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| “ | Emperor Emhyr var Emreis... or, to those on more intimate terms with him: "the White Flame Dancing on the Graves of his Foes". | „ |
| ~ Yennefer of Vengerberg. |
| “ | Your motives don't interest me, only results. | „ |
| ~ Emhyr var Emreis. |
| “ | The North shall tuck tail and beg for mercy. That is its destiny. | „ |
| ~ Emhyr var Emreis in Gwent: The Witcher Card Game. |
Emperor Emhyr var Emreis, Deithwen Addan yn Carn aep Morvudd, also known as Duny, is the main antagonist of the Witcher franchise.
He was the emperor of Nilfgaard, the most powerful nation to ever exist in the human world. After being fooled into believing a false prophecy regarding his descendants conquering the world, Emhyr attempts to marry his own daughter in order to be the parent of the son who was meant to rule the world.
Disgusted by this, Queen Pavetta, Emhyr's wife, sent their daughter away in order to prevent her from suffering such a horrid fate. This ultimately spurred Emhyr to begin a nationwide manhunt for his daughter Ciri, beginning the events of the Witcher Saga, before eventually abandoning his quest upon realizing his fatherly love for his daughter. He is publicly favorable to the Elder Races(Elves, Dwarves and Halflings.), unlike to the Northern Monarchs.
Portrayals[]
- He was voiced by Charles Dance in the video games, who also played Tywin Lannister in HBO's Game of Thrones, Alan Jonah in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, The Master Vampire in Dracula Untold, David Carlton in Ali G Indahouse, Sardo Numspa in The Golden Child, Mr. Benedict in Last Action Hero, and Roderick Burgess in The Sandman.
- In the Netflix adaptation, he was portrayed by Bart Edwards.
History[]
Early Life[]
Emhyr was born in a southern country called Nilfgaard to Emperor Fergus var Emreis and an unknown mother. When he was 13 years old in the Nilfgaardian kingdom there was a revolution caused by an unknown usurper who was a general of the Nilfgaardian army. When the usurper managed to take over the power in the kingdom, he gave the order to capture and torture Emhyr's father and also ended his cooperation with the conspirators. The usurper, wanting to break Fergus mentally, ordered a mage named Braatena to put a curse on Emhyr that turns into a hedgehog-like creature. However, Fergus would not be broken so the usurper gave the order to murder him and Emhyr himself, who was of no use to the usurper, was sent to the forest to be hunted by dogs.
After Emhyr managed to survive, he discovered that the curse the usurper's mage had placed was not properly applied, allowing him to regain his human form. Before his escape, he contacted Xarthisius and Ardal aep Dahy, who helped him escape from Nilfgaard to the northern kingdoms, where he went to Cintra, hiding under the pseudonym Duny.
When Emhyr was wandering in the woods at the age of fifteen, he accidentally found the wounded knight Roegner of Ebbing who is the king of Cintra, father of Pavetta and husband of Calanthe was wounded when he wandered off during a hunt. Duny rescued Roegner from wild animals for helping Roegner gratitude Duny was called to the age-old tradition of the law of surprise, but Duny knew nothing about the law of surprise. Mortally wounded, Roegner swore to Duny that he would give him his unborn daughter, Pavetta, who was pregnant in Calanthe.
A few years ago when Pavetta was born, Duny decided to meet Pavetta to make sure. When they met, Pavetta befriended Duny even though he didn't look human due to the curse that made him a hedgehog. However, the friendship turned into a romance and Pavetta fell pregnant because of Duny.
A Question of Price[]
A year later, Pavetta's mother, Calanthe, organizes her daughter's fifteenth birthday party and invited many guests, including noble candidates for husbands who could marry her daughter Pavetta. As the evening passed, various candidates introduced themselves to Pavetta until finally Duny appeared in armor, where he also introduced himself as the Crown Prince of Meacht, claiming that he had treated Pavetta since her birth and came for her because Calanthe's deceased husband, Roegner, had promised him Pavetta with because of the law of surprise, which will cause a huge discussion at the party.
When the Cintrian guards take off Duny's helmet where he reveals his hedgehog appearance, which caused a huge shock to some guests, and although Pavetta tried to defend him from choosing Duny, it infuriated the other candidates, especially Crach an Craite where he called Duny a pig's snout and ordered him killed.
