Everything You Should Know About ‘The Witcher’s’ Ciri ~ Digital Library

Netflix’s The Witcher: It’s the hottest thing on Netflix right now and for good reason. Based on The Witcher short stories and novels written by Andrzej Sapkowski (the CD Projekt Red Witcher video game series is also based on this source material), this new, high fantasy series stars Henry Cavill as the white-haired monster hunter Geralt of Rivia, Anya Chalotra as the extremely powerful mage Yennefer of Vengerberg, and Freya Allan as Princess Cirilla of Cintra, more commonly referred to as Ciri.

No matter where you’re at in your binge sesh of The Witcher, it’s very likely you have tons of questions about Ciri. Throughout Season 1, plenty of hints are dropped about Ciri’s past, present, and future in addition to what we see play out on screen. But her two-week sojourn through the wilds of the Continent barely scratches the surface of who this young heroine truly is. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at Ciri.

Ciri Is a Member of the Royal Family of Cintra

Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes / Netflix

Ciri is, first and foremost, a member of the royal family on the kingdom of Cintra. Cintra is one of the many Northern Kingdoms on the Continent, the country where The Witcher takes place. Cintra is a larger, more dominant kingdom and when we join the present-day part of The Witcher show’s timeline, Queen Calanthe is still on the throne.

That is certainly not the case by the time The Witcher Season 1 ends, as Cintra comes under attack from the dominant Southern Kingdom of Nilfgaard. It’s key to remember that the Nilfgaardians are the big bads in The Witcher Season 1, with the nation’s army trying to turn over the rule of Cintra to their own king (more on that below) and, in particular, secure Ciri for their own use in conquering the Northern Kingdom.

Throughout the show, we learn Queen Calanthe is a bit of a domineering mom but also a badass, ready to assert her control over her country and dominance over her enemies at any point. She set an example for Ciri when it came to being fearless, knowing how to protect oneself against an enemy, and how to be a pragmatic royal. Queen Calanthe raised Ciri, her granddaughter, from infancy and Ciri’s ties to her grandmother’s memories are strong. Ciri is occasionally referred to as “The Lion Cub of Cintra” in The Witcher novels, video games, and the Netflix series. This title reflects her place in the Cintran royal family at the granddaughter and heir of Queen Calanthe, also referred to as the “Lioness of Cintra.”

She Is More Magical Than You Might Realize

Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes / Netflix

Throughout The Witcher Season 1, we get hints about just how much power Ciri has as a potentially magical being. While we never see a full display of her power in the first season — there is, however, a moment where she shakes a room with her scream in Episode 1 — it’s a safe bet her powers will be on display in Season 2. How do we know this?

Well, Season 2 will very likely be adapted from Blood of Elves, the first novel in The Witcher saga (Season 1 is mostly based on Sapkowski’s short stories which precede Blood of Elves). In Blood of Elves, Ciri begins a student of the Witcher way of life after coming under Geralt of Rivia’s protection.

It’s also discovered through Ciri’s training with the mage Triss Merigold (we met Triss Merigold in Episode 3, “Betrayer Moon,” where she helped Geralt of Rivia track a monster known as the Striga) the Lion Cub of Cintra has more magical power within her than Triss Merigold knows what to do with and identifies her as a Source.

In the world of The Witcher, a Source is a person with a deep connection to magic who also is a natural and powerful channeler of said magic. Sources risk becoming overwhelmed by their magical powers if they do not learn how to hone it early on and, if they are unable to hone it, risk being driven mad or going completely catatonic. In Blood of Elves, Yennefer of Vengerberg is called on to train Ciri which makes total sense because Yennefer of Vengerberg is also a very, very powerful mage.

Ciri’s Destiny Was Always Tied to Geralt of Rivia’s

Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes / Netflix

In The Witcher Episode 4, “Of Banquets, Bastards, and Burials,” Geralt of Rivia accompanies the bard Jaskier to the wedding banquet of Queen Calanthe’s daughter, Pavetta.

