The witcher‘s third season marks a stark turning point in the series – and not just because it will be Henry Cavill’s last as Geralt of Rivia. The fifth episode, “The Art of Illusion,” reveals the identity of the rogue mage who hired Rience (Chris Fulton) to hunt Ciri (Freya Allan), sparking a political upheaval that resets the administration of power in the brewing war between the North and Nilfgaard.
[Ed. note: The following contains spoilers for The Witcher season 3 and Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher novels.]
In the finale of part 1, Geralt and Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) go to the conclave with the aim of proving Stregobor’s (Lars Mikkelsen) guilt, only to discover the true identity of the treacherous mage Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu). He hired Rience through his secret girlfriend and proxy, Lydia van Bredevoort (Aisha Fabienne Ross).
Though Tissaia (MyAnna Buring) seems oblivious to both Vilgefortz’s evil intent and secret lover, the magician’s twofold timing is what got him going: Geralt and Yennefer put the last piece in place after they got the matching jewelry. of Lydia and Tissaia.
The implications of Vilgefortz being Rience’s master are far-reaching, as they dramatically recolor past events and determine where the Netflix show will go when Season 3 returns on July 27. So let’s break down where Vilgefortz’s true loyalties lie, what he wants with Ciri, and the ways this reveal played out differently – and so much better – in the books.
Does Vilgefortz work for Nilfgaard?
Technically, Vilgefortz doesn’t work for Nilfgaard, he works of Nilfgaard. After Rience found out he was hunting Ciri for the White Flame (Bart Edwards), he confronted Lydia, who provided that clarification. While this may seem semantic, there is a huge difference between being a partner and a servant of Nilfgaard. And knowing that Vilgefortz isn’t just another Nilfgaardian loyalist like Cahir (Eamon Farren), but is upholding his own agenda, sheds a lot of light on his past actions.
In retrospect, all of Vilgefortz’s work to seemingly strengthen the Brotherhood was actually steps to undermine it and bolster his personal power. In Season 1, Vilgefortz was a vocal supporter of helping Cintra in the war against Nilfgaard and led the mages into battle despite the Brotherhood’s lack of support. But during the Battle of Sodden, he encountered a wounded member of the Brotherhood and brutally killed him with a mace – a moment that previously puzzled viewers.
Although Yennefer eventually succeeded in stopping Nilfgaard from taking the stronghold, it is likely that Vilgefortz’s true aim at Sodden was not victory at all, but to leverage the struggle for political clout – and to decimate the mages who were willing to stand up to him. in the process. After Sodden, Vilgefortz took the credit for the victory that rightfully belonged to Yen and used that goodwill to gain a position of power within the Brotherhood. This season, Vilgefortz again used his public support for the Brotherhood as a mask to hide his underhanded dealings, taking advantage of the conclave to trap Stregobor and attempt to recruit Geralt to his side.
In the books, Vilgefortz enters into partnership with Emhyr under the agreement that if Vilgefortz gives Ciri to Nilfgaard, he will rule the provinces that would replace the northern kingdoms. But as poor Tissaia learned the hard way, Vilgefortz is a man willing to use and betray anyone if it serves him. So how far the partnership between Vilgefortz and the White Flame ultimately goes depends on how long their individual objectives align. And speaking of goals…
What does Vilgefortz want with Ciri?
Nothing good, that much is clear. While we know that Emhyr wants to marry Ciri – his daughter, mind you – and make her his queen, there are indications that Vilgefortz has a different goal in mind with the princess.
Episode 2 revealed Vilgefortz’s twisted experiments attempting to turn Aretuza novices into Ciri impostors (although most turned into meat monsters instead). Geralt hypothesized that these experiments are for finding a way to control Ciri’s mind – something that would prove useful in keeping her captive if Nilfgaard gets a hold of her. But there are probably easier ways to do this. In fact, the false Ciri storyline of the books had no magic at all. They just found an unhappy orphaned girl with a passing resemblance to the princess and publicly acknowledged her as Ciri as the hunt for the real Ciri continues.
