‘The Witcher’ Season 2’s Ending Explained: Your Guide to Elder Blood, the Wild Hunt, and More

No matter how you came to The Witcher, Season 2’s ending slaps. Are you a diehard gamer who loved Wild Hunt? There’s some juicy lore lurking in the shadows for you. An obsessive purist who adores the novels? Get ready for at least four deeply exciting revelations in the last 10 minutes. Even if you’re brand new to this universe, Season 2’s finale is wild and jaw-dropping enough that you’ll probably leave it begging for more.

True to — well — everything about this ambitious show, The Witcher‘s Season 2 finale was a chaotic whirlwind of back stabbings, cliffhangers, and massive universe-changing plot twists. It’s a lot for anyone, which is why we’re here to help. Here’s everything you need to know about The Witcher‘s Season 2 ending, from Voleth Meir’s identity to what Elder Blood is.

Who Is Voleth Meir?

Before we get into what happened, we need to cover some backstory. This is The Witcher, after all. What else do you expect? Voleth Meir is a new character in The Witcher universe, but in Episode 7, Geralt (Henry Cavill) gave us a bit of her backstory. The first witchers were hired to imprison her. When they did so, they contained her in a hut. She’s the one Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), Fringilla (Mimî M. Khayisa), and the elven sorceress Francesca (Mecia Simson) visited in Episode 1. And as you can likely tell, she’s bad news.

Voleth Meir, also known as the Deathless Mother, preys on the suffering of others. Also? She’s not from this realm. We’ll get to that little detail in a moment. Now, onto the story.

What Happened Between Ciri and Voleth Meir?

When Yennefer visited Voleth Meir, the Deathless Mother made her a deeply intriguing offer. If Yennefer brought her Princess Cririlla of Cintra (Freya Allan), Voleth Meir would restore her magic. So when Yennefer ran into Geralt and Ciri in Melitele, she saw her chance to be whole again. After escaping the renegade mage Rience (Chris Fulton), she convinced Ciri that the only way she could be reunited with Geralt was to return to Cintra. That kind offer was nothing more than a lie. Really, Yennefer was leading Geralt’s Child Surprise to her certain doom at the hands of Voleth Meir.

After spending some time with Ciri, Yennefer changed her mind, realizing just how extraordinary Ciri was. But it was too little too late. Once Geralt realized what Yennefer was trying to do, he sent Ciri back to the witcher keep of Kaer Morhen with Jaskier the bard (Joey Batey). It was on the way to the fortress that Ciri breathed in a red, glowing substance. Yennefer may have decided to do the right thing, but Voleth Meir was still able to possess Ciri.

It was when Ciri reached Kaer Morhen that the monster guts hit the fan. Systematically, the possessed princess started to kill members of Kaer Morhen. Nothing wakes a witcher up like murder, so it wasn’t long before Vesemir (Kim Bodnia), Coën (Yasen Atour), and Lambert (Paul Bullion) were up and fighting Ciri. Soon, Geralt joined them, a move that possessed Ciri countered by summoning an army of basilisks.

By the way, those basilisks? They only appeared after Voleth Meir-as-Ciri screamed and destroyed the Medallion Tree, the shrine witchers use to honor their fallen brothers. After she destroyed it, everyone realized that tree wasn’t a tree after all. Really it was made out of the same material as the monoliths that are scattered across The Continent. Just put an asterisk next to that detail.

Back to the fight. As Yennefer made a potion to separate Voleth Meir from Ciri and Jaskier served as her errand boy, Geralt did his new favorite job: protect Ciri. Repeatedly, Geralt tried to convince Vesemir and his brothers-in-arms that Ciri was too special to kill. That argument proved to be incomprehensible for Geralt’s own mentor, Vesemir. Way back in Episode 2, Vesemir and Geralt had to face a similar choice between trying to save their brother Eskel (Basil Eidenbenz) or killing him before he caused too much destruction. That fight ended in Eskel’s death. Why should Ciri be any different?

But ultimately it was the love of Ciri’s adopted parents that saved the day. Geralt’s support caused Ciri to fight back against Voleth Meir. And in a moment of redemption, Yennefer brought our girl back home. As Ciri woke up and started to take control of her body, she was fighting the Deathless Mother for that control. Voleth Meir needed a vessel, and Yennefer was ready to give her one. After endangering Ciri and causing all of this trouble, Yennefer slit her wrists, willing to give her life to save Ciri’s.

Thankfully, it worked. Yennefer and Ciri were able to expel Voleth Meir out of Ciri’s body. Yet true to his profession, it was Geralt who dealt the finishing blow. Realizing that if possessed Ciri could open up portals to bring in monsters that also meant she could travel to that same place, Geralt had Ciri open a portal to that basilisk realm. Once they arrived, Voleth Meir immediately fled to her home. But that’s not all Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri encountered in the other realm.

So, Other Dimensions Exist?

Yep. We’re officially in multiverse territory, which we’ve covered before. To understand how that works in this universe, we’re going to have to go all the way back to the Conjunction of the Spheres.

Roughly 1,200 years before the events of The Witcher series, the worlds of monsters, elves, and humans were disconnected. Then the Conjunction happened, an event that forced these diverse realms to occupy one space and introduced magic known as chaos to The Continent. That’s why all those humans seem ill at ease with the monsters that live around them. Monsters and humans were never meant to live together.

