Morvran Voorhis

A pure-blooded Nilfgaardian aristocrat and commander of the Alba Division who will one day sit on the imperial throne.

Morvran Voorhis is a Nilfgaardian general, commander of the armoured Alba Division and a true Nilfgaardian in the strictest sense of the word: born in the empire’s heartland to an ancient imperial family. Related to Emhyr var Emreis through both his father and his mother, he is proud, polished and as comfortable in a courtly salon as on the battlefield. He is also a member of the Guild of Merchants and a favourite of the Nilfgaardian opposition, and many see him as a future emperor. They are right: Morvran eventually takes the throne.

Morvran Voorhis in The Witcher 3
Morvran’s soldiers are escorting Geralt and Yennefer to Vizima when the Wild Hunt cuts them down. In Imperial Audience he walks in while Geralt is being shaved for his meeting with the emperor and asks him a few supposedly routine questions. Players who do not import a Witcher 2 save use this conversation to settle what happened in that game. Geralt has no idea how important the man is, and it probably would not have changed a thing.

The two meet again in Novigrad, where Morvran takes advantage of the city’s neutrality to enjoy the company of Baroness La Valette. In Broken Flowers Geralt can race him near the Vegelbud estate and win a superior racing saddle, and he turns up in a lion mask at the ball in A Matter of Life and Death. He loves the races, reckoning horses far more honest than men. When Geralt asks Emhyr for troops to defend Kaer Morhen in Brothers in Arms: Nilfgaard, the emperor insists that Voorhis lead them, and Geralt walks away from the offer.

What happens to Morvran Voorhis?
Morvran lives through the story. If Ciri chooses the imperial throne, he is the one who leaves White Orchard with her at the close of Something Ends, Something Begins. The Witcher 3 endings guide explains how that ending is reached.

In the books
In The Lady of the Lake, a group of Nilfgaardian nobles, among them Stefan Skellen and Ardal aep Dahy, plot to overthrow Emhyr. They first consider Morvran’s father, then settle on placing the still underage Morvran on the throne as their puppet. One of them betrays the rest before they can act, and the plotters are sentenced to death. The saga also looks ahead to Morvran’s reign: as emperor he orders the conviction of the former treasurer Peter Evertsen, and after his death he is succeeded by Jan Calveit.