After a monstrously long wait, fans of Netflix's "The Witcher" have finally
gotten a good look at what the series' third season has to offer. And while
our heroes definitely seem stronger, the threats seem much bigger, too.
The trailer opens with a shot of a majestic statue of a woman in armor holding a spear. Ciri,
Geralt, and Yennefer approach it. Despite its surroundings in what
appear to be ruins, the statue seems to be relatively untouched by time.
The woman depicted in the statue is Lara Dorren, an ancient elf sorceress of great power who is
a legend to the elven people. Her descendants — called "children of the Elder Blood" — have
inherited Lara's powers. Ciri doesn't yet realize that she is the most recent to
possess the gene that grants her this power, which explains her unusual magic ability. In
the first episode of the second season, Geralt's friend Nivellen tells Ciri the story of how Lara
fell in love with a human man and it all ended tragically, though he does not reveal her name.
"A child born to parents dead, that fateful winter's day."
Lara also made a brief appearance in the second season's fifth episode, when Triss convinces Ciri
to let her perform the Dol Dusza, a spell that enables Triss to go deep into Ciri's unconscious
mind. Within Ciri's dreamscape, she and Triss come across an elf woman bleeding from a fatal wound as
she comforts her newborn child. Ciri recognizes the woman from Nivellen's tale, but the vision
takes a dark turn when the elf begins choking Triss and reciting an ominous prophecy to Ciri.
Ciri's connection to Lara Dorren is a huge part of the plot in "The Witcher" books, and it seems
likely that Ciri will get more answers about her lineage in Season 3 of the Netflix series.
"The Witcher" is famous for its monsters. Fighting these abominations is part of a witcher's
livelihood, after all, and in the Netflix series, we've seen the White Wolf encounter some seriously
intimidating foes, including quite a few that fans may recognize from the "The Witcher" video games.
In the pilot, Geralt battles a kikimora, a huge insectoid creature. In Season 2,
Geralt and Ciri encounter a leshy, a demonic forest monster that later on proves to be
Eskel's demise. In the trailer for Season 3, Ciri is wandering through a dark maze when she comes
across a terrifying beast with a hard carapace shell on its back. The creature folds itself into
a ball and rolls ahead for a battering attack, but Ciri jumps out of the way just in time.
This looks very similar to a shaelmaar, a giant burrowing monster that made an appearance in
"Blood and Wine," one of the DLC chapters of "The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt." The shaelmaar in "Blood
and Wine" had been taken captive by Toussaint royalty to fight in a series of tournament games.
Because we see the creature in a maze in the trailer, it's possible that it
was put there deliberately for a similar purpose, if perhaps a more sinister one.
Of all the enemies our heroes have faced so far,
none can hold a candle to the terrifying force known as the Wild Hunt. Ciri had
only a brief but ominous glimpse of the spectral riders in Season 2.
"Join our hunt. Your place is among us."
Their reappearance in the Season 3 trailer promises a greater threat
to come. We see Ciri riding while looking back over her shoulder,
presumably with the Hunt hot on her heels. When we catch a glimpse of the Wild Hunt, their black
horses are adorned with skeletal armor, and the riders themselves are shrouded in mist.
The Wild Hunt played an important role in both the Witcher books and in the video games.
They are inspired by a myth from multiple European cultures, in which spectral beings
would steal people away and drag them to the underworld. In "The Witcher" universe,
the Wild Hunt are actually from an ancient race of elves known as the Aen Elle. Their
leader is Eredin Bréacc Glas, and under the command of King Auberon of the Aen Elle,
his quest is to travel between worlds and find slaves to bring back to the elf homeworld.
As time passed in the realm of the Aen Elle, the Wild Hunt found it more difficult to travel
between worlds. However, they soon discovered that those with the Elder Blood could move
between the realms. Since Ciri is a child of the Elder Blood, she's a target for the Wild Hunt.
For much of the first season, Ciri is a refugee on the run from Nilfgaardian invaders. Her only hope
is to find Geralt, to whom she was sworn via the Law of Surprise. Her powers begin to manifest in
dangerous ways, and since she has no control over them, it makes her journey all the more perilous.
In Season 2, Geralt takes in Ciri and acts as her protector. He soon realizes that Ciri must
learn to defend herself against the many enemies seeking her out. He takes her to Kaer Morhen, the
witchers' base of operations, where Ciri begins training in the witcher style of fighting. When
Ciri and Yennefer finally meet, Yennefer senses the powerful magic within Ciri and offers to teach
her how to use it. Although Ciri is reluctant, Yennefer's help proves to be invaluable.
