After two years, Geralt of Rivia has finally returned to the small screen for Season 2 of Netflix’sThe Witcher. Season 1, based on the first two collections of short stories byAndrzej Sapkowski,The Last WishandSword of Destiny, was a crazy ride of overlapping stories and timeline jumping, with a lot of important information and, at times, difficult to spot details.
The Witcher’sfirst season followed the lives of Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), the Princess Ciri (Freya Allan), and the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra), prior to the battle for Sodden Hill; jumping back and forth between various timelines and exploring formative events for each of the characters. With Season 2 picking up where Season 1 left off, the following is a recap of Season 1 ofThe Witcherand the important events that lead up to the current season.
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The Basics: What Is A Witcher?
A witcher is, essentially, a magically enhanced monster-hunter; in a world where monsters are more than just legend, the profession of witcher is sorely needed. Despite this, witchers are often outcasts, viewed as strange and freakish creatures due to their mutations and enhanced abilities. Often children given away or sold at a young age, they are trained in swordsmanship, hunting, and potion making, before finally facing the Trial of Grasses; while the word ‘grasses’ may conjure images of quiet fields or green pastures, the trial instead entails that the witcher-to-be absorb a potion (made of a virus and various other elements) to gain an extended life expectancy and enhanced abilities. The trial is, naturally, extremely painful and usually ends in death. For those that survive, however, even more hardships await. Several other trials are required before one can become a true witcher and, even then, life rarely gets any easier.
At the beginning of Season 1, the witcher Geralt of Rivia (Cavill) enters the town of Blaviken, having just defeated a kikimora — an insect-like swamp creature (not to be confused with the female house spirit from Slavic mythology). It’s clear to see throughout the episode that the people of the town avoid Geralt to the best of their ability, save for the wizard, Stregobor (Lars Mikkelsen), who attempts to hire Geralt; he wants Geralt to kill a young princess-turned-bandit, Renfri (Emma Appleton), who he believes to be cursed. Contrary to the belief that Geralt and other witchers are heartless monsters, Geralt instead attempts to persuade the young woman to leave town. Renfri, of course, refuses to do so and instead attempts to kill Stregobor instead. Geralt ultimately kills her, but not before she can utter her last words to him; she tells him of a girl in the forest who is his “destiny.”
Princess Cirilla and the Law of Surprise
This brings us to Ciri, otherwise known as Princess Cirilla of Cintra (Allan), who is sent away into the night by her grandmother Queen Calanthe (Jodhi May) when their kingdom is invaded by the powerful empire of Nilfgaard; Calanthe’s parting words to her granddaughter are for her to find Geralt of Rivia. At the end of Episode 1, as Ciri escapes the invasion, she is nearly captured but evades harm when she accidentally releases a strange power. These two events, Geralt’s encounter with Renfri and Ciri’s escape, happen years apart, but it is clear that the two characters are intrinsically linked.
This is because of the ‘Law of Surprise,’ a somewhat confusing but essential part of the entire show; at its core, the Law of Surprise is a form of payment — when one person cannot pay another for their service (specifically, the saving of another), the Law of Surprise is invoked. Whatever ‘new thing’ a person finds after being saved is given to the person owed; in the case of Geralt and Ciri, Ciri’s father Duny, the Urcheon of Erlenwald, was charged with owing “that which you already have but do not know” after Geralt saved his life, leading to him being cured him of his curse. This would inevitably refer to Cirilla, Duny’s unborn daughter with Princess Paveta of Cintra (Gaia Mondadori). Thus, Geralt’s and Ciri’s fates are intertwined. (It should be noted that Geralt initially invoked the Law of Surprise as a joke.)
Who, What, Why: Nilfgaard
The neighboring kingdom to Cintra, located in the south of the Continent, Nilfgaard is responsible for a good portion of the misery that hangs over the world ofThe Witcher; a long and terrible war is the result of Nilgaard’s desire for power and expansion, and the consequences of the ongoing war pervade the entire series. There’s a lot to this war and to Nilfgaard that isn’t yet addressed in the first season; the most important thing to know is that the first of three (yes, three) major parts of this war ends with the Battle of Sodden Hill.
Also, there are elves.
Elves inThe Witcherare not your average fantasy-elf; believing that humans are a plague upon the land, the majority of the elf race was content to let humans die out, confident that shorter lifespans and less powerful bloodlines would do the work for them. This backfires when humans turn out to be quite resourceful and adaptable and, while the older generation of elves is still content to ‘wait it out,’ the younger generation has decided that action must be taken; a good chunk of the younger elves turn to guerrilla tactics, joining groups like the Scoia’tael and even siding with Nilfgaard during the Battle of Sodden Hill.