But if Vilgefortz won’t make Ciri Emhyr’s queen, then so what do does he want to be with her? The biggest clues we have to his true agenda on the show are the corrupted portals and the Book about monoliths, which holds the key to travel between realms. While it’s unlikely that Vilgefortz’s master plan is just to banish the elven novices to another world – as Istredd suggested – if he masters both the ability to travel between worlds and the princess prophesied to end the world, Vilgefortz will being ready to use the destruction in amazing power and influence, similar to how he initiated the Battle of Sodden to gain power within the Brotherhood.
How does Vilgefortz’s reveal differ in the books?
The reason why Geralt goes to the conclave in the second Witcher novel, Time of contempt, has nothing to do with tracking down Rience’s master, protecting Ciri, or anything of importance or substance; he’s just there to be Yennefer’s poor candy. As such, the Conclave delivers no on-the-nose build-up to the Vilgefortz reveal – while the series almost “BAD GUY!!!” paints. on Vilgefortz’s forehead in red paint before Geralt and Yennefer finally find out. In the books, Geralt just stumbles upon the knowledge.
After spending the entire event avoiding any involvement in the brewing war between the North and Nilfgaard, Geralt and Yennefer retire for the evening. In the middle of the night, Geralt wakes up and needs to relieve himself. He decides he has more scruples than peeing off the balcony like a brute, so he decides to walk to the garden to piss directly on the flowers, like a gentleman. Along the way, Geralt happens to find himself in an ongoing confrontation between two sects of mages: those loyal to the North, led by Philippa (Cassie Clare), and those loyal to Nilfgaard, led by Vilgefortz. In fact, Geralt only learns that Vilgefortz is the leader of the insidious mages when he is casually overheard talking about it during the confusing battle.
Geralt accidentally getting caught in the middle of a coup on his way back from using the bathroom is not only so much funnier than how they handled this on the show, but it’s so much more Geralt. This guy’s whole deal is that he wants to stay out of the drama, but he just keeps stepping into it. And again, the cost of his neutrality proves to be quite high as the Brotherhood does not survive Thanedd’s coup. By changing the way Geralt discovers that Vilgefortz is working with Nilfgaard, the show not only replaces a unique path to discovery with a predictable one, but also removes the best character element from this climactic moment.
By the time the books reach this point, readers were also perfectly prepared to understand the political nuances of the Vilgefortz revelation and its ramifications, as Sapkowski spends the entire conclave laying the groundwork for these events rather than Send Yennefer and Geralt away. on a wild goose chase. In the novel, Vilgefortz – not Yennefer – summons all mages to come together. The books had already established Vilgefortz as an enigmatic leader who plays chess while everyone else is still struggling through checkers. So when the conclave is convened, no one, let alone Yennefer, is naive enough to think the event is something as idealistic as mage unit. On the contrary, both the mages loyal to the north and to Nilfgaard are eager to use the event for their political purposes.
Unlike in the show, where Philippa and Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) are forced to go to the conclave by the Redan king, they go to the event with the sole purpose of attacking Vilgefortz and the other mages associated with Nilfgaard. Meanwhile, Vilgefortz gathers his own troops to attack the northern mages. And at the same time, the Northern Kingdoms time a pre-emptive strike against Nilfgaard to the Conclave, kickstarting the Second Northern War just as the Brotherhood of Sorcerers crumbles. In short, it’s a complete political clusterfuck, and Geralt is in the middle of it simply because he had to pee late at night.
The revelation of Vilgefortz, and the ensuing battle of Thanedd, is a seismic turning point in the series, as it completely reshuffles the balance of power across the continent. But what makes its depiction in the book so exciting is its deliberate disarray, throwing readers headfirst into the action after giving just enough crumbs of information to follow along with Geralt as he piece together the bigger picture. Yet the show scraps all of this for a rotten investigative hairdresser and some clunky plot reveals Vilgefortz is exposed as Rience’s master, but obscures the far-reaching implications of why this all matters.
In the world of The Witcher, magic lies in harnessing chaos. And by stripping the Vilgefortz reveal of its political nuance and purposeful mayhem, the Netflix adaptation lost its magic in the process.
The witcher Season 3 Volume 2 returns to Netflix on July 27 with three more episodes.