Ciri (Ciara Berkeley) offers her monster-killing services to a worried village in The Witcher 4 (TBA), CD Projekt Red
In attempting quell player concerns surrounding the highly-anticipated sequel’s first trailer, the dev team behind the upcoming The Witcher 4 says that contrary to whispers on the internet, the game’s story will not mess with the series’ established canon.

Ciri (Ciara Berkeley) starts to feel the effects of the witcher potion in The Witcher 4 (TBA), CD Projekt Red
Debuting to the public on December 12th during the 2024 edition of The Game Awards, the first trailer for CD Projekt Red’s next big release finds Ciri, now adventuring on her own, attempting to save a young girl from being ritually sacrificed to the Bauk, a new creature with the ability, as explained by game director Sebastian Kalemba to IGN, “to smell your fear, to be able to play with your traumas, to paralyze you”.

Eventually engaging the monster in battle, Ciri emerges victorious following a particularly harrowing back-and-forth thanks to her chugging of an unidentified witcher potion, its magical properties augmenting her natural abilities and giving her the edge over her prey.

Unfortunately, her efforts ultimately prove fruitless, as she soon discovers that the girl’s village, still fearful of the monster and unaware that it no longer lives, took her sacrifice into their own, knife-wielding hands.

The Witcher IV — Cinematic Reveal Trailer | The Game Awards 2024

Following the trailer’s premiere, Ciri’s apparent promotion to full-blown witcheress had fans abuzz with what possible implications this change could have for the series’ already established lore, as neither the books nor video games had ever seen a woman survive the hardships of the requisite Trial of the Grasses.

(Notably, that no woman has ever been a witcher is not due to any explicit measures being taken to prevent them from either taking the test or completing it, as evidenced by the fact that in Andrzej Sapkowski’s first The Witcher novel, Blood of Elves, Triss genuinely feared that the witchers of Kaer Morhen wanted to subject a young Ciri to the Trial. Rather, this discrepancy is due to the Trials’ hardships being so physically demanding that, due to their naturally strong bodies, they are usually only survived by men.)
Ciri (Ciara Berkeley) unleashes her Magic against the Bauk in The Witcher 4 (TBA), CD Projekt Red
However, according to both the aforementioned Kalemba and CDPR Franchise & Lore Designer Cian Maher, these changes to Ciri’s character will not come at the expense of the series’ canon, but will instead represent a natural evolution of her character.

During a recent interview with IGN‘s Matt Purslow, after providing confirmation that Ciri had successfully completed the Trial of Grasses, Kalemba praised her new turn, asserting “I love this grit in her.”

“She’s almost obsessed with the way she lives,” he said. “There are some moments where you have to go with your heart instead of always going with the calculated calls. And this is what I love in Ciri. She’s less calculating, following her heart, her passion, her gut feel.”
Ciri (Ciara Berkeley) comforts a dying child in The Witcher 4 (TBA), CD Projekt Red
Turning to how the witcheress differed from her mentor and predecessor, Geralt, the game director asserted, “We want to let players try to define her.”

“She’s about to form her own codex on her own terms,” Kalemba said. “The way she actually deals with the monsters, the way she deals with quests, the adventures, it’s her own unique way.”

To this end, Maher then added that rather than just ignoring each players’ respective playthroughs from The Witcher 3, in particular which of the game’s multiple ending they received, Ciri’s new turn would unfold naturally in a way that made sense regardless of how a respective playthrough ended.
Geralt (Douge Cockle) reunites with Ciri (Jo Wyatt) in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015), CD Projekt
“The one complication is probably the idea that there is an ending in which Ciri can die in The Witcher 3,” said Maher, though he did note that this particular ending would not present a problem as “there are hints in that ending that highlight the fact that she probably does not die.”

And in bringing this part of the discussion to a close, the CD Projekt Red designer The Witcher 4 assured Purslow and his readers that Ciri’s adventure will not “break any canon or even offend any canon.”
Ciri (Ciara Berkeley) warns the people against their superstitions in The Witcher 4 (TBA), CD Projekt Red
At current, The Witcher 4 has yet to receive an official release date.