Small Details You Missed In The Witcher Season 3

Season 3 of "The Witcher" opens with a montage that catches viewers up on what the series' central trio, consisting of Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer, have been up to since leaving Kaer Morhen at the end of Season 2. As time passes, Geralt and Yennefer are shown to be working together to help keep Ciri hidden and help her learn to control her magic. Unfortunately, Geralt still hasn't forgiven Yennefer for nearly giving her up to the Deathless Mother at the end of Season 2 and refuses to communicate with her directly. As such, the audience is treated to Yennefer's voiceover as she narrates the letters she writes to her former lover.

Each letter begins with the phrase "Dear Friend." At first, this might not seem like an unusual way to start a letter, but Yennefer's sarcastic delivery of the line in each voiceover suggests there might be more to this phrasing than meets the eye. In fact, the term "Dear Friend" is a direct callback to the Season 2 episode, "Dear Friend." In the episode, Geralt and Yennefer are finally reunited for the first time since Yennefer's alleged death. When he introduces her to Ciri, her refers to her as his "dear friend." Yennefer is surprised by the term, offended that given their long history as lovers, Geralt only refers to her as a friend, even a dear one.

In the second episode of Season 3, titled "Unbound," Geralt and Jaskier visit the detective agency Codringher and Fenn in order to purchase information on Rience, a fire-wielding mage who has been hunting Ciri relentlessly, to try and determine who he might be working for. After disarming the trap, Geralt meets with Ellis Codringher, who attempts to strongarm the Witcher into paying more money for the information. Instead, Geralt makes a bet with the detectives –one he ends up winning.

During Geralt's conversation with the duo, Codringher mentions a visit from Istredd, referring back to a scene from the show's second season episode, "Dear Friend." After teaming up with Geralt and learning that Ciri was able to destroy a monolith, Istredd visits the detective agency in hopes of learning more about the situation. He discovered that a certain gene, called Leishardrathardlara, kept appearing in the women of the Cintran royal bloodline and that it may be the key to how she was able to destroy the monolith.

"Unbound," the second episode of Season 3 of "The Witcher," reintroduces audiences to Triss Merigold, one of Yennefer's fellow sorceresses, as well as a former mentor of Ciri. It is revealed that Triss hasn't yet returned to King Foltest's court in Temaria, despite some members of the Brotherhood urging her to do so, but has instead remained at Aretuza. Tissaia has continued to protect her, and given her a role at the school as a teacher. In the episode, she is briefly seen teaching a lesson to a group of students.

Eagle-eyed viewers might notice some familiar aspects of this particular lesson. Each student has a branch of daisy flowers and a rock in front of them. This indicates that they are likely the levitation incantation, in which the life force of the flowers is drained in order to lift the rock. The incantation spoken in order to lift the rock is "Zeilil eip," which in Elder Speech translates to "rise up." This is one of the first lessons Yennefer learned in Season 1 of "The Witcher," and remains one of the most important in her mind. After losing her ability to use magic in Season 2, Yennefer attempted to recite "Zeilil eip" while in the Deathless Mother's lair.

In Episode 3, titled "Reunion," Yennefer and Ciri make another stop on their way to Aretuza, this time in the town of Gors Velen. Yennefer has plans to reach her mentor Tissaia but needs to split up with Ciri in order to do so. As such, she brings Ciri to the Giancardi Bank, which is run by a local dwarf named Molnar. Molnar is indebted to Yennefer after she had saved his family in the past, and agrees to watch after Ciri. He places her in the care of his assistant, Fabio Sachs, who he tasks with protecting while she explores the city.

While exploring the streets of Gors Velen, Ciri happens upon a painting of the tower at Aretuza. Fabio tells her about the painting, while also telling her stories about a famed academy for mages. In particular, he tells that he heard a tale that some students get turned into eels. Although this may be a mere legend to Fabio, audiences will know that his story is indeed true, as it was confirmed in the Season 1 episode "Four Marks," where Yennefer sees Tissaia turn three of her fellow students that were underperforming into eels to help power Aretuza's magic.

In the show's three seasons, many of the main characters on "The Witcher" have grown and evolved quite a bit since the first season. However, it can be argued that few have come nearly as far as Cahir, a high-ranking Nilfgaardian intelligence officer and one of Emperor Emhyr's most trusted allies. In Season 1, he was charged with capturing Princess Cirilla of Cintra and bringing her back to Emhyr. Throughout the season, Cahir appears to be a true believer in the Nilfgaardian cause, never questioning his loyalty to Emhyr or his belief in Nilfgaard's mission, despite all of the brutality he has witnessed, and been a part of, in Emhyr's name.

