Henry Cavill’s 20 best moments as Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher

13. Shaerrawedd

Geralt and Ciri’s visit to the elven ruins of Shaerrawedd is one of the most memorable scenes from Blood of Elves, so it was a big disappointment that it wasn’t in season 2 of the show. Fortunately, The Witcher made up for it when made this set piece the capstone to the season 3 premiere. The show also added Yennefer and the trap for the fire mage Rience into the mix.

Geralt has a few great moments during the Shaerrawedd sequence. The first is when he and Yennefer relay the tale of the elven queen Aelirenn to Ciri. This discussion about neutrality is hugely important to understanding Geralt’s worldview, as well as a set up for his eventual turn away from neutrality in the season 3 finale. Cavill gives off a paternal air as he discusses this difficult topic with Freya Allan’s Ciri, who rightly feels that staying neutral isn’t truly an option for her as royalty.

Shaerrawedd kicks into high gear once Rience and the Scoia’tael arrive. As various factions collide, Geralt pursues Rience through his own portal while Yennefer holds it open, which is dangerous because it requires her to concentrate and there’s a deadly battle raging around her. After breaking both of Rience’s wrists, Geralt returns to the ruins in time to pursue Ciri, who has been captured by Scoia’tael.

It’s here we get one of the best scenes of Cavill’s run as Geralt: the Shaerrawedd one-shot fight. Cavill and stunt coordinator Wolfgang Stegemann planned out an elaborate sequence where Geralt fights his way across the ruin, all while a camera operator chases him around the set. It required rehearsing the sequence more than 90 times, and it was filmed 35 times to get it just right. The Witcher has plenty of great fight sequences, but there’s nothing else quite like this.