The Witcher Season 3 Trailer: Breakdown, Small Details, And Big Reveals
Fans of Netflix's "The Witcher" were surprised (to say the least) by the news that Henry Cavill would not be returning to reprise his role as Geralt of Rivia in Season 4. After some confusion pertaining to Cavill's possible return to the DCEU as Superman — which turned out to not be the case — the role of Geralt was handed to Liam Hemsworth. Though opinions are divided by the choice of recasting, Cavill's fanbase can still see him taking on the role of the stoic White Wolf for one last season. Netflix recently released the first official trailer for the upcoming Season 3, where the adventures of Geralt, his ward Ciri (Freya Allen), and sorceress Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) will continue with plenty of monsters, magic, and political intrigue.
Season 2 of "The Witcher" left off with the shocking reveal that Emperor Emhyr var Emreis (Bart Edwards) of Nilfgaard is none other than Duny, Ciri's father. He, along with many others, is eager to capture Ciri and use her for his own ends. Meanwhile, the Continent is torn apart not only by the war with Nilfgaard and the elves, but by the awakening of monoliths that were left behind by the Convergence, as dangerous monsters ravage the land. Ciri begins to train with Geralt, learning the way of the witcher's martial skills, and with Yen, who helps her to hone her magic.
There's a lot happening in the trailer for the show's third season, with hints of what fans can expect for the heroes and their journey, as well as details that long-time fans of the games and books might recognize. So let's cut to the chase and break down the official trailer for "The Witcher" Season 3.
The ancient statue
"The Witcher" Season 3 trailer opens with a shot of a majestic statue of a woman in armor holding a spear. Ciri, Geralt, and Yennefer approach the statue, which appears to be within some old ruins. Strangely, despite its surroundings, it seems to be relatively untouched by time.
The woman that the statue depicts is Lara Dorren, an ancient elf sorceress who is a legend to the elven people with extremely powerful magic. Their descendants — dubbed children of the Elder Blood — have inherited Lara's powers. Little does Ciri realize that she is the most recent to possess this powerful gene, which explains her unusual magic ability. In Season 2 Episode 1, "A Grain of Truth," Geralt's friend Nivellen (Kristofer Hivju) tells Ciri the elf's story of how she fell in love with a human man, though he does not reveal her name.
Lara Dorren made a brief appearance in Season 2 Episode 5, "Turn Your Back," when Triss (Anna Shaffer) convinces Ciri to let her perform a magical spell called the Dol Dusza, which allows the sorceress to go deep into Ciri's unconscious mind. Within Ciri's dreamscape, she and Triss come across an elf woman bleeding from a fatal wound as she comforts her newborn child. Ciri recognizes the woman from Nivellen's tale, but the vision takes a dark turn when the elf begins choking Triss and recites an ominous prophecy to Ciri.
Ciri's connection to Lara Dorren is a huge part of the plot in "The Witcher" books, and if the trailer is anything to go by, it's possible that Ciri will get more answers about her lineage in Season 3.
More new monsters to fight
"The Witcher" is famous for its monsters. From drowners and ghouls to strigas and vampires, Geralt has taken on numerous baddies that go bump in the night. After all, fighting these abominations is part of a witcher's livelihood. In Netflix's "The Witcher," we've seen the White Wolf encounter some seriously intimidating foes, including a few that fans may recognize from the "The Witcher" video games.
In the show's pilot episode, Geralt battles a kikimora (or kikimore), a huge insectoid creature that appeared in the video games. In Season 2, Geralt and Ciri encounter a leshy, a demonic forest monster also from the games, which later proves to be Eskel's demise. In the trailer for Season 3, Ciri is wandering through a dark maze when she comes across a terrifying beast with a hard carapace shell on its back. The creature folds itself into a ball and rolls like a charging battering ram to attack, but Ciri jumps out of the way just in time.
This new breed of monster in the Season 3 trailer looks very similar to a shaelmaar, a giant burrowing monster that made an appearance in "The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt" DLC, "Blood and Wine." It's interesting to note that the shaelmaar in "Blood and Wine" had been taken captive by Toussaint royalty to fight in a series of tournament games. Because we see the creature in a maze in the "The Witcher" Season 3 trailer, it's possible that it was put there deliberately for a similar purpose — albeit a more sinister one.
The Wild Hunt makes an appearance
Of all the enemies our heroes have faced so far, none of them can hold a candle to the terrifying force known as the Wild Hunt. Ciri had only a brief glimpse of the spectral riders during her vision in "Turn Your Back," yet their reappearance in the Season 3 trailer promises a greater threat to come. In the brief clip, we can see Ciri riding while looking back over her shoulder, presumably with the Hunt hot on her heels. The black horses are adorned with skeletal armor, and the riders themselves are shrouded in mist.
The Wild Hunt played an important role in both the Witcher books and in the CD Projekt Red video games. They are inspired by an old myth from multiple European cultures, in which the Wild Hunt are spectral beings that would steal people away and drag them to the underworld. In "The Witcher" universe, the members of the Wild Hunt are actually from an ancient race of elves known as the Aen Elle. Their leader is Eredin Bréacc Glas, and under the command of King Auberon of the Aen Elle, his quest is to travel between worlds and find slaves to bring back to the elf homeworld.
As time passed in the realm of the Aen Elle, the Wild Hunt found it more difficult to travel between worlds. However, they soon discovered that those with the Elder Blood had the ability to travel between the realms. This makes Ciri a target for the Wild Hunt, as she is a child of the Elder Blood who holds this inherent power.
