How Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri will reconnect in The Witcher season 3

The third season of The Witcher premieres next month, and the show has some ground to regain with fans, at least those who have read Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher novels. The second second went far afield of the books, particularly in a storyline involving the sorceress Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) losing her powers and almost sacrificing the young Ciri (Freya Allan) to get them back.

In the books, Yennefer and Ciri have a surrogate mother-daughter relationship, so the notion of Yennefer nearly killing the young girl for personal gain didn’t sit right with fans. It sounds like season 3 will try and restore the family dynamic from the novel. “[Yennefer] puts a lot of time and energy and effort into making it up to them at the beginning of season 3,” Chalotra told Entertainment Weekly. “That quite quickly and quite organically evolves into a real family dynamic.”

It’s hard to imagine how Yennefer, Ciri and Geralt could feel like a family after the events of season 2, but that’s clearly what showrunner Lauren Hissrich is going for. “‘How could you do that to these characters?’ ‘They’ll never be able to forgive her.’ Well, that just becomes a story problem for us,” she said. “How do two characters forgive each other?”

Hissrich and Chalotra teased a scene where the trio reconnect at the Beltane festival.  “Our characters still find time to have fun and enjoy each other, and you finally get some long-long-awaited emotional moments between them,” Hissrich said

And it sounds like things might get a little spicy between Yennefer and Geralt, particularly after she wears the dress she was wearing when they first met in season 1, during a magical orgy. “She wouldn’t have put that on for no reason,” Chalotra said, noting that Baltane is a fertility festival. “That’s enough of a hint.”

The Witcher season 3 is “a lot more politically driven”

We’ll see if The Witcher can recover from the swerves of season 2. If it can, there should be some good stuff in store, because season 3 will adapt the events of Time of Contempt, which many fans consider Sapkowski’s best novel.

“Time of Contempt is so action packed, but of course not just plot for plot’s sake,” Hissrich said. “It is one of the books that I think has the best character development that is matched with high-stakes action, high-stakes plot moments.”

Chalotra is excited, too, saying this season is “a lot more politically driven.”

"We get a lot more magic this season, and I was excited for that because I don’t think we’ve seen enough of it. Also the movements of magic, which have evolved for Yennefer. We put a lot of Indian dance and movements into this, because we wanted to be specific and for magic to be more placed. We were looking into ways we could do that and make it more personal."

The Witcher season 3 will feature the Thanedd coup from Time of Contempt

Hissrich and Yennefer confirmed that season 3 will feature the Thanedd coup, a key event from Time of Contempt. That alone should get some fans excited.

We’ll also visit the elven ruin of Shaerrawedd. In the books, Geralt and Ciri come upon this ruin and share a quiet moment of reflection as Geralt explains its history, although EW refers to the sequence at Shaerrawedd as a “massive set piece” in the first episode. Are they adding somethin in? Or perhaps we’ll see a flashback to Shaerrawedd at its height?

The first block of episodes for The Witcher season 3 drops on Netflix on June 29. The second and final block will follow on July 27.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels