[man] Where would you be headin', little thief?
Skellige.
[man] Hmm.
[horse neighs]
Do you know how long it is to the coast?
With a fast horse,
about a week.
And what about by foot?
[chuckles]
You need to be careful, child.
This place isn't safe if you're alone.
Then it's the same as every other place.
[faint drumbeat]
[bird calls]
[stirring music plays]
-[rhythmic marching] -[men calling out]
[men yelling]
[door opens]
[door clanks shut]
Out of nowhere, you send word to meet you.
All this time, I thought you were dead.
I told you last time I was in Cintra that I wasn't coming back.
Yet here you are.
[Geralt grunts softly]
[Mousesack] Why?
You've come for your Child of Surprise...
haven't you?
The opposite.
I want you to tell me that he's safe and healthy so I can keep on riding.
He...
is a girl.
[chuckles]
Yes.
Princess Cirilla has been raised by Calanthe since her parents died.
What?
[Mousesack] Pavetta and Duny's ship was lost at sea.
Have you been hiding your head in the sand?
Why now?
Why do you think she's not safe?
I saw an army making camp at the Amell Pass.
A sea of black and gold.
[Mousesack] Nilfgaard is set on sweeping the Continent.
But since that night at Pavetta's banquet,
the Queen's done everything she can to keep her family safe from threats.
Shut the walls.
Fortified the gates.
[running footsteps]
Sent assassins!
What?
Were you followed?
No!
Hmm.
[clattering]
[rattling]
Hmm?
Hmm.
[yells]
You want me, you kill him first!
Geralt!
Do something!
-This is on your Queen. -We will both die.
Blame destiny.
[all yelling]
[theme music playing]
The Nilfgaardians don't strike me as foolish.
Coming at us now would be right stupid.
The army whose stink I can smell on a strong breeze is one I worry about.
So we prepare, same as always.
When does the King return from Skellige, Your Majesty?
This morning. Be good to see that craggy face.
Be better to see the 50 ships the Skelligens promised.
Your Majesty.
No offense taken, Danek.
You know I agree.
We've taken on every pissant pretender for a dozen years.
If Nilfgaard need to learn the lesson the rest of them have,
we'll be ready for them.
I want reports from the Amell Pass every hour...
[guards drawing swords]
I warned you about coming back.
I've been away 12 years and I'd planned on staying that way...
till you sent eight men to kill me.
Well, I'm asking you now.
Do not do this.
If you treated me more like a friend than a threat...
Do you know the difference anymore?
I'm here
to protect the girl.
Who I've raised as my own.
Why would I give my only heir
to someone who never cared enough to come back for her?
Move along, Witcher. I'll pay whatever you want.
I can't be bought.
You should remember.
Money can't undo the Law of Surprise.
Kings who've tried to outbid destiny
end up on pikes.
And if I win the war but lose Ciri,
what victory is that?
[swords clanking]
Maybe that army won't come, and if they do, maybe you'll be ready.
But if you have any doubt in your mind that she's safe here,
give her to me.
Call it destiny, security, what larger forces at work,
I don't care.
I will take her, protect her,
and bring her back unharmed, I promise you that.
Ciri is all I have left of my daughter.
If Ciri survives, then Pavetta lives on too.
Law of Surprise has been called.
I'll tell Cirilla myself.
Oh, sweet Cintra, you were so promising,
from your spoiled princess to your stupid old king!
But when I arrived, the royals were dead!
Tossed out a window or shot in the head!
[devil puppet] So, what to do now? Where's the devil to go?
Anywhere but here. Back in your hole!
[devil puppet] No, don't cast me out on a whim!
Who needs you when I've got him?
[devil puppet shouting]
[donkey braying]
[man] Hey!
Where'd you get a piece like this?
It was my mother's.
[woman] Hey, girl!
What's so special about Skellige?
Those roads aren't safe,
and the Skelligens are a grumpy lot.
How about this?
Come with me.
I've got one more thing to buy.
and then we'll make room on Clip and Clop
and be home by dark.
We don't have much, but we've got a sight more than you do.
Roof,
food, space on the floor to sleep.
A lot's happening on this Continent, but we're safer when we stick together.
Okay?
Grand.
[neighs]
[Calanthe] It's what has been promised.
We must sacrifice... to fulfill destiny.
[sighs]
Shh...
