Who is Falka in The Witcher? (Ciri’s visions explained)

The final three episodes of The Witcher season 3 are finally streaming on Netflix. The Witcher season 3 volume 2 is an action-packed affair that changes the political landscape of the Continent as well as the lives of Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra), and their adopted daughter Princess Ciri (Freya Allen). For Ciri in particular, there are dark times ahead.

Who is Falka, the mysterious woman whose name Ciri takes as her own after surviving a harrowing journey through the Korath desert? Beware SPOILERS for The Witcher season 3 volume 2 below.

Who is Falka in The Witcher season 3?

While wandering the desert in Episode 7, “Out of the Fire, Into the Frying Pan,” Ciri finds herself beset by visions. She sees her mother Pavetta (Gaia Mondadori), who died in a shipwreck when Ciri was still a child; and her grandmother Queen Calanthe (Jodhi May), who was killed during the first Nilfgaardian invasion during season 1.

She also sees someone we’ve never met. She first appears as a mysterious hooded figure, but Ciri soon realizes who she is: Falka, one of the most infamous figures in The Witcher lore. In the Netflix series, Falka is played by Hiftu Quasem.

Like Calanthe and Pavetta, Falka is long dead by the time Ciri sees her. She was the first-born daughter of King Vridank of Redania and Beatrix of Kovir, and the heir apparent to the Redanian throne. However, Vridank eventually divorced Beatrix when he became smitten with another woman, the beautiful Cerro. Following the divorce, Vridank sent Beatrix and baby Falka back to Kovir to live in ignominy.

It didn’t stick. Twenty-five years later, Falka led a bloody rebellion to win back the Redanian throne, which she believed was rightfully hers. Falka killed King Vridank, her two half-brothers Heltmult and Denhard, and Queen Cerro during the rebellion. Many said she committed these brutal acts with her bare hands, earning her a fierce reputation and the nickname “Bloody Falka.”

How did Falka die in The Witcher?

Falka’s rebellion soon spiraled into a much broader conflict. According to The Witcher novel Baptism of Fire, the mobs which followed Falka used the rebellion to vent their frustrations against kings, priests, nobility and even sorcerers. In the television series, we’ve previously heard about Falka mainly from the sorcerer Stregobor, who was actually alive during her rebellion and mentions her during seasons 1 and 2.

Predictably, the rebellion ended gruesomely. After her successful campaign in Redania, Falka and her rebels next set their sights on the neighboring country of Temeria. This was a bad move. Temeria brought its armies to bear and Vridank’s uncle King Vizimir I claimed the Redanian throne for himself. Falka’s forces were defeated, and she was captured and burned at the stake.

As we discovered in Episode 7, Falka embraced being burned. With her final words, she cursed her enemies, promising that they and their descendants would suffer at the hands of one who shared her blood.

Is Falka related to Ciri?

So is Ciri that child Falka promised, who shares her blood and is destined to avenge her? The answer is complicated.

Like Ciri, Falka is part elf. In the TV show, she carved her own ears to look more elven, in part to honor her heritage and in part to give herself a more gruesome aspect.

During Falka’s rebellion, a woman named Riannon was accidentally taken prisoner by the rebels. In addition to being the wife of the Temerian King Goidemar, Riannon was the daughter of Lara Dorren, a famous elven mage who fell in love with the human Cregannon of Lod and is generally considered to be the start of Ciri’s bloodline. Riannon gave birth to twins while imprisoned. Falka also gave birth to a daughter and gave her to Riannon to raise in her cell.

The story goes that Riannon went insane while raising all three babies together during her imprisonment to the point where she couldn’t tell which children were hers and which Falka’s. Because of this, it’s never been completely ascertained whether Ciri is actually descended from one of Riannon’s children or Falka’s. This has led to in-world theories that Falka’s bloodline also contained the Elder Blood.

In the Netflix series, Ciri is seemingly descended from both Lara Dorren and Falka’s bloodlines. But due to the murky nature of Falka’s Rebellion, some aspects of that genealogy are still shrouded in mystery. Nonetheless, Falka is a pivotal figure in the world of The Witcher.

All eight episodes of The Witcher season 3 are streaming now on Netflix.

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

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h/t Ready Steady Cut