SPOILERS AHEAD! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!
Scenes From a Marriage is Hearts of Stone’s largest quest and will send you on your final one to fulfill the wishes of Olgierd. Geralt has been tasked with retrieving the violet rose that Olgierd gave his wife, Iris, on the final day before he left her. Once you’ve spoken to Olgierd about completing the second task, he will send you to find the violet rose he gave his wife the last time he saw her… a few years back. It would have been simple if it wasn’t for the problem of time and a flower’s tendency to wither after no more than a few days.
Geralt has to set off to the von Everec estate. Fast travel there if you wish, or take your noble steed north from your meeting. Once there, you need to head south from the signpost towards the manor. Unfortunately, the gate is a no go, so head north slightly and find a gap in the wall where you’ll find some guy shouting for help and for a certain someone called Kendrick. You’ll have a conversation with the fella about Foglets and can ask him about who exactly Kendrick is and why he is here, too. Once you find out the pair of them are thieves and he bails on his partner, Geralt is tasked with finding the thief’s partner and searching for the violet rose. Onward we go!
Enter the courtyard and you’ll notice on your map a couple of circled yellow areas. Check these out with your Witcher senses and examine the items to get some idea as to where Kendrick has disappeared to. Once you’ve examined the bag of manure, bench, and the ice cold water fountain, head up the stairs towards the rickety old looking manor and toward the final place to examine which you’ll find right by the door. Geralt will gather that somebody dragged what could possibly be a body this way. Use your Witcher senses and follow these tracks on the ground. Head towards that rusty old gate and have a brief stare off with the cat. Follow the sounds with your Witcher senses to be brought to a cutscene and meet our first boss of this quest: the Caretaker. This guys is the creepiest boss you’ll take down in Hearts of Stone by a mile! Check out our guide on how to beat him here.
Once you’ve danced a deadly dance with the Caretaker and laughed hysterically at Geralt’s response to his defeated enemy, find out some information from your two new animal tour guides. Head through the back door and hear the ghostly voice warning of the dangers that lie ahead. Go left and through the door to start another cutscene and notice the glowing items on the table. You get a first glimpse of our next foe in this cutscene, too. She looks pleasant, but we’ll get to her soon enough.
Head over to the table and check out those items… you jumped at all the stuff flying around just then, didn’t you? Head through the door in the far right corner and watch out! The chandelier will fall on you and cause a bit of damage if you’re not quick enough. Follow your quest marker on the map up the stairs to be warned off once again by the lovely portrait.
Follow the corridor left into the burnt out room and straight out onto the balcony. Carry on along the balcony and into the only room you can go. The doors will eerily open up ahead of you. Go through these doors and prepare for your second boss battle, the Wraith from the Painting. This is definitely different from any other wraith you’ve faced in Hearts of Stone, or the Witcher 3 as a whole. Having a few issues with the Wraith from the Painting? Check out our guide here.
Now that she’s out the way, make any recovery and item changes you may need and head down the corridor. You’ll enter the bed chamber, the place Geralt was told Iris was supposed to be. Examine the body on the bed, but first, grab the portrait to the right of the fire, this will come in handy a little later on. Examine the body and let the cutscene begin.
Once the cutscene has finished and you’ve engaged in conversation with the cat and dog, go through the front door and out into the garden, examining each of the marked spots on your map. The bench that Geralt checked before is not a good place for her to be buried according to our tour guides. Of course, it would be the last place you check, by the easel. Give your kind words once you’ve buried the body and try to summon Iris. Lo an behold, Iris appears in all her… creepiness! After a brief cutscene, you’ll be heading into an unknown world full of even stranger dangers and enemies than you’ve already faced. You have entered the painted world of Iris von Everec.
Geralt is now tasked with finding out the whereabouts of Iris. This is not as simple as you may think. This painted world of Iris contains all of her fears, which you will discover within this quest. To find out there whereabouts of Iris, you must defeat each of these. Start your conquering by heading off to the fountain. Be careful, three Specters will ambush you on your way. Once they’re dealt with, head on in. To conquer each fear, Geralt must piece back together the memory and thus restore it. This can be achieved by searching the nearby area with your Witcher senses for items that will fit the scenario.
