The Witcher Returns to Netflix After a Two-Year Absence

The Witcher is back on Netflix after a two-year absence with more grotesque monsters, mages wielding magic, and Henry Cavill grunts. Throughout Lauren Schmidt Hissrich’s fantasy drama adaptation, there was an overpowering sense of fun, with fantastic fight sequences and a sly sense of humour. Taking a look at this first episode of Season 2, it looks like we’re in for more of the same.

The structure, however, is different. The first season on Netflix was criticized for its multiple timelines, which at times were a little confusing. As the action jumped around so frequently, it often took the viewer a while to get oriented to the vast array of characters. Fortunately, that’s not an issue here. So far, all of the action takes place in the same era, so timelines have been abandoned.

This season’s action picks up where last year’s left off, in the aftermath of the battle at Sodden Hill, where Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) applied fire magic to beat back the Nilfgaardians.

The Witcher returns home

After digging through the rubble and charred bodies, Tissaia (MyAnna Buring) and Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu) conclude Yennefer is dead, having sacrificed herself to save them. “She’s gone,” Tissaia says to Geralt (Cavill), who stumbles upon the bloody scene with Princess Ciri (Freya Allan).

With the war raging on, Geralt and Ciri seek refuge in Kaer Morhen, where witchers were once trained. Ciri and Geralt know that the Continent is not safe for them because of their “other” status. This episode explores the way the world labels those who are different as monsters, fearing them. Nonetheless, in a world inhabited by both real and metaphorical monsters, what makes a person truly monstrous?

It’s the question that drives the story of this episode, which is based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s short story A Grain of Truth. While travelling, Geralt and Ciri encounter an abandoned village and decide to spend the night at a nearby manor. This manor belonged to a friend of Geralt’s called Nivellen (Kristofer Hivju), a man cursed with the appearance of a beast, doomed to live life alone because of his past misdeeds, which he claims involve robbing a temple.

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Despite his coarse language and appearance, Nivellen is not a monster, at least not in Ciri’s eyes. All she can see is someone who is different like her, capable of powers she doesn’t comprehend and didn’t ask for – that doesn’t make someone a monster. Gerald, however, senses that something is amiss, that Nivellen isn’t being entirely forthcoming, and that the nearby village was abandoned.

Vereena (Agnes Born), the monster Nivellen has been hiding in the attic, interrupts Ciri’s sleep as Geralt keeps watch outside. Vereena takes the form of a beautiful woman, but with some freakish eyes and weird twitching movements. Her warning to Ciri doesn’t sway Geralt, who is already one step ahead after following some snowy footprints in the village and spotting a flying beast that is responsible for the village’s destruction.

It turns out that Vereena is a Bruxa, a powerful type of vampire who assumed the appearance of a dark-haired woman, but whose natural form is that of a giant black bat with sharp fangs and claws. Vereena is caught by Geralt feeding on Nivellen, and they fight. In yet another frenetic, intense fight sequence, the pointy fanged monster transforms from bat to human as it ducks and dodges Geralt’s sword.

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Vereena is impaled by Nevellin with a spike, and it’s quite gruesome as the Bruxa’s head turns to face Nevellin and slides along with the stick. Geralt declares his love to Nevellin before chopping off the monster’s head. It turned out that Nevellin and Vereena were in love since the beast never condemned him. Thus, he took care of her, turning a blind eye to her attacks on the villagers.

Nevellin’s curse is lifted after the battle, his fortune reversed by the love of Vereena and her blood. He returns to his human form, but that doesn’t diminish his monstrous nature. As a result, Nevellin confesses that he was cursed for more than robbing a temple; it was for raping a princess. He implores Geralt to put him out of his misery, but Geralt and Ciri leave, leaving Nevellin to suffer in solitude.

While Geralt and the others assume Yennefer is dead, her situation is similarly dire. Mimî M. Khayisa (Fringilla) and her walking wounded army are holding her hostage. Fringilla plays on Yennefer’s fears, telling her that she will not be allowed back into the circle of mages since she uses fire magic. Since Yennefer was once a poor hunchback girl, anyone who is different is shunned.

In the end, however, Fringilla and Yennefer may need each other, as their camp is attacked and their remaining soldiers are killed, leaving them all alone.

Now, the real struggle begins.