When they arrive, we learn Pavetta doesn’t actually have a fiancé and the purpose of the banquet is for one man to basically make a sales pitch to Queen Calanthe to become Pavetta’s husband. Things take a turn when Duny, a man cursed to look like a hedgehog but who clearly has a romantic history with Pavetta, enters and asks for her hand in marriage.

Queen Calanthe’s extreme prejudice toward Duny threatens the union after Duny reveals Pavetta is actually, legally his through the Law of Surprise. Unable to handle the thought of giving her daughter over to a hedgehog man, Calanthe tries to kill Duny and break the Law of Surprise, which in turn causes a bigger fight to break out. Geralt of Rivia saves Duny from being killed by Queen Calanthe during the fight and, as thanks for saving him, offers Geralt of Rivia whatever he wants. Geralt of Rivia in turn invokes the Law of Surprise and just seconds later, it is revealed Pavetta is pregnant.

This reveal, dear friends, is major especially considering Geralt of Rivia had invoked the Law of Surprise — which also happens in The Witcher stories and video games. The Law of Surprise essentially promises a man who saved or helped another man in a major way a reward of significant value. Examples cited in the show like the fruits of a good harvest or a large sum of money are cited as the most frequent rewards from the Law of Surprise.

However, humans are also included on the acceptable list of rewards, which explains why Pavetta was promised to Duny and Geralt of Rivia is destined to take ownership of Ciri. The Law of Surprise is resolute and unbreakable on the Continent, so Ciri was, from the time she was in utero, more Geralt of Rivia’s possession than Pavetta and Duny’s. However, Geralt of Rivia and Ciri never form a romantic relationship — unlike Ciri’s parents — and instead, Geralt of Rivia becomes an adoptive father of sorts once Ciri finds him more than a decade later.

Ciri’s Dad Is Nothing But Trouble

Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes / Netflix

In The Witcher Netflix series, we know Ciri’s father is named Duny. But, unless you’ve read The Witcher novels or you’ve played the video game series, you may not know Duny’s true name is Emhyr var Emreis, a.k.a. The White Flame. Emhyr is a tricky dude with a big role in the larger Witcher storyline. As such, if Emhyr var Emreis ends up appearing in The Witcher Season 2, he poses a serious threat to Ciri and Cintra.

So, the last time we say Duny, a.k.a. Emhyr, he was a distressed hedgehog man transformed by the true love’s kiss of his young bride, Princess Pavetta. Well, after Duny goes back to his regular human form and Pavetta gives birth to Ciri, The Witcher stories reveal Pavetta and Duny died at sea but that’s a lie! Because, in fact, Duny fakes his death and returns to his homeland of Nilfgaard where he takes over as Emperor of the Nilfgaardian Empire. Furthermore, ya boy Emhyr is hellbent on bringing Cintra under Nilfgaardian control (and it may or may not be partially because Queen Calanthe tried to murder him once), hence Nilfgaard’s scorched earth march to conquer everything in its wake in the Northern Kingdoms on the way to Cintra, which we see play out in Season 1.

For Ciri, Emhyr’s apparent return from the dead spells trouble. His orders from the Nilfgaard throne to storm Cintra’s castle means his army basically drove Ciri from her home in Episode 1, “The End’s Beginning.” Nilfgaard taking Cintra’s castle also means Emhyr is partially responsible for Queen Calanthe’s death since one of the top Nilfgaardian soldiers, Cahir, shot her with an arrow in battle.

In the books, things take a Game of Thrones-level turn into Freudian levels of weird when Emhyr marries a fake Ciri who basically looks like her. Emhyr gives her a ton of power and a new title. If this happens in Season 2 (and it totally could, especially because we met a Ciri lookalike at one point), it will cause even more trouble for the real Ciri as she has to deal with her father being alive, responsible for the destruction of her life as a Cintran royal, and the psychological implications of him marrying (and probably sleeping with) a young woman who looks just like her. Whew.

The Witcher Season 1 is currently available to stream on Netflix now. Season 2 is coming in 2020.

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