SPOILER alert: This recap contains spoilers for “The Witcher” Season 3, Part 2, now streaming on Netflix.
“The Witcher” fans knew Season 3 would be bittersweet. It’s the final installment of the Netflix fantasy series before Henry Cavill, who has starred as famed monster hunter Geralt of Rivia since Season 1, is replaced by Liam Hemsworth in an unexpected shake-up.
Beginning in Season 4, Hemsworth will be donning Geralt’s swords, Witcher medallions and long, white locks, while the rest of the cast remains intact —except, of course, for those characters who died in Season 3, Part 2’s bloody battles.
Since the recasting was announced, fans have been wondering how the switch from Cavill to Hemsworth will happen. Would Hemsworth appear in the Season 3 finale? Would some kind of spell change Geralt’s Cavill-esque appearance into something more Hemsworth-ian? How would Geralt’s relationships with Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), Ciri (Freya Allen) and Jaskier (Joey Batey) be affected?
Now that “The Witcher” Season 3, Part 2 is out, let’s take a look at what went down.
What happens to Geralt?
Sorry, Hemsworth fans, the only Geralt in the Season 3 finale is played by Cavill, and he gets a “riding off into the sunset” moment as his grand exit from “The Witcher.” After nearly dying during his fight with Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu), Geralt recuperates but is separated once again from Yennefer and Ciri. Luckily, he reunites with his pal Jaskier and the two must make their way into Nilfgaard via a toll road.
However, this isn’t the same, neutral Geralt who refuses to take a side in politics. That Geralt is gone, symbolized by his parting with a pin he’s carried since Season 1, when he was responsible for the death of a princess named Renfri. Clearly, his decision to get involved in the fatal Season 1 conflict has stuck with him, and giving away the pin (and subsequently murdering the guards) foreshadows that Season 4’s Hemsworth Geralt will get more involved in the Continent’s political strife.
Who is Falka?
When Ciri is lost in the desert, she sees visions of various people, including a mysterious woman named Falka. She explains that she was a princess years ago but was denied her birthright, so she rallied the commoners with illegal fire magic, and was later burned at the stake for her crimes. Falka says one of her descendants would also ravage the Continent with fire magic…and it looks like that heir is Ciri, who also unlocks fire powers.
Later, when Ciri is rescued from Nilfgaardian bounty hunters by a group of thieves called the Rats, she tells her unlikely saviors that her name is Falka. With her newfound fire powers a secret, Falka/Ciri will be the newest participant in the Rats’ misadventures.
What happens now that King Vizimir is dead?
Prince Radovid (Hugh Skinner) will rule Redania in the wake of his brother King Vizimir’s (Ed Birch) assassination, which was manipulated by his adviser and powerful sorceress Philippa Eilhart (Cassie Clare). After his romance with Jaskier, Radovid wanted to run away with him and leave the crown behind, which doesn’t make him thrilled to be king. Philippa and her ally Sigismund Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) will surely be the ones pulling Radovid’s strings as he sits on the throne.
Who else dies?
Part 2 opens with the Thanedd Coup, which kills off many mages, elves and several key players. The elves officially join Nilfgaard in their hunt for Ciri and her Elder blood, and the mages become split among their allegiances. The elven leader Filavandrel (Tom Canton) dies in a bloody explosion that douses his wife Francesca (Mecia Simson) in his guts, and the mage Artorius (Terence Maynard) is killed in the battle by his own niece Fringilla (Mimi Ndiweni). Later on, the fire mage Rience (Sam Woolf) finally meets his end when he’s decapitated by Geralt in an effort to protect Ciri. The most shocking death, however, is when sorceress Tissaia (MyAnna Buring) kills herself after being betrayed by her traitorous lover Vilgefortz and his involvement in the coup.
What’s next in Season 4?
In Season 4, Geralt, played by Hemsworth, and Jaskier will once again be searching for Ciri, who is now teamed up with the Rats. There are also rumors of a Rats spinoff series, similar to “The Witcher: Blood Origin,” to fill in the gap between now and Season 4, though Netflix hasn’t announced anything official.
Meanwhile, Yennefer is now the de-facto leader of the mages, who seem to be forming the famous Lodge of Sorceresses. She’ll be striking against the Nilfgaardians and anyone else who may be threatening Ciri. Speaking of Ciri, Nilfgaard’s ruler Emhyr var Emreis also now believes he controls the powerful girl, but it’s really an imposter named Teryn. War has already erupted within the Continent, but when everyone realizes the real Ciri is still missing, things will get even messier.
