Unbound – As this episode of The Witcher begins, Ciri (Freya Allen) watches as a man is hung for the brave boys of Temeria. Aplegatt (Jim Sturgeon) arrives in town and explains that he travels where King Demavend sends him. He talks to the bartender about getting a horse and how hanging can be good for business. The spy was their fourth execution in as many days. When they see Yennefer (Anya Cahlotra), the bartender says she should be focusing on keeping the Royal peace. Yennefer gives a woman a note that should be taken straight to Tissaia without portals. Aplegatt walks past Ciri who has a vision about a battle in which he is killed.

Ciri tells him that she saw him. Yennefer tries to pull Ciri away while she frantically tells Aplegatt what she saw. Yennefer reminds her that they have to keep a low profile. Ciri saw his death and needs to go back there, but Yennefer suggests his death could’ve prevented a greater harm. Her visions are becoming more frequent so it is only a matter of time before someone finds them. Yennefer says they need to get to Aretuza quickly. Ciri realizes that she is afraid. Yennefer admits she promised Geralt she’d keep her safe. She wants to go shopping to get something untraceable. Jaskier (Joey Batey) talks to Geralt (Henry Cavill) about monsters. Geralt says it’ll cost a lot to find out who is hunting Ciri.

He saves Jaskier by preventing him from losing a hand. Once the door is opened, Geralt says hello to Codringher (Simon Callow). Emhyr (Bart Edwards) picks up his sword and confirms they fixed the balance. He says a sword like that bought him an empire once. He tells her more about that and says war will be a thing of the past one day. Emhyr says his queen will be by his side and the races of the world will live in peace. Then, she will make a new sword befitting the Emperor of the Continent. Fringilla Vigo (Mimi Khayisa) tests drinks to see if they’re poison. Geralt wants to talk about his difficulties with Codringher and Fenn (Liz Carr). Fenn says the Rience is a mysterious character. She questions why Geralt has heard of him.

Geralt says he threatened to kill a friend. Codringher says Rience was kicked out of Ban Ard. Geralt says that supports their theory that Rience is working with a sorcerer more powerful than him. Once he gives them money, Fenn says the information he wants will cost him even more. They try a wager. Geralt wins meaning he should receive the information. Fenn explains that some official sorcerers have secret pupils doing illegal or dirty business. It is described as having someone on a leash. They know where the sorcerer is doing his dirty business. There is a castle called Vuilpanne near the Ammonite mines on the outskirts of Piana. Codringher suggests he is already in too deep since Geralt knows that.

Fenn wants them to give their best to the Elder Blood Princess. Geralt soon learns that they have a client named Istredd who is looking for her, but he isn’t the only one to pay for the girl traveling with the white-haired witcher. Fenn thinks he’ll need to find an orphan of war to save her. Codringher says someone has to die so someone else can live. Jaskier asks Geralt if he is tired of being on the run all the time. He suggests they could find somewhere safe for her. Jaskier says they can brainstorm solutions on their way to Redania. Geralt says he has to go to Vuilpanne. Yennefer and Ciri go shopping for a miracle. She also says she sent a letter to Tissaia to tell her she is coming home. When Ciri asks if she might say no, Yennefer admits it is complicated.

She goes on to say Ciri tends to complicate things. Ciri knows she wrote three drafts of the letter so there is more to the picture. Training hasn’t helped control Ciri’s power and only seems to have brought it to the surface. They meet Keira because they need her help. Yennefer explains that they’re in need of one of her portals to Aretuza. Keira warns her that Tissaia still hasn’t forgiven her. A man comes in with a prisoner and says he needs a portal to Claremont. When Ciri sees the girl’s future, she decides to free her. She cuts the rope and tells her to run. Yennefer kills the man with magic before Kiera says it was one of Houvenaghel’s men. They flee. Tissaia (MyAnna Buring) asks Elizabet to fetch Nissa from her room.

Tissaia enters the room where she hears Sabrina (Therica Wilson-Read), Stregobor (Lars Mikkelsen), and others talking about Henselt sending grain to Temeria. Artorius (Terence Maynard) asks them to return Triss to Foltest’s court and get this rough patch smoothed. Stregobor reminds them that Tissaia promised them Cirilla of Cintra’s head on a plate and she failed to deliver. He argues that they should find and kill the brat. Tissaia thinks they should take all concerns to the fullest body of the council like they always do. Tissaia speaks to Triss (Anna Shaffer) about the Brotherhood filling her position at Temeria. Triss believe she should be there with her helping the girls learn what they’re capable of.

Tissaia says it is a noble calling, but she can’t help but wonder if it is really about them. She suggests it is because she can’t help Ciri. Triss leaves to check on Nissa. When she goes looking for her, she finds what appears to be scratches on her wall. While Sigismund Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) is whipped, he says Count de Noaille captured an elf and he was forced to cut her in a thousand different ways. He cut too deep and that was his first kill. Sigismund insists that made him angry because they could’ve made the elf do their bidding. Philippa Eilhart (Cassie Clare) releases his hands. She needs him to do something in return. Radovid has surprisingly good instincts so he might be able to help keep Vizimir in line. She has never seen the continent more divided.

