Who is Milva in The Witcher? (Milva’s backstory explained)

The Witcher season 3 volume 2 is finally here, bringing the show’s latest installment to an epic close. After the devastating coup at the mage stronghold of Aretuza, Geralt of Rivia finds himself in need of special healing from the dryads of Brokilon Forest. While there, he meets a new character named Milva, played by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Meng’er Zhang.

Milva is an archer with a caustic sense of humor who isn’t afraid to tell Geralt when he’s being a stubborn idiot. She’s a fascinating character who plays a major part in Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher book series, and we expect to see a lot more of her on the show going forward.

If you’re curious to know more about Milva, who she is, and how she came to be with the dryads at Brokilon, read on! There will be some SPOILERS from the TV show and books.

Milva’s backstory in The Witcher explained

The first thing to know about Milva is that Milva is not her actual name but a nickname. Originally called Maria Barring, Milva comes from a long line of hunters who lived in Upper Sodden. After her brother died, her father trained her in the ways of the hunter. When her father died, her mother got remarried to a man who was not kind to Milva, making physical advances on her. She beat him senseless and ran away from home at the age of 16.

For a time Milva made her living as a hunter on her own. But she often endured unwanted advances from other hunters and gameskeepers, which ultimately led her to seek more secluded locations to hunt game. In the television show Milva references people who hurt her; it’s possible those people are the lecherous hunters who drove her out into the wilds.

It wasn’t long after that that Milva’s poaching led her to accidentally stumble into the territory of the dryads at Brokilon Forest. The dryads, who were known for taking in young women and inducted them into their mystical order, decided to show mercy to Milva despite her intrusion and invited her to join them in the forest. For quite some time after that, Milva lured expeditions of humans who sought to kill dryads into ambushes. It was estimated that by the time the human forces closing in on Brokilon realized that Milva was in fact working with the dryads, she had caused the deaths of over 100 people.

After that, Milva eventually became familiar to the Scoia’tael, helping them navigate hidden woodland paths and convincing the dryads of Brokilon to offer them refuge. We saw this in The Witcher season 3, when it’s revealed that the dryads have allowed Scoia’tael survivors from the battle at Shaerrawedd to find shelter in Brokilon.

The name Milva was given to Maria Barring by the dryads of Brokilon Forest. It means “red kite.” She is also called “Little Sister” by the elves of the Scoia’tael, who hold her in high regard because of her efforts to help them.

Will Milva be in The Witcher season 4?

This pattern of aiding the Scoia’tael continues for Milva until Geralt of Rivia arrives in Brokilon, at which point the dryad leader Eithné asks Milva to help him recover from the grievous wounds he took at Thanedd. Milva possesses no healing abilities herself, but being a seasoned fighter and archer she is more than capable of watching Geralt’s back and helping him to re-train his body after it was broken by Vilgefortz of Roggeveen.

When last we see Milva in The Witcher season 3, she has joined Geralt and Jaskier on the road to Nilfgaard. If the show follows the story set forth in the book Baptism of Fire, Milva will have a big part to play in the future adventures of the White Wolf.

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

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h/t The Witcher wiki