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the witcher - What did Geralt of Rivia ask for his third wish?


What exactly did Geralt of Rivia ask the genie in the short story "The Last Wish" in "The Last Wish" collection by Andrzej Sapkowski? I know what happened after with Geralt and Yennefer - is it revealed what the exact words were?


P.S. I am still in process of reading the series, so if it is a really big spoiler than by all means let me know of that and not answer :P :D



Answer



Geralt's first wish

The rough translation of what he commanded the djinn to do while holding the sigil was "get out of here and go fuck yourself". He didn't know that was what he was saying, because he didn't speak the language, but the sigil heated up right after he said that, showing that it had activated, and later Geralt insisted that the priest translate the command. At that point he knew it was he who had wished, and that it was that particular phrase, but he had to know its translation to be certain. See pages 280 and 330 of the standard paperback edition.


Geralt's second wish
His second wish was for the sadistic guard to literally 'burst', which he does.



Geralt's third wish
We cannot know for sure what it was; Sapkowski leaves it to our imagination. All we know is that it had the effect of both protecting them from the djinn and binding their fates together, as the priest later said. Yennefer also said it was something so powerful that she doubted there was any force in Nature that could grant it, but that if there was, Geralt had condemned himself to her.

See also this post from the Arqade/Gaming.


The most commonly cited possibilities are things it couldn't have been, given the evidence:





  1. For Geralt and Yennefer to have a baby together. This is sort of clever, since the djinn after fulfilling this wish wouldn't be able to kill them, at least not for awhile, and whatever his wish was certainly had the effect of preventing the djinn from killing them. But Sapkowski explicitly denied that this was the wish in an interview. Also, Geralt he would never force his offspring on a woman without asking her consent, even if it would save her life.




  2. For Yennefer to fall in love with Geralt. This is very popular, but impossible for two reasons. Firstly, again, Geralt would never force his love on someone else: that would directly conflict with the code of conduct and morality which is the centrepiece of the book. Secondly, this would do absolutely nothing in protecting either of them from the djinn, which at that point was out for Yennefer's blood and possibly Geralt's as well. Had he wished that, the djinn would have granted it and then happily killed her and possibly him too.




  3. For Yennefer to forget that she had ever been a hunchback. A few people think this because it was on his mind shortly before he made the wish, but it's impossible because again it would not have prevented the djinn from killing them. Also (minor spoilers):



    she remembers that she was one in a future book; and she also remembers later on what his wish was, but if it was this she would have had to forget because the very wish would have reminded her of it.






Answer copied with some modifications from here, where you can also find a longer discussion on the topic. For more details about the story, see here.


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