What Is The Conjunction Of The Spheres In The Witcher (Explained)?
In The Witcher, one of the things that we often hear from the different characters of the series is something called the Conjunction of the Spheres. This event, which happened a very long time ago, plays a huge role in the events that transpired in the entire Witcher story. It is even said to be the cause of the unnatural things happening in the world. However, what exactly is the Conjunction of the Spheres in The Witcher?
The Conjunction of the Spheres is a cataclysmic event that made different worlds collide with one another to essentially allow the different creatures in those worlds to travel in between dimensions. It is said that, before the Conjunction, there were no humans, magic, or monsters in the continent.
One of the best parts about the entire Witcher story is that there are different elements of fantasy involved. While magic and monsters are one thing, the multiverse is an entirely different thing, as we found out that The Witcher has its own multiverse, wherein different types of worlds exist. It was the Conjunction of the Spheres that allowed those different worlds to collide with one another.
What Is The Conjunction Of The Spheres?
We all know that The Witcher is a fantasy story that explores a lot of different types of fantasies. That is why we have different types of creatures like elves and dwarves living alongside humans. Of course, there are also a lot of different monsters that the Witchers need to slay. And the cream of the crop is the magic that different beings like mages are capable of wielding.
But another element of fantasy that is present in the universe of The Witcher is the existence of a multiverse. That means that there are different worlds that exist in the universe of The Witcher and that all of these different worlds are separated from one another.
Before we talk more about the different worlds existing in the multiverse of The Witcher, it is worthy to talk more about the main world where the events of the story unfold. This world is often called the continent, but we would also call it the world of The Witcher.
So, what you need to know is that the continent used to be a place that was inhabited only by creatures called “elders”, which consist of the elves and the dwarves. In short, the continent didn’t have any humans or monsters in the past. This is where it gets interesting, as we talk about the Conjunction of the Spheres.
Some time in the past and way before the events of The Witcher, a phenomenon called the Conjunction of the Spheres happened. The Conjunction is basically a cataclysmic event that caused all of the different worlds to collide with one another in a manner that allowed the inhabitants of the different worlds to cross to the other worlds. Imagine different gateways and doorways opening in different worlds during that event.
Due to the Conjunction of the Spheres, different beings from different spheres, worlds, or dimensions found themselves in the continent of The Witcher. This is how the humans were basically dumped from their own world to the continent, as they were stranded there following the events of the Conjunction of the Spheres.
However, as you can see in the events of The Witcher, the humans ended up at the top of the food chain and became the dominant dwellers of the continent, all while the elves and the dwarves dwindled in numbers. This is due in large part to the barbaric nature of humans and their propensity for violence, which allowed them to have an advantage in warfare over the elves and dwarves. On top of that, as we understood in season 2, elves struggled to multiply and repopulate their numbers, all while humans could easily reproduce and grow in population. As such, the elves were basically persecuted in the events of The Witcher and were already very few in numbers.
On top of how humans found themselves in the continent, hosts of monsters were also stranded there. Meanwhile, magic came to be in the continent as the source of magic, which is chaos, was also given birth due to the Conjunction of the Spheres. This is why, as Istredd pointed out, there were no monsters or magic in the continent before the Conjunction happened.
There is also a connection between the Conjunction of the Spheres and Ciri’s powers, as we got to understand more in season 2. We found out in season 2 that the monoliths scattered all over the continent were originally thought of as impact points left on the world by the Conjunction. However, when Ciri toppled a monolith in season 1 and ultimately caused different monsters to appear in the continent, it became apparent that there was a connection between her powers and these monoliths.
When Geralt and Istredd investigated the area around the toppled monolith in Cintra, they found out that there were no monsters or corpses there. This led to Istredd’s theory that the monoliths were never impact points. Instead, they are actually conduits or portals that allow the different worlds to connect with one another.
The theory that Ciri’s power is the key to opening the gateways in the monoliths was proven when the Deathless Mother took control over her body in episode 7 and then opened a monolith in Kaer Morhen in episode 8, both of which happened in the tail end of season 2. We also saw near the end of season 8 that Ciri has the power to open portals between other worlds and teleport people in and out of those worlds. In short, Ciri’s powers are connected to the monoliths and quite possibly the Conjunction of the Spheres.
What Is The Second Conjunction Of The Spheres?
While the Second Conjunction of the Spheres is yet to happen and may not even possibly happen in the series if the showrunners decide to go a different route, what you should know is that this actually happened in the games.