The monoliths that surround The Continent are remnants of the Conjunction. So every time you see new monsters pouring out of monoliths after Ciri destroys one? They’re coming from another realm. We have a hunch that’s going to be important in Season 3 and beyond.

What’s the Wild Hunt?

When Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri travelled to another realm, they didn’t just set Voleth Meir free. They also met the Wild Hunt. A man riding a horse appeared out of nowhere to say, “Join the Elder Blood, starry-eyed Daughter of Chaos. Join our hunt. Your place is among us.”

So what the heck does that mean? The Wild Hunt, also known as the Wraiths of Mörhogg, were long believed to be a group of specters. But in the novels, that’s revealed to not be the case at all. This convey is really a group of elves from the Aen Elle realm. For hundreds of years, the Wild Hunt used the realm of Aen Seidhe, which is where our story takes place, to capture slaves. But once they sensed Ciri’s Elder Blood, their objective changed. Now their goal is to capture Ciri no matter what. They’re the main antagonists of the beloved game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. 

What Is Elder Blood?

We’ve danced around it enough. It’s time to get to the bottom of why Ciri is so special. Ciri is a descendant of Lara Dorren, an elven sorceress. Because of that, she possesses Elder Blood.

Elder Blood isn’t simply blood from elves. It’s blood from a specific lineage of elves that gives its descendants unparalleled magical powers. The main Elder Blood gene only appears in female descendants, while it is latent in males. Basically, Ciri has her grandmother, the Lioness of Cintra, to thank for the fact that everyone is stalking her.

Does Yennefer Have Her Powers Again?

She sure does. After Yennefer tried to sacrifice her own life to save Ciri, her powers were returned to her. Why that happened isn’t exactly clear. Was it a gift of sorts from Voleth Meir? Was it Ciri? Did Yennfer accidentally trigger some ancient branch of chaos, like Harry Potter’s mom did right before her death? We have no idea. The bottom line is Yennefer can kick ass again.

What’s Happening Between Sigismund Dijkstra and Jaskier?

This is a big mystery that’s almost definitely going to reappear in Season 3. Toward the end of “Family”, Dijkstra’s (Graham McTavish) owl friend reappeared to tell him that the secret of Ciri’s survival is no longer a secret. Only that owl was never an owl but the sorceress Philippa Eilhart (Cassie Clare).

That’s when Dijkstra smiled and said, “Bring me the bard. It’s about time he paid back his benefactor.” Yep, it looks like Jaskier is working for Dijkstra.

This alliance happened in Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels, but it was brought to light when Yennefer saved Dandelion (Jaskier’s name in the books). It seems that The Witcher has some bigger plans for this particular revelation. And considering how much Jaskier now knows, that’s scary. Be careful, Geralt, and stop telling your buddy to fuck off.

What’s Going on with Rience?

Speaking of people who are after Ciri, the fire-loving mage Rience was still tracking her at the end of Season 2. But he turned the tables a bit. After tricking the sorceress Lydia (Aisha Fabienne Ross), he burnt off half of her face and took away her ability to speak, forcing her to communicate through telepathy. Now Vilgefortz’s (Mahesh Jadu) secretary will be under his command. Since the last thing this guy needs is more power, that’s bad news.

What Happened to the Elven Sorceress, Francesca?

The only thing that Francesca wanted was for her daughter to be born healthy. That may have happened, but Francesca and the elves she ruled over weren’t able to celebrate it for long. In the middle of the night, her daughter was murdered. The culprit? Allegedly, a spy working for the Northern Kingdom of Redania.

That was the final straw for Francesca. Before her daughter’s murder, Francesca wanted to pull out of Nilfgaard’s war against the North and focus on rebuilding a life for her people. But after it, she only saw red. She traveled to Redania and marked every baby in the kingdom, killing them all in one fell swoop. Goodbye neutrality and hello war.

As much death and pain as there was in Francesca’s story, there was also a thin ray of hope. Near the end of “Family”, Francesca and her guard were visited by the historian and Yennfer’s longtime friend Istredd (Royce Pierreson). He told Francesca that Ciri is of Hen Ichaer, also known as Elder Blood. The way Francesca sees it, her people may have a savior, and that savior is Ciri. Also? The number of important people who know that Ciri has Elder Blood has now grown by one.

Who Is the White Flame?

Let’s go back to Francesca’s murdered baby for a second. When the sorceress Fringilla (Mimî M. Khayisa) learned what had happened to her friend, she was horrified. But the Nilfgaardian general and star of Ciri’s nightmares Cahir (Eamon Farren) saw things a bit differently. With the elves turning their back on the Nilfgaardian Empire, they needed a push to change their minds so that they’d once again fight for the White Flame. That murdered baby was one hell of a push. Cahir encouraged Fringilla to take credit for it, a betrayal that she had nothing to do with.

When the White Flame finally arrived in Cintra, it looked like Cahir and Fringilla were going to get the pats on the back they so craved. But that unjustified boasting didn’t last long. Emhyr var Emreis revealed that he was the one who took the hit out on the child. Cahir and Fringilla are officially out. And you know who’s very much in the game? Emhyr var Emreis, aka Season 1’s Duny, aka Ciri’s father (Bart Edwards). Oh yeah, the porcupine man is back, and he’s here for Elder Blood.

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