The Witcher stars and showrunner discuss Tissaia’s devastating choice

The final three episodes of The Witcher season 3 dropped on Netflix last week, and we’re still reeling. SPOILERS for the end of the season follow below.

Tissaia actor explains her character’s devastating ending

The Witcher season 3 volume 2 contained one of the most momentous events of the series: the Thanedd coup, where various forces converged at the mage stronghold of Aretuza in a battle that will shape the future of the Continent.

Given the scale of the battle, it’s no surprise that the body count was high. But one of the most heartbreaking deaths came after the coup was over, when Aretuza rectoress Tissaia de Vries took her own life in the show’s season finale. It was one of the season’s most shocking moments, drawn straight from Andrzej Sapkowski’s novel The Time of Contempt.

Netflix has released a new behind-the-scenes documentary, Making The Witcher: Season 3, which goes into detail about the latest season. Showrunner Lauren S. Hissirch discussed Tissaia’s death, and how difficult it was to say goodbye to actor MyAnna Buring:

"Some of the characters we have known from the very beginning are taken from us, and Tissaia is the one that is most heartbreaking to me, as a writer, and I think heartbreaking to our cast, as MyAnna Buring is amazing in this role and quite a tough but maternal figure on the show, and that’s who she is as a human."

Buring herself also weighed in on Tissaia’s decision:

"Tissaia is totally broken. Everything she loved, everything she cared about, everything she believed in has been left in ruins. And she feels inherently responsible for it. She doesn’t see herself as having the capacity to be of use anymore. And I think that’s ultimately why she chooses to…to take her own life, really."

Future seasons of The Witcher will feature the Lodge of Sorceresses

Tissaia has been a central figure in the lives of many characters on The Witcher, so it should come as no surprise that her death has a large impact on the series. That’s especially true for Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra), who was swept away from her abusive life as a hunchback and taken to Aretuza by Tissaia all the way back in the second episode of the series. Tissaia is the closest thing to a mother that Yennefer has.

“The world is so much more lonely when you haven’t got that person to look up to, because then you’re responsible for everything,” Chalotra said. “Tissaia’s death must spark…a kind of…truly, a new beginning for Yennefer.”

Tissaia represented the old regime that ran Aretuza and the Brotherhood. With her gone, what’s next for our magic users? We get a hint of what’s to come in the season finale, where Yennefer, Triss Merigold (Anna Shaffer), Keira Metz (Safiyya Ingar), Margarita Laux-Antille (Rochelle Rose), and Sabrina Glevissig (Therica Wilson-Read) enter into a new alliance. The TV show didn’t name this new group, but book and game fans will know that it’s the Lodge of Sorceresses.

“One of the things that Tissaia’s death does is it empowers other mages, because they want to continue what she started,” said Hissirch. “And Yen is actually one of the ones who heads up the Lodge of Sorceresses that we will get into in later seasons.”

With season 4 filming delayed due to the writers and actors strikes, it may be a while until we see the Lodge in action. But it’s exciting to know the show will explore this pivotal part of The Witcher Saga.

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

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels