There's plenty of action in the first batch of episodes of the long-awaited third season
of "The Witcher," but it's political intrigue that really ramps up the drama by the end.
Here's how all the twists and turns play out.
Warning: Spoilers for Season 3, Volume 1 of "The Witcher" ahead!
Yennefer, Geralt, and Ciri begin the season hiding from most of the world as Ciri trains
in magic and Yen works to rebuild trust with Geralt.
When Rience is revealed to have a vial of Ciri's blood, which means that he can always
find her, Yen and Ciri leave for Aretuza and they briefly part ways with Geralt, who goes
on to visit a castle inhabited by a multi-limbed abomination made from the bodies of young
women with magical affinity.
At Aretuza, Yennefer tries to adapt back into the hedonistic, selfish ways of her fellow
brotherhood members to clear a safe path for Ciri.
After seeing Ciri's disappointment in her behavior, though, she instead convinces the
brotherhood to host a conclave for all of the northern mages in hopes that they'll combine
forces and help bring a peaceful resolution to the Nilfgaardian conflict.
Meanwhile, Triss has been noting the disappearance of many of the Aretuza apprentices.
Vilgefortz, a mage who has been Tissaia's romantic partner since at least the Battle
of Sodden Hill, leads the brotherhood council.
Yennefer previously maintained a healthy skepticism of Vilgefortz, but in Season 3, she decides
to prioritize and value the people she loves, including Tissaia.
As a result, Yennefer accepts Vilgefortz and specifically notes the beautiful red-stoned
bracelet he gave Tissaia earlier.
"For what it's worth, I'm happy to see the person she's become around you."
Some characters don't appear in the midseason finale, the fifth episode of the volume, because
it all takes place at the Aretuza conclave ball.
Most importantly, the last we see of Ciri and Jaskier is in the fourth episode.
They spend the night of the conclave in a spell-protected cottage on Thanedd island.
Ciri spends most of the episode with Geralt fighting a sea beast on their way to Aretuza's
island.
She discusses her hopes for the future of the continent as well as her own life.
Ciri is getting tired of running, and she's proven herself a formidable fighter thanks
to the training she has received from Geralt and the other witchers.
Jaskier, for his part, is keen to further explore his crush on Redania's crown prince
after Radovid finds him at the cabin.
Cahir, who has killed his friend Gallatin to prove his loyalty to Emhyr, finds his way
to the elves led by Francesca.
On Emhyr's orders, Cahir and Francesca will be banding together to search for Ciri in
Volume 2.
The mid-season finale opens after the end conclave ball.
Geralt and Yennefer are already in their private chamber.
At first, it seems like we may not get to see what happened at the ball at all as they
start to undress and recount the night together, but soon enough, there's a flashback to where
we left Geralt and Yen at the end of the previous episode.
Viewers are shown snippets of various conversations around the ball.
Geralt promises Yen he'll be on his best behavior.
"Stop eating like an underfed ghoul."
After dodging Sabrina's advances, the Witcher finds time to speak to Philippa and then Dijkstra,
both of whom are at the conclave to represent the interests of Redania.
Yennefer checks in with Tissaia and Vilgefortz before taking a one-on-one stroll with Philippa.
Their conversation is not audible, but Geralt soon sees Yen's old flame Istredd interrupt
Yen for a private, seemingly serious conversation with her.
Thanks to a comment from Vilgefortz regarding the persistence of first love, Geralt appears
to be jealous of Yen and Istredd and later picks a fight with Istredd following the Melange,
a courtly dance in which partners are repeatedly switched off.
Yen appears upset, but soon after the resolution of the fight, Tissaia curiously raises a toast
to Yennefer and Geralt for facilitating a night of peace and hope.
Back in their private chamber, Geralt and Yennefer are analyzing the events of the night.
There's another flashback to the start of the ball, and viewers realize that Yen and
Geralt were executing a plan to apprehend Stregobor, whom they believe to be the secret,
malevolent force behind many of the recent horrors that they've experienced.
This time around, we catch many more of Geralt and Yennefer's conversations with the other
attendees, which provides a lot of clarity as to the real reason for the tension in both
Geralt and Yen's demeanors.
Phillippa subtly and unsuccessfully interrogates Geralt for information before Geralt receives
a warning from Dijkstra that he will need to choose a side in the conflict very soon
if he hopes to keep Ciri safe.
Istredd tells Yennefer that he and Triss have discovered that Stregobor is responsible for
the theft of the Book of Monoliths.
Geralt's fight with Istredd is merely a distraction.
"Follow my lead.
You've been trying to win Yen back all evening!"
It gives Yen a chance to find a list of the part-elven mages in Stregobor's safe.
Stregobor finds her, but is soon joined by Geralt, Triss, Istredd, Tissaia, Vilgefortz,
and Artorius.
Istredd reveals that the Book of Monoliths, which is in Stregobor's possession, provides
the brotherhood with enough proof to have him arrested.
Stregobor maintains his innocence as he is dragged away, and once again, Tissaia tells
Yen and Geralt that they saved the night.
Geralt and Yennefer are happily celebrating their victory with a bath when Yennefer points
out that Philippa was acting strangely at the ball.
She was expecting Philippa and Dijkstra to come into the conclave with their own agenda
and schemes.
What Yen was not expecting was to receive a warning from Philippa regarding the brotherhood
and their conclave efforts.
Philippa heavily implies that the conclave is doomed to fail because there are malevolent
forces at work.
She points out Lydia, the mage who can only communicate via telepathy because of a ruinous
injury to her face, which she hides with illusion magic.
