Witcher 3: What if You Side with the Leshen? 

There actually is an outcome. If you side with Sven and kill the leshen, when you return to the village after the battle of Kaer Morhen, the village is empty and abandoned/ possibly massacred. But if you side with the elder and do the ritual, the inhabitants will remain there in the next act. It shows that the Leshen was protecting them from the outsider forces.

In slavic folklore leshens are described as being able to shift their appearance into an old man etc. to converse with the people they're looking over, might be the case with Bjorn

Leshen in game: scary, mystical forest gods. Leshen in Netflix: wooden Dr octopus.

The “Leshen mask” is the skull of a stag, I believe. They probably didn’t kill a bunch of leshens, but rather, a lot of deer… this would track with the fact that they are the best hunters in the Isles

Out of all the monsters in this game, I find the leshen to be the creepiest, I love it!

Its unfortunate we may never get a game with this depth and quality ever again

There is a reason for this particular quest to be a little bit bigger than other contracts and also have unique music. This is the first quest that has been shown to the press 2 years before the game was released. I was on one of those presentations at Gamescom in Germany. While there were some minor differences between the one in the presentation and one in the final game most of what we saw remained in the game. Therefore it can be assumed that this music was created a bit earlier just for the purpose of presentation, and quest complexity was there to flash out the choice and consequences that the player would find in the final game.

The detail about the Leshen looking at us during the ritual is just epic!!! I never noticed it, so thank you for showing it to us!! I don't think there is any other game filled with so many little important details. Maybe that is why you constantly feel something is going on in the background of the game even though you don't see it or play in it, which of course makes the game feel so alive.

This quest is brilliant simply because it raises the question of should you break the symbiosis to forge a new path for the village, or should you keep it along with old proven ways. First time around I sided with Leshen but let the Elder die, because I did not want to fight the villagers and was impressed by the Elders reaction.

Before I did this quest I thought that Leshens were just forest monsters, I even interpreted the codex (in-game monster wiki , forgot the name) that way, but this quest really confirmed that they are much more sentient that anyone in the Witcher universe wants to admit. They are really just guardians of the forest and don't really mind humans as long as they agree to the Leshens terms when it comes to forest usage.

Leshen is one of the front cover promo monster for this game, aside from Wild Hunt & Bruxa/Vampire. I like to think the quest actually much more longer & have a more significant story/plots than the version we got. Like the Three Crones & Ancient Tree type of stuffs fro example.

The creepiest place of leshen was in the hearts of stone DLC. I dont remember the name of the place but it is very isolated area where a group of bandits used to kidnap kids from village area and kill them. One day they heard crows and wolf noises outside their area and they thought its some type of curse but it was a leshen outside thier castle surrounding the castle with wolf and crows.

this quest was like a mini story . i know i know it's ironic to say that because that's the case for almost all of the witcher 3 quests but this one specifically took some extra save slots from me just to analyze all of the outcomes since everyone in it so suspicious it got me more curious lol. great video as always i knew that i would see a thing or two about this quest that I've missed here

I've been thinking about this for years: You know how there's a newly settled Leshen near Novigrad, pestering those dwarf lumberjacks? Imagine if that thing started marking people from the city. You'd need a holocaust level event just to be sure that you made it mortal.

Leshens are my favourite monsters in the witcher. First of all I adore their design and that they impact their surroundings so much, and second of all they just feel the most powerful to me - like true nature spirits, woven into the land, protecting it. So I usually side with them, and even try to avoid fighting them. This quest is another brilliant one in this amazing game, and I still think about it sometimes.

7:25 I recommend checking out "The Prayer" track from a game called Heroes of Might and Magic IV - it sounds very similar to the track in this scene. What may interest you is that "The Fields of Ard Skellig" is also similar to another track from HoMM4. The composer, Paul Anthony Romero, talked about this in comments under one of videos featuring the music, and he confirmed that in both games these tracks are based on some Scottish Gaelic songs and thus are similar to each other

I feel like with all the unique music and well made cutscenes, this quest was meant to be longer or more impactful on the story. Geralt already refuses to kill intelligent monsters unless he has to, so maybe this was a way of showing not all leshens are dangerous (at least, not dangerous unless you disobey it), and are more intelligent than previously thought. Every other leshen pretty much tries to kill you on sight, and this one seems to fulfill what the elders think it does, so maybe there was meant to be a time where the leshen befriended humans or something

Anytime I see new video from xLetalis and read the title. I tell to myself.... that's a good question, what If ?

