What Is a Monolith in ‘The Witcher’?

The Witcher ended its second season with a flurry of jaw-dropping cliffhangers. But none of them were as confusing as that other dimension mic drop. Yes, The Witcher exists in a multiverse. And it seems like Season 3 and beyond are going to dive into this puzzle.

Wondering what the deal is with all those monoliths? We have your back. Based on the books, games, and show, here’s what we know about those intimidating black stones, if you’re still wondering: what is a monolith in The Witcher?

What Is a Monolith?

Before we answer that, we need to go back to where it all started: the Conjunction of the Spheres. Roughly 1,200 years before the events of the Netflix series, the worlds of monsters, men, and elves were separated. Then the Conjunction happened, a cataclysmic event that combined these realms and introduced magic known as chaos into The Continent. That’s whey humans are so bad at fighting monsters and why the elves never seem like they know what to do with humans. These beings were never supposed to exist in the same realm. And yet here we are.

Teaming with magic, monoliths appeared across The Continent after the Conjunction. In The Witcher series, they are nearly indestructible and can act as gateways to other dimensions. That’s why you keep seeing crazy monsters around the monoliths Ciri (Freya Allan) destroys. They’re actually coming through portals from other dimensions.

Are Monoliths in the Witcher Books?

Monoliths aren’t really a thing in Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels, but they are a huge part of the games. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt features 10 monoliths, also known as obelisks, covered in indecipherable markings. Traveling to all 10 and confronting what’s hiding around them is essential to completing one of Wild Hunt‘s main battles at the Mage’s Tower. Basically, they’re something we’ve seen before, but we haven’t seen often.

How Do Monoliths Connect to Other Dimensions?

That piece of the puzzle is unclear, but we know there is an actual connection. Episode 8, “Family”, proved that when Voleth Meir used a monolith at the witcher keep of Kaer Morhen to summon monsters from another dimension before fleeing to that dimension herself. We’re sure the historian Istredd (Royce Pierreson) will get to the bottom of this mystery. But for now, just know there is a connection.

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