The Witcher season 3 vol. 2 trailer breakdown

Enter Vilgefortz of Roggeveen

Next up we get some teases for a huge scene we’re expecting to see in volume 2: Geralt’s showdown with Vilgefortz of Roggeveen. Volume 1 ended with the cliffhanger that Geralt and Yen had finally figured out that Vilgefortz was the mysterious sorcerer backing Rience in his hunt for Ciri. How will it play out when Geralt and Vilgefortz come face to face?

You can just see the silhouette of Vilgefortz in the background as Geralt draws his sword. Then Vilgefortz stamps his staff against the ground. I like how little golden magic spikes shoot up around the staff!

Geralt has had enough debate. How many times does this guy have to say he’s neutral about politics before people just leave him alone?

Well, we’re guessing he’ll have to say it at least this one more time, and probably still no one will believe him. Both Vilgefortz and Dijkstra tried to convince Geralt to get on board with their agendas at the conclave in Thanedd, so it’s no surprise to hear Geralt talking about it right before he and Vilgefortz go toe-to-toe.

From there, we take the grand tour of the cast of characters, starting with Stregobor:

Stregobor is a general creep, but at the end of volume 1 he was accused of some stuff he didn’t do. How will he react when the coup gets under way?

Cahir, looking dirty and bedraggled. We’re guessing he’s having a meeting with Emperor Emhyr of Nilfgaard; note that sunburst banner in the background. Perhaps he’s reporting back after his meeting with the elven Scoia’tael leader Francesca Findabaire in Episode 5?

Dijkstra looks pretty concerned. This is interesting because it seems like Dijkstra’s sitting at a feast, but by this point the bloodshed is already underway at Thanedd, so no feasting is likely to happen there in volume 2. We’re guessing that this shot is either showing some of the ball from Dijkstra’s point of view, or it’s a later scene when he’s back in Redania.

Vilgefortz of Roggeveen is getting into his villain era in style. He appears to be wearing the same clothing as during the ball at Thanedd. Dawn light seems to be streaming in through a window, so there’s a good chance this is the morning of the coup.

Lastly, Emperor Emhyr var Emries of Nilfgaard stands from his throne. He’s probably talking to Cahir here, but really it could be anyone. Emhyr’s a pretty busy guy these days, what with the whole “taking over the known world” thing going on.

Things get heated on Thanedd

Our next pair of shots are more than a little intriguing. The first, above, shows a mage blasting lightning from their hands while a courtyard burns below them. We can’t be positive, but this looks a lot like Thanedd.

This shot is pretty dark, but my guess is that we’re looking at a mix of mages and Scoia’tael here. One of the characters in the center back seems to have elven ears. And even more telling: they have magical defenses, which we see when they’re shielded from the lightning bolts we saw a mage unleash in the previous shot:

In Andrzej Sapkowski’s novel The Time of Contempt, the Thanedd coup goes wildly off the rails as just about every major faction we’ve come to know so far gets involved. It’s going to be a blood bath.

But as exciting as Thanedd is, it’s not the only thing we’re looking forward to seeing in volume 2: