'The Witcher' Season 3, Part 2 Finale Says Goodbye To Henry Cavill
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
This story contains spoilers for the Season Three, Part Two finale of The Witcher.
If Season Three of The Witcher is about one thing, it's choosing sides. The war brewing between Nilfgaard and seemingly everyone else on the Continent has finally arrived—forcing every citizen to pledge themselves to one army or another. As a Witcher, Geralt has so far existed above this system of treaties and fealty, traveling wherever he likes and taking odd jobs. But since he's gotten mixed up with Cirilla, who holds the future of the Spheres inside her strange powers, he's felt pressure from every side to choose someone to fight for. For too long he balked at the idea, until it became clear that there are no neutral parties in wartime.
For most of the Season Three finale, titled "The Cost of Chaos," Geralt has been convalescing with the dryads, a woodland folk even more elusive than the elves, whose penchant for keeping themselves hidden has eroded now that there's fighting on their doorstep. After losing his brutal battle with Vilgefortz during Aretuza's collapse, Geralt isn't doing so great, and not even Jaskier's peppy presence is enough to help matters. If that isn't enough, this episode marks Henry Cavill's final performance as Geralt, before Liam Hemsworth takes over the role in Season Four. Say it ain't so!
In The Witcher-verse, Elven warrior Francesca and sorceress Fringilla arrive in Nilfgaard, expecting praise from Emperor Emhyr for their role in Aretuza's collapse. Fringilla suggests that Emhyr send them both to Xin'trea to keep the supply chain open to Nilfgaard, and in exchange give the elven civilians their own state to live in unbothered. Crafty Emhyr, however, says he wants the guerrilla Scoia'tael to remain as skilled outriders for Nilfgaard's army. Fringilla later confesses that Emhyr killed Francesca's baby because Fringilla told him it was a way to keep the elves fighting for him. It's not likely that Francesca will remain under Nilfgaard's control for long.
The sorceresses who survived the coup at Aretuza that killed so many of their number and collapsed the Brotherhood gather to clean up their mess. They hold a funeral service for the kidnapped novices that Vilgefortz tried to torture and turn into Ciri doubles. Tissaia, whose powers and body have been drained by her use of the lightning spell during the coup, takes her own life, possibly to give the others the kick in the pants they need to go after Vilgefortz together. "Sometimes a flower is just a flower," she writes in a note to Yennefer, "and the best thing it can do for us is die." In her grief, Yennefer arrives at Geralt's side and heals him.
Redanian spymasters Dijkstra and Philippa find themselves caught in a scheme of their own. Because King Vizimir was about to scapegoat her for losing Ciri yet again, Philippa has him assassinated so that she can make Vizimir's young failbrother Radovid a puppet king. Dijkstra is shocked at her vicious cunning, and Radovid is numb—he was just about to leave the kingdom for good, giving up his princehood for his love of Jaskier, and freedom. Now his own blood has slapped him with a life sentence.
The False Ciri that Geralt found and attempted to rehabilitate arrives in Nilfgaard and presents herself to Emperor Emhyr. As far as everyone on the Continent is concerned, that's where the real Ciri is. Except the real Ciri is far from Nilfgaard, waking up in a tavern having been taken prisoner by a bunch of bounty hunters. She escapes with the help of the Rats, a Robin Hood-esque gang of criminals who love stealing from the wealthy and keeping the best goods for themselves. Ciri, having returned from her vision quest in the desert, tells them her name is Falka, after the infamous Redanian revolutionary who prophesied that someone bearing her blood would take revenge on the Continent for her misfortune.
After leaving the dryads, almost fully recuperated, Geralt, Jaskier, and their ex-Scoia'tael friend Milva arrive at a checkpoint run by Nilfgaardian soldiers robbing refugees of their valuables. Geralt plans to travel to Nilfgaard and rescue Ciri, whom he believes is in the hands of the Emperor. Seeing the way the soldiers treat a poor family, Geralt snaps and fights them off, finally choosing a side in the conflict. With Yennefer running the sisterhood, Geralt on the hunt for Ciri, and Ciri herself accepting her destiny at last, the Continent is about to shift on its axis.
You Might Also Like
