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

19. Geralt’s recovery in Brokilon Forest

Vilgefortz breaks Geralt during their fight; his femur, his back, and his spirits are all crushed. This is the single worst defeat that Geralt suffers in The Witcher books, and he has to spend a long time getting back on his feet. We get a bit of this at the end of The Time of Contempt and much more at the beginning of the following book, Baptism of Fire. On the show, Geralt completes the healing process at the end of season 3, just in time for him to start off on his next adventure.

For the recovery sequence, Cavill leans into parts of Geralt we’ve never seen before. He’s so battered that all he can do is lie prone and groan out words. It’s easy for that to look silly rather than painful, but Cavill doesn’t let it. We see him struggle back onto his feet too early and fall over and over as he tries to get back out into the world to search for Ciri. We see him get back to training, make elixirs with Jaskier, and trade barbed remarks with Milva. There’s a lot of great stuff in Brokilon.

A high point is Geralt and Yennefer’s final goodbye of the season. Who knows when they’ll see each other again? Anya Chalotra does some incredible work in this scene. And Cavill’s reaction is perfect when she says, “Please tell me this isn’t the last time we’ll see each other. I need you, Geralt.”

Geralt starts to answer, stops himself, and then simply says, “I need you too, Yen.” He doesn’t push back on the idea that it’s the last time they’ll see each other. It’s a nuanced little gem of a moment.