The Bloody Baron's fate
The Baron's ending is settled before you ever find Anna, by what Geralt does with the spirit under the Whispering Hillock. Destroy it and Anna is found alive but out of her mind, and the Baron takes her away to look for a cure. Free it and the Crones turn Anna into a water hag. She dies when the curse breaks, whichever doll you take, and the Baron hangs himself at Crow's Perch.
What Return to Crookback Bog checks
The game marks Geralt as willing to help when he asks the spirit how he could free it, and clears that mark only if the spirit is destroyed. Return to Crookback Bog reads that one fact.
- 1
The spirit was set free
Anna has become a water hag. Lifting the curse kills her, Tamara goes back to Oxenfurt and the Baron hangs himself.
Game facts:
q105_will_help_children >= 1 - 2
The spirit was destroyed
Anna is alive but her mind is gone. The Baron takes her away from Velen to find someone who can help her.
Game facts:
q105_will_help_children = 0
The choices
The spirit's offer
The Whispering HillockIn the cave under the hillock, when the spirit in the tree asks Geralt to free it.
- "I'll help you."Toward freeing it
The spirit asks for its remains, raven feathers and a horse for the ritual.
- "I don't believe you."The Baron lives
Geralt refuses and goes after the spirit's heart instead.
Game facts:
q105_evil_spirit_destroyed
The ritual
The Whispering HillockWith the remains, feathers and horse gathered, at the tree.
- "[Start the ritual.]"The Baron dies
The spirit passes into the horse and rides free, and Downwarren pays for it: the village is massacred.
Game facts:
q105_evil_spirit_released - "[Trick the being in the tree and destroy it.]"The Baron lives
Geralt destroys the spirit's heart. Downwarren is safe.
Game facts:
q105_evil_spirit_destroyed
Anna's doll
Return to Crookback BogOnly if the spirit was freed. In the Crones' cellar there's one try at picking Anna's doll from the rack.
- "Yeah. I'm taking it."Anna dies after the curse lifts
The doll with the violet hollyhock, Anna's favorite flower. The curse lifts, but the Crones built death into it and Anna dies soon after.
Game facts:
q107_anna_disenchanted - "You're wrong. I'm taking this doll."Anna burns
The doll with the red bead. Anna bursts into flames.
Game facts:
q107_chose_wrong_doll,q107_anna_burnt - "You might be right. I'm taking this doll."Anna burns
The doll with the bird feathers. Anna bursts into flames.
Game facts:
q107_chose_wrong_doll,q107_anna_burnt
How it ends
The Baron leaves with Anna
Return to Crookback BogThe spirit was destroyed.
Geralt decided to help the baron and went with him into the bog. There they ran into unexpected company: Tamara, accompanied by a band of witch hunters, had also ventured out in search of Anna.
They joined forces and, in the end, Anna was found, but, sadly, her mind was lost for good. Driven near mad himself with grief, the baron swore he would take his addled wife away from Velen and search the whole world for someone able to help her. As for Tamara, she and the witch hunters returned to Novigrad. And then... well, dear reader, the ultimate fate of the baron and his family is a tale for another time.
Game facts: q107_anna_is_crazy >= 1
Anna dies as the curse lifts
Return to Crookback BogThe spirit was freed and Geralt took the hollyhock doll.
And Johnny, as always, proved very helpful indeed. He revealed to Geralt that the Crones worked their magic in the cellar of the hut with the tapestry. When Geralt and Graden descended down into it, they found a collection of dolls with various items attached to them. They tried to lift the curse by removing the doll that represented Anna, but their efforts ended in catastrophe - Anna's curse was lifted, but she died soon afterwards, for the Crones had constructed it to leave death as its parting gift. Following her mother's death, Tamara returned to Oxenfurt, her spirits crushed. The baron, in no less foul a mood, went back to Crow's Perch. Geralt watched him walk away, wondering if he would ever see the man again.
Game facts: q107_anna_disenchanted >= 1
Anna burns
Return to Crookback BogThe spirit was freed and Geralt took the wrong doll.
And Johnny, as always, proved very helpful indeed. He revealed to Geralt that the Crones worked their magic in the basement of the hut with the tapestry. When Geralt and Graden descended into the basement, they found a collection of dolls with various items attached to them. They tried to reverse the curse by removing the doll that represented Anna, but their efforts ended in catastrophe - Anna burst into flames and died. Tamara returned to Oxenfurt following her mother's death, her spirits crushed. The baron, in no less foul a mood, went back to Crow's Perch. Geralt watched him walk away, wondering if he would ever see the man again.
Game facts: q107_anna_burnt >= 1
The Baron hangs himself
Return to Crookback BogAfter either of Anna's deaths, when Geralt looks in at Crow's Perch.
In the end, Geralt decided he would look in on the baron. When he reached Crow's Perch, he inquired after the man but was saddened to learn he was dead. The lord of Velen had hanged himself, ending his reign and his sorrow.
Game facts: q107_baron_hanged_himself >= 1