The Witcher season 2: All episodes reviewed and explained
The second season of The Witcher may not have been as hard to understand as the first, but there are still plenty of things to explain, analyze and discuss!
The Witcher 2×01: “A Grain of Truth”
The first episode of season 2, “A Grain of Truth,” is undoubtedly a great opener. It strikes a good balance between exposition, recap, the obligatory Nightmare of the Wolf reference, action and plot. Most importantly, it throws the audience right back into the moral question at the heart of the story: what makes a monster?
After establishing that Yennefer must have died in the battle of Sodden, Geralt and Cirilla make a stop on their way to Kaer Morhen. We’re not sure how long the journey takes; the lack of specifics about distances is one of the few things that bugged me this season, because we are aware this is a whole continent the characters are crossing, and yet people are easily traveling from one location to another, often appearing magically at the right second to save the day.
On the way to the witchers’ keep, Geralt decides they should stop at his old friend Nivellen’s, played by Game of Thrones alum Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane). Book readers will recognize the episode’s title as the name of a short story by Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski. Nivellen’s story, a sort of dark twist on a beauty and the beast narrative, is an unnecessary but welcome addition to the season, a good way to introduce fundamental themes.
Nivellen, a gracious host, entertains Ciri by telling her stories. Here we realize a few things: one, Ciri does not know much about her parents; she mentions that her old tutor Mousesack told her about a hedgehog man whom we know to be her father, but she has no idea. Nivellen also talks about blood and love, two elements that feature rather prominently this episode, and without knowing it, he tells Ciri more about her family. Without naming names, he tells the princess of an elven warrior who fell in love with a human mage. It’s only later that we possess the tools to realize he was speaking of the legend of Lara Dorren, Ciri’s ancestor that we will meet later in the season.
The events at Nivellen’s do not seem to impact the overall plot of the season, but there are certainly things to notice when it comes to our characters’ behavior. Geralt is clearly hurting over the loss of Yennefer and very unsure how to deal with a teenage girl. For her part, Ciri may be quick to trust and accept help, but we can see that recent events have made a lasting impact on her. You can see it in the subtle way she sympathizes with the “cat” hiding in the ceiling; even after she finds out it’s a monster, she still doesn’t want Verena hurt.
At one point she gets pensive and tells Nivellen he didn’t mean to hurt the people he killed, and it’s clear she is talking about herself as much as she is trying to reassure him. Now that Ciri has also caused death she is reluctant to judge others, giving everyone a second chance. Because if they are monsters, isn’t she one as well? This episode introduces a moral dilemma that is sure to stick with the princess. “Monsters are born of deeds done, unforgivable ones,” Nivellen tells her.
Meanwhile, Yennefer is unable to access her powers, which she attributes to the dimeritium chains the Nilfgaardian soldiers have put her in. She may be a war captive, but she never loses her wits or her spirit. As long as her old schoolmate Fringilla is her captor, Yen knows she has an advantage, for she knows Fringilla’s weaknesses.
Yen has always been someone who seeks out power, so she holds Fringilla in contempt for trying to gain the favor of other powerful people. Yen has never enjoyed being a pawn in someone else’s scheme. “Horses, whores, and mages, all useful until we’re not,” Yennefer muses to her old friend. Fringilla’s arc this season is about realizing the extent of her own abilities as a leader in her own right, not a follower.
Other forces are brewing, darker and more powerful than even the Brotherhood has anticipated. The episode closes with a cliffhanger about who attacks Fringilla’s Nilfgaardian guards and captures her and Yennefer.