Nilfgaard’s not the only one who knows it is ripe for the taking. Philippa asks him to speak to Radovid because he could be useful. Jaskier visits Prince Radovid (Hugh Skinner) because he has information. He explains that the two detectives, Codringher and Fenn, know who Rience is working for. Jaskier believes Radovid has enough money to pry their lips apart. Radovid makes him sing a song about the white-haired witcher. Geralt travels to Vuilpanne and suspects he is walking into a trap. Once he goes inside, he drinks a Blizzard potion. Yennefer tells Ciri that she was disappointed because they needed to avoid unwanted attention. Ciri says she might be queen one day and she’ll need to use what she’s got.

Yennefer believes Dominik Houvenaghel will send his cousin Leo Bonhart there to recuperate his losses with money or blood. Ciri saved one, but the consequences likely damned a hundred others in exchange. Ciri doesn’t see the point in seeing the future if she can’t do anything to change it. She doesn’t think Yennefer knows what it is like to fight for control of her life. Yennefer says they’re going to take a detour. She wants to show Ciri who she really is. Cahir (Eamon Farren) fights several soldiers until he is knocked to the ground. He has a vision of Ciri before Gallatin (Robbie Amell) arrives and saves him. Gallatin says it is his duty to repay the favor. Gallatin explains that he believes in facts and it is a fact that Francesca’s Hen Ichaer is a girl from Cintra.

Gallatin says he can’t do it anymore. He can’t keep leading his men to die for a cause he doesn’t believe in. Cahir asks if he has reconsidered his proposal to take charge of the elves. When Gallatin asks why Emhyr is wasting Cahir’s talent, Cahir admits he betrayed him. Emhyr trusted him to fulfill his most sacred mission and Cahir failed. Gallatin asks what it says about his loyalty if he agrees to the proposal and helps overthrow Francesca. Cahir says he is one of the finest soldiers he fought beside and the White Flame will see it. He believes Gallatin will help him take the north. Fringilla talks to a man about losing everything and possibly dying in a wine cellar. If she ever gets out of there, she will play that game much smarter. She is told the emperor only absolves you once you’re dead.

Another one of them dies. Jaskier sings for Prince Radovid and the others. Once he finishes, the Prince is speechless. Jaskier asks him whether he’ll see about Rience. Radvoid says Jaskier sees people for what they are and not what they pretend to be. He agrees to dig around and see what he can find out about the Rience character. Radvoid asks if the witcher knows how lucky he is to have him. Geralt saves a young woman who says there are many more like her there. She asks Geralt to make him stop. Geralt asks if the man’s name is Rience. He begins fighting a monster and gets pressed against a wall. Geralt eventually kills the monster. Fringilla manages to escape the cellar by pretending to be dead. Prince Radovid tells Philippa and Sigismund about his visit.

Philippa suggests she needs to visit Codringher and Fenn. Radovid believes Sigismund knows everyone is hiding something since he is Redania’s spymaster. Sigismund doesn’t think King Vizimir (Ed Birch) is hiding anything from him. Radovid tells him about the King’s meeting with Nilfgaard. Rience visits Codringher and Fenn and threatens to kill their cat unless they tell him everything they know about the witcher. He ends up leaving the burning building with the cat and entering a portal. Tissaia tells Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu) that Yennefer is coming home. Tissaia says they need to get the Northern kings to listen to them and to work together. He can let go of the past if Yennefer can. He gives her a bracelet with stones that supposedly have protective abilities.

Tissaia will meet Yennefer to make sure she isn’t bringing trouble. Yennefer tells Ciri that a house used to stand where they are. It is where she grew up. She shows Ciri her past and admits she fought Tissaia every step of the way. She isn’t sure she’ll be welcomed back to Aretuza. Yennefer set a prisoner free and set the entire North against the Brotherhood. It also put the Brotherhood against each other. The whole continent is paying the consequences. They must learn to control chaos. Geralt has escaped with the young woman. She says she knew he’d come for her because they’re tied by destiny. The woman says she is Ciri.

 

The Witcher Review

This episode of The Witcher was fairly frustrating because so many characters and storylines are being juggled and none of them are particularly interesting. When the episode focused on Geralt, it was very good even though the feeling around Henry Cavill can be a little bleak with this being his last season.

There isn’t anything else that packs the same punch as Geralt so they’re throwing everything at the wall and hoping something will stick. Instead, they’ve just created a tedious, lifeless affair. That may change when something big happens, but episodes like this aren’t going to justify renewing The Witcher for another season.

The story obviously has potential, but it may take a lot of patience to reach the payoff and it’ll need to be a rewarding payoff at this rate. The episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of The Witcher can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.