🤐 SPOILER ALERT 🤐
The Witcher Season 1 drops us into its vast and varied world by introducing three characters whose paths interweave in epic fashion: the monster hunter Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), famed for his swordsmanship and supernatural abilities; the endangered Princess of Cintra, Ciri (Freya Allan); and the mage-in-training Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra), on a journey to becoming a powerful enchantress.
The stories of Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer begin in wildly different places —geographically and socially — and their travels and travails take us all across the Continent and through decades of its magical lore before their destined meeting. But before we jump into how Season 1 ended, we’d be remiss if we didn’t touch on how it started. Let us refresh your memory on the juicy drama, the nail-biting battles and the people (and creatures) we met (and lost) along the way.
Geralt (accompanied by his beloved horse, Roach) is all about slaying beasts in exchange for rewards. (Toss him a coin!) But while he’ll kill a monster, he isn’t one himself. Offered a handsome reward to take out Renfri (Emma Appleton), a woman who is said to be a threat to all of humanity, Geralt declines, with an explanation that speaks volumes about his character: “If I have to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”
On the contrary, Geralt and Renfri develop a connection, exchanging deeply personal stories and indulging in a forest romp session. However, their short-lived romance meets a traumatic end when Renfri threatens the life of a young girl (holding a knife to her throat), prompting Geralt to kill her after all. Before Renfri dies, she tells Geralt one last thing: “The girl in the woods will be with you always — she is your destiny.” The girl in question is Ciri.
Ciri is the Princess of Cintra, who’s called to her royal duties before she’s truly ready. Sure, she’s strong-willed and shows a glimmer of supernatural ability — when she screams in frustration, she discovers she can move objects with the power of her voice — but her full potential is untapped, and she’s frightened when her grandmother, Queen Calanthe (Jodhi May), warns her that danger is looming, in the form of an impending invasion by the rival Nilfgaardian empire. Shortly before Queen Calanthe jumps to her death to avoid being tortured by the Nilfgaardians, she tells Ciri: “Find Geralt of Rivia. He is your destiny.”
The Nilfgaardians slaughter countless people in Cintra, but one Nilfgaardian in particular — Cahir, a young commander — is determined to capture Ciri, who remains on the move, dodging danger for the majority of the season. She hides in the woods from kidnappers, nearly eating poisonous berries; spends time at a Cintrian refugee camp; and hangs out with Dryads.
Season 1, Episode 4 flashes back to show us Ciri’s mother, Pavetta (Gaia Mondadori), distraught over her impending arranged marriage. Urcheon (Bart Edwards), a knight who looks like a hedgehog, arrives on the eve of the wedding and lays claim to Pavetta, saying that she belongs to him by the “Law of Surprise.” This leads to some drama and a brawl during which Geralt defends Urcheon. Amidst the chaos, we see that Pavetta has similar abilities to her future daughter, Ciri, though her screams generate far more power, knocking several people to the ground and creating a whirlwind that allows her to float in midair. Pavetta and Urcheon share a kiss, and he turns from hedgehog to human man.
Urcheon is grateful to Geralt for saving his life, so Geralt claims the Law of Surprise as his reward, not expecting it to actually amount to anything. Little does he know, Pavetta will eventually give birth to baby Ciri.
This doesn’t explain where Ciri’s parents are, but it’s the last we see of them in Season 1.
The Law of Surprise is an age-old custom that can be called for or given as payment in exchange for saving someone’s life. Instead of money, the Law of Surprise entitles the lifesaver to return at any time and take something or someone from the saved individual. Urcheon tried to use the law to claim Pavetta, years after saving her father’s life. After Geralt saves Urcheon’s life and claims the Law of Surprise, Urcheon’s daughter, the unborn Princess Ciri, fits right into his destiny.
When we first meet Yennefer, she’s a simple village girl, picked on for physical deformities resulting from her part-elf, part-human blood. Much to her own surprise, Yennefer is able to transport herself away, landing in the magic Aretuza Academy, where she meets the young sorcerer Istredd (Royce Pierreson). Yennefer briefly returns to her awful life, until the Aretuza headmistress, Tissaia de Vries (MyAnna Buring), arrives to buy her from her father (for a humiliatingly low price). Tissaia brings Yennefer back to Aretuza to develop her powers, control her emotions and become a skilled mage.
