The Witcher season 3: Every episode reviewed and explained
By Bryce Olin
The Witcher season 3, Episode 6 recap: “Everybody Has a Plan ’til They Get Punched in the Face”
Episode 306 begins with Dijkstra’s knife at Geralt’s neck. At the end of the fifth episode, Redania made the big move to round up all the sorcerers and sorceresses at Aretuza and stop them from aligning with Nilfgaard. Phillippa and Dijkstra figured out that Vilgefortz was allied with Nilfgaard. Phillippa says this is “a purge,” but we all know it’s not going to be that easy.
Yennefer finds Geralt’s sword and disappears through a secret passage, narrowly avoiding capture by the Redanians. Yennefer fights Lydia, but Triss arrives and stops Lydia. Yennefer kills Lydia.
Radovid tries to help take Ciri back to Redania, which upsets Jaskier. Ciri goes missing. She’s on the run again! AGAIN! She knows what’s coming for her and flees to the forest. I wish, for her sake, that she could just stop running through forests.
Back at the sorcerer’s keep, the Redanians try to explain to Tissaia what Vilgefortz is doing, but Tissaia doesn’t believe them. Vilgefortz has the upper hand, which Tissaia will soon realize. Vilgefortz is part of a conspiracy which stopped the Redanian ships, and replaced them with a Nilfgaardian and Elven force, the Scoia’tel, which lays siege to Aretuza. Vilgefortz reveals his plans to Tissaia, who is devastated by his betrayal. He brings the Scoia’tel and Nilfgaardians into Aretuza.
This is the most epic battle sequence we’ve seen in the series so far. Tissaia and the mages put up a good fight, but Tissaia’s forces are not strong enough to hold back the Scoia’tel and the Nilfgaardians, who are led by Francesca, Fringilla and Cahir. It’s a bloodbath! Literally, Tissaia pops Francesca’s husband Filavandrel like a balloon. His blood ends up all over Francesca, and she loses it! With the help of Fringilla, Francesca uses all of her power to lay waste to Aretuza. It’s epic destruction everywhere.
Outside the fortress, Yennefer finds Ciri, but they’re attacked by Rience. Luckily Geralt shows up and slices off Rience’s head. The trio is together again, but they aren’t away from danger yet.
Back in the thick of the battle, Tissaia summons Alzur’s Thunder, which Ciri points out is a spell of last resort. Yennefer must go to her, because Tissaia is the closest thing she has to a mother, which jeopardizes everything. Geralt tries to talk her out of it, but Yennefer leaves. She gives Ciri the biggest hug and says her slogan: “Never lost. Always found.” She calls Ciri her daughter before she leaves.
We also get to see Fringilla and Cahir have a moment. Remember, Cahir believes her to be dead, but she tells Cahir to think for himself, which leads to one of the best moments of the season so far: Cahir finds Ciri and Geralt fleeing, and Cahir apologizes for everything, including destroying Cintra and all the pain he caused Ciri. He asks Ciri to kill him, but she can’t. He flips his allegiance and tries to buy Ciri some time by fighting the Scoia’tael. Unfortunately, it’s not enough.
Back in Aretuza, Stregobor uses fire magic to hold off Francesca and Fringilla. “Falka will be waiting for you,” he says. Interesting, very Interesting! Yennefer rescues Tissaia.
On the beach, Geralt fights Vilgefortz, who is looking to bring Ciri to Emyhr and Nilfgaard. He is much stronger than Geralt and nearly kills him. He leaves Geralt broken and dying on the beach before following Ciri into Tor Lara. Vilgefortz tries to get Ciri to side with him, but instead she uses her power and touches the rock in the tower, which explodes and collapses with her and Vilgefortz inside.
Triss rescues Geralt from the beach while everyone flees Aretuza and Tor Lara tumbles into the sea.
Episode 306 is easily the best episode of The Witcher yet
This is the best episode of The Witcher ever, and it’s not even close. Everything has been building to this moment, and it’s epic!
Unfortunately, having seen the last two episodes of the season, there’s no doubt this episode should have been the season finale. The final two episodes, while important, do not even come close to the epicness of episode 6.
I guess that’s by design. As we’ve seen with other major fantasy series like Game of Thrones, it’s hard to keep it up episode after episode. I was just hoping for a more satisfying conclusion to the season that leaves more questions than answers. We’ll discuss more of that shortly. On to episode 7 of The Witcher season 3!