Talk:The Ghost in the Tree/@comment-90.190.229.220-20170625155457

To help making the decision, try considering free will.

Baron commiting suicide is his own free choice. He is not killed by Geralt, not by the Spirit. He could choose differently, but this choice is ultimately his, not Geralt's.

Anna ending up as the Crones' pet is the outcome of her own choices. She tried to escape with Tamara, but ended up being dragged back to the bog, while her arms had some glowing marks on them. This hints that Anna had made dealings with the Crones before. It was her choice. This is a speculation but her stillbirth could have been an outcome of some such dealings. Anna tried to trick the Crones with the amulet from the Pellar, but Crones magic was probably stronger and didn't permit her to run away to freedom. Her enslavement to the Crones was most likely an outcome of her own choice to kill her unborn baby.

Villagers dying could be the outcome of them being corrupted. They were forced to move against the Spirit, but it was their choice. They were forced to give away some of their children, to save themselves from sickness and children being born crippled, but it was their choice. They could have bared the plage and the war as other people of the region, but they chose to sacrifice (and eat) their own children in return for a better life.

This is again speculation, but all of the villagers could be marked similarly to Anna, which means that they could never be free and their blood/life would only feed the Crones. Another speculation: it is hinted several times that the villagers belong to the Crones because of rituals similar to the Cutting (giving away their hair when reaching adulthood) which ties their fates to the Crones. It is also hinted that the Weavress decides their fate through weaving their hair. During the initial talk with Geralt, one of the Crones hints, that bad fate awaits all those whose hair is weaved in a crooked way. Thus the villagers may be enslaved / tied to the Crones and there is no way to set them free.

During the first time when playing as Ciri, she saves a girl who says his father made her follow the trail of treats. This hints that the Crones don't take only orphas, but all the children who are given up. This in turn hints that the local villagers are regularly participating in this kids-for-benefits kind of dealings. Again, this is their choice. They could suffer throug life without sacrificing their children, but they still do so to be better off themselves.