In 1272, he had another drunken fight with Anna, who was pregnant again, before passing out.

Phillip then decided to back Nilfgaard, realizing it was impractical to resist them, and hoped to be made an official baron once they won. By the time Phillip reached Crow's Perch, which had been abandoned by its previous lord, he had a sizable group under his command and decided to settle there, including his wife and daughter. Having no hope in regrouping, they began to wander north and soon other deserters and broken men joined them. Many years later, during the Third Northern War, Phillip's unit was all but destroyed near the start of the invasion. This event marked the change in their relationship to an abusive one. Phillip moved out of the way just in time and, not knowing what else to do, beat her. Upset at what Phillip did, Anna began to yell and claw at him before picking up a knife and trying to stab him. Phillip then headed out to bring the girls back, but when he saw Evan, something snapped and he ended up killing the man. In their place was a note, with Anna saying she didn't love him and she'd left him for a childhood friend and the man she'd been having an affair with for the past three years, Evan, and had taken Tamara with her. Several years into the marriage, he came home one day to find Anna and their daughter gone. This led to one of Tamara's first memories of him drunk and caked in mud under the stairs. As he was seldom home, Phillip turned to drinking and soon became so dependent on it, he couldn't stop drinking even when he was home. Shortly after she was born though, Phillip was sent to Cidaris to fight in another war, this time to aid King Ethain on King Foltest's behalf. Once he'd recovered, he asked her to marry him and the couple appeared to be happy and soon welcomed a baby girl, Tamara. During the Battle of Anchor, he took a spear in the shoulder and was tended to by Anna. Phillip served in several wars fighting for Temeria throughout his life.

Her mad baron