Blindingly Obvious

Triss returned to Novigrad after leaving Kaer Morhen with one goal - to find Philippa Eilhart. Soon after she made a shocking discovery - Philippa had been right under our very noses the whole time! Turned into an owl by some malicious spell, she then wound up in the hands of Zoltan, who, ignorant of his new pet's true identity, strived to make of her a replacement for his former foul-mouthed parrot companion, Field Marshal Duda.

Triss was not the only one to uncover Philippa's whereabouts, however. Coming to that conclusion slightly before her was Dijkstra, who shared with Philippa with the strongest bond possible - love turned to seething hate. The one-time spy and current mafia boss had captured Philippa and imprisoned her in his bathhouse. Triss and Geralt knew they must hurry - it was clear Dijkstra had not gone through all this trouble to chat with Philippa about old times. Vengeance was more likely on his agenda, vengeance for breaking his heart and daring to plot against him.

It is frightening to think how this story might have ended had Triss and Geralt not arrived at the bathhouse in the nick of time. A dimeritium collar had kept Philippa trapped in owl form, but somehow she had managed to free herself from it, revert to her true self, overcome her guards and start tearing the bathhouse apart. Dodging her furious blasts, Geralt was finally able to corner her and convince her he and Triss did not want to harm her - in fact, they needed her help. Though Dijkstra was vehemently opposed to letting the sorceress go, he ultimately realized resistance was futile in the face of Geralt's ironclad logic. And so Philippa Eilhart regained her freedom and joined the offensive against Eredin and his Red Riders.