Ciri's skills are improving
For much of "The Witcher" Season 1, Ciri is a refugee on the run from Nilfgaardian invaders. Her only hope is to find Geralt, the witcher to whom she was sworn as part of the Law of Surprise. Her powers begin to manifest in dangerous ways, and since she has no control over them, it makes her journey all the more perilous.
In Season 2, Geralt takes in Ciri and acts as her protector. He soon realizes, however, that Ciri must learn to defend herself against the many enemies seeking her out. He takes her to Kaer Morhen, the witchers' base of operations, where Ciri begins training in the witcher style of fighting. When Ciri and Yennefer finally meet, Yennefer senses the powerful magic within Ciri and offers to teach her how to use it. Although Ciri is reluctant to tap into her magic, Yennefer's help proves to be invaluable.
The trailer for "The Witcher" Season 3 shows hints of Ciri's progress in her magical training and her fighting skills. It's apparent that she's gone from being a lost princess on the run to a very capable young woman. With her hands raised, Ciri's magic causes a dead tree to suddenly bloom back to life, and we see her smile at the accomplishment as Yen watches on. Clips from the trailer also give us a look at the evolution of Ciri's impressive sword skills, as she fights off Scoia'tael soldiers and goes up against some gnarly beasts. Though she may not technically be a witcher, it seems that Ciri has earned a place among them in the newest season. She even alludes to the idea in a conversation with Geralt, saying "We're witchers," to which Geralt replies, "Is that so?" Though she didn't complete the mutation ritual in Season 2, Ciri has become a witcher in all but name.
Return to Aretuza
The Tower of Aretuza is the seat of magical power on the Continent, and has been an important setting within Netflix's "The Witcher." This is where Yen and many other young magic users begin their training with the sorceress Tissaia (MyAnna Buring), and where important political planning among the mages and sorceresses takes place. It's here that Tissaia, along with the mage Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu), went against the wishes of Stregobor (Lars Mikkelsen) to oppose Nilfgaard, resulting in the battle of Sodden Hill at the end of Season 1. Though many mages and sorceresses died in the battle, Aretuza remains a strong center of power in Season 2.
In the Season 3 trailer, the tower can once again be seen standing tall on Thanedd Island. Much of Season 2 was based on the first novel of the Sapkowski series, "Blood of Elves," and likewise, Season 3 will be taking events from Book 2, "Time of Contempt." In the trailer, Geralt and Yennefer are seen wearing formal attire (with Geralt notably wearing Yen's preferred black and white color scheme) and attending a ball. This event is part of a conclave of mages that takes place in Aretuza Tower, and it also happens in the book. In "Time of Contempt," Yennefer and her fellow sorcerer, Margarita, hope to enroll Ciri at Aretuza to better train in magic. This will likely play a larger role within the story throughout Season 3 and beyond.
New Witcher sign
Thanks to the mutations that turn them into witchers, the renowned monster slayers are not only adept at swordfighting, but are also wielders of powerful magic. These magic spells are called Signs, and while there are supposedly a countless number of these Signs, there are five of them that are the most familiar to fans of the "Witcher" video games: Aard, Yrden, Axii, Quen, and Igni. So far in the Netflix "The Witcher" series, we've seen Geralt perform Aard, which emits a blast of force to throw back enemies, and Axii, a mind-control ability that attempts to calm or sway others.
In "The Witcher" Season 3 trailer, gaming fans are sure to recognize yet another Witcher Sign: Quen. Quen is a Sign that creates a protective circular shield around the caster, and it seems to come in very handy as Geralt fights off a band of Scoia'tael. Quen is also an essential mechanic in "The Witcher" video games and helps the player with getting out of tough scrapes. This is the first time we've seen Geralt use a Sign that hasn't appeared yet in the series, and hopefully, it won't be the last. Signs we have yet to see on the show are Igni, which produces fire, and Yrden, a magical trap that slows and weakens foes. Perhaps we will see even more Signs besides these trademark ones, but we'll just have to wait and see.
The return of dangerous enemies
Along with new monsters and the appearance of the Wild Hunt, the trailer for "The Witcher" Season 3 brings back familiar enemies as well. The most prominent is Rience, who was played by Chris Fulton in Season 2, but has been recast in Season 3 with Sam Woolf. The mage with a penchant for pyromancy was imprisoned in a Cintran cell before being set free by sorceress Lydia (Aisha Fabienne Ross). Lydia hires Rience to capture Ciri on behalf of a mysterious employer, and no matter how much Rience tries to get the identity of her boss, Lydia keeps mum.
Rience tracks down Jaskier and tortures him in Season 2 to find Ciri's whereabouts, only for the bard to be rescued by Yennefer. Rience suffers severe burns after his fire spell against Yen backfires, resulting in him getting a nasty scar on his face. He continues to chase after Ciri, attacking the Temple of Melitele where he and the mercenary Michelet Brothers attack Geralt as Ciri escapes with Yennefer. Though Rience failed to capture Ciri, he did manage to get a hold of some of her blood to take back to Lydia. Rience appears once again in the trailer for Season 3, promising even more trouble for Ciri and her companions.
Another returning character in Season 3 is Stregobor (Lars Mikkelsen), a powerful mage with his own nefarious agenda. In the trailer, we see a clip of him standing on a balcony and looking down, probably somewhere in Aretuza. It's difficult to tell what he might be up to in future episodes, but whatever it is, we can bet that it's not good.
Volume 1 of "The Witcher" Season 3 comes out on Netflix on June 29, 2023, while Volume 2 is set to be released on July 27, 2023.