The Witcher has certainly had a crazy run on Netflix since its first season.
Becoming a massive hit for the platform, despite some fan blowback, the Henry Cavill starring drama has become one of the most popular fantasy adaptations, with a story that has truly captured the hearts of millions.
Now, The Witcher Season 3 is literally right around the corner, and because it’s been since December 2021 that we have last seen these characters, I think we all need a little bit of a refresher of what exactly went down during Season 2. Let’s get into it, below.
The Wild Hunt Is Hunting Ciri Down
The Witcher Season 2 ending was, seriously, one of the craziest endings of any of its episodes. Featuring a stellar fight that truly knocked my socks off, Ciri was possessed by Voleth Meir and ended up killing a bunch of Witchers at Kaer Morhen, but Yennefer used this opportunity to offer herself as a host for Voleth Meir in order to free the princess from Meir’s control.
When the transfer of power is complete, Ciri unwillingly ends up transporting herself, Geralt, and Yennefer to a different world that they're immediately threatened by. There, Voleth Meir leaves Yennefer’s body, but their worries are not over, as they see it join with one of the the Wild Hunt riders – all of whom are actively looking for Ciri.
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The Wild Hunt doesn’t have a major role in The Witcher books, however, they are still a very formidable group in the games – and one that is surely going to scare a lot of people on screen.
In the games and books, The Wild Hunt is actually a group of Elves from a race that is unknown to any other Elven race. They are called Aen Elle and live in the world that that Ciri transported everyone to in the finale. The reason they're after Ciri, however, is far more intriguing as their main goal is to capture her for her Elder Blood and use that to their advantage. In the novels and books, her blood can be used to make teleporting to other worlds easier – and this, in turn, would save their lives as their own home is beginning to be destroyed. This would allow them to completely take over the Continent.
If Season 3 of the show decides to follow this reasoning for why they want the princess, I’d be down.
And The Brotherhood, As Well As The Northern Kingdoms, Have Placed A Bounty On Ciri And The Others
I swear, man, Ciri is just getting hunted day after day for her powers and her blood. Not only is The Wild Hunt most likely going to come after her in Season 3 of the show, both the Northern Kingdom and the Brotherhood are looking to get their hands on her.
Everyone sees her powers and blood as something to control. I mean, this isn’t a completely new surprise, as Ciri has been chased down since the very first episode of the series. It’s what led her to Geralt in the first place, but it’s still important to mention that pretty much every major antagonist of the series is after our girl.
What does that mean for the main group? It most likely means they’re going to be moving around a lot. Even in the first look for Season 3, Ciri was shown running and fighting, so I’d suggest getting used to that.
Yennefer Has Her Powers Back
Something else major that happened at the end of Season 2 was that Yennefer gained her powers back. In the Season 1 finale of The Witcher, Yennefer ended up using most of her chaos magic in order to take out an entire army with fire magic.
For most of Season 3, we see her trying to regain her powers – the one thing she feels she has, because she gave up her ability to have children during her transformation, in order to hone her powers in Season 1. She was so desperate to get her powers back that she was willing to steal Ciri and bring her to Voleth Meir in order to regain them.
That led to a huge falling out between Yennefer and Geralt – as you can imagine, but after she offers her body to Voleith Meir in the finale, and they escape The Wild Hunt, Yennefer has regained her magic. Talk about a crazy ride.
Yennefer Is Training Ciri, But The Princess And Geralt Don't Fully Trust Her Yet
As mentioned before, Yennefer, Geralt, and Ciri aren’t really on the best terms right now, since the mage almost sacrificed Ciri to the deathless mother for her powers. But, every apology stars somewhere, right?
We've been getting hints of Ciri’s powers all along, showing that with proper training, she could be formidable. And, since Geralt at least trusts Yennefer’s magical abilities, he allows her to train Ciri – but warns her that there is nothing between them anymore after what she did.
Whether that will last throughout Season 3, I’m not sure, but as of right now, Yen is with them physically, but on the outs emotionally, which is understandable.
Emperor Emhyr Is The Reason Francesca’s Newborn Was Killed
Something else that was expanded on in Season 2 of The Witcher was the population of Elves, and how their leader, Francesca, was actually pregnant and gave birth to the first Elven baby in years. When this happens, the Elven people decide to focus on rebuilding rather than fighting.
However, this all changes when Francesca discovers her newborn baby was murdered in the middle of the night, and we come to find out later that Emperor Emhyr, otherwise known as The White Flame, was behind the murder.
This was a huge moment for the series, as not only did it confirm who The White Flame really is, but that now, the Elves are not going to hold back. The White Flame killed that baby in order to somehow keep control of them, but we all saw what Francesca did at the very end – using her powers to kill several newborn human babies in her path, so it makes sense that several battles are on the way.
And He Also Happens To Be Ciri’s True Father, Duny
Also, the last thing we found out was that Emperor Emhyr is Ciri’s father, Duny. For the last two seasons, fans of the show have been led to think that Duny was killed years ago with her mother. In the finale of Season 2, we were shown that Duny is most certainly not dead – no, he just “rebranded.”
Jokes aside, Duny as Emhyr was something that I’m sure many fans did not see coming, as, at least from the flashbacks, he seemed to be a kind soul, while Emhyr is most certainly not and has done some pretty unspeakable things. For viewers who have no idea where the story is going, just wait, as his tale is going to blow your mind.
Something else that is worth mentioning is that this will be Henry Cavill’s last season as Geralt, as reported back in October 2022, and he will be replaced by Liam Hemsworth for Season 4.
The Witcher Season 3 is right around the corner and I am counting down the days until I get to embrace my inner fantasy nerd again. Can June 29th get here quicker? I’m going to need more intense Geralt fights.
