Unsolved Mystery in The Witcher 3

The Witcher 3: A curious set of details in the Winter (Empress) Ending in White Orchard. All the places of power are either gone or replaced by unused content. Including Demon-worshiping cultists (and their notes), harpy nests, unused meshes, floating stones and more. Possible connection to the deleted content in the Devil's Pit.
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00:00 The Places of Power have Disappeared.
01:18 Mysterious Floating Stones.
02:37 Red Placeholder in the Crypt.
04:06 Large Peculiar Nests in the North.
05:25 Demonic Cult in White Orchard.
06:35 Link to the Original Devil’s Pit.
08:08 The Creepy House.
09:35 Is this man “The Prophet”?
10:16 Where have the Places of Power gone?
11:07 Boring Outro.
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[@xLetalis]

Follow-up: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4ayeZhqfr5jga8

[@connor56347]

White Orchard seems to really punch above its weight in terms of hidden/hard to find content

[@GeraltOfArabia]

A lot of these content are added in patches. Devs are still doing it to this day.

[@breakmanradio2530]

Does xletalid have videos of him playing the entire game with commentary? Gamers Little Playground has great no commentary videos for the Witcher 2, 3, and the DLCs. I'm surprised xletalis didn't beat him to the punch on that.

[@gemodemplay415]

How many years later and we still discover or try to discover things in this game. It is amazing to me that this happens, this game is really something else, something special.

[@xLetalis]

indeed, the more games I try the more I realize how special Witcher 3 was

[@cactuslietuva]

​@@xLetalis too bad its probably one off thing for cd project red. just one of the life time masterpiece

[@AB-fr2ei]

​@@cactuslietuva cd project is very good when they make the witcher games Cyberpunk wasnt made for them, i knew it from the start that it was going to be meh CDPR should just stick to the witcher universe

[@gauthamiyer2998]

@@AB-fr2ei they should be allowed to try new things, even if it fails in your eyes

[@rainoshalon5835]

​@@xLetalisur videos immersed me in witcher world and made me play multiple times thx gaunter o'dimm .A perfect game always find a perfect gamer. ♥️

[@doltonnoak2656]

The first floating stones i always thought it was Ciri messing with the place of power, since the stones also float around her when she practice her magic. Idk if she can leave them floating for eternity, but who knows, after the game ends, she is so much powerful than when we see her training.

[@silvananivis9867]

Hmhm first thing I thought too was that the stones looked similar to those she was training with, down on the path in Skellige before the final battle

[@noamias4897]

Perhaps you'd find her meditating there and then go clear the nests with her before, after or instead of going fishing with her

[@mpj12345]

Is it possible unused things were moved from the main game to winter white orchard because it's simpler than deleting - it is after all a different map to normal white orchard.

[@xLetalis]

I should add that all this was in the Old-Gen as well!

[@HeisenbergFam]

Cant believe its been 8 years and community still talks about unsolved Witcher 3 mysteries, goes to show how big the game is

[@Nathan_Coley]

This is the game that brought me back to gaming as an "adult".

[@Aeronixable]

I get it and it's true, but part of it also talks about how rushed and incomplete/broken the game was on release

[@joaocarlospaesjr2324]

A pity that all this freedom with mods in cd projekt games is only on PC, the cd could have done the same thing that Bethesda did with the Skyrim remaster and fallout 4 before, on consoles you can choose any mod you want to download that was ported to Xbox or PS, since in this new version of The Witcher you are limited to only using mods that cd projekt itself has already implemented in the game automatically.

[@navibongo9354]

You are goddamm right!

[@bbsonjohn]

Can't believe 8 years I still haven't started a second witcher play through

[@iure_divino]

I think we are missing a likely possibility. It could be that winter white orchard was developed from a version of WO before places of power were actually added to it (maybe they weren't in game yet, or maybe they weren't going to put them in the tutorial zone). The cult altar and the harpy nests could be their earlier ideas for what would occupy those locations, as they probably planned where map points of interest would be first.

[@30CZEchpoint]

Or I was thinking that it could mean that winning Nilfgaard is getting rid of pieces of Nordling magic? As they are more into technical progress?

