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

20. The Nilfgaardian checkpoint battle

We arrive at Henry Cavill’s final moment as Geralt of Rivia. Is it any surprise that it makes the list?

Throughout the first three seasons, Geralt has fought tooth and nail to stay neutral amidst the political upheaval of the Continent. That all comes to an end in the season 3 finale, “The Cost of Chaos.” After giving up Renfri’s broach as a bribe to get through a Nilfgaardian checkpoint, Geralt overhears the soldiers bullying the next family in line. The commander threatens to rape their teenage daughter, and you can imagine how Geralt reacts, having just lost his own daughter at Thanedd.

Despite Jaskier’s pleas to just keep walking, Geralt turns around. He walks right back to the checkpoint, punches out the commander, and then proceeds to butcher the entire unit. After watching Geralt lose in single combat to Vilgefortz, the Nilfgaardian checkpoint battle reminds us that the White Wolf is still a force to be reckoned with, even when he’s not at his best.

This sequence also gives us a glimpse at what’s to come in season 4, where Geralt will travel with a group of companions known as his hansa. As Geralt fights, Milva emerges from the forest to cover him by shooting three soldiers who were rushing toward him. Geralt has always been a great fighter, but he will no longer do it alone.

Given how much Henry Cavill brought to Geralt’s fight scenes, is it any surprise that the TV show wanted to send him out with one last battle? The Nilfgaardian checkpoint battle has a lot going on; I don’t even want to think about how complicated some of the choreography was, with Geralt switching between various weapons, Jaskier running around in the background, and soldier after soldier throwing themselves at the witcher. At the same time, we see that Geralt isn’t moving quite the same.

Henry Cavill completely owned the role of Geralt of Rivia. He played the White Wolf at his best and worst. While we’re looking forward to seeing what Liam Hemsworth brings to the part in season 4, Cavill will be sorely missed.

Season 1-3 of The Witcher are streaming now on Netflix.

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

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