We return to the continent for our Witcher Season 3 Podcast as we discuss the first two episodes in full spoiler filled detail.

Spoilers for The Witcher Season 3 Episodes 1 and 2.

Based on the book series by Andrzej Sapkowski and the game series "The Witcher" from CD Projekt Red

Showrunner and Lead Writer: Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich

Episode 1 - Shaerrawedd

Written by Mike Ostrowski

Directed by Stephen Surjik

Synopsis: Having left Kaer Morhen, Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri are on the run from the fire mage Rience while continuing Ciri's training as a witcher and a mage. Elsewhere on the Continent, other groups have designs on Ciri. The Elven Queen Francesca Findabair seeks Ciri whom they see as the destined saviour of the elves, but her obsession increasingly puts her at odds with the eleven troops known as Scoia'tael. 

While in Redania, King Vizimir is disillusioned with his spymaster Sigismund Djikstra and sorceress Philippa Eilhart's failure to capture Ciri whom he intended to marry; so he entrusts the task to his brother Prince Radovid. 

After six months running from village to town to hamlet, they finally settle down in a home provided by Yarpen Zigrin. After months of hiding and training, Ciri, Geralt and Yennifer go to the local village for the Beltane festival to escape the confinements of training, but are attacked by a Jackapace monster, orchestrated by Rience. 

The group take down the Jackapace and realise that they must once again move on. But tired of running, the three decide to lure Rience into a trap.They need a trusted friend, Jaskier, to be the bait after rumours are spread by Yarpen of Ciri’s departure.

They track down Jaskier asking him to help Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri with their plan, but they are unaware that Jaskier has been in secret contact with Philippa and Prince Radovid about persuading Ciri to go to Redania.

At the elven ruins of Shaerrawedd, they are confronted by Rience and the elven Scoia'tael and a battle ensues. Rience’s and the elven forces are held off with Francesca’s brother killed in the encounter. As Rience escapes his defeat via a dark portal, Yennefer feels the presence of dark magic and believes that powerful dark mage is the mastermind behind Rience. With no other options she suggests the last place they should seek help, Aretuza.

Episode 2 - Unbound

Written by Tania Lotia

Directed again by Stephen Surjik

With Geralt separated from Ciri and Yennefer in search of Rience and his master, he along with Jaskier, head to Codringher and Fenn, a law firm and detective agency, for help in his quest they hint at the involvement of the mage Istridd, who is also looking for Ciri. Geralt heads to Vuilpanne a castle where he might discover vital details about the sorcerer in charge of Rience. 

Jaskier continues to gather information about Rience. In his desire to help Ciri, he shares Geralt’s encounters with the wrong people, Dijaski and Philippa, who in turn are trying to persuade Jaskier to hand over Ciri to them. Their plan involves Prince Radovid, Vizimir’s charming brother. To win Geralt’s confidence, Jaskier asks Prince Radovid to pay Codringher and Fenn in exchange for details regarding Rience; however, his interaction with Prince Radovid seems to have left Prince Radovid smitten with The Dandelion.

Meanwhile, Yennefer and Ciri make their way to Aretuza, but along the way Ciri’s increasingly unsettling visions and her efforts to change the course of events cause problems between her and Yennifer. To maintain a low profile, Yen makes the decision to purchase an immediate portal towards Aretuza from Keira, her old friend. But they have no choice but to flee and travel the long way to Aretuza after a vision causes Ciri to release a dwarf held captive, because of the bleak future she foresaw. On the road to Arteuza, Yen and Ciri continue to argue and Yen opts for a diversion to teach Ciri important lessons about the possible repercussions of interfering with fate.

Geralt arrives in Vuilpanne to find a creepy den with a horrifying scene of three heads extending from fleshy stalks in the walls. In a cocoon of webbing, a distraught girl rants about a nocturnal visitor. He releases the girl, and no sooner a hideous Thing-like creature made up of the bodies of its victims attacks him. Geralt battles the monster, killing it and saving the young blond haired, green-eyed lady. 

He takes her away from the dungeon and Geralt makes an effort to talk to her, only she already knows his name and explains she knew he’d come to save her as she is Ciri.  

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Thank you for joining us for the first part of our Witcher Podcast. We hope you'll come back next week when we discuss the second half of season 1. Derek, Chris and John TV Podcast Industries

Date Recorded: 09/07/2023

Date Published: 09/07/2022

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The music for this episode "Morrisson's jig - Leslie's march" by Aislinn is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.