The Witcher Season 3: Who Is Falka & Why Is The Name So Important?
Contains spoilers for "The Witcher" Season 3, Episode 7 – "Out of the Fire, Into the Frying Pan"
"The Witcher" Season 3 episode "Out of the Fire, Into the Frying Pan" finds Ciri (Freya Allen) wandering through the Korath desert after her magical escape from Tor Lara. Lost in the desert for an unspecified amount of time, Ciri begins to experience hallucinations of a mysterious hooded woman named Falka (Hiftu Quasem) — a legendary half-elf princess who rebelled against her father in order to claim the throne, many years before Ciri was born.
Though the show doesn't go into specifics about Falka's history, fans of the "Witcher" book series know that she was the daughter of the Redanian King Vridank, whom she murdered alongside her stepmother, Queen Cerro, as well as her half brothers, Heltmult and Denhard. In the books, Falka also kidnaps the pregnant Queen of Temeria, Riannon, who also happens to be the great-great-great-grandmother of Ciri. Riannon was driven insane by her captivity, and gave birth to the twins Fiona and Amavet.
Falka was later burned at the stake for her crimes (an incident she recalls in graphic detail to Ciri), though not before giving her own infant daughter to the now-mad Riannon to nurse. Because Riannon was never able to identify which of the three children was Falka's, it's implied that Falka herself is actually the great-great-great-grandmother of Ciri.
Ciri's new alter ego could hint at a dark future for her character
While the books leave the connection between Ciri and Falka open to speculation, Netflix's "The Witcher" goes out of its way to establish many different parallels between the two characters. These parallels come full circle in the Season 3 finale, when Ciri is accepted into a bandit group using the name "Falka" as her alter-ego.
Though one could assume Ciri simply used the first name that popped into her head, the usage of this particular name is very significant since it perhaps hints at a more violent future for her story. The show reveals that the legends about Falka call her "a demon" and "a cursed Elven monster," and that her story is told to children in order to frighten them. Perhaps Ciri taking on this name is a hint that she might one day be cast in that same evil light; indeed, Falka spends nearly all of her time in the desert listing all of the similarities between herself and Ciri, and even successfully convinces her possible descendant to use forbidden fire magic to save a dying unicorn.
This vision of Falka encourages Ciri to use her pain and suffering as fuel for her power, and to enact that forbidden fire magic against anyone who has ever hurt her. Although Ciri rebuffs this offer (seemingly losing her magic in the process), the fact that she later takes on the name Falka is very telling. Perhaps Ciri's story will end in a bloody quest for revenge like Falka, maybe even embracing the dangerous fire magic that caused Falka to be reviled as a monster and demon.