Who’s who in the Thanedd coup? The Witcher’s epic Aretuza battle explained
By Daniel Roman
The Brotherhood of Sorcerers
The mages at Thanedd are not a unified front; many of these characters, such as Vilgefortz of Roggeveen and Keira Metz, have their own agendas.
The whole point of the conclave is to unite the mages so they can better support the Northern Kingdoms agains the advance of the Nilfgaardian Empire. Mages like Tissaia, Stregobor, and Artorius Vigo are in support of this goal, and don’t really have ulterior motives beyond it.
Two other important mages in the Brotherhood loyalist group are Triss Merigold and Istredd. In addition to defending Aretuza, they also have a separate goal to prevent Vilgefortz of Roggeveen from getting the Book of Monoliths and amassing even more power. This book featured heavily in The Witcher: Blood Origin spinoff and holds the secrets to opening portals between worlds.
Other mages support the Redanian coup, including Philippa Eilheart, Keira Metz and Sabrina Glevissig. While Philippa’s allegiance to Redania is well known, mages like Keira and Sabrina were working in secret to support Redania’s attack on Aretuza, because the Redanians want to oust Nilfgaardian spies among the Brotherhood.
Keira and Sabrina wore armbands during the coup as a sign to the Redanians that they were on their side. They tear those armbands off when they finally join forces with Tissaia to protect Aretuza later in the episode.
Redania
The initial instigator of the coup on Thanedd is the Kingdom of Redania, led by the spymaster Dijkstra, the sorceress Philippa Eilheart and Prince Radovid.
They have multiple goals. Firstly, the Redanians want to expose the members of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers who are colluding in secret with Nilfgaard, such as Vilgefortz of Roggeveen. In doing so, Dijkstra and Philippa hope to weaken Nilfgaard’s hold on the Brotherhood. A side effect of their coup would also be that the Brotherhood itself would be weakened while Redania’s political position would be strengthened.
Dijkstra’s Redanian soldiers sneak into Aretuza and kick off the coup by capturing the traitorous mages. They are recognizable by their red armor and rounded helmets.
Meanwhile, Prince Radovid tries to take custody of Ciri on behalf of Redania. The Redanians want to marry Ciri into their royal family for the political capitol it would gain their regime. But Ciri leaves for Aretuza before Radovid can spring his trap, leaving him to face Jaskier’s wrath.
Things quickly go south for the Redanians. Earlier in the season, Dijkstra deployed a messenger named Aplegatt to bring word to the Redanian naval forces to bring reinforcements to Aretuza at dawn. Aplegatt was killed with an arrow Episode 4, and now we see the result: the Scoia’tael intercepted the message and launched a surprise attack at the appointed time on Aretuza instead.