Despite all of the hate towards humankind, and the subsequent hate for elvenkind in return, humans and elves do, at times, seem to get along; Ciri, after her escape, becomes friends with a young elf named Dara (Wilson Mbomio), who aids her in her travels, though he eventually leaves her after a series of unfortunate encounters with her hunters.
There are even a few elf-human children that pop up here and there throughout the land. Of course, these children are often subject to the prejudice and hate that their bloodlines entail; Yennefer of Vengerberg (Chalotra) is one such individual, whose elven bloodline (among other things) meant a complicated childhood and an eventual life as a sorceress.
Ah, Yennefer: Sorcerers, Sorceresses, and Magic
A young woman overcoming the hardships of youth, discovering the challenges of love, taking control of her destiny… and permanently mutilating herself to achieve her preferred body and image. We love to see it…?
In all seriousness, Yennefer is an important player inThe Witcher, introducing audiences to the world of sorceresses and sorcerers; sold at a young age by her father to the sorceress Tissaia de Vries (MyAnna Buring), Yennefer is trained from a young age in magic at the academy known as Aretuza. Born with a deformity due to her quarter-elf lineage, resulting in a hunchback, she lacks self-confidence and sees herself as unworthy. As her training continues, however, she meets and falls in love with another sorcerer in training, Istredd (Royce Pierreson).
Unknown to the two lovers, Tissaia and Stregobor, the wizard from Episode 1, are using the young students to spy on each other; because of this, Stregobor eventually learns of Yennefer’s elven blood and pulls enough strings to have her allocated to Nilfgaard as her respective kingdom. Infuriated, Yennefer leaves Istredd and undergoes the painful process of changing her body into something “beautiful” — and loses her fertility in the process. She charms her way into the position of advisor for the kingdom she’d initially wanted, Aedirn, and thus cements her position among sorcerers and sorceresses alike. While she does not regret her choices and relishes her new power, the price she paid for her new body continues to torment her throughout the first season.
In the world ofThe Witcher, sorcerers and witchers are not so dissimilar; both possess enhanced abilities, longevity, and a painful history of training and trials. It’s no surprise that Yennefer and Geralt find a kinship between them once they finally meet — they both work for their respective clients (one as a hired monster killer and the other as an advisor to a king) without much actual care for politics and worldly happenings, both have similar upbringings and backstories, and both are extremelyattractivepowerful.
Throughout Season 1, Geralt and Yennefer meet again and again; whether it be defeating a djinn, hunting a dragon, or arguing about whether their attraction to each other is real (don’t wish for love, kids), it is undeniable that these two are just as intertwined as Geralt and Ciri.
In The End…
Season 1 ends with the Battle of Sodden Hill, the culmination of each of the main characters’ timelines; despite a supposed apathy towards the ongoings of the politics and wars of the world, Yennefer takes part in the Battle of Sodden Hill, choosing to fight against Nilfgaard after being convinced by her former teacher, Tissaia, to take a side. During the battle, Yennefer releases wave and after wave of powerful magic, before eventually disappearing without a trace.
Meanwhile, Geralt finds himself in Cintra during the Nilfgaard invasion. He attempts to invoke the Law of Surprise in order to protect Ciri, but is captured and imprisoned when Ciri’s grandmother Calanthe decides she is not ready to give her granddaughter away. Despite this, Geralt escapes, unaware that Ciri has done the same. Ciri evades capture and reveals her power, meets Dara, and eventually ends up alone once more; she is given shelter in a nearby farm before finally making her way into the woods, where she and Geralt officially meet.
Thus, Season 1 ends; Geralt and Ciri are finally united, and Yennefer is nowhere to be seen.
But Wait: Jaskier, Our Beloved Bard
Clearly the most important character in the entire series, Jaskier (Joey Batey) is not to be forgotten; he is the light of the series, the comic relief, and arguably the only human being that can make puffed sleeves, tight pants, and a 2000-era boyband hairdo look so good while also being attacked by djinn.
A loyal friend to Geralt, whether the witcher likes it or not, Jaskier brings music and witty commentary toThe Witcher, while also a surprising amount of realness. He’s there throughout many of the series' important moments, lending both a hand and a good tune when needed and acting like a true friend to Geralt, even if he can be the slightest bit annoying in the witcher’s opinion.
Unfortunately, Jaskier ends up alone at the end of Season 1; Geralt blames him for his recent breakup with Yennefer (if it can even be called that) and the bard leaves, knowing he’s worth more than just being the funny little sidekick. However, based on what we’ve seen of him so far in Season 2, clearly he hasn’t been taking the breakup all that well.
