Warning: spoilers for The Witcher season 3 Part 2.
Summary
- The Witcher season 3 marks Henry Cavill's final season as Geralt of Rivia, setting up Liam Hemsworth as the new Geralt for season 4.
- Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri reunite briefly but are forced to part ways due to the Thanedd Coup and Vilgefortz's betrayal.
- The season ends with Geralt forming a new team and embarking on a mission to find Ciri and seek revenge against Vilgefortz, leaving fans eager to see how the show will handle the transition to a new actor.
The final episodes of The Witcher season 3 have been released, and with them, Henry Cavill’s time as Geralt of Rivia has come to an end. After expanding with a prequel animated movie and a prequel miniseries, the universe of Netflix’s The Witcher has returned to the main series with its third season. The Witcher season 3 was treated as an event and was divided into two parts, not just because of all the events that happen this season, but because this is Henry Cavill’s final season as Geralt of Rivia.
The Witcher season 3 finally saw Geralt, Yennefer of Vengerberg, and Ciri together as a family, as they did their best to hide and stay safe as half the Continent wants to capture Ciri. Unfortunately, the Thanedd Coup and Vilgefortz showing his true colors forced Ciri, Yennefer, and Geralt to part ways one more time, setting them up for new adventures in season 4. Cavill will be replaced by Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia in the already-confirmed fourth season of The Witcher, so the question now is how the series will make the change from Cavill to Hemsworth, especially after how Geralt’s story ended.
What Happens To Henry Cavill's Geralt In The Witcher Season 3 Finale
The Witcher season 3 Part 1 ended on a major cliffhanger as the Thanedd Coup began, with Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) once more trying to push Geralt to choose a side – Redania’s side. The Witcher season 3 Part 2 saw Geralt staying loyal to his neutral position and not getting involved in Dijkstra and Philippa’s plans, but he did go after Vilgefortz in order to save Ciri. Unfortunately, the mage proved to be a lot stronger and more powerful than everyone believed and overpowered and eventually defeated Geralt. A severely injured Geralt was quickly taken to the forest of Brokilon, where he would be safe and the dryads would take care of him.
Following the Thanedd Coup, Jaskier arrived at Brokilon to be with Geralt, with Yennefer briefly visiting him a couple of days later to let him know Ciri disappeared and Tissaia had died, and she used her magic to heal Geralt. The witcher continued his recovery and was finally able to leave Brokilon with Jaskier and continue his search for Ciri, now adding revenge against Vilgefortz and the White Flame to his mission. On their way to Nilfgaard, as they heard Ciri had been captured, Jaskier and Geralt came across Nilfgaardian guards blocking the way and asking for their papers or whatever they had in order to let them pass.
Once on the other side, Geralt overheard how the guards didn’t let a family pass, and tired of injustice, he brutally beat the guard and attacked the rest. Luckily for him, Milva (Meng'er Zhang), a skilled archer and hunter he met in Brokilon, followed him and Jaskier and arrived right on time to help him defeat the Nilfgaardian guards. Jaskier, Milva, and Geralt continued their journey to Nilfgaard, and Cavill’s final scene as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s The Witcher sees him leaving with his new team.
The Witcher Season 3 Does Not Explain Or Set Up Henry Cavill's Geralt Recasting
As Cavill’s final episodes as Geralt, The Witcher season 3 Part 2 was expected to explain or set up his recasting, but the series completely failed at this. The Witcher season 3 is both a good and terrible goodbye to Cavill’s version of Geralt of Rivia, as it presented a more complex Geralt who showed sides of himself never seen before, but the series did nothing to prepare for his replacement. As a fantasy world, The Witcher had a variety of ways to explain Geralt’s new appearance in season 4, such as the use of magic or even as a result of Geralt’s intense fight against Vilgefortz, but instead, The Witcher opted to give Cavill one final battle and just let him go.
Surely, the recasting of Cavill’s Geralt can be explained in the first episode of The Witcher season 4, but there’s also the possibility of it not being addressed at all. The writers of Netflix’s The Witcher could opt to ignore the physical changes of Geralt of Rivia and simply move forward with his story, but that would most likely draw some unnecessary backlash.
What's Next For Geralt & How Will It Explain Liam Hemsworth's Casting?
Geralt’s story is far from over after the shocking events of The Witcher season 3, and he’s about to go on some interesting adventures. Geralt, Jaskier, and Milva are joined by Cahir (yes, that Cahir), a vampire, and a former criminal, and continue looking for Ciri and Vilgefortz, and it’s during this long mission that Geralt officially earns his “Rivia” title after saving Queen Meve. Geralt also has a brief affair with none other than Fringilla and eventually finds Vilgefortz and Ciri, and he also learns that the White Flame is Ciri’s supposedly dead father. If Liam Hemsworth continues playing Geralt beyond The Witcher season 4, he will go on a variety of adventures.
As for how Netflix’s The Witcher will explain Liam Hemsworth’s casting, there are a variety of ways thanks to this universe’s use of magic and more. Maybe Geralt changed his face with magic for protection, maybe he went through more mutations in an effort to heal that ended up changing his face, or maybe he’s a variant from other parts of the Witcher multiverse. What’s true is that The Witcher season 3 left season 4 with a big challenge by not setting up Geralt’s recast, and it’s to be seen how the writers will address this change.