What to remember from The Witcher season 2 before diving into season 3

By James On Jun 23, 2023

The witcher Season 3 is finally (almost) here, and you could be forgiven for wondering where life on the continent will pick up – or where it left off. After all, it’s been a year and a half The witcher burden dropped, and the hefty bit of political intrigue it was left with. Between Geralt and Ciri coming together with Yen, the politics of Nilfgaard and Redania, Witcher general lore, and some mage trickery, there’s a lot to remember.

Season 3 brings viewers up to speed on what the cast of characters have been up to in the time between seasons. But we’ve put together this refresher on where we left off with Geralt, Ciri, Yennefer, Roach, Rience, and the other characters towards the end of Season 2, and what you need to remember to keep up with the first part of Season 3.

[Ed. note: As you might have guessed, this post fully spoils season 2 of The Witcher. You should really only be here if you want to know what happens in the show.]

Everyone wants Ciri – here’s why

Photo: Susie Allnut/Netflix

Emhyr, completely obscured by his armor, in season two of The Witcher

Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) looks at something in a still from The Witcher

Reince (Chris Fulton) does magic in a still from The Witcher season 2 — From top to bottom: the elves, White Flame, Rience the fire mage and Redanian spymaster Dijkstra, all trying to get Ciri for their own (evil) purposes

No, like actually: everyone and their mothers are looking forward to the princess of Cintra. Let’s look at the board:

Emhyr, aka The White Flame, aka the Emperor of Nilfgaard, wants Ciri to confirm his claim to the Cintran throne, which he already holds. There are also more personal reasons, such as the fact that the season 2 finale revealed that Emhyr is actually Ciri’s long-lost father Duny.
After her baby is killed, elf leader Francesca (Mecia Simson) learns of Ciri’s elder blood and believes that Ciri is the only hope for the elves to rebuild their society. So she and her clan also go hunting for Ciri.
The Wild Hunt wants Ciri because she has Elder Blood. So far their motive is somewhat opaque out there, but suffice it to say they are bad news.
The Redanians – and in particular their spymaster Sigismund Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) – want to marry Ciri off to their king, Vizimir, so that they can support their claim Cintra.
The other northern monarchs have put a bounty on Ciri and anyone who protects her, simply because “Princess Crilla caused a lot less trouble for us when she was dead.”
Fire mage Rience (Chris Fulton) has been searching for Ciri throughout the second season, working for fellow mage Lydia van Bredevoort (Aisha Fabienne Ross), who in turn works for a mysterious lord about whom we still know nothing. . Rience once crosses Geralt, Yen, and Ciri’s path, but they all escape (and Yen manages to use fire magic to burn his face). In an attempt to find her, Lydia attempts to use a blood-finding spell on the Witcher mutagen made from Ciri’s blood, and the spell leaves her horribly disfigured.

But Ciri is safe (and training) with Geralt and Yen

After the events of the second-season finale bring them together (more on that below), Geralt, Ciri, and Yen reunite to lead Ciri’s education. Geralt will continue to teach her the ways of the Witcher and how to defend herself, while Yen takes care of Cirilla’s magical training and sharpening her rather important magical abilities.

Most notably, Geralt spent a lot of Season 2 trying to help Ciri understand what her talents were good for. Though she was sad that her abilities and place in the world had cost her so much — including the lives of loved ones — Geralt encouraged her to follow his credo of keeping out of things as much as possible (and telling her not to could). turns herself into a Witcher using a special serum, even if it’s made from her blood; fathers, amirite?).

Yennefer is considered “a traitor” by the Brotherhood.

Yennefer (Anya Charlotra) looks sad in the snow

After the Battle of Sodden, when Yen used her fire magic to stop the Nilfgaardian forces from invading the north, the Brotherhood of Sorcerers began to suspect that Yen was a traitor (because she [checks notes] missing after the battle, where she used all her magic to save everyone. Neat!). The council decides she can prove her loyalty by executing Cahir, the White Flame’s most trusted general who pursued Ciri. Instead, she releases Cahir and the two go on the run.

While they would part ways when Cahir goes to Cintra to go back to serving the White Flame (more on that later), Yen would still be seen as a traitor in the eyes of the Brotherhood, and the Governing Council in particular.

Tissaia, Yen’s mentor at the magic school of Aretuza, remains loyal and sympathetic to Yen, asking her romantic lover Vilgefortz to do the same. Still, Tissaia was the one overseeing the meeting of the northern monarchs that gives a bounty to Ciri and those allied with her, so it seems potentially bad.

Yennefer also kidnapped Ciri and nearly turned her over to the Immortal Mother

In a desperate attempt to regain her magic, Yen makes a deal with the Immortal Mother – aka Voleth Meir – to take Ciri to a location outside of Cintra. In return, Voleth will give Meir Yen her chaos magic back.

The plan doesn’t go as intended: Ciri and Geralt separately discover the deception, leading Geralt to draw his sword on Yennefer. Unfortunately, Voleth Meir escapes her cabin, possesses Ciri, and kills a few Witchers at Kaer Morhen before using a monolith to be transported to her home world. The good news: By traveling between worlds, Yen was able to regain her magic.

The Wild Hunt is after Ciri

A shot of the Wild Hunt in a vision during Season 2 of The Witcher — The Wild Hunt, as seen in season 2 (and as they often are: riding through the clouds)

These ghostly ghosts are almost a myth in the world of Netflix The witcher, but we do know one thing: they saw Ciri in the world she was transported to in the season 2 finale, and took a shine to her. It probably has something to do with her Elder blood, not to mention the prophecy she encountered earlier in Season 2 (where she claimed she would save or destroy the world).

Fringilla and Cahir were banished (or worse)

Cahir (Eamon Farren) looks up from the stock in a still from The Witcher

Fringilla (Mimi Ndiweni) talks to someone off screen in a still from The Witcher season 2 — Cahir (L) and Fringilla (R), who were Nilfgaard’s most loyal servants, until they fooled it with the White Flame

Fringilla (Mimi Ndiweni), the mage of Nilfgaard, and Cahir (Eamon Farren), ended the season on a bad note. After spending all of Season 2 trying to team up with the elves against the rest of the continent, Fringilla and Cahir panicked when the White Flame said he was coming home and they didn’t have much to show for their alliance . They claimed credit for the death of Francesca’s baby as a way of giving their emperor confidence that they were in charge.

Unfortunately, it was actually the White Flame herself that ordered the murder of the faerie baby, making Fringilla and Cahir look like some obvious posers. In the final moments of the season 2 finale, the White Flame has them dragged away as he stands triumphant in front of his court.

Dijkstra had an owl who was actually a woman named Philippa

Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) and Philippa (Cassie Clare) at a banquet in Season 3 of The Witcher — Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) and Philippa (Cassie Clare) sit and do Redan spymaster stuff

As the spymaster of Redania, it behooved him to gather information even in rooms where he was not. Instead, he sent his owl, who turned out to be Philippa (Cassie Clare), a mage who can transform into a bird.

In the second-season finale, she tells him that Cirilla is known to be alive. So he instructs her to bring in Jaskier to help them find Ciri.

Now you’re caught up in what you need to remember before The witcher Season 3, the last season with Henry Cavill. Part 1 debuts on Netflix on June 29, and Part 2 follows on July 27.