The Ending Of The Witcher Season 3 Volume 1 Explained
Contains spoilers for "The Witcher"
It's been a long wait, but devout, fantasy nerds and casual action fans alike are rejoicing. The next installment of Netflix's "The Witcher" is finally available on the streaming service this month. Season 3, Volume 1 of "The Witcher" is both very similar and quite different from its first two seasons. There's plenty of scurrying around the continent as Geralt and Yennefer work to hide Ciri from the many (many) people who are trying to find her, but it's also clear that tensions are reaching a boiling point in the north, and they won't be able to keep hiding for much longer.
The end of Season 3 Volume 1 focuses entirely on the conclave ball at Aretuza, where most of the main characters and factions in the world of "The Witcher" are preparing to take sides and find the most politically advantageous route through the evening. The scene follows Geralt and Yen as they interact with power players from around the realm.
With help from Triss and Istredd, they are able to expose Stregobor and his active prejudice against the many half-elven apprentices that have gone missing from Aretuza. It seems like the night ends on a good note after a lot of tension, but later that night they realize that much of what they've been trying to expose was actually orchestrated by Vilgefortz, who has presented himself as an ally and Tissaia's lover.
Sound confusing? Are there a lot of names of characters you might be struggling to keep straight? Have no worries — we've broken the first half of Season 3 below.
Important threads
Yennefer, Geralt, and Ciri begin the season hiding from most of the world as Ciri trains with her 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, no matter where she goes), Yen brings Ciri to Aretuza and briefly parts ways with Geralt, who goes on to encounter 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 in order to clear a safe path for Ciri, but after seeing Ciri's disappointment in her behavior, 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, and 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 turns over a new leaf and decides to prioritize and value the people in her life that she loves, like Tissaia. As a result, Yennefer decides to accept Vilgefortz and specifically notes the beautiful red-stoned bracelet he gifted Tissaia at the beginning of the season.
Season 3, Episode 4
Even though Season 3 Volume 1 of "The Witcher" ends with Episode 5, Episode 4 is actually the last we see of several characters, thanks to the fact that Episode 5 takes place exclusively during the conclave ball at Aretuza. There are a lot of characters in "The Witcher," and it's important to keep track of everyone's general whereabouts and alliances.
The most important characters that we see for the last time in Episode 4 are Ciri and Jaskier, who spend the night of the conclave in a spell-protected cottage on the island. Ciri spends most of Episode 4 with Geralt fighting a sea beast on their way to Aretuza's island and discussing with him 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 melee 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 and the two get frisky.
Cahir, who has killed his friend Gallatin in order to prove his loyalty to Emhyr, finds his way to the elves led by Francesca. On Emhyr's orders, Cahir and Francesca will band together to search for Ciri in Season 3 Volume 2.
On the surface
Season 3, Episode 5 opens with the end of the conclave ball, as Geralt and Yennefer make their way to 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 the show soon flashes back to where we left Geralt and Yen at the end of Episode 4 — steeling themselves and about to enter the lion's den.
The scene follows various characters throughout the course of the ball, and viewers are shown snippets of concurrent conversations. Geralt promises Yen he'll be on his best behavior and 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 Istredd (Yen's old flame) interrupt Yen in order to have a private, seemingly serious conversation with her.
Thanks to a comment from Vilgefortz regarding the longevity of first love, Geralt appears to be jealous of Yen and Istredd and later picks a fight with the latter immediately following a courtly dance. Yen appears upset, but only a short while after the resolution of the fight, Tissaia raises a toast to Yennefer and Geralt for facilitating a night of peace and hope.
The plan
The episode then flashes forward again to the present where Geralt and Yennefer are alternating between physical passion and analytical conversations about the events of the night. There is another flashback to the start of the ball as viewers realize that Yen and Geralt were executing a plan to apprehend Stregobor, who they believe to be the secret, malevolent force behind many of the horrors that they've experienced and witnessed recently.
This time around, we are able to see much more of both 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. Geralt is subtly interrogated for information by Philippa (unsuccessfully) before receiving 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 starts a fake fight with Istredd as a distraction while Yen finds a list of the part-elven mages in Stregobor's safe. Stregobor finds her, but is soon followed by Geralt, Triss, Istredd, Tissaia, Vilgefortz, and Artorius. Istredd reveals that the Book of Monoliths is in Stregobor's possession, which provides the brotherhood with enough proof to have him arrested. Stregobor maintains his innocence as he is dragged away, and Tissaia tells Yen and Geralt that they saved the night.
The hidden threat
Geralt and Yennefer are celebrating their victory when Yennefer points out that Philippa was acting strangely at the ball. While she was definitely expecting Philippa and Dijkstra to come into the conclave with their own agenda and schemes, Yen was not expecting to receive a warning from Philippa regarding the brotherhood and their conclave efforts.