Lydia is a slave to her lover, incapable of parting with a poison that is slowly killing
her.
Geralt realizes that Lydia has been working with Rience, and Yennefer recalls that the
stones in Lydia's earrings are the same as those in Tissaia's bracelet.
They slowly begin to realize that they've been played after Geralt recounts his own
conversation with Vilgefortz, who spoke of his violent past, the power of love, and the
fact that Geralt needed to choose a side.
"It is incredible how much my neutrality outrages everyone."
They hear screams only seconds after realizing that Vilgefortz was behind Rience's actions
all along.
Yennefer runs to find Tissaia and Geralt is stopped by Dijkstra in the hallway with a
knife to the throat.
For viewers who aren't familiar with the book series upon which the show is based, the reveal
of Vilgefortz as the true villain is really well executed.
It's a definite should-have-seen-it-coming moment.
The character had more screen time and faced more suspicion from Yennefer in the first
two seasons, but in the first half of Season 3, he mainly serves as a supportive partner
to Tissaia and a thoughtful member of the Brotherhood council.
The trick is that the writers have been engendering hatred for Stregobor since the very first
episode, in which he admitted to killing any young women born during and immediately following
the Black Sun.
He was largely responsible for Renfri's death, and totally responsible for her assault and
the ruin of her life.
Ever since then, he's been a bigoted, creepy thorn in the side of any character with whom
he's come into contact.
The audience wanted Stregobor to be responsible for everything that's been going wrong so
that he could finally get his comeuppance.
So it was easier to believe that he was a relatively straightforward answer to one of
the show's most elusive mysteries.
Philippa and Tissaia were once close friends, and until Episode 5 we didn't know why they
had a falling out.
Philippa tells Yennefer that she warned Tissaia about unconditional loyalty.
And though she didn't mention Vilgefortz by name, it's clear by the end of the episode
that his influence over Tissaia forced a wedge between them.
She and Yen are not exactly allies, but Philippa believes that Yennefer is capable of seeing
past Vilgefortz's deceptions.
Triss sees Geralt for the first time since she fled Kaer Morhen.
Triss has still not forgiven herself for failing to protect Ciri, and she won't be able to
hide from her fears at Aretuza for much longer.
But it's nice to see Triss and Istredd working together to do what they think is right.
Both of them have always stood out from their peers as slightly more self-aware and morally
accountable.
It's bittersweet, though, to see Tissaia's short-lived happiness.
She finally has Yennefer back and Vilgefortz is by her side, and the brotherhood is making
progress toward a better future for mages and the continent.
But her world is about to be blown apart with the revelation that Vilgefortz is plotting
against them.
and there's no guarantee that she'll live through the next episode to mourn her relationship.
The ending of Volume 1 has huge implications for the story.
Yennefer believes she's made Aretuza safe for Ciri, but is caught off guard when Vilgefortz
reveals that he's been working against her all along.
And that's just the beginning.
It seems like everyone is after Ciri.
Emhyr, emperor of Nilfgaard, wants his daughter, and heir to the throne, back.
Francesca believes Ciri is the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy.
Dijkstra is obsessed with using her powers to gain a tactical advantage over his foes.
And in Episode 3, the Wild Hunt begins their chase of the lost lion cub of Cintra.
"Yes, we are corpses.
But you are death itself."
Geralt, Yennefer, Triss, and Jaskier are the only people truly looking out for Ciri's welfare,
but Ciri is starting to make it difficult.
She's growing in power and confidence and is realizing that she may be the only person
who can resolve the conflict their world is facing.
The events of "The Witcher" Season 3 Volume 1 run roughly parallel to the first half of
the fifth novel in "The Witcher" book series, "Time of Contempt."
While the writers of the show have made changes to characters like Francesca, giving them
larger, more emotionally complex roles, their first installment of Season 3 stays quite
loyal to the plot of the book series.
However, showrunner Lauren Hissrich has said that the show will not always be faithful
to the books.
Henry Cavill, who recently announced that he will be leaving the show and stepping away
from the part of Geralt after Season 3 has fully concluded, has never publicly said why
he decided to leave the show other than to "pursue other projects."
But many fans and industry insiders have speculated that he was disappointed with the direction
of the story.
Cavill has long claimed to be a big fan of the books, and it seems that not everyone
working on the show has the same passion for the source material.
Lauren Hissrich, told Entertainment Weekly that Season 3 will provide "the most heroic
sendoff" they could manage for Cavill's exit from the show.
It's also been announced that Liam Hemsworth will take over as Geralt, starting with Season
4.
What does the end of Season 3, Volume 1 of "The Witcher" mean for Season 3 Volume 2?
The second part of the season will release on Netflix on July 27th— a little under
a month after Volume 1.
Based on a comment from showrunner Lauren Hissrich, it sounds like this season of "The
Witcher" will continue to stick pretty faithfully to the plot of the fifth Witcher novel, "Time
of Contempt."
Volume 2 will most likely pick up right where Volume 1 left off, with Dijkstra holding a
knife to Geralt's neck as Yennefer seeks to make sure Tissaia is still alive.
Season 3 Volume 2 promises to be action-packed AND filled with political machinations.
And many of the power players in "The Witcher" universe are starting to play their hands
more so than ever before.
Basically, everyone of note is trying to find Ciri, either because of her magical abilities
or her royal and elven heritage.
Audiences will most likely now get to see Vilgefortz stepping out of the shadows to
embrace his villainy a little more.
This is especially true now that Geralt and Yennefer have discovered that he is the one
who has been behind so many of the strange and terrible happenings of late.