Reason of State

Overview

Reason of State is a secondary quest in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and one of the most consequential choices in the game, set in Novigrad. To unlock it, you need to:

Complete A Deadly Plot, which in turn requires Triss’ quests A Matter of Life and Death and Now or Never.
Complete or fail An Eye for an Eye and Redania’s Most Wanted.
Win over Dijkstra with information about Emhyr, rather than by force, in Blindingly Obvious.

It fails if not completed before On Thin Ice. If you have started Warehouse of Woe next door, finish it first.

The plan

In a warehouse by the Novigrad docks, Dijkstra, Roche and Thaler explain their plan to lure Radovid to the bridge to Temple Isle, using Philippa Eilhart as bait. An owl is listening. Outside, Philippa tells Geralt it will never work: Radovid is mad, but not stupid. She gives him the ring of Vizimir II as proof.

The ambush

On Radovid’s ship, the ring convinces the king, and he takes Geralt with him to St. Gregory’s Bridge. There he seals off the bridge and orders the unarmed witcher killed. Roche’s Blue Stripes spring their ambush, and Geralt fights through Redanian soldiers and witch hunters, first with a basic sword and then his own. Watch out for exploding barrels.

Radovid is cornered at the end of the bridge, but Philippa gets there first. She blinds him with a powder, stabs him and escapes as an owl.

The theater

At the Butcher’s Yard theater, Roche, Ves and Thaler celebrate. They have been negotiating with Nilfgaard: in exchange for Radovid’s head and an end to their guerrilla war, Temeria will become a vassal state of the Empire. Dijkstra calls the price too high. With Radovid dead, he means to become Chancellor of Redania, continue the war and one day unite the North, Temeria included. His men surround the room.

Walk away, and Dijkstra’s men kill Roche, Ves and Thaler. Dijkstra becomes Chancellor of Redania.
Defend your friends and kill Dijkstra and his men, and the deal with Nilfgaard goes ahead.

Both whether you finish this quest and how it ends affect the epilogue of the game.

Walkthrough

Meet Dijkstra, Roche and Thaler in the warehouse by Novigrad Docks.
Take Vizimir II’s ring from Philippa outside.
Show the ring to Radovid on his ship.
Survive the ambush on St. Gregory’s Bridge and fight to the end of the bridge.
Meet everyone at the Butcher’s Yard theater.
Side with Dijkstra or with Roche, Ves and Thaler.

Quest Consequences & Choices

Radovid dies. Either Dijkstra rules Redania and Roche, Ves and Thaler die, or Dijkstra dies and Temeria becomes a Nilfgaardian vassal. Affects the ending.