Yennefer and Istredd have a connection, but he’s working for the evil Stregobor (Lars Mikkelsen), who believes in an ancient prophecy called the Curse of the Black Sun and seeks to eradicate women born during a particular eclipse. Eventually, Yennefer and Istredd’s broken trust leads to the two going their separate ways.
A mage who can perform transformations offers to rid Yennefer of all her physical deformities. She accepts, even knowing that as a result she’ll never be able to bear children. With a newfound confidence, Yennefer goes rogue, eventually getting herself arrested by Beau Berrant (Roger Ringrose), the mayor of Rinde, for not paying magic taxes to the kingdom. However, Yennefer uses magic to put the mayor in a trance and take over his house. That’s where Yennefer and Geralt first meet.
Geralt and his jovial part-time traveling partner, the bard Jaskier (Joey Batey), find a djinn in a bottle, granting them three wishes. Geralt wishes for peace and quiet — which, unfortunately, results in Jaskier quickly becoming mortally ill. Seeking help to save Jaskier’s life, Geralt is directed to an elf healer locked up at the mayor’s house — that’d be Yennefer.
Yennefer agrees to help Geralt save Jaskier, but actually makes things worse while trying to trap the djinn for her own personal benefit, leading to the djinn possessing her body. This forces Geralt to use his last wish to save Yennefer. Once her body is unpossessed and she’s all good, they hook up. Naturally.
When Yennefer was possessed by the djinn, Geralt spoke his final wish. It wasn’t audible to the viewers, but it prompted the djinn to immediately flee from her body. Later, in Episode 6, we learn that Geralt wished to never lose Yennefer.
For now! Geralt and Yennefer have swelling feelings for each other, but once Yennefer learns about Geralt’s wish, none of it feels authentic to her. Yennefer scolds Geralt –– furious that there’s no way to determine whether their connection is real or if she’s under the influence of magic –– and strikes out on her own.
In the Season 1 finale, Geralt is trying to track down Ciri after the invasion of Cintra. Along the way, he saves a merchant named Yurga (Francis Magee) from a pack of ghouls, but one of them chomps into Geralt’s leg, a potentially fatal bite that prompts him to pass out.
As for Ciri, she wakes in a field, surrounded by the annihilated bodies of her enemies; she can’t remember if she killed them or not. A woman named Zola (Anna-Louise Plowman) helps Ciri up and brings her to her home. That night, Ciri senses that Geralt’s looking for her, and sneaks out.
Meanwhile, Yennefer, Tissaia and other brave mages assist a territory under attack from Nilfgaardian forces under the command of Cahir (Eamon Farren), a knight who was long stalking Ciri. During battle, Yennefer is stabbed in the gut, but still manages to summon a gigantic blast of energy that scorches countless Nilfgaardians. After the massive burst, Tissaia calls out for Yennefer but she’s nowhere to be found, presumed dead.
Back to Geralt, who suffered through some fever dreams and a hallucination of his mother before fully waking up. Once he’s able to walk again, Geralt asks Yurga to bring him to Sodden, where the battle is currently raging. Yurga obliges, and as payment to Geralt for saving him from the ghouls, offers him the Law of Surprise.
When Yurga and Geralt arrive at their destination, it’s a shocker to see that they’re meeting with Zola, who turns out to be Yurga’s wife. Zola mentions that she found a girl in the woods and Geralt, immediately piecing together that it must be Ciri, rushes off to find her. It’s in the forest that the two finally see each other in the flesh. Ciri runs to Geralt and they embrace. Geralt repeats the words Yennefer once said to him: “People linked by destiny will always find each other.”
Ciri, perhaps capable of reading minds, and proving even more powerful than we imagined, looks up at Geralt and asks, “Who is Yennefer?”
It’s on that stunning note that Season 1 ends, and we’re ready to move on to Season 2!
