt shortly after their potentially violent encounter. He does not appear in The Witcher 3, and this choice only affects the dialog of a minor NPC, not impacting any quests or encounters in any meaningful way. Feel free to choose whatever you wish here.

How Did You Reach Vergen?¶

The big choice at the end of chapter one, you could either side with Iorveth, an elven rebel and leader of the Scoia’tael who helped Foltest’s murderer or Vernon Roche, leader of Foltest’s “blue stripes” special forces, who sought both the Scoia’tael and the kingslayer. Aside from some dialog with an NPC you’ll meet later, this choice doesn’t have any meaningful impact, so you can choose whichever you wish.

Did you Rescue Triss, or Anais/Saskia?¶

At the summit at Loc Muinne you’d have had to choose between rescuing Triss and one of two options depending on who you fled to Vergen with. If you chose Iorveth you’d have had the choice to subsequently attempt to break the curse on Saskia, while if you sided with Vernon Roche you’d have had the option to attempt to rescue Anais. Once again, this choice has little impact on The Witcher 3; either way Triss survived and harbors no strong feelings towards Geralt regardless of his choice. Neither Anais nor Saskia appear in The Witcher 3, so their fate is irrelevant. Make whatever choices you wish here. You can find more details in the spoiler box below.

Sile de Tansarvilles Fate?¶

Sile de Tansarville was one of the sorceress conspirators that set the events of The Witcher 2 in motion, and Geralt - and all the north - suffered for their schemes. At the summit at Loc Muinne, Letho - the Kingslayer - sabotaged Sile’s megascope. Geralt had the option to put old grudges aside and save Sile, or let the sabotage kill her in dramatic fashion. Unlike the other characters mentioned on this list, Sile can appear in The Witcher 3 if she’s alive, although she only appears in one late-game quest and her role is short, inconsequential and ill-fated. Pick whatever you want here, but if you want a bit more content during the quest [The Great Escape], keep her alive.

What Happened to Letho?¶

The antagonist of The Witcher 2, like Aryan you could have fought - and killed - him, or talked your way out of a fight. This is the most consequential choice here, and since Letho is dead by default, simulating a Witcher 2 save so you can keep him alive is arguably the best choice to make. If Letho is alive he’ll appear during the quest [The Fall of House Reardon] and will have his own secondary quest, Ghosts of the Past. Depending on how you interact with him, he’ll also appear during the main quest [The Battle of Kaer Morhen], taking an active part in events. It’s a free quest you otherwise don’t get, and while it’s not terrible consequential, if you want more content with no downsides, you’ll keep Letho alive by picking the dialog option “That alliance still alive? What happened to Letho?”

For the sake of simplicity, for this guide we chose to simulate a Witcher 2 save and picked the following options:

• “I spared his life. He escaped.”
• “Got out of Flotsam with Vernon Roche.”
• “Had to save Triss.”
• “Sile escaped.”
• “That alliance still alive? What happened to Letho?”

Pick Out Clothes¶

Respond how you will to Morvran Voorhis’s questions and eventually Geralt will be deemed clean enough to proceed. Next you need to be dressed properly, and three outfits with at best minor variations will be presented to you. Respond how you wish and when you’re able to do so, just pick up all three outfits off their stands and wear whichever one you personally prefer. The choice doesn’t matter and Emperor Emhyr can afford to spare some threads.

Meet Emperor Emhyr¶

Don your new digs, then talk to Emhyr’s Chamberlain again and confirm you’re ready to go. He’ll then force you to go through the trouble of rehearsing a proper bow. Pick the option [Left leg forwards, right hand on chest.] to move things along, then follow the chamberlain a short distance to meet with Emhyr, being pestered with more rules as you go. A choice is coming up, and while it may not be consequential, it’s worth covering for role-playing reasons.

Choice: Bow to Emhyr or Not?¶

After you’re finally introduced to Emhyr you’ll get a timed choice to bow or refrain. The good news is that the decision has absolutely no impact on the storyline, so you’re free to pick whatever response suits your Geralt. Emhyr’s response will vary depending on your actions (or inaction) but you’ll get down to brass tacks and discuss what Emhyr wants from you, and this will largely proceed apace regardless of whether you bowed or not.

When your business with Emhyr is concluded you’ll be escorted through the vandalized palace to meet up with Yennefer again. The Chamberlain will say different things depending on what choices you made during your meeting with Emhyr: If you bowed, the Chamberlain will escort you back through the palace, saying the business-as-usual lines about what’s going on and to get you out of the palace as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, refusing to bow means the Chamberlain is rather angry at you, and mentions how he is likely to be punished for not correctly addressing you on the manners of court. Whether the Chamberlain actually receives his punishment or not is never revealed, but if you’re got a guilty conscience, bow for the Chamberlain’s sake, or refuse to bow for your own personal reasons.

Talk to Yennefer¶

After your meeting with Emhyr, follow the Chamberlain through the castle and resist the urge to loot and plunder - it’s coming, just be patient. He’ll lead you through the throne room and an adjoining garden before stopping at a door. Press on without your new pal and you’ll find Yennefer, a mix of flirting and business as usual… but mostly business. Pick whatever responses you wish as Yennefer talks shop and your next major objective will be made clear: find Ciri before the Wild Hunt does. Ciri has been spotted in Velen and Novigrad, and while you have the opportunity to choose between multiple main quests now, in practice only The Nilfgaardian Connection and [Pyres of Novigrad] are pursuable at this point. These quests take place in Velen and Novigrad, respectively, but Velen’s lower level makes The Nilfgaardian Connection the more suitable place to start.

Talk to Ambassador var Attre¶

Business concluded, Yennefer will leave. Take the opportunity to loot Yennefer’s room, especially a chest in a cubby to the west, then take her up on her advice and talk to the ambassador, who is standing by a fire in the room to the south. Ask him about how the war with Radovid is going, then get caught up on the game’s three main areas; Velen, Novigrad, and Skellige. A Bloody Baron in Velen, the Eternal Fire cult inciting pogroms against nonhumans and mages in Novigrad, and in Skellige… well, Skellige is just the home of some lovable semi-civilized barbarians who totally aren’t vikings.

Recover Your Gear from the Chamberlain¶

Leave these rooms and return to the garden, where you can talk to the Chamberlain to get your gear back, which he had the audacity to freshen up! With one last warning not to keep Emhyr waiting he’ll leave you to your own devices. This is an idle threat, as Emhyr will wait as long as it takes for you to find Ciri, so don’t worry about time limits.

Play Gwent with the Nilfgaardian Nobleman¶

There’s surprisingly little left to do here - there’s some more minor loot to be had if you look around, and you can play Gwent with a Nilfgaardian Nobleman, but his cards are so strong you’re probably just throwing away Crowns. Don’t worry, you can return to face him later, at any time you can fast travel, in fact, so you don’t need to fret over it now. On a more cash-flow positive note, activate your Witcher senses and search a pillar to the east of this Gwent-playing nobleman to find a brick highlighted in red. Press the brick and turn north to find a secret doorway, beyond which you’ll find a small chest you can loot. Inside you’ll find an Old Letter, which is more interesting than useful.

Leave Vizima¶

When you’re ready to head out on your journey, return to the throne room and go through the doors along the southern edge of the throne room. You can now fast-travel to any signpost in the game that you’ve discovered, although there’s little reason to return to White Orchard, and there’s only one new signpost you can travel to in Velen - the one at the Hanged Man’s Tree. Interact with the door to bring up the map, press to transition to the world map, select the “Velen - No Man’s Land” region, then travel to the aforementioned signpost. The walkthrough will continue with the main quest The Nilfgaardian Connection.