‘The Witcher’ Season 3, Part 2 Ending Explained

Welcome to the Ending Explained for The Witcher Season 3, Part 2. Netflix has finally released the second volume of Season 3, finishing the season and also finishing the tenure of Henry Cavill in the role of Geralt of Rivia, with Liam Hemsworth taking over the role for future seasons, it will be quite a change, especially in the way this season ends. It doesn’t end with any closure, but right in the middle of an arc, with cliffhangers happening everywhere. It is quite a weird exit for the actor and doesn’t look good for the show.

Season 3 really makes the series’ weaknesses very noticeable. The show has a lot of telling but not enough showing. Characters talk endlessly about backstories, but we never get to meet them beyond the surface, beyond what they tell us about themselves. This is a big issue and makes the show seem rather passive. There are many speeches, many people walking from place to place, and many fight sequences that reveal the lack of creativity when developing action sequences. After you see the same sword fight for the eleventh time, all sense of impact is lost.

The following paragraphs contain spoilers for The Witcher Season 3, Part 2. Read at your own risk.

Who Killed King Vizimir II?

The Witcher’s main protagonists are our main trio: Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri. We follow their stories throughout the realm, but that doesn’t mean they are the only stories worth telling. In fact, The Witcher series of books and games is well known for having a very robust and interesting cast of secondary characters. All of them have their own adventures, and when they finally meet up with Geralt, it is always fun and cool to see them tell their stories to the Witcher to catch up with an old friend. And so the series also centers on several characters who end up in some very interesting places by the end of this season.

First, let’s talk about King Vizimir II, the king of Redenia, who, at this point, is at war on several fronts, including the war against the Nilgaardian Empire. Not an easy position to be in. Vizimir is puny, and his ego is only as big as his insecurities as a ruler. After chewing up Dijkstra, his faithful servant, and spymaster, Vizimir is visited by his son, Radovid, who, at this point, has decided to make his own way in life.

The prince has been jumping around from position to position within the realm, and none of them seems to be in the right place. However, fate will strike and give Radovid exactly what he doesn’t want.

In the middle of the night, an elf assassin who has been around the palace for several days appears and slices King Vizimir’s throat, killing him on the spot. The next morning, when the corpse is discovered, Philippa Eilhart, the sorceress of the court, names Radovid as the new king of Redania.

It is later discovered that the elf assassin was being mentally controlled by Philippa herself using magic. This would be one of Phillpp’s biggest mistakes as a sorceress. Because after naming Radovid as the king, he would start a reign mainly characterized by witch hunts, killing thousands of magic users in the process.

This event would shape the face of Redania in the years to come, during and after the war. Philippa would also try to kill Dijkstra after he discovered the truth about the murder. Dijkstra would successfully escape the sorceress’ killing hand, but he would be forced to escape to the Northern Kingdom, where he would start a new life, becoming a powerful and influential gang lord. This might be the most important event depicted in this season’s finale. The consequences of the murder will affect all the characters for years to come.

What Happens To Ciri At The End Of Season 3?

The realm is changing; Radovid is now king of Redania. However, that is not the only big event that happens by the end of the season. Not at all. It feels strange, however, that our main characters are not part of any of these big events. For example, Geralt spends most of the last episode just recovering from his wounds. Dandelion is there to take care of him. Still, by the end of the episode, Geralt marches upon Nilfgaard to look for Ciri, who is apparently also marching toward the capital to meet her father, Emperor Emhyr.

Meanwhile, Yennefer and the rest of the council of sorcerers, the sisterhood, are getting together to plan for the death of Vilgefortz, the highest-ranking member of the now almost obsolete Brotherhood of Sorcerers. Tissia, the last member of the old council, commits suicide, and her death leaves Yennefer, Triss, and the others without a leader.

However, Yennefer rallies the other sorcerers into creating something new out of the old, a new organization, the Lodge of Sorcerers, to continue Tissia’s work but still manage to adapt to the new reality of the world to come.

Emhyr is also having serious developments at the heart of the Empire. His actions have seeded scorn in the heart of Francesca and the Scoia’tael forces. Francesca, who once was a total servant to the emperor, now seeks justice and makes him suffer as she and others have suffered for his actions.

Ciri also arrives to be presented in front of the empire. However, the girl who arrives, with silver hair and green eyes, is not the real Ciri. We can see that Emhyr knows this, yet he still presents her in front of the empire as the future queen. The relationship between Emhyr and this fake Ciri will be especially interesting in the following seasons.

But where is the real Ciri? Slavers have captured her, and now she just waits to be sold. However, the slavers slow their steps to rest, and she meets another prisoner there. This prisoner includes her in his plan to escape, and they are later helped even further by his companions, who attack the tavern where they were held. These are the Rats, a group of thieves all coming from different backgrounds.

They are all young, just like Ciri. They offer her the chance to kill the slaver who captured her, and she does. Ciri takes a life for the first time and then uses the alias Falka to introduce herself to the group.