The Season 3 trailer shows hints of Ciri's progress in her magical training and her
fighting skills. For one, Ciri's magic causes a dead tree to suddenly bloom back to life,
and we see her smile at the accomplishment as Yen watches. Ciri's sword skills are also impressive,
as she fights off Scoia'tael soldiers and goes up against some gnarly beasts.
Though she may not technically be a witcher, it seems that Ciri has earned a place among
them in the newest season. She even alludes to the idea in a conversation with Geralt.
"We're witchers."
"Is that so?"
The Tower of Aretuza is the seat of magical power on the Continent, and has been an important
setting for all of Netflix's "The Witcher" so far. This is where Yen and many other young magic users
begin their training with the sorceress Tissaia. It's also where important political planning
among the mages and sorceresses takes place. It's here that Tissaia, along with the mage Vilgefort,
went against the wishes of Stregobor to oppose Nilfgaard, resulting in the devastating battle
of Sodden Hill at the end of the first season. Though many mages and sorceresses died in the
battle, Aretuza remains a strong center of power throughout the show's second season.
In the Season 3 trailer, the tower can once again be seen standing tall on Thanedd Island.
Much of Season 2 was based on the first novel in author Andrej Sapkowski's series,
"Blood of Elves," and Season 3 will be taking events from the second book, "Time of Contempt."
At one point in the trailer, Geralt and Yennefer are seen wearing formal attire attending a ball,
with Geralt notably wearing Yen's preferred black and white color
scheme. This event is part of a conclave of mages taking place in Aretuza Tower,
and it also happens in the book. In "Time of Contempt," Yennefer and her fellow sorcerer,
Margarita, hope to enroll Ciri at Aretuza for her to better train in magic. This training
will likely play a larger role within the story throughout Season 3 and beyond.
Thanks to the mutations that turn them into witchers, the renowned monster slayers are
not only adept at sword fighting, but are also wielders of powerful magic. These magic spells
are called Signs, and while there are supposedly a countless number of these Signs, there are five
of them that are the most familiar to fans of the "Witcher" video games: Aard, Yrden, Axii, Quen,
and Igni. So far in the Netflix series, we've seen Geralt perform Aard, which emits a blast of force
to throw back enemies, and Axii, a mind-control ability that aims to calm or sway others.
Gaming fans are sure to recognize yet another Witcher Sign in the trailer for the third season:
Quen, which creates a protective spherical shield around the caster. It seems to come
in very handy as Geralt fights off a band of Scoia'tael. Quen is also an essential
mechanic in "The Witcher" video games and helps the player with getting out of tough
scrapes. Fans of the games still haven't seen Geralt use Igni, which produces fire, or Yrden,
a magical trap that slows and weakens foes, in the series just yet. Perhaps we will see these
and even more Signs besides these from the games, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Along with new monsters and the Wild Hunt, the trailer for "The Witcher" Season 3 brings back
some familiar enemies as well. The most prominent is Rience, who was played by
Chris Fulton in Season 2, but has been recast in Season 3 with Sam Woolf. The mage with a penchant
for pyromancy was imprisoned in a Cintran cell until getting set free by the sorceress Lydia,
who hires Rience to capture Ciri on behalf of a mysterious employer. No matter how
much Rience tries to get the identity of her boss, Lydia keeps it secret.
Rience tracks down Jaskier and tortures him to find Ciri's whereabouts, only for the bard
to be rescued by Yennefer. Rience suffers severe burns after his fire spell against Yen backfires,
resulting in him getting a nasty scar on his face. He continues to chase after Ciri,
attacking the Temple of Melitele, where he and the mercenary Michelet Brothers fight
Geralt as Ciri escapes with Yennefer. Though Rience fails to capture Ciri,
he does manage to get a hold of some of her blood to take back to Lydia. Rience appears
once again in the trailer for Season 3, promising even more trouble for Ciri and her companions.
Another returning character in Season 3 is Stregobor, a powerful mage with his
own nefarious agenda. In the trailer, we see him standing on a balcony and looking down,
probably somewhere in Aretuza. It's difficult to tell what he might be up to in future episodes,
but whatever it is, we can bet that it's not good.
The first volume of the third season of "The Witcher" comes out on Netflix on June 29,
2023, and Volume 2 is set to be released on July 27, 2023.