The Witcher season 2: All episodes reviewed and explained
The Witcher 2×05 “Turn Your Back”
Episode 5, titled “Turn Your Back” from the incantation to access the Deathless Mother’s hut, reveals that there are many more forces at play than we thought, and that some truths we may not be ready to face.
At Kaer Morhen, Ciri feels left behind by Geralt. We appreciate how Triss has really come to respects Ciri as a person rather than just think of her as a means to an end. The mage is always very considerate towards the princess. When Vesemir realizes Ciri has Elder blood and tells Triss, the latter does not agree to use Ciri’s blood to create more witcher mutagen. She only relents when Ciri makes it clear that it is her choice.
Vesemir doesn’t need to do much to convince Ciri to give her blood; in fact, she convinces him. But this is unchartered territory, and Vesemir refuses to jeopardize Ciri’s life; she’s Geralt’s child, and they all care about her now. It’s devastating to think that Ciri wants to do this to make up for all the things she’s destroyed and all the lives that have been lost over her, as if she was responsible for the people hunting her down.
As they continue to investigate Ciri’s power, Triss suggests they perform a ritual called the Dol Durza to find out things about her past that she is not aware of. We see glimpses of her life and finally get to her parents, Duny and Pavetta, arguing over a prophecy that will be Ciri’s downfall if people find out. Ciri is scared but also enthralled, wishing she could see more of the parents she never knew. At one point, Ciri and Triss find themselves elsewhere in time, and we know without knowing that the elf dying with her baby in her arms is Ciri’s ancestor Lara Dorren, the one from Nivellen’s story. Lara prophecizes that the child — she could be referring to her baby or to Ciri — will destroy the world. Scared, Ciri calls for her protector.
Geralt is on a recon mission with the mage Istredd to figure out what happened to the monolith outside of Cintra that Ciri destroyed the night she escaped. The two understand that the Conjuction did not merge the spheres, merely united them and then separated them again. The strange monsters that have been targeting Ciri have not mutated, they’re just new to the Continent because they come from other spheres. The monoliths call out to them and act as gateways.
Before portaling home to help Ciri, Geralt and Istredd share a comedic moment where they realize they’ve both been Yennefer’s lovers. I appreciated the funny scene and the slight pissing contest, but it felt slightly forced that Geralt would find out that Yen is alive from Istredd, and not Triss who’s been living at Kaer Morhen with him.
But the real show-stealing duo continues to be Yen and Jaskier. Yen, stowed away on a boat to Cintra, is close to safety but she abandons it to make sure Jaskier is okay. This is a sacrifice she makes willingly, and it speaks volumes about how much she’s changed. The two might fake annoyance with each other, but they care deeply about one another. They risk their lives for each other with no backup plan and no hesitation.
Yen pretending to be Jaskier’s drunken wife to save him from Rience was comedy gold. Yen is caught by soldiers and as Jaskier tries to free her, she is able to transport herself away. The bard is left wondering if she hadn’t truly lost her magic, probably thinking that she, like Geralt, had abandoned him after an adventure. Give Jaskier’s heart a break, please.