(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] One thing that quickly becomes apparent
during the first season of "The Witcher"
is that Nilfgaard seems bad.
- We're losing!
- [Narrator] We see the armies of the Nilfgaard empire
burn Cintra and slaughter its citizens,
its mages engaged in dark rituals,
and its agents, especially the sinister Cahir,
pursing Ciri ruthlessly, even going so far
as to employ a doppler.
- Do you not have errand boys where you come from?
- They lacked your valuable set of skills.
- [Narrator] So what's up with Nilfgaard?
Are they as bad as they appear or is there more to this
still rather mysterious empire that we're not seeing?
The answer is, of course, a bit of both.
The world of "The Witcher" is a morally complex place
where there are two sides to almost every story
and absolutes are rare,
even when it comes to burning and torturing.
So what do we know about Nilfgaard?
Nilfgaard is a vast empire in the south of the continent,
the large land mass on which the stories
of "The Witcher" unfold.
- Cintra is indeed the jewel of the north,
yet Nilfgaard remains the shit rag of the south
and that's saying something.
(laughing)
- [Narrator] In the original books
and so far in the show too,
most of these stories take place in the north,
among the fragile alliances and fractious intrigue
of various competing kingdoms,
like Temeria, ruled by King Foltest,
Redania, and Aedirn, where we see Yennefer sent
following her training at Aretuza.
- What sort of a king refuses a dance
with one of his subjects?
- [Narrator] So while there's a little more to learn
about Nilfgaard from the books,
even there they're seen as outsiders.
They are the invading force
and we see events from the perspective
of the invaded, as when Jaskier describes
the coming war before the fall of Cintra
in the short story "Something More".
"There's never been a war like this," the bard said gravely.
"The Nilfgaard army are leaving scorched earth
"and bodies behind them.
"Entire fields of corpses.
"This is a war of destruction, total destruction.
"Nilfgaard against everyone."
This kind of reaction is common in the books.
A traveling priest in "The Blood of Elves"
warns a crowd of northerners to remember
the Nilfgaard are our punishment from the gods.
They are the whip with which
the immortals will lash you sinners.
And they're sometimes referred to as the Black Forces,
a forbidding name which is only partly a reference
to their dark armor.
Behind these scare stories, though,
is perhaps a more mundane political reality.
In "Blood of Elves", Geralt's fellow witcher Lambert
reacts to the Nilfgaardian invasion
and the history of trouble between the empire
and the northern kingdoms more casually.
"So what?" said Lambert.
"They've been hitting,
"killing, and striking against each other constantly
"for hundreds of years.
"It's nothing to worry about."
Also remember that in episode three of "The Witcher",
the Brotherhood of Sorcerers are more concerned
with reining in the unruly kingdom of Cintra
than they are with the slumbering power of Nilfgaard
which at this time is still ruled by somebody called Fergus.
- How fares Nilfgaard?
- King Fergus is proving to be an effective
and excitable young king.
- Horny she means.
Spending the kingdom's money on women
as his people starve to death.
- [Narrator] The truth about Nilfgaard
probably lies somewhere in the middle.
Andrzej Sapkowski based the expansionist empire
on the Romans and perhaps, some commentators have suggested,
also the Soviet Russians.
Nilfgaard grows through conquest,
turning vanquished enemies into provinces
and vassal states.
The climatic battle at Sodden
was just the end of a longer campaign
during which the Nilfgaard had advanced across your lands
like an iron roller, strewing the land between
Marnadal and Transriver with the corpses
of many a gallant fellow.
While their armies might be ruthless,
there's plenty of evidence in the books
that Nilfgaard's enemies can be just as cruel
given the opportunity, and perhaps because
of the Empire's early connection with the elder folk,
Nilfgaard has a more accepting approach to non-humans,
especially elves, when compared to their neighbors
from the north.
- My elders worked with humans
and got robbed of all they had.
- So they might not be evil,
or at least no more evil than anyone else,
but that doesn't explain why Nilfgaard
invaded Cintra in the first place.
What changed between the time of Fergus
and that relaxed meeting of the Brotherhood
to the burning of Cintra
and the slaughter of its people?
The reason has been hinted at in the show
through prophecy and mysterious language
and particularly in this scene
where Nilfgaard mage Fringilla reminds a downcast Cahir
about the importance of their mission.
- You rose up against the usurper.
Helped free our people from their chains.
I witnessed the white flame call on you,
mold you, anoint you.
It burns in you, Cahir.
She is the key,
but you, you are the commissioner.
Do not despair.
We will find her and we will spread your supremacy
all through the kingdoms whether they deserve it or not.
- [Narrator] The events and meanings behind
this moment will likely form the foundations
of the story as the show continues.
So, in other words, you'll have to wait.
"The Witcher" is available to watch on Netflix right now.
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and loads more, subscribe to the channel.
(dramatic music)
- The time of the sword and the ax is nigh.
(dramatic music)