The Ciri Scene In The Witcher Season 2 That Went Too Far
Contains spoilers for "The Witcher" Season 2
Netflix's "The Witcher" is pretty wild straight out of the gate, but Season 2 takes things to the next level and far beyond. New characters are invariably interesting, and returning characters from Cahir (Eamon Farren) to Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) himself receive significant personality boosts and all sorts of new things to do.
When it comes to the plot, however, it's all about Ciri (Freya Allan). Princess Cirilla is at the center of virtually every plot thread of the season, regardless of who's weaving them. As a result, the vast majority of the various characters' plans in the show — evil or otherwise — somehow revolve around her and her largely untapped, but incredibly strong magical powers. By the ending of "The Witcher" Season 2, it's clear that the season's more or less been all about her ... which, of course, is only fair play, considering the run-for-your-life wringer poor Ciri was put through in Season 1.
When you first meet Ciri in Season 1, she's fearful and, out of necessity, has to use the vast majority of her energy to simply survive. Season 2 Ciri, on the other hand, is on a much stronger footing. She's finally found Geralt, and can now exist beyond simple survival mode. She's strong, driven, and extremely determined to do whatever it takes to get back to Cahir and the Nilfgaardian forces that wrecked her kingdom. Even if you don't take her magical powers into account, she's proving to be a commanding presence, and a tenacious warrior who trains hard enough to actually impress the Witchers of Kaer Morhen.
But does she overdo it at any point? Let's take a look at the Ciri scene in "The Witcher" Season 2 that some fans think went too far.
Some fans think Ciri being betrayed by Yennefer goes too far
Interestingly enough, Ciri's all-permeating presence within the plot's various threads doesn't seem to have noticeably soured viewers to her. In fact, as Paul Tassi of Forbes points out, Freya Allan's stellar work in the role makes the character extremely easy to like, regardless of how much plot poor Ciri has to carry on her back. However, some fans' hairs have been bristling because of one particular incident, in which Ciri herself is largely a passive party: Yennefer's (Anya Chalotra) decision to betray her and use her as the Voleth Meir's pawn, in order for Yen to regain her own magical powers in return.
"My main gripe is that you've written characters completely opposite of what they're supposed to be. I mean, Yennefer would NEVER betray Ciri," user @The_Daedra posted on a Twitter thread about the show. "Book Yennefer would never knowingly betray Ciri," @doomii94 wrote in a similar thread. Other Twitter users, like @xxxgwxx and @bbyeunnie, expressed similar sentiments.
Things eventually turn out as fine as they can within the context of "The Witcher," but Ciri and Yennefer might still have a long way to go before they establish complete trust — even though circumstances obviously conspire against them during "The Witcher" Season 2. Still, fans certainly seem to think that this early breach of trust went too far.
Overall, fans love Ciri in Season 2
Though some fans call out the unfortunate bump on the road that's Yennifer's betrayal of Ciri, the princess herself seems to be largely beloved by the Season 2 fandom.
"The relationship between Gerald and Ciri is everything I wanted," one fan wrote on Reddit. "Loved Geralt, Ciri and Yens [sic] dynamic. Different from the books but that is absolutely fine," another agreed. "Actress who played Ciri did a really good job," a third redditor enthused.
Considering all the Ciri scenes that under less well-executed circumstances might be considered to "go too far," this kind of warm welcome to the new, improved version of the character is a highly impressive testament to the show. After all, the princess goes through intense physical training that regularly leaves her bloodied, gets chased by multiple terrifying monsters that are drawn to her power, and turns out to be arguably the most important person on the entire Continent. Through all of this and more, the fans are on board, despite the fact that all of this focus leaves her with ample potential to become the kind of perfect heroine who could easily become a less than liked figure in the eyes of the fandom.
The show clearly succeeds in keeping Ciri likable by communicating that she's very much not your average perfect fantasy princess. With all this potential and fan goodwill at her disposal, it will be fascinating to see where her character is headed once the hopefully inevitable "The Witcher" Season 3 rolls in.