Warning: major spoilers for The Witcher season 3, Part 1.
The Witcher season 3 Part 1 had a couple of surprises up its sleeve and ended on a cliffhanger after some big reveals and twists. After expanding with an animated prequel movie and a prequel miniseries, the universe of Netflix’s The Witcher is going back to the main series with a third season. After Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer gained more enemies in The Witcher season 2, the first part of season 3 sees them on the run, doing their best to hide from the many groups going after them and trying to stay together.
Luckily for them, they still have a couple of allies across the Continent, such as Geralt’s unconditional friend, Jaskier, and Yennefer’s mentor, Tissaia, but The Witcher season 3 Part 1 quickly established that things are not what they seem. The first batch of episodes from season 3 revealed that Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer can’t trust anyone, and one of their biggest threats was a lot closer than they expected. The Witcher season 3 Part 1 set up an exciting finale in Part 2, and here are the 17 biggest story reveals and twists and where these will lead.
17 Jaskier Was Used By Redania
In The Witcher season 2, a connection between Jaskier and Redania was teased, with Dijkstra telling Philippa to bring him the bard as it was time for him to pay back his benefactor. Unfortunately for Jaskier, he was used by Dijkstra, Philippa, and Radovid, as they want to capture Ciri so King Vizimir marries her and takes over Cintra. Jaskier was told that Redania was the safest place for Ciri, which Jaskier believed, and as he worried about the well-being of Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer, he tried to convince the witcher to take Ciri to Redania. Luckily, Geralt isn’t easy to fool.
16 Ciri's Visions Intensify In The Witcher Season 3
Ciri’s powers haven’t really been explained in Netflix’s The Witcher, but they intensified in season 3. Ciri has a powerful scream that can destroy everything around her, and throughout the series, she has gotten into trances at different times. The Witcher season 3 Part 1 saw Ciri training with Yennefer to control her magical abilities, as Ciri is a Source, who is a person born with a natural affinity for magical abilities. However, Ciri’s visions also intensified, as she saw the past, present, and future of people she came across, most notably the messenger Applegatt. Ciri questioned Yennefer about the point of having visions if she can’t change the future, so she will surely continue to struggle with these in Part 2.
15 Fringilla Is No Longer A Powerful Sorceress
At the end of The Witcher season 2, Fringilla and Cahir were imprisoned by the White Flame as they lied to him about the elves and what happened to Francesca’s baby. The Witcher season 3 Part 1 revealed Fringilla was now a slave to the Emperor, and she, along with others, was used to taste the wine before it was served to the Emperor, to make sure that it wasn’t poisoned. Fringilla lost her Chaos and couldn’t perform magic as powerful as before, but after she faked her death and escaped, she used a couple of tricks to fill her cup at a bar.
14 The False Ciri: Vilgefortz Was Conducting Experiments On A Girl Named Teryn
One of the biggest reveals and twists in The Witcher season 3 Part 1 was that a powerful mage was experimenting on young girls to turn them into fake Ciris. Geralt rescued one of these girls, named Teryn, from Vuilpanne, the castle where Codringher and Fenn told him the mage backing Rience resided. Yennefer and Geralt discovered that the mage experimenting on these girls was Vilgefortz, and this was linked to another major reveal in The Witcher season 3 Part 1.
13 Geralt’s Mother Dies In The Witcher Season 3
Little is known about Geralt’s backstory in Netflix’s The Witcher, and his mother only appeared once in season 1, and it was a brief appearance. Geralt’s mother, Visenna, was a sorceress, and she tricked a young Geralt so Vesemir would take him. Geralt briefly reunited with her nearly a century later, when she healed him after he was bitten by a venomous necrophage. In The Witcher season 3 Part 1, Geralt learned through Anika, a healer and friend of Visenna, that she died after being mistaken for an elf, for which she was beaten. Anika told Geralt that Visenna talked about him a lot in her final days, and Geralt opened up to her about his relationship with his mother.
12 The Wild Hunt Is Crossing Over
The Wild Hunt’s presence was teased in The Witcher season 1 as Nilfgaard approached Cintra, but it wasn’t until season 2’s finale that they made their first official appearance. The Wild Hunt are also going after Ciri, and they almost caught her. Ciri was running away from Yennefer when the Wild Hunt appeared behind her. As Ciri repeated to herself that the Wild Hunt are nothing but corpses, Eredin told her that they are corpses, but she’s death, and reached out to grab her shoulder. Luckily, Geralt arrived and attacked the Wild Hunt, who disappeared, but Ciri pointed out that they weren’t specters, and they actually materialized.
11 Nilfgaard Tried To Deceive Redania With A Deal
Nilfgaard continues its quest to take over the Continent while also looking for Ciri, so it’s not surprising that they keep trying to find allies. To Dijkstra’s surprise, King Vizimir had a meeting with Nilfgaard that he knew nothing about, and the King quickly proved why he needs Dijkstra by his side at all times. Vizimir eventually revealed to Dijkstra and Philippa that he made a deal with Nilfgaard: they will leave Redania untouched in the inevitable event of their push North and offered Vizimir half of Temeria as a vassal state. In exchange, if Redania found Ciri first, they would turn her over to Nilfgaard. Obviously, Nilfgaard tricked Vizimir, which led Dijkstra and Philippa to take extreme measures.
