The Witcher Season 2 Explained. In this series of videos, we are going to discuss everything
that actually happened in each episode even if it has not yet been explained in the show
adaptation. So we are going to provide extra color into things such as Ciri’s Elder Blood,
Lara Dorren, Falka, unicorns, Emhyr var Emreis, The Wild Hunt, and Rience’s secret employer.
So to be clear, this Explained series is not just a recap. These videos will have book
spoilers for stuff that the show has not yet fully explained.
Let’s start with a high-level recap of the episode, using the map. Then will dive into
the details. Geralt reunited with Ciri in Riverdell. They
then began to head north to Kaer Morhen. In order to get across the Yaruga River, they
crossed at Sodden Hill, which is where the battle had taken place. Therefore, they ran
into Tissaia who told Geralt that Yennefer was dead. And it broke him. Geralt and Ciri
then continued north, but Geralt sensed danger, so they stopped off in Redania at Nivellen’s
manor. Afterwards, they kept riding north to Kaer Morhen.
Meanwhile, Fringilla captured Yennefer and she began to take Yennefer to Cintra as a
hostage. However, on their way, the captor became the captive when Francesca and Filavandrel’s
elves captured Fringilla and Yennefer at the end of the episode.
The third subplot involved the Northern mages. In the aftermath of battle, Tissaia was upset
that she could not find Yennefer. Tissaia briefly spoke to Geralt, then she went back
to Aretuza where they healed Triss and began to interrogate Cahir with magic.
That is the high-level recap. Now, let’s get into the details, starting with Geralt
and Ciri. Ciri had had a vision of meeting Tissaia on
the battlefield. On top of that, Geralt had seen Ciri’s mother Pavetta do magic. So
Geralt began to realize that Ciri was special. But it took time for him to realize how special
she was. While traveling north, Ciri told Geralt that
she had had nightmares about Cahir and the Fall of Cintra. But she lied to Geralt. She
said that she had escaped by getting lucky. So at this point, Geralt did not know that
Ciri had escaped Cahir using magical powers. Ciri asked Geralt about the Law of Surprise,
and Geralt told her that he had saved her father’s life from her grandmother. Geralt
told Ciri that her father didn’t know what he was giving up. That line had a hidden meaning
for hardcore fans. When Emhyr offered Geralt the Law of Surprise,
he did yet realize that his daughter would be the Child of Destiny. So at the time, he
did not know what he was giving up. That’s not what Geralt meant by that line. But that’s
the hidden meaning. It was not until after Ciri was born that a specific mage met up
with Emhyr and told him who Ciri was. A Child of Prophecy. We will get back to this in a
few minutes. So Geralt and Ciri were traveling north to
Kaer Morhen, but Roach could sense danger. Geralt then tasted the flesh of a dead animal,
and presumably, that allowed Geralt to see the dead animal’s memories. Therefore, Geralt
knew that it was attacked by a monster, so they rode hard for the nearest town. When
they got to the town, there were no guards and no barking dogs, which meant, something
bad had happened there. So Geralt decided to pull an audible and go to his friend Nivellen’s
manor instead. Nivellen was a friend of Geralt’s, but Nivellen
had changed since they last met. He had been cursed. At first, Nivellen told them that
he had gotten high on godflesh mushrooms and trashed the Temple of the Lionheaded Spider.
After the damage was done, the priestess cursed him to live alone as a monster. But that’s
not what really happened. In truth, Nivellen raped the priestess. That is why she cursed
him. When Nivellen first turned, he freaked out
and killed all of his servants. Something that he regrets until this day. Afterwards,
Nivellen buried them in what he now refers to as the statue garden. So Nivellen could
not control his powers, and as a result, he killed people whom he loved. That story resonated
with Ciri since she also has powers that she does not understand and cannot control.
While Geralt looked around the manor for danger, Nivellen told Ciri a story called the Fall
of the Elders. It was a story about an elven warrior who fell in love with a human mage.
And they had a child. Nivellen doesn’t know this, and he did not mention their names,
but the elven warrior was Lara Dorren. Ciri’s ancestor.
Earlier in this episode, Nivellen had told Geralt that he saw the Wild Hunt riding their
skeletal horses across the southern sky. And Ciri said that her grandfather saw them just
before Cintra fell. So two references to the Wild Hunt in the first episode alone. And
short version, the Wild Hunt is a group of Aen Elle elves who now live in a different
sphere. The Wild Hunt is looking for Ciri since she is the descendant of Lara Dorren.
More on this to come in future episodes. Now, let’s take a look at Vereena.
Vereena was a type of vampire called a Bruxa. A very dangerous type of vampire. Nivellen
found her in the wounds, injured and starving. And unlike humans, Vereena wasn’t scared
of him. So he took her in and took care of her. When she healed, she chose to stay there
with him. And to ease her cravings, he let her feed on him. But it wasn’t enough. Vereena
killed the villagers, and Nivellen turned his eyes from what she did. The things we
do for love. At night, Vereena approached Ciri and spoke
to her telepathically. Ciri intrigued Vereena, since Ciri was like her in a way. They both
felt so alone. Then, Vereena left. Geralt got into a fight with her outside,
and stunned her. But Ciri liked Vereena, so she ran over to cover her body. It was a trick.
Vereena then threatened to kill Ciri unless Geralt left. And she almost bit her, but Nivellen
stabbed her in the back. Then Geralt cut off her head. Since there is power in True Love,
Nivellen unknowingly lifted his curse when he spilt her blood.
So this scene had two major takeaways. First off, Nivellen had to kill someone he loved.
In a later episode, Geralt has to do the same thing to Eskel when the Leshy takes over his
body. And even later, Vesemir tries to do the same with Ciri when Voleth Meir takes
over her body. The second major takeaway from this scene
is that there is power in true love. Since, Yennefer came to look at Ciri like a daughter,
when she sacrificed herself to Voleth Meir for the sake of Ciri, Yennefer’s wound was
healed. She got back her magic. Power in True Love.
Alright, now let’s take a look at the Northern Mages.
Triss almost died, but Tissaia and Vilgefortz ran over and helped Artorius stabilize her.
When doing so, Vilgefortz placed his hand over Tissaia’s hand. And once Triss was
stabilized, Vilgefortz squeezed her hand. Does Vilgefortz actually care about Triss?
Probably not. Does Vilgefortz actually care about Tissaia? Sadly, probably not. But in
short, Vilgefortz is a smooth operator. He is probably using love or the allusion of
love to manipulate Tissaia. After healing Triss, Tissaia tried to interrogate
Cahir with magic, but unfortunately for her, the only thing she found was evidence of a
magical barrier in Cahir’s head. So it begs the question: who put that barrier there?
It may have been put there in advance of the battle by someone such as Fringilla. But there’s
also a chance that someone at Aretuza put up the magical barrier. And if so, the prime
suspect is Vilgefortz. Vilgefortz may have put up that magical barrier
inside Cahir’s head so as to prevent Cahir from saying something that might give away
the fact that Vilgefortz had been working with Emhyr var Emreis for many years.