[@agilemind6241]

Yes, this seems likely to me, as a foreshadowing of the plague story line in Velen. Thus when the later was cut this content was also cut and replaced with the places of power instead. It's curious to consider if there was once a version of the game with no places of power at all.

[@Nebuli2]

I suspect that there may be some more boring explanation for the fact that the places of power are gone. Maybe, since it's technically a different map from the normal White Orchard, they wanted to make sure you couldn't get extra skill points from the new places of power?

[@StefanConstantinDumitrache]

@@Nebuli2 there is too much stuff built around them to be just that. Skill points can simply be deactivated in code.

[@o.s.2056]

@@30CZEchpoint Yeah I had a similar though. I thought that those floating stones could be fragments of those monoliths and were influenced by the "stream" of power between the places, therefore creating a link of floating rocks between the places.

[@XeanIV]

Every time I see content from White Orchard I want to return there. To start the game and just be there again. Maybe it's nostalgia, because it's the first area you experience the Witcher 3 or it's just a fantastic map.

[@patryklewandowski2099]

I cannot agree with you more. I think White Orchard has everything going for it. The music, the village, the river, shacks scattered here and there, garisson in the ruins, the crypt, the quests connecting all the locations together, and everything is so wonderfully compacted. The whole map just keeps on giving, it truly sucks you into the world. The atmosphere. Probably nostalgia and sentiment as well, but oh man have I not felt that the first time I played it as well. I have.

[@RAMPED]

I'm sure the large blobs are supposed to have a dungeon inside them, starting from the missing mesh. They all seem connected and it makes sense to load them in like that. But man, it's incredible you keep presenting us with all this stuff, still after digging around so long.

[@xLetalis]

[@justdominik9812]

There is so much work you put in these videos. It's rare to go someone go as far as translate a dead language for their videos. Also I love how you use music from the previous witcher games as well as thronebreaker soundtrack, it's a nice touch and those games are underrated.

[@yar3333]

I usually hate when people mix soundtracks of different Witcher games (because they significantly change the atmosphere), but xLetalis does it really nicely :)

[@nomoreangel]

These large somethings look like oversized Stones. The red Box says "Outdated Mesh", so might those just be stones that should be underground but their mesh got somehow corrupted and supersized them?

[@xLetalis]

huh, that's a nice theory

[@retropx0]

@engineer gaming i checked. nothing happens

[@Tomas-yg1xz]

I think the red box is just a placeholder for any object that was placed in the world but it's mesh was deleted from the game files. Some game engines don't display anything in that case while others replace it with something very obvious (which is seems to be the case here). As for the oversized rocks, it seems like trigger volumes. All lined up form the crypt towards the nests so when you enter the next one, it plays a piece of dialogue or does something else. Though I'm not sure why the path starts underground.

[@dijkstra4698]

@@Tomas-yg1xzhuh interesting to hear from someone who knows game deveopment

[@StefanConstantinDumitrache]

They look more like "container objects" meant to create the bounds for a scene or visual effects.

[@dorfkind8571]

xLetalis in fifty years "After all this time? Always"

[@eldibs]

It warms my cold, dead heart to see you **still** finding new things to mention in The Witcher 3. This is a game I will always keep installed, firing it up again feels like meeting up with a dear old friend.

[@Setiweb]

I'm surprised you don't have one of the games supervising developers as a contact by now telling you all their little secrets. Anyway if you use the auto-loot mod in White Orchard you can get a ton more "treasure" than you ever could from quests, manual looting, and walkabouts. So there must be a lot of things in that area that were never implemented.

[@highlanderknight]

Somewhere at CDPR, there is a spreadsheet/chart/checklist where someone is keeping track of everything that xLetalis finds in the game.

[@landismithCOJ]

Will xLetalis ever be done delivering Witcher content? I don't ever want that mystery to be solved.

[@Nathan_Coley]

No, no he won't hopefully he'll always find something new to show & tell for us.

[@laggyspammail4090]

My guess is that at some point in development they went with a wintery white orchard, but scrapped it and reused that little subsection of it for the empress ending.