Heh. I never tried siding with the lesion. I always assumed it was a "false choice" that would always result in the worst negative outcome possible. Similar to that island quest with Kiera where the ghost wants you to take her skeletal remains to the guy in the fishing village, but then doing so totally screws everyone over.

you can find a letter with BJorn mention, the mission is "Hard Times" in skellige. "Yanne, my dearest son! Ill is our lot of late. Singa's husband's ship crashed in a storm during its last expedition. Bjorn survived, thank the Gods, but weeks will pass afore his captain builds another and meanwhile life must go on. He weren't taken on for the building, so he's earning no coin. We're eating our winter stocks now, and I fear to think what we'll do when they run out. That's why I'm sending Singa to you and asking for your help on behalf of us all. If you can, find work for Singa, and then Bjorn and I will come to Kaer Trolde to stay with you. Perhaps there's some work for Bjorn with you at the forge? And if work is scarce around Kaer Trolde as well, lend Singa a few coppers, at least, and I'll give it all back with interest once we're out of this plight. With belief in your good heart and thanks in advance, Your loving mother" If you give the letter to Yanne you will meet him on the Leshen mission, otherwise he will not appear. he has a red scarf

A lovely quest.

I’ve played this game again and again and always I still find this as one of the hardest decisions every damn time to go with young or old villagers

The villagers say that the Leshen has the woods "teeming with game" would the skulls not just be deer skulls from their hunts as tribute to him, or sacrifices to him (that he later uses as masks)? I would think that if the village has a symbiotic relationship with him, they wouldn't kill Leshens and keep the masks as trophies. Just another take; great video, learned a ton about the game as always.

This quest was difficult. I'm not a traditionalist so my first thought was to kill then Leshen. After thinking about it I saw it as a protector of nature. It was against villagers using tools that would lead to killing too many of the wildlife. I saw the village as having the rep as being the best hunters due to the Leshen's trial, reminded me of Sparta and Spartans. I figured there would be other Leshens to fight so I left this one alive because it seemed to be an intelligent guardian of sorts. So I ultimately had the girl banished to prevent it from being reborn, I did the ritual, then the other villagers could decide for themselves on whether or not they would go after it after not getting inbetween them and the last elder.

The leshen was on the cover art. Kind of makes scense that the contract is one of the more unique and fleshed out ones.

Holy shit, I didn't notice the Leshen standing there or the musics.. This was incredibly interesting as usual. Yeah, the NPC models are definitely a CDPR thing. I can't believe how many things about this game that I didn't notice walking around. You have to continue with the "butts," that is hilarious. Keep being epic Letalis.

Just want to inform you that there is a witch hunter encounter I've noticed after the quest now or never. On the Gildorf Square if you walk down towards the barber. You can interact with them, and they will start a fight if you choose the golden answer instead of leaving. They are 14 level above you, but when killed one drops the legendary sword Gwestog. Also during the Quest "Now or never" you can interact with the guy who was hiding Anisse and Berthold and hit him in the face, for the betrayal.

The music at 7:30 just hit me so hard, it is so nostalgic. I grew up on a Heroes of Might and Magic 4 game and there are several spots in the Witcher where the OST from that game shows up. But this one is just magical. (I know the OST doesn't originate from the games) It is amazing that still there are so many stones to be turned in this game, just pure art! Amazing video, thank you!

xLetalis the crow thing is legit! Just pretty buggy. I was able to get it to work twice but other than it doesn't work. Also, I didn't know you could save the elder! Thanks!

I love the depth and moral questions of this quest. Thank you for highlighting it and discussing.

Always found it quite interesting that the antlers above Hilda's house actually resemble the antlers of the old Leshen the most out of all the antlers of the masks you can find in the village.

Would've sided with the young villagers if Sven wasn't such a horrible person. He's weak and petty and selfish. He even easily kills the ones he love. A leader that weak shouldn't be allowed to lead. The elder on the other hand knows when to fight and when to use logic. His best interest is the village. For Sven on the other hand, it will always be his interest or ego that comes first. With that in mind I always sided with the elder.

