Netflix's The Witcher delivers on its promise of high-fantasy monster hunting, but it's
not always easy to follow.
If you made it to the end of the first season and feel a little lost, you're not alone.
Here's what you need to know.
Even though "Much More," the final episode of The Witcher's first season, is happening
in one more-or-less united timeline, our characters don't cross paths until the very end.
Ciri spends the bulk of the episode with a kindly commoner who wants to adopt Ciri as
her daughter.
Meanwhile, Geralt begins the episode in the same refugee camp that Ciri visited in episode
two, where a local merchant is clearing out dead bodies.
Geralt defends the merchant from some zombie-like monsters, but is wounded in the process.
The merchant, who happens to be the commoner's husband, puts Geralt on his cart and starts
towing him to safety.
Yennefer, whose adventure takes up most of the episode, makes a stand with other mages
at Sodden, where they fight to defend the north from the Nilfgaardian [nilf-GARD-ee-in]
army.
In the aftermath, Tissaia magically calls out for Yennefer.
Ciri hears her and heads to the woods, where she meets Geralt for the first time.
She asks the witcher who Yennefer is, but before he can answer, the credits roll.
Why, exactly, did Nilfgaard invade the north, raze Cintra, and turn Sodden into a massacre?
It's after more than just Ciri.
If you track Nilfgaard's history over The Witcher's different timelines, you'll actually
see the story of a humiliated nation that rises from the ashes in order to restore its
lost glory.
Early on, before Yennefer's ascension, Nilfgaard is a joke.
Its king, Fergus, wastes the kingdom's money on frivolous pursuits.
The Brotherhood of Sorcerers hope that a court mage can help bring Fergus under control.
Instead, sometime around Geralt's story in episode three, someone known as the Usurper
organizes a rebellion, overthrows Fergus, and takes the crown.
Sometime after that, Fergus' son Emhyr reclaims the Nilfgaardian throne and sends his army
out to conquer the north.
That's when Cintra burns, and how Sodden becomes the site of the mages' last stand.
Amazingly, the mages manage to hold Sodden until help arrives from one of the northern
kingdoms.
You know that king who arrives, riding a white horse with an army behind him?
That's King Foltest of Temeria, and if that name sounds familiar, it should.
You've met him before.
King Foltest is the same king Geralt met in "Betrayer Moon."
He's the one who slept with his sister, who then died and gave birth to the striga that
Geralt had to fight.
Foltest shows up thanks to Triss Merigold, the mage assigned to his court, who fought
at the battle of Sodden.
The king still owes Triss for helping Geralt save his daughter.
It's just too bad that he took his sweet time getting there.
"Much More" ends on a couple of cliffhangers.
Ciri and Geralt meet for the first time and, more importantly, Yennefer seems to have disappeared.
After unleashing some major magic on the Nilfgaardian army, Yennefer more or less vanishes.
The last we hear of her, Tissaia is worriedly calling out her name.
Given that "Much More" clearly establishes that using powerful magic can kill a person,
it's cause for alarm.
Still, don't worry too much.
Yennefer is a major player in the books and unless the show is planning to deviate pretty
radically from the source material, the sorceress should pop up in season two.
It might take a little while, but we're almost certain she'll be there.
While Yennefer is defending the north from Nilfgaard's advance, Geralt spends most of
the season finale laying in the back of a hay cart, suffering poison-induced flashbacks
to his past.
The biggest revelation to come out of those visions is that Visenna, a sorceress, raised
Geralt when he was a small boy.
In fact, while the show doesn't make it entirely clear, Witcher lore dictates that Visenna
is Geralt's biological mother.
Visenna didn't take care of Geralt for long, though.
When he was still young, she abandoned him, leaving him to be taken to Kaer Morhen where
Witchers live and are trained.
In "Much More," Geralt comes face-to-face with his mother for the first time in decades
in a scene that could be magic or just a hallucination.
Whether Visenna actually came to visit Geralt or not, you can expect more details about
the Witcher's childhood in season two.
"Don't ask any more questions.
The answers will only hurt us both.
It's time to move on, Geralt."
The other major figure introduced in Geralt's visions is Vesemir.
After Visenna disappears, it's Vesemir who comes to lil' Geralt's aid, and Geralt utters
his name a few times during his poison-induced delirium.
The Witcher doesn't explain who Vesemir is, but fans of the franchise know him quite well.
Like Geralt, Vesemir is a witcher.
He lives at the witcher stronghold, Kaer Morhen, and is one of the oldest and most respected
members of the fraternity.
Thanks to a past adventure gone awry, Vesemir rarely leaves Kaer Morhen.
However, he's one of the best instructors the witchers have, and he functions as a de
facto father figure to Geralt in the books.
The show will probably make a few changes to the story, but the season finale has already
put the basic pieces in place.
Expect Vesemir to pop up during season two.
Ultimately, the first season of The Witcher is about three people trying to find a family.
We don't know it until the finale, but the Geralt we meet at the beginning of the show
was abandoned by his mother.
Yennefer is sold off by her foster father and deprived of the ability to have children.
Ciri's family is killed in the very first episode.
Each one of these characters has the opportunity to find a new family over the course of the
season, and each one rejects it.
Instead, our three heroes find comfort in each other.
In the books, the trio form a makeshift family.
The show isn't there quite yet, but if you're paying attention, it's very clear where it's
going.
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