[@HEKVT]

Maybe the harpy nests in White Orchard were meant for a return of the Harpy guy from the quarry in Vergen from Witcher 2. :)

[@Bvetrayed]

Omg I would of loved to see him in the witcher 3😂

[@matejpotrusil1464]

I got goosebumbs all over my body when you showed the "prophet" from the intro... I have to play through the game once again. What a masterpiece

[@randomstranger4314]

If the next witcher game doesn't have a xLetalis Easter egg, I ain't buying it.

[@mr.wilson9178]

Yeah, i think he s way beyond earning it!

[@vasilisroussis757]

After all these years, still love your vids man

[@xLetalis]

happy to hear :) should be more to come

[@isracarbajal7405]

Its been like 6 months since i played the witcher 3 and 2 months since i last saw a witcher vid. Glad you posted

[@ulysses5340]

I had no idea that places of power got removed in empress ending. I guess I didn't need to look for it since I %100'd the Ehite Orchard at the beginning of the game. Still, it's wonderful and even creepy to discover these. Thank you so much.

[@rozaloves3746]

The 'stargate' thing in the original devils pit (before next gen) actually looks a lot like the conjunction of the spheres model/animation from the intro of the game. (Seen at 10:16 in the video) . Maybe it was somehow related to that?

[@xLetalis]

a bit yes!

[@qzoid3060]

I feel like in 50 years after like World War 3 or something some people will still be going through Witcher 3 somehow and will still find more details

[@codaish]

Love this ending, I get it every time I play the game. White Orchard looks so beautiful in the winter

[@mikael_tan]

Imagine if we gave devs as much time and money they needed to make their visions come true. It would be a beautiful game

[@MBBGun14]

And it isn't beautiful?

[@MrEfi4]

The devs own you so much with making this things public :) With all the content of Witcher3 they was going to develop much more but had no time. And the things you are telling are pretty interesting!

[@AnthonyCarrick]

Ahh the Witcher 1 music so many fond memories. Vizima? Or Lakeside? And a dice poker or tavern music... Great discoveries!

[@walther2492]

How about that: There maybe was a 3th dlc planned, building up on all these various leftovers, including the devils pit and maybe the most western & southern parts of Velen which always appeared somehow unfinished.

[@Cam-ye5qg]

Please never stop making Witcher 3 videos

[@shidenkai2099]

Maybe the floating rocks are related to ciri? Just a thought. After all Avallac'h tried to train her to control her power, we could see a glimpse of it before the main battle with the hunt, where ciri was practicing with floating rocks. But who knows maybe they are indeed just placeholders.

[@CallmeKenneth-tb1zb]

The large floating things connected to the mesh place-holder look like LOD glitches. You see very similar things in Skyrim/Fallout 4 if you remove certain things in the editor incorrectly, for example the elevated freeway in FO4. The LOD remains even when the asset is removed unless certain steps are taken. So it looks like whatever was there was removed in a hurry and without care since you were never meant to access the area.

[@bravosix449]

I have been watching your videos for a long time. You are doing a great work in keeping the witcher community alive. Keep it up.

[@luisemoralesfalcon4716]

A game so big that we are still finding things and with mysterys abound.

[@dunearksmith9869]

It's amazing that after all these years your still able to make content about witcher 3

[@loner1562]

8:30 makes me really feel how much more deeper the world of the game was supposed to be!

[@andriikoshman2946]

OST from the first game in the end hits right to the heart...

[@gilgameshomar]

Amazing Xeltalis however I noticed something years ago and I think i mentioned it in a comment on one of ur videos years ago. The thing is about Zoltan and Dandelion you know in Empress ending they sat in the White Orchard inn in the epilogue. However after you finished it they vanished unlike other endings where they both presented at Novigrads R&T inn .in the empress ending I can't find them but why and where did they go?. Is it because of their last dialogue in the empress ending might they went to an adventure?.

[@xLetalis]

oh that's something I gotta check, no idea :O

[@squidmanfedsfeds5301]

Love seeing you dive deeper into the development stuff that’s supposed to remain behind the scenes Such as that placeholder and unfinished unreachable stuff Or for example the developers trying to block the ciri sword glitch

[@thomasrougeot9026]

Incredibly awesome work. Please, keep it up !