This is one of my favorite quests in the game, up there with the Fyke Isle quest. It may be simpler but I just love the creepiness of it and the leshen is my favorite monster in the game.

Oh nice detail about the skulls on the houses in the village! I never noticed that although this is one of my favourite quests! I absolutely adore leshens.

Oh my god, this is my favorite contract from the game!! It had a big impact on me the first time I did it, and on every playthrough I'm always excited to do it, I love that you made a dedicated video for it!! Thank you!!

I'm so glad you mentioned the music. I was so confused the first time I heard it, right after the quest because that track is absolutely soulful, even better than the typical Skellige tracks. I thought it was an area specific track and returned to that area several times just to try to get that track to start playing. I just never got it to play again untill I started another modded playthrough recently with additional soundtracks. It's just amazing how the game still manages to blow your mind after all this while and multiple playthroughs.

The area goes straight to hell if you side with one instead of the other....perhaps siding with the Leshen isn't so bad....thank you xLetalis.

Pretty sure the crow thing is just a default thing, in velen there always seems to be crows screeching around combat

imagine a game so good that you can make an entire video about a side quest. I'm so addicted to this game...

Added another reason why I love this particular game so much. After watching your videos now I actually feel I've been playing sometimes of such a masterpiece

Love that you're still finding new things in this game and keeping the fandom alive.

A special quest. The music is special too beautiful and melancholic. By the way, did you know that when you go to clear the lady's estate ( quest where you meet Letho.) If you take the more direct route through the forest, there's a few paths then they kind of trail off and you're in pure forest, a Leshen will always be there and hunt you. I've done multiple playthroughs and always seem to subconsciously pick the direct path to the estate and the attack always startles me. 😅 Not to mention your pretty low level at that point and the Leshen is really strong.

About Bjorn. Maybe someone said it already, but he is an NPC that was part of one of the early (now cut) quests in Skellige about Wild Hunt. He is the guy who narrates the VGX game trailer and talks about the village that was frozen by Wild Hunt (that was later moved into Velen in final release). There was a lot about him said by the devs on official forums during development but it seems all things about him were cut. IMO it adds context to the Leshen quest and i am 99% sure it is one of the earliest quests that were made for the game. It has unique animations/music etc. that aren't use anywhere else in the game. Notice the animation of Geralt catching the coin purse. It is not used in ANY OTHER QUEST in entire game. Even expansions. So i'd say it's just a part of the content that was made when Skellige was actually the focus of the main story (it was the first area created for the game) before they decided that the plot should focus more on Novigrad/Velen etc. areas.

This quest reminds me of the quote from the first episode of the show when Geralt is talking to Stregobor. "When choosing the lesser evil, I'd rather not choose at all." If you choose to work with Sven, Hilde is either banished or killed as well as the elders. If you choose to work with the Elder, Hilde is spared but then you have to choose between sparing the last Elder or letting him die. Also if you spare the Leshen, hunters will continue to die in the town if they do not "follow the old path" It's a quest with no good outcome unfortunately but I chose to spare the Leshen and let the Elder die.

3:23 - that would be one half of antlers I believe. Amazing video about prob my second or third favorite quest!

Nothing makes my day like a new xLetalis video

it actually makes me really happy that you still make The Witcher 3 videos... Keep it up you are great!!!

It's crazy this dude still finds content🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Man, I just played through this for the first time earlier today. Decided after telling Sven to banish Hilde that I wanted to talk to the elder, something about his conversation made me want to try to save the village instead of kill the Leshen outright. Did the ritual, and honestly felt great about the way it ended. Didn’t notice slender man behind me though, so sweet Easter egg!

Starting my day with a brand new xletalis video, nothing better.

Letalis my friend,you are a legend! Your Witcher videos are gold,thank you 😊👍

Awesome vid as usual! Sorry to hear ur sick, hope all is well. I’ve just begun my annual Witcher play-through and it’s been raining non stop all week here in NZ. The vibes are immaculate haha.

I'd never noticed the leshen in the background lol. Chilling.

Leshen is the best monster in game. Not super hard to defeat but has great design and quite unique fighting scheme

I never noticed the leshen watching you as you do the ritual! Gave me goosebumps!

