Check out our continuing reviews of The Witcher Season 2, as we dig into episodes 3-4 today.
The Witcher Season 2 features two main storylines (at least so far). The primary one, focused on Geralt and Ciri, as the Witcher works to protect the young princess who has been entrusted to him, while also teaching her how to protect herself.
The second follows the sorceress, Yennefer, as she discovers her magic is gone and runs afoul of the political machinations of the Brotherhood. Episodes 3 & 4 continue those two storylines.
Ciri Takes up the Witcher Mantle
Following the events of episode 2, Geralt knows that nowhere is truly safe for Ciri and he won’t always be there to protect her. So, he decides to let her learn the sword, Witcher-style.
So, a good portion of episode 3 involves Ciri pushing herself to learn the sword. Initially, she gets nothing but disdain from the other Witchers, two of whom push her to test herself against an American Ninja Warrior style gauntlet, but way more dangerous.
They want to break her spirit, but she is having none of it and by the end of the episode, you can see that she has earned a certain amount of respect from the other Witchers, who eventually seem to adopt her as one of their own, even if they are still a bunch of inconsiderate jerks a lot of the time.
Geralt eventually takes Ciri out into the woods, where her dreams and visions seem to be calling her. She leads them directly to the Leshy who had attacked and infected Eskel in episode 2. The creature attacks, trying to grab Ciri, but is then itself attacked and killed by an even more monstrous creature who is also intent on getting to Ciri.
She runs and is nearly caught by the new monster when Geralt shows up to dispatch it. But, it is a monster he has never seen before. He brings its head back to the castle for further study. He also lets Ciri know that he thinks she has likely inherited some of her mother’s magical power.
Yennefer Faces a Test of her Loyalty
Meanwhile, Yennefer has made her way back to the Brotherhood after a month of searching for a way to regain her magic. She comes back to a battle between warring factions in the Brotherhood, one led by her mentor Tissaia, and the other by the racist sorcerer Stregebor who mistrusts Yen for being ¼ elf and wonders how she survived being captured by the Nilfgaardians.
He eventually attempts to interrogate her by entering her mind but is caught by Tissaia. Still, his suspicions are shared by at least some of the other members of the Brotherhood, so Yen is faced with a choice to prove her loyalty by executing their Niflgaardian prisoner (Cahir).
Ciri Gains a new Tutor
In episode 4, the sorceress Triss arrives at Kaer Morhen at Geralt’s invitation. He wants her to help tutor Ciri to use whatever magical powers she has.
He probably also figures that the princess, who is now looking more and more like a young Witcher in training (all existing Witchers are male), could use a decent female role model around. It leads to some funny scenes. Triss also knows that Yen is still alive, the two having seen each other at the Brotherhood. But, she doesn’t know of Geralt’s relationship with her, so she doesn’t mention it.
Triss helps Geralt investigate the origins of the monster he killed in the previous episode, finding it (and the Leshy) are somehow connected to some magical monoliths, one of which Ciri seems to have toppled over with her voice alone during her escape from the Nilfgaard army in season 1.
Triss portals Geralt to visit the Brotherhood member, Istredd, who has been studying the monoliths. Soon thereafter, Vesemir discovers that Ciri has Elder blood, which was long thought to be extinct but believed to be a key ingredient in the mutagens that are used to make Witchers. He believes she may be the key to reviving the Witchers, who have been unable to make new members for many years.
Yennefer Goes on the Run
Yen and the Nilfgaardian general Cahir go on the run and eventually meet up with another character from season 1 - the bard Jaskier. He has been smuggling elves out of the country and into the lands ruled by Nilfgaard, as they have formed an alliance with the elves.
He helps smuggle the two fugitives onto a ship headed for Cintra (now controlled by Nilfgaard), but is taken prisoner by an unknown sorcerer of some sort and is about to be questioned as the episode comes to a close.
At some point, I may do a bit of a comparison between Netflix’s The Witcher and Amazon’s The Wheel of Time. Both are adapted from fantasy novel series and involve monsters, magic, swords, battles, etc. But, each has a very different tone and look and feel. It should make for an interesting comparison.
Stay tuned for our next article, covering episodes 5-6 of The Witcher Season 2!