[@insane_troll]

Wow, that's the most interesting details I've seen for ages. If only the developers would just say what was all about. There doesn't seem to be any way of working it out otherwise.

[@matijabrajovic6370]

Love how even smallest details are conected

[@TwoLeftThumbs]

Why you aren’t as big as Vaatividya I do not know. You go into incredible depth and you keep finding new stuff.

[@antont4974]

Side note, I actually like White Orchard during Winter, unfortunately it's behind an Ending that I never did in 4 playthroughs

[@Kyriakos095]

Wow every time you do a video with things we might miss i see that even though i have played the game more than 5 times i have not discover not nearly half of the secrets....

[@pykir74]

The 2nd newest video on Sway Play channel is about this mystery (it's in Polish). And there are few things that you haven't mentioned. First of all in the game files there is something that refers to the quest with the wraith of cementary (probably on the one in front of chappel). There are also some people in front of the chappel and it looks like they are begging (?) or praying there. Also, in the 2nd note of the occultyst it's mentioned that he suffered bad pain and thought that killing others will cause his pain to reduce because demons that hunt him will feed on the screems and pain of those who are being sacrifised. Also: - In the bandit camp there is dead child and their parent that you can investigate (you can find the 2nd note close by). - The place where you can fight bandits and make it free to people is surrounded by corpses. - There are a lot of corpses in the river. - In the begging of the game one if you capture the thief with meds and then turn him to nilfgardians one of them tell's you that their soldiers are sick and suffering (maybe one of them was the occusltys?). Basically whole white orchard is a mess in this ending. Just wanted to let other people know about it so maybe they will found something new about this case. PS sorry for (probably) terrible English

[@xLetalis]

No worries, thanks for sharing this!

[@Daniel-co7sc]

yaaaay!! great video, as always. always good seeing you upload. I enjoyed the last creepy bit. if it was indeed all connected, makes sense that they went back on it; a little bit too dark, maybe. anyway hope things are going well for you. cheers!

[@arttuluttinen]

The camp in White Orchard is originally filled with bandits and I'd always assumed the cage (which is there then as well) was for a merchant or someone else you could rescue which was then cut. I now wonder if it's inclusion was only to service the plague plot instead. What's strange is why only have these things appear in the Empress ending if the Plague was going to feature so heavily in Velen? I also assume the piles of corpses in Fischlow in Velen were part of the cut story, since there's no apparent function for them and the town itself seems inappropriate for the content included.

[@yar3333]

Bodies in Frischlow don't have to be a part of a plot: it can be just world building. This is also important, not only streamlined histories connecting everything with everything.

[@arttuluttinen]

@@yar3333 Sure, it could just be random--it's all theory until something official is said, but if your prevailing feeling is that there's no point in looking for connections this is the wrong YT series to watch.

[@yar3333]

@@arttuluttinen 1) world is not random. Dead bodies definitely belong to a world ravaged by war. 2) thanks for the advice on what I should watch and what I should not :)

[@nascentdnb7657]

Quality content!! You are such a legend

[@rumpelforeskin3431]

Amazing job!

[@THExLIFExISxTOxSHORT]

Awesome Video! I really appreciate all the love and effort you put into your videos! The mystery is super exciting, but it's a shame, that it probably will never solved :(

[@SheppardOfNumenor]

When I started a new game with the latest update I noticed Geralt’s beard grows even when you wear the golden mask used in luring out Dudu. I know no one else cares for this though I think one of the CDPR devs saw a comment and patched that. It’s neat to think the devs are creating new details with each update or patching up details like Geralts beard previously not growing when wearing a mask.

[@shanihazel2604]

Incredible amount of hidden things in this game, but thanks to you for finding them. Been away from your videos, but I'm back with an amazing video

[@AnimeWins]

Just a guess, but I wonder if that was meant to be an underground cave accessed via the rear of the chaple, you go through there in order to complete a kill quest to take out harpies at the other end of it. The glitched rocks may be the underground tunnel kinda seen on land instead of under it.