During the conflict, the witcher Geralt and the druid Mousesack intervened to defend Duny, and despite their defenses, one of the attackers managed to injure Duny. When Pavetta saw that Duny was hurt, she reacted negatively, unintentionally releasing her magical powers that generated waves of power that could destroy the entire castle in Cintra, but Geralt and Mousesack manage to calm Pavetta to keep her calm. After Pavetta calmed down, Duny repeated his statement to Pavetta, this time her mother Callanthe agreed to marry Pavetta and Duny. After calming down Princess Pavetta, Duny once again expressed his grievances to Pavetta, where even her mother Calanthe was persuaded to marry her daughter.
After making a claim against Pavetta, Duny's curse was suddenly lifted and he was able to feel human again. Duny, overjoyed with this news, asked Geralt who had saved him how to repay him, to which Geralt responded by reprimanding him, almost a surprise. Geralt also warned Duny that thanks to the Law of Surprise, he would have a child with Pavetta. A few months after Pavetta's birth, Duny married Pavetta and they had a daughter, whom they named Cirilla.
Collaboration with Vilgefortz[]
After his daughter Cirilla was born, Emhyr was visited by Vilgefortz who pretended to be a confidant from the Nilfgaardian loyalist group of the Emreis family who wanted to put him on the Nilfgaardian throne and overthrow the reigning usurper. Vilgefortz offered Emhyr help in reaching Nilfgaard asking him about his motives, to which Emhyr agreed, saying that he would expect benefits, privileges and power.
What's more, Vilgefortz also revealed to Emhyr the prophecy about Ithlinne, according to which the child of the Elder Blood would rule the entire world. Emhyr, aware that his wife Pavetta and his daughter are carriers of the Elder Blood, Emhyr wanted to return to Nilfgaard and take over the rule of his country even more.Emhyr wanted to reach Nilfgaard not only with Vilgefortz but also marry his own daughter, believing that he would father an offspring who would not only rule the world but also protect his world from the white cold.
When Ciri was six years old, he decided to ship her and Pavetta to the Empire, under the guise of a cruise to Skellige. However, Pavetta hid the child, and Emhyr, in a fit of rage, threw his wife overboard. After this event, Vilgefortz teleported him to the Empire, and Dune was presumed dead. The ship they were on sank in Sedna Deep.
Devastated by his wife's death, the Emperor initially resisted taking power, wanting to assassinate the wizard, but eventually arrived in the Nilfgaardian capital and led the revolution, overthrowing the Usurper in 1257. This is how he became the emperor of the largest state entity in the world of The Witcher.
Invasion of Cintra[]
As the magnates pressed for war with the Nordlings, he agreed to attack Cintra in 1263. The powerful imperial army crossed the Marnadal Stairs and entered Cintra, and Queen Calanthe and her husband Eist Tuirseach defended the country, however, the army of Cintra and Skellige was defeated in the Battle of the Marnadal River, in which King Eist was killed and the wounded Calanthe was taken from the battlefield to the capital of Cintra. When the imperial army began to approach the capital, the emperor ordered members of the secret services, including Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach, to find and abduct the heir to the throne of Cintra, his daughter Ciri. When the Nilfgaardian army attacked Cintra, the city was razed to the ground and mostly murdered, and Queen Calanthe, not wanting to be captured, took her own life. Cahir managed to catch Ciri, but she escaped him and is missing. However, the Nilfgaardians did not stop at Cintra and pushed forward attacking Sodden. Soon the imperial army was defeated in the Battle of Sodden Hill by the united forces of the Northern Kingdoms, which joined the war after the slaughter of Cintra. During this period, the emperor was said to have opposed an invasion on such a scale, and blamed the attack on the marshals and his commanders - after the end of the war, Emhyr began a great purge in the army.
