After defeating Saskia in chapter 3 and being pretty happy with choosing Iorveth over Roche and thinking Saskia is pretty neat also, I was kind of dismayed with her attitude (granted, I did cut her up pretty bad and she impaled herself) specifically the whole part where she emphasized that I'm a "guest" in the Pontar. Just didn't sit right with me and I felt like I had been used. I also get the impression that she just used Iorveth and doesn't really plan to support him and will eventually throw him to the wolves. Am I just reading into things or is she not that great?

She is a realistic character with flaws just like each and every one of us...
If you are playing the Witcher and expect black and white answer to everything you will be disapointed :)

Saskia is my all time favourite character in TW games. Her ideals and nature (she's a golden dragon) makes her a unique character. That's why i really want an expansion pack which we can kill -even torture- Philippa and possibility to avoid final dragon fight after that.

Iorveth has slaughtered humans for a long, long time and she pointed out that it'll take generations of humans to forget about his deeds.

I liked her a lot and the conversation with her and Geralt after the battle was fantastic. A little bit of humor, backstory and awkwardness after they nearly battled to the death.

I'm aware of the shades of gray present in the game.

It just seemed a bit odd that right after saving her and everything she goes out of her way to emphasize that I'm a guest. Felt like there were some weird undertones in that statement. I suppose that's probably what I'm having the most issue with as I can understand Iorveth to a degree. I enjoyed the conversation with her otherwise and really liked her character up to that point, just wish they had given me a dialogue option to further clarify what she meant by that statement.

she has to be that way. she has a vital secret that only Iorveth and Philippa knows. That's why Saskia and Iorveth is a little offensive when talking about some matters.

But that has no bearing on allowing you to stay. You know her secret too. and you (and Iorveth) are less likely to spill that secret if kept close.

With Iorveth, it makes sense, and I am guessing he would be understanding, though wouldn't particularly like it. He's got such a bad reputation that having him be an advisor or whatever would be political suicide. But if she gives him a country where he and other elves could be safe, I think he'd consider it a win overall. I do think she used him, but I don't think he really minds, cus he's got that crush going on and all, (though it's unreturned... dwarves... heh!) and she helped fulfill what the Scoia'tael are fighting for.

It did seem a little cold that you could only be a 'guest' considering all you did for her, though. I suppose she thinks you tend to attract trouble, which is true to an extent. but still...

She seems this strange mix of pragmatic and dreamer. She's here considering the ramifications of having you and/or Iorveth around, but she's just finished leading this rebellion to create a kingdom that is completely opposed to the ideals of most of the people in the surrounding kingdoms. to even consider such an idea in the world of The Witcher is implausible, bordering on insane.

Saskia is awesome, when I played the first time I had sided with Roche and then I kept having to support that King even though I wanted to support Saskia, it was pretty annoying. Then I read that if I had sided wit Iorveth I would get to support Saskia, so even though I was most of the way through Chapter 2 at that point, I stopped and went back and sided with Iorveth instead, and then Chapter 2 was SO much nicer, not only to get to support Saskia but also most of the people you meet in Chapter 2 are better folks if you're supporting Saskia, I guess its only natural that the nicer folks would be supporting the better person at the top :) .

I didn't get a conversation with Saskia after the Chapter 3 fight, I assume that's only for people who saved Philippa and broke her spell instead of saving Triss? That was the toughest decision in the game for me, because while I'd rather save Triss, Philippa was right there and its hard to justify not helping her out of the cell when you're standing right there in front of it. Ultimately I went with Triss because I really like Triss and I want to do whatever I can to save her at every possible opportunity, but also I didn't really want Philippa's spell broken, I'd much rather simply reverse it, give Saskia the power over Phillippa instead of the other way around like it is right now. but keep the bond between them.

Some folks seem to not like Philippa, I don't really understand that, I liked her right away, and after everything that happened to her I felt sorry for her. Her girlfriend turned out to be an enemy spy, she gets captured and thrown into a dungeon by some horrible guy who was upset that she was the one person he could never control, the guy then cuts her eyes out or something, I mean my gracious this woman saved Saskia's life, helped her defeat the bad King and his army and bring freedom to the land, and yet this is how she ends up? She deserved so much better, and Saskia is all she has left. Granted, she shouldn't have used Saskia like she did, I guess pretty much everybody in the game has to have a negative side, and hers clearly is a desire for power. But you can tell from the conversation in the jail cell how much she loves Saskia, which of course is totally to be expected considering how awesome Saskia is, it's the same with Iorveth, you can tell how much Philippa and Iorveth hate each other because they're each other's main rival for Saskia.

The point Philippa makes about how she and Saskia would be unstoppable together is so true, if they stay together they could totally defend their country and their newly won freedom from any of those evil folks in the other lands who might attack at any point in the future. Of course if Geralt could end up with Saskia that would be even better, but since he can't I think Phillippa is defintiely the next best choice, so I'd like to just modify her spell so that Philippa's will bends to Saskia's instead of the other way around, thus keeping Philippa's more negative qualities in check, but keep them being in love. That would be the best possible result both for the two of them and for their country, ensuring that Saskia would be a great Queen not just for years but for decades, maybe centuries (who knows how long she could live? A mighty long time I'd think!) to come.

I do hope that there would be a future addition or something, where you could release Saskia from the spell, even if you chose to save Triss. I mean, you still get the Philippa's dagger in the end..

In iorveth's path, don't know about Roche though..

I love Philippa. So, not everyone hates her. ;p

I like Saskia, but as I'm a committed Yen x Geralt fan, no, I have no interest in Geralt romancing her up.

Well, Geralt did just stick a pointy piece of metal into her repeatedly, and impale her on a tree. Sure, his intentions were good, but thats a hard thing to get over. Guest status is pretty gracious.

Besides, Saskia like dwarves, so Geralt's charms are wasted on her.

SirGladiator, your comments are spot on! I entirely agree.

Saskia, Phillipa, and Iorveth are in my opinion, the most interesting characters in the game, and the most life-like. They all have good points, and realistic failings. I hope we see a lot more of them in the next game.

But rpg women's opinions and tastes aren't supposed to matter in the face of the protagonist's amazing sex appeal. At least, that's what every video game ever made has taught me. ;)

Saving Triss vs freeing Philippa was a tough decision yeah. in the end, it came down to the larger picture, for me. If the spell was not broken, things could be much worse for everyone later on. Aso, Triss is a big girl, she can take care fo herself. She's not some usless damsel in distress.

That's the beauty of this game. Many of the decisions are tough, and usually there are no right or wrong answers. Excellent :)

In the end I chose to save Triss, since let's face it, it was one of the main driving forces for Geralt (at least in my playthrough). I knew that choosing Triss over Philippa means basically that they "won", but as a witcher, he tries to stay clear of politics. Funny that Geralt says many times that he won't meddle in politics, yet the situations always lead him to them :)