Ciri Of Cintra
Following several episodes of build-up, The Witcher delivers a really impressive episode, one that finally allows Yennefer to flex her magical muscles whilst starting to intertwine our stories together. The midway point of the show also brings up some interesting questions going forward and at a little over an hour, there’s a fair amount of magic and action in this episode to chew over. Ciri starts episode 4 of The Witcher wandering through the forest, entranced by the voices before stumbling upon a brilliant yellow light. As she regains her wits, she comes face to face with a strange warrior tribe. She tells them her name is Fiona, before their leader encourages her to follow them. Meanwhile Jaskier listens to men in the tavern spins stories of Geralt’s bravery and wits, before the Witcher himself walks in, covered in guts, prompting the men to chant and cheer for him. Afterward, Geralt takes a bath as Jaskier mentions a royal ball. Dressed in seemingly inconspicuous clothes, Geralt’s disguise is quickly extinguished as Mousesack recognizes him immediately and pulls him aside, where they discuss royal affairs. This inevitably leads the Witcher to sit with the Royal Family but he refuses to help them. As they sit and listen to the entertainment before them, they snub a prospective mate for the Princess given he’s from Nilfgaard and hostilities are still quite high. In the forest, Ciri meets up with Dara again and admits to him who she is. Unfortunately her birthright family slaughtered his family and this causes a rift to grow between them. Yennefer’s tranquil ride is broken by a creature attacking the caravan. As she rides between realms and timelines, Yennefer flees with the Queen, now aware that the King has clearly orchestrated this attack and sent an assassin her way. Unfortunately the Queen is killed by the creature but Yennefer returns before the babe is slain and kills the creature. Using her powers, she manages to slip through another portal but is hit with a spell in the process, the babe white and not breathing. Bloodied and exhausted, Yennefer buries the baby in the sand. Ciri awakens from a nightmare and is encouraged to drink the waters. As it turns out, Dara did the same thing and passed his test. Ciri meanwhile feels nothing after drinking, although Shan-Kayan awaits her. Sipping from the tree-sap, she’s transported to a strange realm where a tree begins talking. Meanwhile Geralt and the others continue to endure Vaskier’s songs until a knight arrives, one that’s clearly been cursed. He asks Pavetta for her hand before calling forth the Law Of Surprise. Geralt teams up with the cursed creature, who happens to be Duny, and they start attacking the guards together. However, when Calanthe draws her sword, Geralt and her stop fighting. As the truth is uncovered, Eid and Mousesack interject and urge the Queen to honour the Law Of Surprise. Just as Calanthe looks set to kill Duny, Pavatti conjures forth Elder powers and knocks everyone down, engulfing the room in a magical whirlwind as they rise up off the ground. It’s enough for her to honour the Law and finally come around to the idea, given her daughter has inherited the mage powers. As she and Duny kiss and finish the ritual, Duny transforms back into a man. Geralt bids farewell to Mousesack and tells him to be careful, despite his ominous promise of calamity lying ahead. As he does, the scene cuts to some time in the future as Mousesack is captured and Queen Calanthe lies dead on the ground. The Witcher is shaping up to be a really impressive fantasy offering and if this episode is anything to go by, the final third of the series looks like it’s going to forward the overarching plotline a lot more. So far though the show has done a really good job weaving individual plot lines in each episode with a furthering of the overarching story. Unlike The Mandalorian, these stand-alone segments don’t feel disparate or random, instead offering enough progression on the main plot to keep things interesting. Quite what’s to come next though, remains to be seen.