[@Kortelie]

Great video and interesting mystery, was not aware of it

[@kiritoxyronie2841]

Also White Orchard on Winter seems like a fairytale for me... xD I rarely go for the empress ending

[@ChigoSenpaisWorld]

xLetalis, thank you for always providing us Hardcore Witcher fans, with more content to enjoy, each and every time you post a new video!~

[@GUS2720]

How is bro still finding secrets🔥🔥🔥

[@pavelpudil3583]

It looks to me like they first made winter without a power point and then added power points to the game and converted winter to summer and used it, they ended up having it left over and put it at the end of the game

[@MansonShelly]

Year 2053, xLetalis journal: once again i found new sacrificial ritual in witcher 3, maybe this place was meant to summon a deeekjhksdjhgasjdhgjhd

[@alexisea8874]

don´t know how you keep surprising me with the same game everytime, great job :D

[@FaerieDust]

If I ever become disgustingly rich (unlikely, but you never know 😅) I'm definitely bribing, I mean investing in, CDPR to produce some kind of DLC for all the original cut content. And an Iorveth storyline.

[@richtherocket795]

Yes, I agree! Every time I found an encampment in the woods, I was hoping to find Iorveth there just waiting to join me on some new mission! Really the only thing that disappointed me in W3 was no sign of Iorveth.😕

[@A407RAC]

Aww yeah, always a good day when you post a vid xLetalis

[@ozzievamp]

Yet another amazing video, mate.

[@Jarmister]

I find your channel a few weeks ago, and I chain watched a lot of your videos. I need more

[@mc.grimm2619]

Looks like I got to play this again, so much stuff in this video I apparently missed, like that big group get together in the end

[@denijane89]

So cool video! I wish we could get another DLC. I know they work on new games but it's sad to let this huge world be forgotten. Btw the part about Radi and Salma is absolutely brutal. Just imagine the care for details of the devs. Amazing!

[@lamberttychuju6058]

Cool video. Love these mystic and religious mysteries in witcher! I have but one question - what is that beautiful music that plays from 9:53 to 11:04 ?

[@kodyak3615]

Commenting to remember to check for answer. I'd love to find out

[@marcelpavlik7976]

good investigation Sir

[@ephrem3476]

Wow, i wish we could have seen that prophet storyline. Would have been very neat to see it in the empress ending

[@Isilily]

Fascinating finds! Always fun to find placeholder textures and wonder what they were supposed to be.

[@notjimpickens7928]

i have an interesting detail i meant to share here ages ago but i forgot, so during the quest where you find letho in the barn, behind the small buildings to the side of the forest, youll find a pillar with three unreadable plaques, and sometimes when you approach it during the day time, with clear weather, a huge flock of birds will fly up from the pillar, in a spiraling way? its been in the game since last-gen, and ive only found a single post about it on reddit from a year ago, geralt says a "hmm" that i never heard before, probably a rare voice line activator or something to do with a cut quest? you can find the mystery pillar when you turn right at the entrace to the barn letho is hiding in, and follow the path a bit, and take the first left branch thats in the direction of the nearby dragonslayer grotto. im certain that this pillar has something to it, but im not an expert at finding out stuff like you lol

[@xLetalis]

hey I'll look into it :)

[@williamtolliday6852]

Omg an xletails video uploaded before me. What an honor. Love your amazing content for one of my favorite games ever. Love from Pakistan bro ❤

[@xLetalis]

Greetings :)

[@williamtolliday6852]

@@xLetalis hey bro :D hope you're having an awesome night

[@M3rcuryMan]

i hope so much, that the reworks will have just as much depth as the trilogy (especially TW3) has

[@ProxMackintosh]

Interesting find!

[@cheemsuzumaki3867]

1:19 Man has a lifelong beef with Ciri lol😭

[@xLetalis]

[@Earth_angel_abigail]

I would pay money to see you interview the creators of this game.. the mysteries you could solve

[@splexu]

My theory is that there was an idea to extend content after the ending to make it more realistic and imersive but the amount of work they would have to use was to great to amount of people that would notice the changes ( or simply lack of time) that they simply made a world border and scrapted the idea

[@jamesbrown1367]

Fine, ill stop everything im doing and watch this video, youve charmed me

[@xLetalis]

[@decornizeoption3639]

Wonderful video. Made my day.

