The Witcher season 3 Episode 2 recap: “Unbound”
The second episode of The Witcher season 3, titled “Unbound,” sees Ciri and Yennefer making for Aretuza. After separating from Geralt, Ciri sees the messenger of King Demavand of Aedirn, who she’s seen killed by an arrow in the throat in her visions. She tries to warn him, but Yennefer interrupts. Without Geralt around, things are a bit spicier between the two of them. It’s not only Geralt’s trust that Yennefer needs to win back.
Meanwhile, Geralt is visiting Codringher, looking for information about Rience. It’s revealed that Rience is working for a sorcerer more powerful than him. Geralt pays Codringher a hefty price for more information. They don’t know who has Rience on a leash, but they know where he is: near the ammonite mines in Vuilpanne on the outskirts of Pienne. They urge Geralt to let it lie. They also reveal Istredd and many others are looking for Ciri. Geralt has one mission right now, though, and it’s traveling to Vuilpanne to kill Rience, alone.
In Nilfgaard, Emperor Emyhr picks up a new sword and tells the story of how he reclaimed his throne and took down the Usurper. He believes that he can end war on the Continent with a Queen by his side. He plans to become the Emperor of the Continent. His motivation is becoming a lot clearer.
Back with Ciri and Yennefer on the road, Yennefer tries to convince Ciri to go to Aretuza, where the Brotherhood is arguing about what to do about Ciri and the Northern Kingdoms losing faith. Tissaia puts them in their place, but it’s clear the division among the mages is getting worse, and that’s not all of it. Triss is struggling with what happened to Ciri, and finds blood in Nissa’s room. Nissa is one of the missing novices at Aretuza. Something is happening behind the scenes, but it’s not yet clear what. This feels like it’s one of the season’s big mysteries.
In Redania, Dijkstra is getting tortured by Philippa, at his kinky request. They’re making big plans for Redania and the future of the Continent. Philippa is working on Radovid, who has some feelings for Jaskier, and she needs Dijkstra to convince Vizimir.
On the road again, Ciri and Yennefer argue about how Ciri can’t keep using her visions to try to change the future. It’s causing more harm than good. They take a detour to where Yennefer grew up. There, she shows Ciri her memories of childhood, how she was never perfect, and how she chose to fight through her struggles. Yennefer tells Ciri that it’s her fault that the conflict in the North has festered because she made a choice to set a prisoner free (Cahir), which we saw go down in The Witcher season 2.
In Vuilpanne, Geralt is attacked by a horrible monster. There is a young woman trapped in this mucus membrane of sorts. She looks a lot like Ciri, and she begs Geralt to make “him” stop. As Geralt tries to save the girl, the monster, which is made up of the body parts of people, attacks Geralt. There are also these women’s heads attached to the wall which are also connected to the monster, somehow. It’s a mess!
Geralt kills the monster. It’s clear a sorcerer has created this creature, and that’s who the girl was begging Geralt to kill. But who is it? Is it Rience? That’s what it seems like we’re supposed to believe, but that seems too easy.
Applegatt, King Demavand’s messenger who Ciri warned in the beginning of the episode about getting killed by an arrow, nearly dies via an arrow to the throat after Vizimir does some dumb stuff with a crossbow. Shortly after, Radovid breaks the news to DiJkstra and Philippa that Vizimir is meeting with Nilfgaard, and they are mad.
Just before the episode ends, we see Rience kill Codringher after they let slip that they know of “his employer’s plans for Cirilla of Cintra.” Rience keeps their cat, though!
In Aretuza, Vilgefortz and Tissaia discuss a plan to bring Yennefer back into the fold and unite the Northern Kingdoms. Vilgefortz acts like he doesn’t mind if Yennefer comes back to the Brotherhood.
The girl who Geralt saved believes that she is Ciri. Interesting.
We also see Cahir saved by Gallatin this episode. That’s who Gallatin goes to after abandoning Francesca. Cahir asks Gallatin to journey to meet the White Flame and share a plan to overtake the North. Basically, he’ll be betraying Francesca to help Emyhr and Nilfgaard.
“Unbound” is another solid episode. We still don’t have many, if any, answers so far, but it feels like our heroes, Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer, are making strides. There’s so much going on behind the scenes, and it’s challenging to figure out who is really pulling the strings on Rience.
The big questions remain:
- Who is Rience working for? Codringher obviously knew too much, and now, he’s dead.
- Who is this mysterious girl pretending (or believing) that she’s Ciri? And why does she believe that?
- Will Yennefer’s plan to bring Ciri to Aretuza mean she’s safe?
We’ll find out in episode 3!