However, things begin to change after Cahir is captured in Season 2. While escaping the Brotherhood's custody and smuggling himself back to the Nilfgaardian-held Cintra, Cahir spends a lot of time hiding among different peoples, especially the elves. Upon returning, he appears softer and more lenient towards those who are not in line with all of Nilfgaard's beliefs, including the mage Fringilla. 

In Season 3, Emhyr asks Cahir to murder Gallatin, an elven warrior he befriended. He carries out the deed, but it becomes apparent that the decision weighs heavily on him. When meeting with Emyhr, Cahir asks, "You said you knew a good leader when you saw them. How?" This might indicate that Cahir's loyalty to Emhyr as a leader might finally be waning.

Season 3, Episode 5 of "The Witcher," titled "The Art of Illusion," is interesting in that it pretty much all takes place during the course of one night, and is told out of time order from various perspectives. The center of the episode's plot is the gala being held at Aretuza by the Brotherhood, meant to help unite the Northern Kingdoms, and their magical advisors, against Nilfgaard. However, Geralt and Yennefer have an alternate agenda, hoping to use the event to find evidence that backs their theory that the Wizard Stregobor is behind Rience's attacks on Ciri.

Throughout the episodes, a song sung by a group of bards is played multiple times as viewers experience the story's different perspectives. If viewers listen closely to the lyrics, they might notice that the bards regularly repeat the phrase "All is not as it seems." This is a not-so-subtle allusion to not only the theme of the entire episode, but also the twist ending. Stregobor had nothing to do with Rience's attacks. Instead, Vilgefortz, a trusted ally of Tissaia, is the mastermind behind the evil plot. 

Vizimir II, King of Redania, is one of the major players in the War of the Northern Kingdoms in Season 3 of "The Witcher." Early in the season, Vizimir was making plans to capture Ciri in order to marry her and take control of Cintra, making him the strongest king in all of the Northern Kingdoms, a plan that was wholeheartedly supported by his spymaster, Sigismund Dijkstra, and his sorceress advisor, Philippa Eilhart. However, after meeting with Nilfgaard, Vizimir agreed to hand Ciri over to the invading kingdom, a move that Dijkstra and Eilhart could not abide by.

One of the season's most shocking moments occurs when Vizimir receives a box as a "gift" from Nilfgaard. The box contains the head of his wife, Hedwig, leaving Vizimir very distraught. His brother, Radovid, discovers that Dijkstra and Eilhart were responsible for her death, using it to blame Nilfgaard for the attack while also freeing the king to remarry Ciri if they were to capture her. While the moment comes as a big surprise, the scheming spymaster hints at the big move earlier, when he tells Phillips that the queen has a good head on her shoulders and that it might finally be time to "make her useful."

The sixth episode of Season 3 is packed with shocking moments that are bound to leave fans gasping. One such moment takes place after Nilfgaardian troops manage to sneak themselves into Aretuza and begin attacking the mages who are there for the conclave. Luckily, the mages refuse to go down without a fight, with several of them, including Tissaia de Vries and Artorius Vigo, erecting a magical barrier to halt an onslaught of arrows being volleyed in their direction. Unfortunately, the move does nothing to slow the arrows, which pierce right through the magical wall and kill several mages, including Artorius.

Tissaia is quick to note that the arrows were tipped with dimeritium. In the universe of "The Witcher," dimeritium is a unique type of metal known to suppress magical abilities. Since the arrowheads are coated with dimeritium, they're able to pass through the magical barrier with ease, even though that same barrier can stop any other kind of material. This scene actually isn't even the first time dimeritium is used in Season 3 of "The Witcher": Earlier in the episode, handcuffs made of dimeritium are used to hold Vilgefortz and his followers captive by Redanian spymaster Sigismund Dijkstra. Gamers may also recognize the fictional metal from the video game "The Witcher 3," where the ore is a collectible crafting material used to make certain types of gear in the game.

Season 3, Episode 7 of "The Witcher" is a unique episode in that it focuses almost entirely on Ciri, with only brief glimpses of the titular witcher himself, Geralt of Rivia. The episode picks up in the aftermath of the Battle of Thanedd, which ended in Ciri destroying Tor Lara, also known as the Tower of the Gull, and being sent through the portal inside. Unfortunately for Ciri, the unstable portal teleports her into the sky over an arid stretch of inhospitable desert. Ciri, having studied geography, notes that Mousesack used to refer to this place as The Frying Pan.

