The Witcher Season 2 ending explained: Why is Cirilla the most wanted person on the Continent?

The Witcher Season 2 is undeniably better than the last (Image via YouTube/Netflix)
The Witcher Season 2 is undeniably better than the last (Image via YouTube/Netflix)

Season 2 of Netflix's epic fantasy drama series The Witcher was released on December 17 and created quite a buzz. The video game and book series adaptation features Henry Cavill in the eponymous role along with other cast members like Freya Allan, Anya Chalotra, and Joey Batey.

The first season of The Witcher set the background for the universe and its various characters. So many details paired with a convoluted timeline made for a garbled mess of a show, saved only by Henry Cavill's Geralt of Rivia and his monster-hunting badassery.

The Witcher Season 2 is undeniably better than the last, with its streamlined narrative arcs and three-dimensional portrayal of the eponymous character. Additionally, the focus on piecing Cirilla's identity and Yennefer's odyssey towards recovering her magic keeps the viewers on edge, needing more of the thrilling drama.

The series results in a beautiful yet shocking culmination of all the arcs in an episode rightly titled "Family".


The Witcher Season 2 synopsis: The aftermath of the battle of Sodden Hill [spoilers ahead]

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The end of the first season of The Witcher saw the cataclysmic battle of Sodden Hill. For the first few episodes of the new season, the characters reel from its aftermath and build from the ruins.

Simultaneously, Geralt finally unites with his destiny Cirilla, who he then takes to his home base, Kaer Morhen, to lay low with the other Witchers.

Geralt's vow to protect his Child Surprise keeps getting tested with new monsters and secrets about Cirilla's lineage. Meanwhile, Yennefer, distraught from the discovery that her magic is gone, goes to extreme lengths to get it back.

Season 2 of The Witcher focuses mainly on these three. However, politics within the Northern Kingdom and the new allyship at Cintra also spotlight some key supporting players.

Initially, only the Nilfgaard people were after Ciri, but this season witnesses the Redanian people, the elves, Yennefer, the Deathless mother, and pretty much the who's who of the Continent looking for the wunderkind.


The Witcher Season 2 ending explained: Family

In her quest to regain her powers, Yennefer deceives Cirilla and Geralt by pretending to keep the former and leading her to Voleth Meir. In the penultimate episode of The Witcher Season 2, Yennefer's betrayal becomes apparent to Geralt and Cirilla, who forgo their trust in her.

Meanwhile, Geralt and Jaskier the Bard are reunited, and The Witcher fans again get to witness their dynamic unfold in the most entertaining way possible. With the Bard's help, Geralt manages to reach Cirilla in time and slay some Nilfgaardians on their horses in an adrenaline overloaded scene.

But Voleth Meir, or the Deathless Mother, manages to enter Cirilla's body anyway, turning her rogue. Back at Kaer Morhen, a possessed Cirilla kills a few Witchers before Geralt arrives with Yennefer to realize that his beloved Child Surprise is acting as a vessel for the Deathless Mother.

Rogue Cirilla's powers are still unparalleled, and she unleashes all kinds of hell on the Witchers. A lot of them die in the most grotesque manner while fighting the monsters unleashed by Cirilla through the monoliths.

Geralt manages to convince Vesemir not to kill Cirilla's body, or she'd die too, and instead gets to bargaining with the Deathless Mother. The virtuous Cirilla lost within her own body is now trapped in a comfortable alternate reality where she is reunited with her dead family.

In Cirilla's conflict between her lost family and her newly adopted family, The Witcher's new theme of family really shines through.

In her search for redemption, Yennefer sacrifices herself to be the vessel for Voleth Meir to save Cirilla. With the help of revived Cirilla, Geralt gets Yennefer and Voleth Meir to the Wild Hunt, where the deathless mother leaves Yennefer's body, and just in time, the three mortals are transported back to Kaer Morhen.

Meanwhile, in Cintra, the newest pure elven-born child is killed, and Francesca seeks revenge and justice for her people.

At Kaer Morhen, Yennefer, Geralt, and Cirilla finally appear as a family put together by destiny. With Yennefer's magic back, Geralt asks her to train Cirilla, and the three wonder how Nilfgaard's people were the first to realize the value of Cirilla. Simultaneously, in Nilgaard, Emhyr, or the White Flame, arrives, and his identity is revealed.

In a shocking turn of events at the conclusion of The Witcher Season 2, Emhyr is, in fact, Cirilla's biological father, who is alive. That explains why the Nilfgaardians were after Ciri first because Emhyr wanted his daughter back. In the third season, it'll be interesting to see whether Ciri chooses her blood or the father she never had.

The Witcher season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

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