The scene flashes back one more time to Yennefer's whole conversation with Philippa, who heavily implies to Yennefer that the conclave is doomed to fail because there are malevolent forces at work. Philippa 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 talked of his violent past, the power of love, and the fact that Geralt needed to choose a side. They hear screams only seconds after realizing that Vilgefortz has been collaborating with Rience all along. Yennefer runs to find Tissaia and Geralt is stopped by Dijkstra in the hallway with a knife to the throat.
The reveal
We really have to give credit to the writers of "The Witcher." Episode 5 has great structure and dialogue, and for folks who aren't familiar with the book series upon which the show is based, it pulls off a well-executed reveal. Viewers will probably end the episode feeling like they should have seen it coming, that Vilgefortz is the true evil force behind Rience (the most violent of those parties currently looking for Ciri). The character had more screen time and faced more suspicion from Yennefer in the first two seasons, but in Season 3 Volume 1, he serves a mainly emotional role as a supportive partner to Tissaia and a thoughtful member of the Brotherhood council.
The trick is that the writers have been subtly planting hatred for Stregobor, since the very first episode where he admits to killing any young women born during and immediately following the Black Sun. He was disgusting, largely responsible for Renfri's death, and a bigoted, creepy thorn in the side of any beloved character with whom he's come into contact over the past three seasons. The audience wanted Stregobor to be responsible for everything that's been going wrong so that he could finally receive his comeuppance. Because of this, it was easier to dismiss the fact that he was a relatively straightforward answer to one of the show's most elusive mysteries.
The mid-season ending
Philippa and Tissaia were once close friends, and until this episode, we didn't know why exactly they fell 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 it is his influence over Tissaia that forced a wedge between the two of them. She and Yennefer are not exactly allies, but Philippa still believes that Yennefer is capable of seeing past Vilgefortz's smokescreen.
Triss is seeing Geralt for the first time since she fled Kaer Morhen after failing Ciri and facing romantic rejection from the White Wolf himself. She has still not forgiven herself for her inability to protect Ciri, and she won't be able to hide from her failures and her fears at Aretuza for much longer. That being said, 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.
The most heartbreaking thing to see in the episode is Tissaia's relative happiness. She finally has Yennefer back and Vilgefortz by her side, and the Brotherhood is seemingly making progress toward a better future for mages and the continent. Her world is about to be blown apart with the revelation that Vilgefortz is evil, and it's not guaranteed that she'll even live past the next episode to mourn her relationship.
What does it mean?
The ending of Season 3, Volume 1 of "The Witcher" has huge implications for the next stage of the story. Right when it seemed that Yennefer had succeeded in making Aretuza safe for Ciri, it's revealed that all of her efforts have been for naught, because Vilgefortz has been working against her all along.
"The Witcher" is an interesting spin on the political, fantasy epic because nearly every character in the book is after the same thing. That thing, of course, is possession of Princess Cirilla, the lost lion cub of Cintra. Emhyr, Emperor of Nilfgaard, is using Cahir to search for Ciri because she's his daughter and heir. Francesca believes that Ciri is the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. Dijkstra wants Ciri because he is obsessed with gaining tactical advantages. In Season 3 Episode 3, Ciri is chased by the Wild Hunt riders themselves, and we now know that Vilgefortz is the person sending Rience after her, probably because of her connection with the monoliths.
Geralt and Yennefer — and to a lesser extent, 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 both talent and confidence, and realizing that she may be the only person who can resolve the conflict their world is facing. It's likely that the fall of the Brotherhood will be an important domino on her way to claiming her agency.
What it could have looked like
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, called "Time of Contempt." While the writers of the show have made changes to characters like Francesca — providing them with larger, more emotionally complex roles — their first installment of Season 3 stays quite loyal to the plot of the book series by Andrzej Sapkowski, as confirmed by showrunner Lauren Hissrich in Entertainment Weekly, though Hissrich has said that the show will not always be faithful to the books.
Henry Cavill recently announced that he will be leaving the show and stepping away from the part of Geralt after Season 3 has fully concluded (there will be another volume of the season released later this year on July 27th). He has never publicly confirmed why he decided to leave the show, but many fans and industry pros have speculated that he was disappointed in the direction of the story. Cavill has long claimed to be a big fan of the books by Sapkowski, and it seems that not everyone working on the show has the same passion for the source material.
The showrunner, 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 be taking over as Geralt, starting with Season 4.
What's next?
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 be released on Netflix on July 27th, a little under a month after Volume 1. Based on comments 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, though many of the power players in "The Witcher" universe are starting to play their hands more openly than ever before. Basically, everyone of note is trying to find Ciri — either because of her magical abilities or her heritage, which stems both from royalty and the elves. Audiences will most likely now get to see Vilgefortz stepping out of the shadows to embrace his villainy a little more head-on, now that Geralt and Yennefer have realized that he is the one who has been behind so many of the strange and terrible happenings of late.