Warning! SPOILERS for The Witcher season 2
The dramatic ending of The Witcher season 2 saw Ciri reveal her true potential, while gaining a new dysfunctional family in Geralt and Yennefer. Based on the popular fantasy novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, Netflix’s The Witcher series explores a world of myths and monsters. The stories tap into popular legends and fairy tales – e.g., The Witcher season 2, episode 1 has a twisted riff on Beauty & the Beast – making them at once familiar and thrillingly fresh and original.
The Witcher season 2 fleshes out the history of the Continent, revealing more about Witcher‘s mysterious Conjunction of the Spheres – a cosmic event in which different dimensions collided. It had previously been believed the Conjunction had created a single world out of many worlds, but in season 2 Geralt learned they had only crossed over temporarily – and what had happened once, could potentially happen again. The mysterious monoliths scattered over the Continent could actually be used to create portals between the Spheres, bringing new monsters to the Continent, or potentially allowing travel back to other dimensions.
The Witcher season 2 deviates from Sapkowski’s novels and short stories, adding entirely new supernatural entities. However, just as in the books, Ciri lies at the heart of the narrative. She is the one with the potential to travel between the Spheres, with the potential to transform the world.
The Witcher Season 2 Explains Ciri’s True Nature
Ciri is a princess of Cintra, but according to The Witcher season 2 her family has concealed a secret. Somewhere along the line, one of the most powerful elven bloodlines intermixed with that of the Cintran royal family, meaning Ciri possesses the legendary “Hen Ikeir,” or “Elder Blood.” She is a descendant of an ancient elven sorceress Lara Dorren, and as such has inherited all the magical power of her bloodline. What is more, Ciri is the heir of a prophecy foretelling a descendant of Lara Dorren who would appear at the very end of the world, as a new ice age began to fall across the Continent. As the astrologist and oracle Ithlinne foretold:
“The Wolf’s Blizzard approaches, the time of the sword and axe. The Time of the White Frost and White Light, the Time of Madness and Disdain, Tedd Deireadh, the Final Age. The world will perish amidst ice and be reborn with the new sun. Reborn of the Elder Blood, of Hen Ichaer, of a planted seed. A seed that will not sprout but burst into flames!'”
Ciri’s Father Is The Ruler Of Nilfgaard
Ciri believed her parents died in a shipwreck, but The Witcher season 2’s finale reveals her father is still alive – and, in fact, is The Witcher‘s ruler of Nilfgaard, orchestrator of the invasion of the North that has triggered all this chaos. In the books, Emhyr var Emreis fled Nilfgaard after his father was deposed and he was cursed, transformed into an animalistic form. Emhyr took up the identity of Duny, and under this name he wooed the Cintran Princess Pavetta. He would probably have stayed there, had he not learned his daughter was the subject of Ithlinne’s prophecy. He decided to return to Nilfgaard with his wife and daughter, but Pavetta disagreed and conspired to keep Ciri away, leading to a scuffle between the husband and wife on a boat in which she was thrown overboard and drowned. Duny faked his own death, returning to Nilfgaard and resolving to regain his throne and then come back to Cintra in order to claim his daughter.
Netflix’s The Witcher is heavily influenced by Sapkowski’s novels, and thus it’s reasonable to assume the plot will play out in roughly the same way. Nilfgaard invaded Cintra with the sole objective of capturing the Cintran princess, and her escape has destabilized all Emhyr’s plans. Now, he is marshalling his forces in the hopes of capturing his daughter, so he can turn her into a weapon.
The Deathless Mother’s True Goal In The Witcher Season 2
Everybody has an agenda for Ciri – and not all of them are humans. An ancient being named Voleth Meir, the so-called “Deathless Mother,” was awoken when Ciri unleashed a surge of power escaping Cintra. The Deathless Mother feeds on pain and suffering, and she reweaves the destinies of the entire elven race to lead to an escalation of the conflict between humans and Elves – creating enough suffering to allow her to break free from the prison the witchers restrained her in centuries ago. The Witcher season 2’s finale reveals Voleth Meir’s true goal, as she sensed Ciri could open gateways to other worlds, and she simply wanted the opportunity to get home. Unfortunately her evil nature meant the only way she could conceive accomplishing this was to cause as much chaos and bloodshed as possible.
The Deathless Mother is an original character – there’s no trace of this demon in Sapkowski’s novels and short stories – though she appears to be heavily influenced in The Witcher by the legend of Baba Yaga. This supernatural being is traditionally portrayed living in a hut – similar to the one the witchers trapped Voleth Meir in. Baba Yaga bears many different faces and forms, while the Deathless Mother apparently cannot have a physical form on this Sphere, and instead needs to possess hosts – choosing Ciri in the hopes of using her power to return to her home. It’s particularly striking that Voleth Meir causes the deaths of so many children, when in many legends Baba Yaga devours infants for food.
How Yennefer Regains Her Magic In The Witcher Season 2
The Deathless Mother chooses Yennefer as one of her pawns. The Witcher season 1’s ending saw Yennefer tap into Fire Magic, and she burned her own Chaos out, leaving her desperate to regain it. Voleth Meir exploited this weakness, manipulating Yennefer into making Ciri accessible to her. She had underestimated Yennefer, because the sorceress had always desired one thing more than power: to be a parent. Yennefer came to love Ciri, and in The Witcher season 2’s ending she chooses to act selflessly, committing a blood spell to summon the Deathless Mother out of Ciri and into her own body. The possession is only temporary, but, ironically, the selfless act restores Yennefer’s magic.
The Witcher Season 2’s Wild Hunt Explained
Voleth Meir accomplishes her agenda, with Ciri transporting herself, Geralt and Yennefer to another Sphere. She then abandons Yennefer’s body, delighted to return home. The three catch a glimpse of The Witcher‘s Wild Hunt, a group of spectral riders who advance upon them – with Ciri spiriting them away before they are overcome. There have been whispers of the Wild Hunt’s approach throughout The Witcher season 2, but this is the first time the characters actually encounter them, and they are shaken by the experience.
In Sapkowski’s books, the Wild Hunt are a tribe of Elves called the Aen Elle, who used to travel between the Spheres seeking slaves. They were disrupted by the Conjunction of the Spheres, leading to their manifesting in their present, ghostly incarnation. The Wild Hunt play a major role in the video game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and in both the books and the game they target Ciri because they recognize the power of her Elder Blood. It’s quite possible The Witcher season 2’s finale is the moment she has come to their attention in Netflix’s Witcher Universe.
Jacob Collins-Levy has been cast as Eredin in the upcoming prequel series The Witcher: Blood Origin, and he appears in the trailer for The Witcher: Blood Origin that plays after the end of The Witcher season 2. That presumably means secrets of the Aen Elle are about to be revealed ahead of The Witcher season 3, with Netflix weaving an overarching narrative between The Witcher and its various spinoffs. The prequel may well offer some important clues to the Wild Hunt’s future role.
Ciri Gains A New Family In The Witcher Season 2
Ciri may be powerful, but the Deathless Mother was able to distract her by giving her visions of her original family. Geralt’s voice is able to break through the illusion, and by the end of The Witcher season 2 Ciri has a new family – with Geralt as her father and Yennefer as her mother. As Geralt notes, he will never be able to forgive Yennefer for what she has done, but her act of self-sacrifice proves she can be trusted with Ciri. Love was not enough to bind Geralt and Yennefer together, and neither was destiny – but Geralt suspects Ciri may be. All in all, The Witcher season 2 ends on an optimistic note, as Yennefer prepares to begin Ciri’s training.
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