Wow 3 videos in a week, did Christmas come early this year? That music as your leaving the village was hauntingly beautiful. CDPR really outdid themselves with The Witcher 3. All these years later and the game still has new treasures to find and experience. Great Video xLetalis once again. Hope you and the family are doing well and till next time...stay on the path.

Yup, most memorable contract because of all this extra work that was put into it. On my first playthrough I just had to try both choices to see where they go.

This was always one of my favorite quests

I love the music that plays during this one. I sat there in the rain reflecting on my deeds...good times.

Beautiful video, as always!

I just did this quest and decided to not engage the Leshen. That history and the Elders story seemed more interesting then going to kill a Leshen because some snotty nosed men decided they were tired of old ways. EDIT: I have a mild theory about Hilde... The skulls could entirely mean households that were taught throughout the years what the Leshen truly is capable of. Those that made it through the trial, those that have lost someone in the trial or even just those that have done the ceremony? Maybe Hilde decided that since Sven wasn't too keen on the Leshen, she wasn't going to keep the skull. Or Sven was the one to remove it a replace it, as they seemed intertwined already. It doesn't seem coincidental that her home isn't decorated with a skull, but there's plenty of theoretical reasons.

I wonder if these unique songs had been officially released or named by cdpr, they are quite lovely

your attention to detail is just fing amazing.....

Those unique bits of music are really good.

Thanks for this, I couldn’t spare him because I wanted that ancient leshen mutagen, but it’s cool to know what happens otherwise in the long run. (I did use a save to see the outcome.)

I decided to save the Leshen, and after a few hours of game I did notice more crows cawing than usual, in Skellige! Then after a quick research I found that other people reported it too, but I would say that - if it works for real - it is not noticeable in areas such as Velen, or outside Skellige in general. What I didn't notice at all was the Leshen skull hanging on most of the houses! Cool, and so carefully crafted

Another incredible video, as always

Love the seriousness of the video and the fans about this game. Really love it

Thanks again for another great video. The Leshen is such a scary creature.

The unique music is based of celtic and also japanese folk music. Very similar theme is in HoMM IV and it's called The Prayer and "The Maiden" in Stronghold

Yet another super interesting one!! I´m hyped for the next videos as always and due to xmas coming up soon I gifted myself the channel membership

Still my favorite side quest. After rewatching your video, I realize that the ritual's music is a bit creepy at the beginning. But also gives some celebration vibes. Indicating you doing a good thing. I grew up near a forest and this quest is very special for me , so I'm not really objective but I really think the elder is right about the Leshen. He protect the village in his own way. I don't know if you will read my post Xletalis. But I wanted to thank you again for your dedication. After finishing the game two times I still finding some secrets, even some quests I missed. Cuz of you :)

I just happened to do this quest yesterday. I think siding with the Leshen is the better option here. It doesn't mindlessly attack the outsiders, but it allows the hunters to thrive off the forest given it hunts "fair". The leshen wants all species in its domain to thrive, not just humans, but the wildlife as well. It permits hunting, but forbids practices which give humans an unfair advantage, like bows and traps. It doesn't want the game population to be decimated. And according to the elder, in return it subjects their boys to trials to turn them into formidable hunters, it protects them from invaders, keeps the forest teeming with resources, and apparently makes their babies healthier/stronger somehow. The leshen wanting to protect its forest and prevent humans from decimating the resources isn't an unreasonable demand. I just wish there were some way you could have communicated directly with it. To learn its motives for yourself.

The crows are legit! I just finished the quest mentioned but I killed the Leshen. Now I'll hear crows and see a flock of them leave an area where ever enemies spawn. Pretty cool if you're in a rush and not wanting to stop and deal with them.

This game is so unique I love all of the random tiny details you find just playing this game

wow.. you are a true specialist of this game !! I don't know how this kind of games are done but it must be a pretty long process to have this fine quality of writing , in the end. Let's hope for another witcher in few years !!!

Fun fact: at 07:27 that music and a couple of others were used in a lot of games. There is a video on youtube called "similar celtic songs in the witcher 3 and other games", and it's super cool to hear all those tunes and vocals in different but not that different versions. Really worth checking out imo.

I can confirm that crows do warn you of eminent danger. It's been a while since I've played but I think they only do it if you're in a deep woods setting, also I always heard them but didn't always see them, and I swear I heard them in your video at the 6:22 mark. Oh, by the way, I'm on pc :)

easily my favorite sidequest/contract in the game. Had so much at stake and tension and complexity packed into a single quest; super impressive.

