The Witcher: Episode 3 Review

by Chelsea House, GGR contributor

Hi guys, I’m Chelsea! You may remember me from such articles as my Klaus review or my Nostalgia November about old school RPGs! Benjamin Shapiro and I are splitting duties on these Witcher reviews and I got episodes 3 & 4. However, unlike Benjamin, I have never played the games or read the books, so keep that in mind as I’m new to this world. So, if you’re are also new to The Witcher, worry not, we’ll learn together! Let’s jump right in to that review!

Episode 3 is the first episode that begins to delve a little deeper into our main characters and their complexities. It’s finally beyond the introduction phase, and we’re now to the phase of the refining through the fire, if you will. What made, or makes, them who they are now, and the ties of fate begin to finally narrow down into a single, thick cord. These are the moments that can make or break a series. They can make you fall in love with the characters, or raise an eyebrow at the lack of direction. I believe The Witcher does the former of the two, and they do it really well. Let’s first talk about what’s going on in this episode, and then I’ll give you my thoughts. 

CIRI

Let’s begin with Ciri, since she’s pretty absent in this episode. We now know she possesses some sort of magic that happens when she screams… I’m certainly hoping this develops into something a little more refined than that, but for now it’s cool, I guess. All we get of Ciri in this episode is her waking up next to her elven friend Dara on a cold, snow covered ground. She is awakened by a whisper coming from the woods in front of her, which she absent-mindedly follows, much to the detriment of poor Dara, who gets shot by an arrow trying to snap her out of her trance. Her story ends with her disappearing into the trees. 

GERALT

We meet up with Geralt in a brothel where he is enjoying the company of a wench who gives us a bit of a look into Geralt’s monster hunting history by tracing the scars on his body and guessing where they came from, all of which seems less than amusing to our hunter, at least until she begins to tell him of a monster that miners are offering 3,000 oren for, and that another witcher took the money and ran. Their conversation is interrupted by banging on the door and a brothel keeper who is also less than amused by Geralt’s inability to pay up. Our hunter friend is forced to leave his beloved steed Roach, behind until he can give the brothel owner his due. 

So off our man goes in search of the miners and their orens. One thing leads to another, and Geralt is introduced to a sorceress named Triss Merrigold, who doesn’t want to kill the monster, but save it. She shows Geralt the bodies of the dead, which then reveals to him that they are not going up against just any monster, but a rare and cursed one called a striga. We also discover that this is not just any striga, but the daughter of Princess Adda, and that the witcher didn’t run away with the coin, but was killed by this striga, and the king is pretty much doing nothing about it to the frustration of pretty much everyone. 

Through a series of conversations with King Foltist, Triss, Geralt, and Lord Ostrit, as well as a detective scene at Princess Adda’s abandoned quarters, we discover that there was not just a love triangle, but an incestuous one (!!) between King Foltist, Princess Adda, and Lord Ostrit. Geralt gets Lord Ostrit to admit that he is the one who cursed the child for the sake of Princess Adda, which in turn really pisses Geralt off due to all of the deaths Lord Ostrit caused because of jealousy. King Foltest then admits that he is the father of this child, and asks Geralt if she will be able to live a normal life if Geralt can actually save her, to which Geralt answers possibly, with a lot of help. 

This then brings us to Lord Ostrit tied to the bed, and Geralt trying to get out of him how to uncurse the striga. Ostrit remembers an incantation and Gerald then comes to the realization that he is going to have to keep the striga out of her mother’s crypt until the rooster crows three times. Sounds like a heck of a  party! We now get to see the horror aspect of this show, and it begins with an umbilical cord dangling behind Ostrit as well as some pretty heinous shrieks that rival that of a banshee. The first we see of this “overgrown abortion” as Geralt so elegantly put it, is when she plops down from the ceiling and shrieks her beady-eyed face at Ostrit before gutting him right then and there. 

This leads us to a fight scene between our very own Witcher and this cursed being. The show gives a brilliant atmosphere that leaves you tensed and waiting for the conclusion of this battle. Each shriek, each hit, each spell cast is perfectly placed in this fight sequence, which is ended with Geralt jumping into the Striga’s crypt and hiding there until the morning. When he pushes the lid back, he is met with a naked woman crumpled on the floor. He moves closer to examine her, and she bites him in the neck, causing him to pass out and be awakened in Triss’s infirmary. They then have a conversation about fate, due to Geralt’s mention of Renfri, and this ends his story for this episode. 

YENNEFER

At Aretuza, it’s graduation day! Yennefer is entangled in the arms of Istrett, and we see a possible love blooming. She is then introduced to a sorcerer who claims that every woman he enchants leaves the tower “a work of art.” Yennefer picks a beautiful grey dress and as she stands in front of a mirror gazing at it, Tissaia comes from behind and tells her to close her eyes and imagine the most powerful woman in the world. When Yennefer opens her eyes Tissaia asks if she sees her. “You can free the victim in the mirror forever” Yennefer is promised to the King of Aedirn, (Each student is promised to a particular king to help influence him politically… because well… Kings are easily manipulated by a lovely set of… you fill in the blank there) at least until Stregebor blocks her by telling the council that she is part elf. Yennefer becomes highly upset by this and ends up missing her graduation which leads to her confronting Istrett about telling Stregebor about her blood. He then gives her a weird proposal of spending a life with him researching. She responds with an icy response of that being “a slow suicide.” Istrett angrily barks back that she is just angry because she will never be beautiful or powerful. To prove that no one can control her fate, Yennefer finds the sorcerer and demands that he enchant her. He says there is a price, she will never be able to have children. A determined and tight jawed Yennefer bravely nods for him to continue and she is painfully transformed into what I can only assume is the powerful woman she saw in the mirror. 

Armed with a new figurative and literal straight spine, Yennefer boldly walks into the ballroom and waltzes herself up to the King of Aerdin, stealing him from another student. Even as Tissaia tries to protest, the King of Aerdin seems completely unaffected and dances off with Yennefer, who I can only assume just made life pretty difficult for herself. 

This concludes episode 3. 

My thoughts? 

1- This is the first episode that gives us a clue that we are following three different time lines here, I’m assuming chronologically it’s Yennefer’s story, then Geralt’s (although he could be around any time), and then Ciri. I’m also assuming this will clear up later, as of now, I find myself just scratching my head trying to puzzle it out. 

2- With as much as Geralt gets around, methinks he needs to cast a protective spell on his goods before he gets some cursed STD or something. Just sayin’. 

3- I absolutely love the way that watching this show feels like you are in the middle of playing a video game. The talking sequences, the fighting sequences, even down to the way he casts his spells. It has been so rewarding to watch so far. I also love how it’s not all dark scenes, they give you a break every now and then with bright wooded forests, and beautiful scenery. 

4- I’m beginning to appreciate Yennefer more and more. As I have no knowledge prior to The Witcher, I’m excited to see how her character blossoms. I will say that I am really hoping that she becomes a better symbol than just “ugly girls can’t be powerful.” Although I do agree that confidence in one’s self does go leaps and bounds when trying to rise the latter, it would be refreshing to see a character realize that they can obtain said confidence without being what the world says is “beautiful”. If not, I hope she at least delves into the cruel implications of such a statement. Perhaps she will be a symbol of what is broken about the world? I guess we will see. 

Stay tuned ladies and gentlemen as I review episode 4 next!