[@Nathan_Coley]

Interesting as always xLetalis.

[@xLetalis]

glad to hear ;]

[@rudolfnechvile5023]

I wonder if the cult stuff would have been related to the cannibals you find in Velen in the south-western portion, south of Midcopse. It's honestly a huge shame that the Catriona plague plotline was mostly cut, because it had interesting potentially and even was supposed to feature Iorveth. It was also implied by some mages letters you find in the Witcher 2 on a side quest, that the Vrans were wiped out by Catriona.

[@margo_gin]

I'm proud to support your channel, Letalis! Extra kudos for TW1 music in the boring outro

[@xLetalis]

Great to have you as always :) I see you recognized it, few people asked where it's from

[@where_is_roach8933]

Wonderful as always! Take care, all!

[@Marquis-Sade]

08:39 - That statue looks rather creepy

[@maseehwardak6055]

Nice video 👌

[@solem1404]

I am re playing this game this week, deleted when reaching to Emyr audition 'cause I realized I had forgotten to turn on simulate to witcher 2 (I ain't accept missing Letho). I found that creepy house in White Orchard and I'm like "Better find it on youtube" and after 2 days I found it in this video accidentally (I was watching bunch of your videos and some other folks). Many thanks for your knowledge, wish you health and fortunes

[@kazakmphy]

The game just gets creepier and creepier. I went to the bald mountain thinking it will be quicker to get to that new secter location in next gen. Decided to go to the village and in Witcheress ending the village is infested with Foglets, blacksmith and merchart lying dead and incide Sylvains cave there is a lootable corpse with "bald mountain key". Seems like crones took everyone with them when they died 😱😱😱

[@kazakmphy]

I am listening to the Last Wish book, and in the very beginning, when Geralt takes Stryga contract, he's talking to a man who looks after Vizima, and he says that loads random mages tried to lift the curse from Adda, even some INSANE HOG FARMER 🐖 YONTEK??? (sorry, I'm listening to the books in Russian, it might be different in English/Polish)

[@ningnong1343]

Maybe's the floating stones were meant to mark where they would place a scent trail Geralt was to follow?

[@liquidlethe]

The giant objects look like they were suppose to be a stack of rocks blocking the doorway in the crypt, my guess it was an accident they were so big and happen to be left untextured.

[@derecho7926]

Whoa, I need to re-watch your video, but OMG... when it comes to Witcher material, you are my go-to guy, but this one I have digest: it's places power where I'm going crazy/have to find out, but damn, nice find!

[@nokk_]

Thanks for the amazing video

[@xLetalis]

my pleasure :)

[@sekur5548]

Man, you are amazing. Keep up the good work, you always literally make our days when you upload a new video, and we'll always be here to support you!

[@wintlink]

I think the big forms that appears in the Sky close the energy site and the monster nests can be areas where the monsters can moove, the limits of how far they can go

[@Susel_]

Polish youtuber 'sway play' made video about cut content from winter ending, where she focused on cultist notes (i dont remember if letalis made any video about them), and story behind them, not on places of power. If someone speaks polish i recommend it.

[@Tomcat_Coyote]

I really wish someone from CDPR would make a video explaining at length what some of the cut quest chains were all about, and what the characters that were cut or whose screentime was shortened were meant to do, etc... Game's been out for 8 years now, it's no industry secret to talk about it. Sure it'll make people sad or upset that we're missing some cool content, but it would also allow to better understand some unresolved mysteries or plot elements that probably made more sense before the cut content.

[@flicka25]

I do so love all this conspiracy theory stuff though. Keep going xLetalis you really make me happy with your videos.

[@TylerTemp]

The gaint stone might be some atmosphere placeholder. It's visible in some angle might because in game developing a mesh need to define "surface" & using shader to make it visible. And an atmosphere object usually need this kind of future (angle) cuz you don't want it to interference player's view once the character is inside the env