In the universe of "The Witcher," The Frying Pan is a nickname given to the Korath Desert, a large sea of arid sand dunes with few living inhabitants. The Korath Desert is far to the south of The Northern Kingdoms, where the majority of the story of "The Witcher" takes place. It also lies to the east of Nilfgaard, the kingdom under the rule of Ciri's father, Emhyr var Emreis. While Nilgaard has no control over the neighboring desert, it is still the closest geographically that Ciri has been to her father's kingdom in all three seasons.

During his climactic fight with Vilgefortz during the coup at Thenadd, Geralt is grievously injured and near death. His back is broken by the traitorous mage, leaving him unable to walk without healing. Luckily, Geralt is brought to Brokilon Forest, the home of the dryads, which viewers may remember from the show's first season. While Geralt is brought inside as a friend to the dryads, access to the forest is forbidden to most outsiders. This becomes an issue when Jaskier comes to the forest, hoping to see Geralt. He's denied entry, but the tricky bard has an idea that will help the dryads see that he is a friend. He begins to sing a beautiful song in elder speech that the dryads call "Enchanted Flowers."

Readers of "The Witcher" books might recognize this song by another name, "Elaine Ettariel," an elven ballad that appears in "Time of Contempt," the novel that is the basis for Season 3. The ballad tells the story of an elven heroine named Ettariel, who gives the writer of the song a beautiful and enchanted flower after they fall deeply in love with her. In the book, "Elaine Ettariel" translates to "Ettariel the Beautiful," rather than "Enchanted Flowers." Players of the first "Witcher" video game may also recognize the song, as a remixed version of it is played during Chapter IV of the game's story.

One of "The Witcher" Season 3's saddest moments comes near the end of Episode 8. Tissaia de Vries, unable to cope with the loss of Aretuza — and blaming herself for trusting Vilgefortz and failing to protect her fellow mages — sadly chooses to take her own life. Not only is Tissaia one of the most important characters to die so far on "The Witcher," but her death has a major impact of Yennefer of Vengerberg, who views her teacher and mentor like a mother. Losing Tissaia is a major blow to the remaining sorceresses, but also helps to unite them in a common cause.

The scene is not only poignant in its storytelling, providing a tragic end to an arc that almost saw Tissaia at her happiest, but it also fittingly includes several callbacks to the beginning of her relationship with Yennefer, whom she addresses in her final letter too. In the letter, she refers to Yennefer as Piglet, a nickname that she used for the young sorceress back when she was a student at Aretuza, and has rarely used since. She also writes, "Sometimes the best thing a flower can do for us is die," a lesson that she taught Yennefer during her training at the school. Finally, she takes her own life by slashing her wrists, the same fate she saved Yennefer from when the latter tried to take her own life at a young age.

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Henry Cavill's final scene in "The Witcher" is certainly a memorable one. As he and Jaskier look to sneak past a Nilfgaardian checkpoint, Geralt offers an expensive pendant as a bribe to a guard. Jaskier tells him not to give it up, knowing how much it means to him, but Geralt lets it go anyway. The Nilfgaardian soldier lets them through, but Geralt turns back after seeing a group of elves in trouble. He slays all of the soldiers but one. While he no longer needs the bribe to get past the checkpoint, he still chooses to leave the pendant behind.

This scene is symbolic of Geralt finally letting the past go and choosing to move forward. The pendant belonged to Renfri, a princess that Geralt fell in love with in the series' first episode. While he eventually had to kill Renfri to save the town, he never forgave himself for her death. He held on to her pendant as a reminder of his feelings for the princess, as well as his own perceived failure to save her. Giving up the pendant and willfully leaving it behind shows that Geralt has finally moved on. It's a perfect link from Henry Cavill's first episode to his last, and may be a nod to Geralt entering a new chapter of his life, where he will be played by another actor.

The phrase "never lost, always found," is one that viewers will hear quite a few times throughout Season 3 of "The Witcher." It's so prevalent that "The Witcher" Season 3, Vol. 2 trailer used it as its description on YouTube.  The in-universe explanation has to do with Ciri's talisman, which Yennefer uses to place a locator spell that Ciri can deploy to help Geralt find her. Whenever she is lost, she utters the phrase, and they are drawn to her. However, the phrase is much more than just a sentence Ciri utters to activate the locator spell: it's more or less the theme of the entire season, and in some ways, the entire series.

While Ciri spent pretty much the entirety of Season 2 by Geralt's side, Season 3 splits the two up far more often. Ciri is regularly separated from Geralt and Yennefer and often has to use the locator spell to bring them back together. She also mentions to Yennefer that the only thing she really cares about is that the three of them stick together. By the time the season wraps, Ciri has once again been separated from her found family, and is now posing as a woman named Falka. But Geralt assures Jaskier that he will find Ciri at any cost, showing the audience that the theme of "never lost, always found" isn't going anywhere in future seasons.