Due to Ciri’s immense powers, a Second Conjunction happened in the continent. This brought different monsters and creatures to the continent. However, the Conjunction that Ciri caused was at a much lower intensity compared to the first Conjunction. One might say that it was a localized Conjunction that was restricted in terms of how long it took and in the area it covered.
On the Fandom page, it is said that the Second Conjunction happened somewhere between 1270 and 1370. This was also the event that allowed most of the elves that inhabit the continent to leave the world altogether and to find a new world that they could call home, considering that the humans had already conquered the world that they used to call their own.
What Caused The Conjunction?
As amazing and as fantastic of an event as the Conjunction of the Spheres may be, one of the things that were never truly explained was the cause of the entire cataclysmic event. No one has ever discovered the direct cause of the Conjunction of the Spheres, as this was probably beyond the understanding of all of the scholars in the continent.
However, if we were to come up with a theory, it could be suggested that the Conjunction of the Spheres was caused by a power much greater than anything in the entire Witcher multiverse, considering that Ciri herself has the power to travel between worlds and quite possibly even cause a Conjunction at a smaller scale. It could be possible that an entity with similar powers but at a far greater scale was responsible for the Conjunction of the Spheres.
However, it is also possible that it was merely a natural cosmic event that happens from time to time, similar to how there are points in time when all of the planets in our solar system are in perfect alignment. In many ways, the planetary alignment is probably Andrzej Sapkowski’s inspiration for the Conjunction of the Spheres.
Why Is The Conjunction Of The Spheres Important?
So, what you need to know is that it is very important to understand how vital the Conjunction of the Spheres is because it was the event that was responsible for changing the entire landscape of the world of The Witcher or the continent. It played an important role in the continent because the events of The Witcher wouldn’t take place had the Conjunction never happened. Similarly, it is also important to understand the Conjunction because it will possibly play a bigger role in the future of The Witcher series.
First off, we understand that the Conjunction was what was responsible for bringing humans and monsters to the continent. Similarly, Ciri has the ability to cause smaller conjunction because she could allow the worlds to connect through the monoliths. This could open up a lot of future plots and subplots in The Witcher because we already know the reason why some entities are after her.
Specifically speaking, the final scenes of The Witcher season 2 showed us the Wild Hunt, a group of specters that are capable of traveling through time and space. The truth is that the Wild Hunt are elves that conquered a foreign world because of their ability to travel between worlds. However, after the Conjunction of the Spheres, they lost the ability to do so and were restricted to showing up as spectral entities whenever they traveled from one world to another.
Because the Wild Hunt is going to be the main antagonistic group in the future, the speculation is that they are after Ciri because of her ability to travel between worlds. It is a possibility that the Wild Hunt wants to use her powers to travel between worlds, but it is also possible that they want to trigger another Conjunction.
This is where we get to understand how dangerous Ciri’s powers are and why Triss, who was doting on Ciri throughout the majority of season 2, began to fear her when she realized that the princess’s powers could bring about the doom of the continent.
Second, understanding the Conjunction of the Spheres is important for an entirely different reason, and that is to understand more about The Witcher: Blood Origin, which is a prequel series that is set for a 2022 release on Netflix.
Season 2 of The Witcher talked more about the Conjunction so that we would be able to understand more about it in preparation for Blood Origin, which takes place right around the time when humans were yet to inhabit the continent. It is quite possible that Blood Origin happens right before the Conjunction of the Spheres and right after it happened. So, understanding what the Conjunction is will make us understand what Blood Origin is all about.
What Year Did The Conjunction Of The Spheres Happen?
There seems to be quite a bit of a difference when it came to when the Conjunction of the Spheres happened, as the information in the series and the books are not in agreement with one another.
In the books, it is stated that the Conjunction happened around 1500 years before the events of The Witcher. However, in the series, it is stated that it happened more than 1200 years before the timeline of the series. Given that the series takes place during the 1260s, it makes sense that it happened 1200 years ago because the calendar year they are following is probably a reference to when the humans started dominating the continent.
Is The Conjunction Of The Spheres In The Witcher Books and the Games?
To put it bluntly, the Conjunction of the Spheres are in the books and games of The Witcher because of the very fact that it plays a central role in how the events of the entire story unfolded. Without the Conjunction, the events of The Witcher could not have taken place.
However, there are minor differences in terms of the Conjunction in the books and the games when compared to the series. Aside from how the Conjunction happened 1500 years ago in the books and games while it happened 1200 years ago in the series, there is no connection between the monoliths and the Conjunction in the books and games. As such, the ability to open gateways and smaller localized Conjunctions via the monoliths is something that is only present in the series version of The Witcher.
