Freya Allan (Ciri) talks working with unicorns in The Witcher season 3
The second half of The Witcher season 3 is finally here. Our characters are rushing headlong into adventure and meeting new friends along the way. Beware SPOILERS for season 3 part 2 below…
Episode 307, “Out of the Fire, Into the Frying Pan,” begins with Ciri (Freya Allan) tapping into the powers of Tor Lara, a magical tower on the island of Thanedd. This created a huge explosion and opened a portal that that warped Ciri into the middle of a barren desert. We knew this desert sequence was coming for Ciri thanks to the trailers for volume 2, but now that the second half has dropped, we see how significant this adventure is for her.
As happens in Andrzej Sapkowski’s novel The Time of Contempt, Ciri meets Ihuarraquax (also known as Little Horse) in the Korath Desert. And no, Ciri is not hallucinating due to heat exhaustion from being in the desert; that’s a unicorn. “I don’t feel so good, Little Horse,” Ciri says. She holds a hand out to him, and as he trots away, Ciri makes the decision to follow him.
Ciri has to “grow up” to survive the Korath desert in The Witcher
Speaking to Tudum, Freya Allen discussed the importance of Ciri’s time in the desert: “It’s such an iconic moment in Ciri’s journey, it’s such a pivotal point. It’s actually one of the most important journeys I’ve had with the character.
"She has to survive. That makes her grow up in some ways. But also, the whole desert chapter is all about her trying to figure out herself."
Allen also told Tudum how much she enjoyed shooting the scene with the unicorn. “I love horses. I did some practice with the horse and laid out in the desert with it.” Although these scenes werern’t without their struggles. “The horse’s trainers were obviously there to make sure it was doing the right thing, but it was actually a circus horse.” It required huge effort and concentration from Allen, the production team, and the horse trainers to pull this off.
You can stream the entirety of The Witcher season 3 right now on Netflix.
dark. Next. The Witcher season 3: Every episode reviewed and explained
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