Through Time and Space is a main quest in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and one of four subquests necessary to complete for Final Preparations.
Walkthrough[]
To start the quest, talk to Avallac'h about what you did on Bald Mountain. He will inform Geralt that his victory over Imlerith made him believe that they may have a chance at victory after all. He has a plan about one of Eredin's two remaining generals, Ge'els. Eredin had poisoned their former King Auberon Muircetach, to whom Ge'els was loyal and therefore could be convinced to withdraw his support. But of course, you need to find him first, by travelling with Avallac'h to the Aen Elle's capital Tir ná Lia.
After everything is explained, you'll have the option to go immediately or meet later, near the location of a portal to another world. It happens to be in the basement of the house where you previously met Sarah and Corinne Tilly. Once there, destroy the wall if you haven't previously and approach the portal.
Ddiddiwedht Desert[]
After entering the portal you will appear in a desert world. Follow Avallac'h to your destination and on the way he will explain that you're walking on a the bottom of a former ocean, which used to be a live being itself. There are also a few tree stumps that you can loot on the way, not detectable using Witcher Senses. Eventually you reach next portal, but you must wait for it to open and you've awakened Sandcrabs that you now have to kill. They will spawn infinitely, but the portal will open after the first wave, so jump in when it does and you will move to the next world.
Poisoned valley[]
Geralt will be separated from Avallac'h and will have to find the next portal himself. After walking down some stairs you will soon see the next portal and an Aard Place of power. Important: This is your only chance to get it so don't leave without it.
There will be poisonous fumes all around that will choke Geralt to death and Golden Oriole won't help here. You will have to run through them fast and take breaks on higher ground. After passing 2 poisoned areas you should reach the Place of power, around the corner to the right. From there move north, which is opposite of the direction to the portal, but the safe areas form a kind of a maze and you can't go straight for it.
Reach the lower ground, then pass another poisoned field and look to your left. You will see rocks that look like pillars, another poisoned field and higher ground that you need to reach. Now move in the direction of the portal past the next field and you will be able to climb much higher. You'll know you are in the right place as there will be a huge skeleton in the next field when you reach the top. Run through it to reach the next safe spot and the portal should be within your reach. Just pass one last field and you will reach it.
Note: Along the entire path, you may see lootable skulls on the walls. They will always be on safe grounds, but can only contain crystalized essences and lesser runestones. Don't bother trying to explore elsewhere - there's nothing but death.
Underwater[]
When you enter the portal, you'll be underwater in what looks like elven ruins. The next portal is very close ahead and there's no challenge in reaching it. If you want to get the 4 minor loot containers though, you may want to use Killer Whale - there's one immediately behind where Geralt spawns, two to the far left and one immediately next to the portal.
Ice Plains[]
When you arrive, Geralt will remark how cold it is and after a short walk will find an ice wall that needs to be broken with Aard, Igni, or a hit from a sword. While outside in the blizzard and not in cover, Geralt will be freezing and take continuous damage from the Snowstorm status effect that also prevents continous recovery of health from sources such as Swallow and eating food. The intended way to pass this section is to sprint from cover to cover and use campfires, stoves, and other sources of flame to recover health. Yes, lit fires here actually restore health.
The Quen sign helps a bit by providing a second or two of safety from the snowstorm before breaking, but if cast when Geralt is already freezing, it will break instantly. White Raffard's Decoction can be used to recover vitality instantly if needed. However, the Ekhidna decoction is the best potion to use here and will make the entire thing trivial. As it allows recovery of vitality from actions that consume stamina, you can simply jump every two seconds or so to recover vitality, allowing the explore everything with virtually no danger. Take care not to stray past the very edges of the town, though, as the snowstorm will intensify and kill Geralt almost instantly.
After just a couple of shelter locations, it may look like the next run is too challenging, but simply sliding down some distance will trigger a cutscene with Geralt exiting a house. The same thing happens if you manage to approach the front of the house from another direction. He will see an active lighthouse and remark that's probably where Avallac'h is. On the way to the lighthouse, you'll find containers of random loot, as well as notes and writings from travellers and prior inhabitants of the town, namely Traveler's notes, Anna's notes, and Ervyl's diary. In the lighthouse itself, a city secretary's diary can be found.
Depending on how you proceed to the lighthouse, you may encounter Hounds of the Wild Hunt along the way - two while inside a barn-like building if you decide to enter it, and three more in a clearing south-west of the lighthouse, surrounded by five lit braziers. They won't appear before you're in the right spots, but the second group is more easily avoidable.