A temporary peace[]
After signing peace with the Northern Kingdoms in 1264, Emhyr began a large-scale search for Ciri and preparations for the next war. The emperor was in trouble within his great empire, several smaller rebellions in Ebbing and Nazair tarnished the empire's forces, but the uprisings were put down by young officers who replaced the old cadre. Troubles were also in Cintra, the people did not accept Emhyr and did not forgive the slaughter of Cintra and the death of Queen Calanthe. Many Cintrians fled to the Yaruga, where, led by Marshal Vissegerd, they organized themselves in Brugge under the banners of Temeria, to one day take revenge on the emperor and regain their country. In the plans of the emperor, Cintra was to become a prosperous and happy country – like Toussaint. However, an uprising broke out in Cintra led by Prince Windhalm, duke of the former fief of Cintra Attre. In order to suppress the uprising of captured Cintra, Attre and Upper Sodden, which remained under the rule of Nilfgaard, the emperor created the Province of Cintra, and appointed field marshal Menno Coehoorn as its governor. While Emhyr was in Cintra, he learned about the meeting of the kings of the North in Hagge Castle, he also knew what they were up to. He warned Coehoorn not to be provoked and to wait until he prepared the troops; he also orders Rience to eliminate Geralt. In the meantime, news reaches him that the rebels from Cintra have been defeated and their leader, Prince Windhalm, has been taken prisoner. The emperor orders the murder of Windhalm in a cruel way to warn the rest of the rebellious barons and lords of Cintra. Already at that time, planning to marry Ciri, he rejected marriage proposals with the daughter of Prince Joachim de Wett and the daughter of Duke Ardal aep Dahy, which made him lose their favor.
When the attempt to kidnap Ciri failed, a year later he ordered Cahir to kidnap her from Thanedd, in the process triggering the famous wizard coup. When Ciri disappeared without a trace, Vilgefortz sent him a fake Cirilla, a poor noblewoman found by Codringher and Fenn. Emhyr ordered the killing of Vilgefortz, and orders Stefan Skellen to find the real Ciri.
When he finally found Cirilla, real fatherly feelings awoke in him, so he let her stay with Geralt and Yennefer. He fell in love with the fake Ciri and married her.
The Witcher[]
He doesn't play a big role in The Witcher, but he can be mentioned by the knecht of the order guarding the gates of Old Vizima in Acts II and III.
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings[]
In The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Emhyr ordered his troops to capture Letho of Gulet,Egan, Serrit and Yennefer. Using tricks, he extracted the necessary information from Yennefer. He ordered Letho and his witchers to murder as many rulers of the North as possible and then blame the sorceresses. After the confusion, he sent an army to the Yaruga.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt[]
In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Emhyr leads his Empire's invasion of the Northern Realms weakened by the interregnum and civil wars he led through the regicide Letho. The Emperor asks Geralt to find Ciri. His fate depends on the player's choices - Emhyr can be murdered by his own nation or win the war and give the Temerians their country on the basis of vassalage. Depending on the player's decision, he can start preparing his daughter, Cirilla, to legally hand over full imperial power to her, or be lied to that Swallow has died. In the latter case, it is not entirely certain whether he believes this version of events.
Journal Entries[]
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings[]
Emhyr var Emreis – among all the rulers of that time, one cannot omit the Nilfgaardian emperor, known as Deithwen Addan yn Carn aep Morvudd, which means, in the Elder Speech, White Flame Dancing on the Barrows of His Enemies. Kings from the Buina to the Yaruga trembled at the sound of his name. His legions of steel-clad soldiers crushed countries under their heels and cast monarchs from their thrones. In his insatiable ambition, he had tried to conquer the north on several occasions, yet he had been forced to sign peace accords each time. Though he does not appear in our story personally, his long shadow often fell over the events I describe here.
According to Shilard's words, Geralt had had the honor of facing the Emperor, who spared his life at the time. Though I am well aware of the circumstances surrounding that event, I shall omit them here, as they are not directly connected to this story.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt[]
Few names in the Continent's history arouse as much terror and respect as that of Emhyr var Emreis, Deithwen Addan yn Carn aep Morvudd - the White Flame Dancing on the Graves of his Foes. Emperor of Nilfgaard, lord of Metinna, Ebbing and Gemmera, sovereign of Nazair and Vicovaro, he was ruler of half the civilized world and aspiring conqueror of the other half. He was a personage whose deeds and decisions shaped the fates of whole kingdoms and populations.
What then could he possibly want of a simple witcher?
The emperor clearly and succinctly laid out what he wanted. His daughter and Geralt's ward, Cirilla, was in great danger, for the Wild Hunt was on her trail. Geralt, a superb tracker linked to Emhyr's daughter by the iron bonds of Destiny, stood a better chance of finding her than anyone else in the world.
- If Geralt took Ciri to Emhyr:
Thanks to Geralt's efforts, Emhyr finally had the chance to talk to his daughter face to face after long years of separation. Geralt doesn't know what topic was broached during their conversation, save that Ciri stormed out of it in a visible huff.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
External Links[]
- Emhyr var Emreis on the Witcher Wiki.
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 Villains
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Novels The Witcher The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Hearts of Stone Blood and Wine Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales Netflix TV series
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