In this instance, grab the cup behind Iris which matches the one Olgierd is holding. Place the cup in the hand of Iris and a cutscene will commence. Once this has finished, slice down the spider Specters that try and ambush you once again. We suggest using Quen to prevent them from doing serious crowding damage and keep dodging them to avoid sustaining heavy damage.
Once that’s done, head on into the house. Take the door to the right on the wall you face as you enter. Head into the dining room and examine the painting on the wall. This will give you clues as to what you need to do to restore the memory in this instance. Light the candles on the table except for those closes to the painting, and light the fire behind the head of the table. Bingo! Another cutscene will commence, detailing the next chapter of the story between Iris and Olgierd. Prepare for another battle. This Specter won’t put up much of a fight and can be beaten down quickly. Onwards!
Head through the door and up the stairs, turn right and into the door at the end of the landing. Geralt will end up back in the bed chamber. Use your Witcher senses to find the blood stained towel on the floor at the foot of the bed. Pick it up and place it by Olgierd washing his hands. Another cutscene will commence, letting you know the memory has been restored. There is no battle to jump into after this one, so you can take a breather.
Straight ahead of you is the door into the painting studio. First thing’s first, examine Iris’ painting so you know exactly what you’re looking for and where it needs to go. Pick up the goblet off the chair and the bowl of fruit off the cupboard drawers behind Iris. Head on over to Olgierd and place them to his left on the table as they are in the painting. The correct positions are, grapes left, goblet center, and apple right. Another cutscene will carry on the story.
Geralt needs to head out the door and follow the shadowy Specter into the study. Careful, you will be ambushed by some Specters in the same hallway you fought the wraith before. These guys can deliver a hefty amount of damage if you don’t evade them quick enough, so use Quen and focus on each one at a time, evading their strikes. Once they are taken care of, head into the study and learn that Olgierd dabbled in the Arcane arts.
Examine the pentagram on the floor and Geralt learns that he needs candles and chalk to retrace the pentagram and restore the memory. Loot the beeswax candles from by the window and the book to the right of these in the corner. This book will tell you where you need to place the candles in a moment, but don’t worry, we’ve got you covered just in case. Turn around and just to the left of the door Geralt came in will be the chalk, placed by a bottle of blood. Head back to the pentagram and fill it in. Place the candles around the circle to get the cutscene going. FIRE! Quickly run over to the painting, unfortunately for Geralt, he ends up straight in the middle of a blizzard.
Head for cover quick, your life is depleting by the second! As you approach the house, you’ll see the weird Specter thing to the right hand side, just below him are some open cellar doors, head through these to shelter and your key to getting back inside. Once you’ve safely made it to cover from the harsh blizzard, you have another memory to put back together now between Olgierd and Iris’ father.
Use your Witcher senses and examine the marriage contract and mug. Place the mug in Olgierd’s hand and the contract in her father’s. Another mystery solved and another cutscene is your reward! Take out the three beast Specters with relative ease and then head up the stairs. Follow the Specter into the next room and be greeted by our old friend, the Caretaker! Don’t worry, no battle to be had here. Examine the small bowl on the table to the right of the bear, the large bowl to the right of this one on the floor, and the food tray to the right of the fireplace. Give the food try to our creepy caretaker friend, place the small bowl on the floor in front of the cat, and the large bowl in front of the dog.
Once the cutscene is done, Geralt must go to the parlor and end our memory fixing journey. Head out of this room and straight across the hall into the parlor. Walk over to the table and examine the letter to begin the final cutscene. Let the final boss battle begin! Prepare for a difficult battle and a really creepy cutscene. This is one of the most difficult bosses you will face in Hearts of Stone. Need help against Iris’ Greatest Fear? Check our guide here.
More The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone
- Breaking and Entering Quest Guide
- Dead Man’s Party Quest Guide
- Complete Achievements and Trophies List
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