10 Dijkstra Ordered The Murder Of King Vizimir's Wife
Seeing how bad the deal with Nilfgaard was, Philippa and Dijkstra concluded that Vizimir wasn’t scheming alone, and his wife, Queen Hedwig, had something to do. Philippa and Dijkstra knew they had to capture Ciri first, but for that, they had to get rid of Queen Hedwig, so they ordered her murder. Philippa and Dijkstra arranged for Hedwig’s head to be delivered to Vizimir in a box with a note claiming to be a gift from Nilfgaard, and with that, Vizimir broke his agreement with Nilfgaard and trusted Dijkstra again.
9 Cahir Regained The White Flame’s Trust
While Fringilla was sent to the dungeons to taste the wine and make sure it wasn’t poisoned, Cahir was sent to raid caravans. One night, Cahir was saved by Gallatin, who told him about Francesca and her search for Ciri. Cahir saw a chance to regain the White Flame’s trust and proposed to Gallatin that he overthrew Francesca and took control of the elves, and took him to the Emperor. The White Flame agreed to listen to Gallatin and told Cahir he had to earn his trust again, and to do so, Cahir killed Gallatin shortly after. The White Flame welcomed Cahir back and gave him a new mission, which involved Francesca and her people.
8 Ciri Sees Herself As A Witcher
The Witcher season 2 saw Ciri training in Kaer Morhen with other witchers, but she never went through the Trial of the Grasses nor any of the tests and mutations witchers have to go through. However, Ciri has become as knowledgeable, skilled, and brave as a witcher, and she sees herself as one. While waiting to board the boat that would take them to Aretuza, Ciri told Geralt they could defeat the sea monster the boat’s captain was afraid of as they were witchers. Geralt simply replied “is that so?” with a smile, showing that he’s ok with Ciri considering herself as a witcher.
7 The White Flame Made A New Alliance With The Elves
Following the death of Gallatin and Cahir rejoining the Emperor’s army, the White Flame used Cahir to make a new alliance with the elves. Emhyr realized that division among the elves wouldn’t be good for Nilfgaard, so Gallatin had to die. Cahir told Francesca that the White Flame had chosen to back her and her fight, asking them to join him in the search for Ciri. Francesca accepted, and Cahir gave her their first mission as allies.
6 Geralt & Yennefer Rekindle Their Romance In The Witcher Season 3
The Witcher season 1 saw the passionate beginning of the romance between Geralt and Yennefer, but Yennefer’s selfish actions in season 2 further broke their relationship. Geralt spent the first part of The Witcher season 3 Part 1 avoiding Yennefer, but their desire to train Ciri and keep her safe brought them back together. Geralt and Yennefer rekindled their romance once they all reunited in Aretuza, with Geralt telling Yennefer he loves her at the end of the party in Aretuza.
5 A Love Interest For Jaskier
Geralt and Yennefer aren’t the only ones who ended The Witcher season 3 Part 1 with a romance, as Jaskier was given a love interest. Jaskier is a no-strings-attached man, and he has lovers in almost every town he visits, but season 3 gave him a proper love interest. Vizimir’s brother, Prince Radovid, often showed interest in Jaskier, but the bard was more focused on helping his friends. When Radovid visited Jaskier in Aretuza and showed him that he learned one of his songs, Jaskier gave in to his feelings for Radovid, but this relationship might bring some trouble in Part 2.
4 Stregobor Still Can’t Be Trusted In The Witcher Season 3
Stregobor established himself as a traitor and an evil person since The Witcher season 1, and he hasn’t changed. Yennefer found objects belonging to the missing novices from Aretuza in Stregobor’s safe, through which she could see the moment when Stregobor took them away from them. Stregobor didn’t deny his strong dislike towards elves and half-elves, like Yennefer and the missing novices, but denied the allegations of him using the Book of Monoliths to get rid of elves and half-elves. Even though he isn’t the one backing Rience, as Yennefer, Geralt, Istredd, and Triss thought, Stregobor still can’t be trusted, and he continues to be a dangerous mage.
3 Rience Is Working For Vilgefortz
As mentioned above, it was widely believed that Stregobor was the one kidnapping the novices and experimenting on them, as well as looking to capture Ciri to her rid of her and other elves and half-elves. To Yennefer and Geralt’s surprise, the real threat was Vilgefortz, and he has been using Lydia van Bredevoort to use Rience to find Ciri. Lydia revealed that Vilgefortz is working with Nilfgaard, hinting at the real master being the White Flame, who is using a chain of mages to find Ciri. Unfortunately, Vilgefortz’s betrayal goes beyond backing Rience, as his actions will unleash a series of chaotic events that might lead to some painful deaths.
2 Dijkstra Corners Geralt To Test His Loyalty To Ciri
Throughout The Witcher season 3 Part 1, Geralt was pushed to choose a side, but he continued to choose neutrality. Of course, this didn’t convince many characters, particularly Dijkstra, who insisted on Geralt giving Ciri to Redania. The Witcher season 3 Part 1 ends with Geralt going to investigate where the screams and other noises are coming from in Aretuza, only to be cornered by Dijkstra, in one more attempt to test his loyalty to Ciri and push him to choose a side.
1 The Thanedd Coup Has Begun
The Thanedd coup was an attack between mages during one of their conclaves in Aretuza. The coup took the lives of many mages and led to the Brotherhood of Sorcerers being dissolved. In the books, the coup began when Northern supporters made their move and arrested Nilfgaard supporters with the help of Dijkstra and his Redanian soldiers, and among those arrested was Vilgefortz. Although the coup wasn’t shown in The Witcher season 3 Part 1, the screams Geralt heard right at the end, before being cornered by Dijkstra, reveal that the coup has begun. The Witcher season 3 Part 2, then, will cover the Thanedd Coup and its consequences, promising an intense and possibly heartbreaking finale.