Man, that track that plays after the quest when you’re walking through the village is amazing. You can tell whoever made the quest really wanted to have an impact

Gotta admit that these unique music pieces are sick. Such a shame I have never thought that you can hear them only once in a walkthrough Edit: tried to find both pieces of soundtrack, but sadly found only the second one (7:22). It's called "Skellige Mood Music Drama". If you have any info about the first one piece, write it down please

7:20 music is always playing in the leshen mission in monster hunter world crossover only other place I've heard it

the Open Sesame music reminded me of the door next to the paintings in the auction house(where you get quizzed about the paintings) and how you can actually pass through it and access the area from which you get in the action house during the heist

I really loved this quest, one of my favourites. The atmosphere and the monster are some of the creepiest and most fitting to a quest that i have ever seen

I remember reading about this quest in articles about a closed doors demo in the early promotional stage for the gamewhich explains why it's more complex than a normal contract quest, and the final version is actually cut down (just a bit though) from what was described in those articles. I like the fact that the way the leshen "strengthens" the village is by acting as a natural selector and a brake to human desire for expansion (aka greed); "forest teams with game" because hunting in that forest is so dangerous that hunting is done out of necessity not economic growth, "women bear strong babes" because the leshen simply kills weaker ones. I still kill it though because its presence puts the village at very long term disadvantage, and the fact that they worship it means that its continued presence will lead the village to destroy itself from within as time progresses.

i remember playing this quest

New witcher3 video from you?! Instant

I'm not sure if you have done a video about the caretaker yet but would be awesome!! Also the leshen watching you perform the ritual is such an amazing detail, I would have never known if it wasn't for you, thanks!

Im gonna be honest: Leshen//Leshi? Are my favorite monster from The Witcher. Actually, they are one of my favorite monsters in mythology overall. They are so fresh, and unique, I love them. That's why I'm partially mad at Nightmare of the Wolf for portraying the first fight in the way it did, and yeah, it was a mutant leshen, but it just didn't work for me.

I'm not totally sure about this one but it this leshen seems to be the only one with a decorated skull/mask which could indicate to human intervention from the townsfolk as leshens, at least design wise, are rather rudimentary and look more like a natural composition of different things. As said correct me if I am wrong and there a more leshens with these 'special' skulls.

Gutes Video👍🏻 war sehr unterhaltsam

Man, missed you Lex! Merry Christmas buddy!

Letalis, I just found a hidden detail/mistake that you may not know of. You know the quest “Skellige’s Most Wanted”? Well anyway I just did it and I had the option to tell the monsters that I spared “Fugas”, the sylvan in Velen. This is actually an error on CDPR’s part. Fugas is the name of a different sylvan, the evil one who works for the crones and who you kill with Ciri. When Geralt says he spared Fugas the sylvan from Velen he is actually talking about the “Allgod” sylvan, not Fugas. Were you aware of this?

I completed it 3times.....and still finding new quest

I watched till 5:15 and then I paused to say this! DAAMN! I never saw this coming and I am still amazed. Never, NEVER have I played a game with this intricate and subtle yet SCARY detail. Just the fact that this detail is present in this quest is Mind Blowing. CHEERS Man, this was the best "Scary" detail video for me yet from you. (ps. Please point out a link if you have another) Thanx and Excellent job friend!

You have to be one of the best editors on RU-vid

I've just recently had an encounter with a leshen in Velen while I was more or less peacefully exploring a cave and suddenly it teleported from the surface down in to one of the cave ways. I nearly got a heart attack when Geralt was suddenly impaled by roots when there were no leshens supposed to be in that cave and there was no room to fight it.

This is my favorite quest. There is no happy ending. It's a foreign people with customs that are understandable but still eerie to the players. If you act in violence you still are destroying balance in nature and bring misfortune on a poor girl; but if you don't kill the Leshen and appease it, all the elders except one die and if you aid the old man, you kill potentially a large group of the hunters in this village.

The unique song at 7:25 also plays in the witcher crossover in monster hunter world, while the player investigates the recent anomalies by the leshen.

that unique music after the quest, i swear ive heard it about skellige while just exploring