In the final three episodes of The Witcher season 3, Ciri, Geralt, and Yennefer are separated once again as the Brotherhood falls and the Continent is overrun by Nilfgaard.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary:
Dijkstra tells the Witcher that his only option is to comply as the Redanians begin rounding up the Brotherhood in Aretuza. Ciri wakes up in the morning and rushes out to find Yennefer and Geralt.
Radovid gets to the hut soon after and Jaskier realizes that he’s been betrayed by the Prince. He goes out after Ciri after seeing her bed empty.
Dijkstra and Phillipa shackle the mages with the help of some who joined their side and accuse Vilgefortz of working with Nilfgaard. Geralt notices a fog in the ocean masking the arrival of ships.
Tissaia arrives and frees all the mages, and a fight breaks out. Dijkstra assumes that the ships are the Redanians but it is actually Francesca with Cahir and the Scoia’tel. He finally reveals his true self to Tissaia and she is broken-hearted.
The elves and the mages go to war and encounter many major casualties on both sides. Yennefer finds Ciri and Geralt catches up to them just as Rience aims to kill Ciri. He beheads the rogue mage and then leaves with Yennefer and Ciri.
Tissaia resorts to a spell of last resort using up all of her chaos and Ciri tells Yennefer to go and help. Fringilla shows up and kills Artorius, helping Francesca gain a foothold in the struggle.
Cahir cuts off Geralt and Ciri and begs her to take his life but she doesn’t go through with it. Geralt tells Ciri that they must get to Tor Lara but he remains behind to stop Vilgefortz.
Ciri makes it to the monolith inside Tor Lara but Vilgefortz is right behind her after beating Geralt to inches away from death. Francesca and Fringilla retreat as Yennefer stops Tissaia from sacrificing herself.
Ciri reaches into the power of the monolith which transports her to the desert and gravely disfigures Vilgefortz. Phillipa helps a beaten Dijkstra escape back to Redania after their plan failed.
Ciri wakes up in the desert and wanders around, occasionally facing up against illusions that aim to corrupt her. She also meets Falka, the subject of an ancient myth where she was described as an elven demon.
Falka whispers in Ciri’s ears about how similar the two of them are and how the Princess of Cintra must embrace the chaos of fire and cast aside everyone else around her.
Ciri uses fire magic to help a unicorn that was helping her cross the desert but it runs away in fear. She doesn’t embrace the fire at the final moment and then wakes up at the edge of the desert as some common folk find her and realize that she’s the one the Emhyr is looking for.
Geralt is taken to Brokilon to heal in the care of the dryads. Milva is a refugee at their camp who tries to help Geralt but he is stubborn and the two often butt heads.
Jaskier arrives at the camp to inform Geralt that Yennefer is with the mages and Ciri is missing, although there is an announcement that she’s headed to Nilfgaard.
The Witcher season 3 volume 2 ending explained in detail:
What happens in Nilfgaard?
Fringilla and Francesca arrive in Nilfgaard to put forward a plan in front of Emhyr. Fringilla wants to serve him as the Imperial Governor of Cintra with Francesca by her side.
Emhyr says that he would much rather have Francesca and the Scoia’tel fighting by his army and Francesca considers his offer until Fringilla tells her that Emhyr is the one behind the murder of her child.
When it comes time to finally reveal Ciri in front of Nilfgaard, it turns out to be one of the girls that Vilgefortz experimented on but Emhyr isn’t aware of that.
What happens with Geralt and Yennefer?
Yennefer hears that news about Ciri heading to Nilfgaard so she gathers the mages to take down Vilgefortz. They find some of the other girls that he experimented on and give them a proper burial.
However, Tissaia is not able to overcome the grief that she is feeling from Vilgefortz’s betrayal and she kills herself after writing a letter wishing Yennefer all the best for her future.
Geralt spends his days recovering in Brokilon with Jaskier by his side and some rude encouragement from Milva. She tells him that he’s not in any condition to save Ciri but as soon as he can walk around a little, he decides to leave.
He heads toward Nilfgaard with Jaskier and Milva to help and only one goal in mind, save Ciri and kill Emhyr.
What happens in Redania?
King Vizimir is disappointed with Dijkstra’s failure at Aretuza and tells him that someone has to pay, hinting that Phillipa will be sacrificed. He’s also in search of Radovid who hasn’t been seen since the battle.
Phillipa arrives with Radovid and then meets Dijkstra, who tells Phillipa to take his life and blame him for the failure. She is thankful for his trust but says that she has a plan of her own that will ensure both their survival.
Radovid’s servant slices Vizimir’s throat when no one is around and Phillipa goes ahead and crowns Radovid as the new king to send a message to their enemies.
What about Ciri?
Ciri wakes up tied to a post in a tavern with a man named Kayleigh in front of her. Some bandits known as “rats” attack everyone in the tavern to save Kayleigh and one of them had a brief encounter with Ciri before.
They clear out the tavern and then let Ciri fight the man who captured her. Ciri kills the man and when the others ask her for her name, she tells them to call her Falka, as she has a menacing look in her eyes.
Also Read: Secret Invasion review: Decent addition to the ever-expanding franchise