The Witcher S3: What Is Alzur's Thunder & Who's The Mage Who Created It?
Contains spoilers for "The Witcher" Season 3, Episode 6 — "Everybody Has a Plan 'til They Get Punched in the Face"
Heartbreak is a dangerous weapon ... especially in the hands of a capable mage. In Season 3 Volume 2 of "The Witcher," the latest installment of Netflix's live-action adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski's high fantasy novel series, Tissaia de Vries (MyAnna Buring) suffers multiple tragic losses all at once. Her home is destroyed and her friends are slaughtered, and it's all thanks to the supposed love of her life, Vilgefortz of Roggeveen (Mahesh Jadu), who reveals himself to be a spy for Nilfgaard. It doesn't help that Sigismund Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) and Philippa Eilhart (Cassie Clare) choose that same disastrous moment to mount their own assault on Aretuza.
So with two separate armies at her door and her heart in tatters, Tissaia throws caution to the wind — she casts Alzur's Thunder. Netflix spends very little time explaining why this is a big deal. Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra) takes a moment to look visibly distressed, but that's about it.
This is usually the part where we mention that Netflix dropped the ball, but honestly, there isn't much lore behind the spell. As far as devastating murder magic goes, it's fairly straightforward. Alzur's Thunder is a high-level combat spell capable of killing its target that was invented by the famous mage Alzur, and it's so prolific in the canon of "The Witcher" that it appears as a Gwent card.
Alzur created monsters, magic, and witchers
Though Alzur never appears in the books, being long gone before the story ever begins, Andrzej Sapkowski's fiction is rich in historical exposition, and so the mage's entire life is chronicled for the world to know.
The bastard son of a nobleman whose mother perishes shortly after his birth, Alzur grows up on an estate where the men show him no affection, the women pity him, and the children bully him. In lieu of love, Alzur turns to books, through which he discovers a passion for heroism. And through his passion for heroism, young Alzur discovers just how brutal thieves and brigands can really be. But his persistence never falters, even if his strength does. And on one fateful day, he harnesses his powers to burn a band of criminals to ash.
Later in life, after receiving training to become a proper mage, Alzur sets his mind to the art of creation. Aside from Alzur's Thunder, he invents Alzur's Shield, a protective spell, and Alzur's Double Cross, a monster-producing spell. His résumé also features the first batch of witchers, or at least the ones who survive his experimental curiosity. It's worth mentioning that Netflix created a new origin for witchers on "The Witcher: Blood Origin."
Alzur eventually dies after using Alzur's Double Cross to accidentally fashion a monster beyond his control that destroys him and half the city of Malibor.