To proceed, you need to enter a chamber below the lighthouse, the entrance to which is located on the south-west side of the stone platform the lighthouse stands on. Inside you find Avallac'h warming himself by a fire and you can converse with him about various topics before the next portal opens. Among other things, Avallac'h will reveal that the frozen world they're in is the Ice Plains where Geralt previously fought Eredin's reflection. Once you've talked enough, end the conversation (500
) and walk through the portal that appears.
Ge'els[]
At last you reach Tir ná Lia. Follow Avallac'h to find Ge'els. Along the way, you can pick up a report regarding the advance of the White Frost, sitting on a bench next to a fountain (there's no other loot in the entire place). When you reach Ge'els, he will be painting an elf girl in a Picassoesque style. A short conversation will ensue, during which Avallac'h convinces him to go with you and though an oneiromancer, witness the dream of Eredin poisoning their former king.
You then appear back in Novigrad, with Ciri around and Corinne Tilly to facilitate the dreaming. After witnessing the dream, Ge'els will tell you how to lure Eredin using the Sunstone and decides to withhold reinforcements for the Naglfar when the battle starts. Avallac'h then helps Ge'els return to Tir ná Lia and the quest ends after the Sage returns during a conversation with Ciri. (1,000 + 1,000)
Journal entry[]
- News that Ciri and Geralt had defeated and killed Imlerith reached Avallac'h at once. I don't know how this happened, exactly, save perhaps that quickly learning of such things is the very essence of being a "Sage."
- At any rate, a wild notion possessed him. What if they could now sway Ge'els, one of Eredin's most powerful allies? What if they could bring him over to their side? A key general and advisor, Ge'els was the individual Eredin relied on for reinforcements. For his plan to work, he would need a dreamer, so Triss pointed him towards Corinne Tilly in Novigrad. Thus, by the time Geralt and Ciri rode into town, everything had been arranged. Now all they needed was Ge'els...
- To reach him, Avallac'h and Geralt would need to travel to the land of the Aen Elle, a voyage that would involve interdimensional travel, which in turn meant a whole lot of teleporting. Geralt vomited a little in his mouth and prepared to face the music.
- An unpleasant surprise was in store for Geralt after he departed the Ddiddiwedht Desert: Avallac'h was no longer with him. The Sage had warned him that something of the sort might happen, but Geralt had quietly hoped this would not be the case. His hopes had been misplaced, and now the witcher would have to stumble blindly and alone as he searched for the passage to the next world.
- Ah, what I wouldn't give to see with my own eyes what Geralt saw in the worlds he traversed. Yet most intriguing of all seemed the world of the Aen Elle, the end point of Geralt's and Avallac'h's journey. To behold the glories of this ancient elven civilization... but alas, fate granted this privilege not to a poet but to a witcher, who returned not with paeans to the distant world's beauty, but with a general of the Wild Hunt - one Ge'els. I must be fair, however, and state that the general proved useful.
- Avallac'h decided to bet all on the ace he had tucked up his sleeve. With the help of the dreamer Corinne Tilly, he proved to Ge'els that Eredin had killed Auberon, the erstwhile king of the Aen Elle and the object of Ge'els' undying devotion.
- Confronted by this revelation, Ge'els could hardly return to business as usual. He struggled internally for some moments before revealing the one way Geralt and friends could hope to defeat Eredin and company. They would have to battle Eredin and the Hunt in their own world and on their own terms. The first step - to use the Sunstone to summon the Naglfar. A plan of action was devised - Geralt, Ciri, the sorceresses and Avallac'h would sail to Skellige to find the stone, while Zoltan and I would stay behind in Novigrad to keep the hearth fires burning and secure our friends' return.
Objectives[]
- Join Avallac'h.
- Follow Avallac'h.
- Find the next passage.
- Wait until the passage opens.
- Kill the monsters.
- Travel to the next world.
- Find the next passage.
- Find the next passage.
- Get to the lighthouse. (500
) - Travel to the next world.
- Follow Avallac'h.
- Talk to Ge'els. (1,000 + 1,000)
Notes[]
- If one is looking for a way to level up Aerondight, the desert is a great place to do it, provided the player is strong enough to quickly kill the sandcrabs and avoids being hit (or makes ample use of Quen) as they will spawn infinitely until Geralt goes through the portal.
- The same cannot be said about the Mutagenerator. The sandcrabs will not count as charges to produce mutagens.
Trivia[]
- According to Avallac'h, the desert world used to be populated by a sentient, living sea. This is a clear nod towards the science-fiction novel Solaris by Polish author Stanisław Lem, which centres around human interaction with such an alien form of life.
- Curiously, the desert world contains ruins similar to Elven structures (with human-size walkways and doorways), despite Avallac'h describing the planet as having been void of humanoid creatures and the valley itself having once been entirely underwater.
