The Witcher Recap: Witch Hunt

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Throughout the long history of The Witcher, the focus becomes much tighter. The first two books by Andrzej Sapkowski, which are collections of short stories, are wonderfully diverse in their style and stories. They offer a wide range of independent adventures for Geralt, shifting between humor and sadness.

The recent books, much like the latest seasons of the TV show which covered Blood of Elves and Time of Contempt, heavily center on Ciri and her incredibly difficult life. This focus has largely removed the humor that used to be a key part of The Witcher. While others may feel differently, I really miss when the stories weren’t constantly about preventing global catastrophe. It’s tough to enjoy the adventures when everything feels so overwhelmingly serious and filled with dread.

Look, I’ll be honest, even with all the changes happening with The Witcher, I’m glad it’s still a show where someone can deliver a line like, “You did not stash the Queen of Elves in your cleavage,” and it just…works. It’s a weirdly comforting sign that the show hasn’t completely lost its edge, you know? As a fan, that’s what I’m hanging onto right now.

The line is spoken by Triss Merigold, and she’s stunned when Yennefer magically produces Francesca Findabair, the elven queen, from within her clothing. Francesca is still mourning the deaths of her husband and child. Yennefer discovers Francesca in a brothel – a surprising place to find royalty – but when Francesca refuses to join Yennefer’s fight, Yennefer turns her into a tiny statue and carries her along anyway.

The situation with Vilgefortz is becoming a major crisis, and Yennefer is even willing to use magic to kidnap someone if she thinks it will help. Although defeating Vilgefortz and rescuing Ciri will be difficult, Yennefer is starting to make headway. This episode shows she’s gained Francesca as an ally, and we also learn that Fringilla Vigo is secretly working with Yennefer, gathering information from within Vilgefortz’s circle and passing it on to the sorceresses.

As a big fan of “The Witcher,” I found the latest episode, “Trial by Ordeal,” a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, Geralt’s storyline felt nicely self-contained, which was a welcome change. He runs into a huge refugee camp and gets caught up in what basically amounts to a ridiculous witch trial. The accusations against this woman, Talver, are just absurd – they accused her of witchcraft because of some chicken broth and a missing cat! Of course, the zealous priest is determined to burn her anyway, and that’s when Geralt and his friends have to step in. It was a good episode, but honestly, it felt a little rushed and didn’t quite deliver on its potential, especially considering the larger story with Yennefer and the others seems to be building towards something bigger.

Honestly, as a fan, I was kind of hoping Talver and Beata would turn out to be witches – imagine them getting their revenge on those who attacked them! That would have been a cool twist, very *Witcherlike. But the show went in a much darker direction. It used their story to really hit home Geralt’s anxiety about failing to protect Ciri. Even though Geralt’s group managed to win the priest’s rigged trial – with Regis showing off this weird, unexplained ability to handle burning hot metal – it all felt pointless. The girls still ended up being burned at the stake, and just when it looked like a Nilfgaardian army might save them, Beata was killed by a soldier with no real reason. It was just brutal and really drove home the bleakness of the world.

This scene could have been more powerful if Beata had been a fully developed character instead of a simple stereotype, but the show already has a lot of characters to manage. Regardless, the message is clear: Geralt repeatedly discovers that this war-ravaged world is unforgiving to those who are vulnerable.

Luckily, Geralt trained Ciri in sword fighting during season two, and she’s now using those skills, though it’s a bit unsettling to watch. As a new member of the Rats, she helps the group rob a carriage belonging to Baron Casadei, a relatively unimportant nobleman serving Nilfgaard. Ciri is particularly angry with the baron’s spoiled daughter, Lady Gilda, who enjoys a carefree life that Ciri herself would have had if Cintra hadn’t been destroyed. Ciri steals a brooch from Gilda and then delivers a harsh lesson about the realities of life, angrily cutting off the girl’s long braid while saying, “Life is awful, full of blood and death.”

With a larger war already raging across the Continent, this attack feels small and pointless, but Ciri and her companions will likely suffer the consequences. When three thugs sent by the Baron of Casadei corner Ciri, she swiftly and effortlessly kills them all – a shockingly easy act of violence for someone who hadn’t taken a life until recently. This suggests the trauma she’s experienced is starting to change her, pushing her towards darkness. As Yennefer points out, Ciri has the family history and incredible magical ability to achieve almost anything – she could save the elves, take control of the Continent, or use her power for any purpose she chooses. Hopefully, for everyone’s sake, she’ll use her abilities for good.

Stray Arrows

The episode ends with the introduction of Leo Bonhart, a significant new villain portrayed by Sharlto Copley (known for his role in District 9), who, unsurprisingly, is also searching for Ciri. The medallions he wears around his neck are trophies taken from witchers of different schools across the Continent – a grim display of his past victories.

Even though Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri are currently following separate paths, the show maintains a strong emotional link between Geralt and Ciri. They frequently wake up when the other is in danger, suggesting a deep, almost psychic connection that manifests in their dreams, and helps smoothly connect their different storylines.

If you enjoyed the backstory about the Conjunction of Spheres and the elves in Francesca’s story, you might want to check out The Witcher: Blood Origin. It’s not a fantastic show overall, but Michelle Yeoh gives a strong performance, and Minnie Driver’s performance is…unusual.

Also, the episode briefly mentions Avallac’h, an important character in both the series The Witcher: Blood Origin and the video game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

We have to give credit to the person running the brothel for the clever names “Geralt of Raw-via” and “Yennefer of Bangerberg.” They clearly knew a lot about the characters’ intimate lives, enough to even include a stuffed unicorn as a prop!

• Nice to see that some witches still wear pointy black hats.

We have to acknowledge Zoltan’s parrot – it hilariously and accurately called a group of corpses ‘dead people’!

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2025-10-30 17:56