[sobs]
[door slams shut]
He may take you,
but you will always be mine.
[sniffles]
I need you to be brave now, because who are you?
The Lion Cub of Cintra.
Pleased to meet you, Princess.
-Can I say goodbye to my friends now? -Of course.
I'll summon you when she's ready.
[whooshing]
[crashing]
[metallic rattling]
[rattling stops]
[indistinct whispering]
[flies buzzing]
[horse neighing]
[indistinct chatter]
[boy] Go on, Korin, do it! Oh! Gimme.
Korin, Anton, I have to go.
-What? No! -I know!
[Anton] Take care.
Your Highness.
[boys laughing]
[Anton] Throw those knuckles.
First, you try to kill me, then you lie to me.
I'm just trying to keep Cirilla safe.
Ciri is safe, with me, until the day she takes over my throne.
-Listen to me. -I did listen once.
Let a hedgehog into my court.
It got me Pavetta dead.
I won't lose Ciri too.
So you and destiny can both fuck right off.
Because if Nilfgaard comes, will destiny carry a banner into battle?
No.
We have an army, a navy...
and me.
A dynasty can't survive on arrogance alone.
Says a witcher.
She needs family.
You know nothing about that.
Your own mother cared so little, she discarded you.
You lecture me on a mother's love yet offer up someone else's daughter.
Queen to all of Cintra, grandmother to one.
I won't orphan that girl.
You're sentencing her to death.
-What did I miss? -Nothing.
Get him out of my sight.
I remember when you honored the Law of Surprise.
What changed?
I had a granddaughter.
So protect her.
-Your Majesty. -What if Calanthe's wrong?
What if they come and Ciri is trapped?
I fight side by side with my Queen.
You put too much faith in that woman.
Well, you weren't there.
After Pavetta died, Calanthe would wake up howling in the night.
The Lioness, nearly broken.
Someone who's able to pull themselves out of that,
they'll have my confidence till my final day.
I need your promise you won't come back.
If I hear Ciri's in danger,
you know I can't do that.
I know.
[men yelling]
[tools scraping and hacking]
[man] Just move it!
Faster!
[man 2] That's right! No water till you've finished!
[horse neighs]
[man 3] Move it!
[man 4] That's right!
[man 5] All right, ditch diggers!
[man 6] Move it!
[man 5] Report any findings immediately!
All visitors must declare themselves to the officers!
Is it cleared yet?
[sentry] Safe conduct?
You're coming from Caingorn?
How long will you be in Nazair?
That is yet to be determined.
Hello, Yennefer.
[chuckling] The... the runes described a...
a "magnalith" in Nazair, but no one could find it till I got here.
Until Nilfgaard tore through all the lands.
They allow my research.
That's all I care about.
Hmm. A man of principle.
You don't understand. Every glyph has a clue
-to something across the Continent... -[groans]
...from a time before the Conjunction.
Most are history, but some might be more.
The prophecy, the future, I want to explore all of it.
[chuckles] Wow.
That's a face. You hate it that much?
[Yennefer] Only because I have taste buds.
Well, these people were starving before Nilfgaard.
See, most kings only care about their cocks and their coffers.
They look out for their people. Everybody gets something.
The same thing,
which tastes as if someone pissed in my cup.
Sounds to me like you bought in.
No. No, it's, uh...
It's just that...
sometimes, boring is better.
No, it's not.
Come on.
[Yennefer] How long do you see yourself here?
There's a lot of hill left to dig. Why?
Because I may be missing you.
[both chuckle]
See, the Yennefer I remember didn't miss anyone.
Yeah, well...
What if...
it's not too late for what we talked about in the cave?
We could go somewhere with,
I don't know, two types of ale.
You could...
play with your rocks,
and I'll work as a mage.
You hate monoliths.
-Yes, but-- -But what?
I mean, look at you. You could have anyone.
I have.
And it was fun to be wanted.
The object of desire.
After where I came from, I lapped it up.
But they all loved the power that came with my position at court.
Not my power.
And no one's ever seen that but me?
[sighs deeply]
You know,
I spent...
I spent years...
waiting for this moment where you realized we're meant for each other.
You know, coming up with excuses to study at Aedirn.
Henges, dead languages, anything to get closer to you again, and....
every request I made was denied.
You shut them all down.
[sighs]
[scoffs softly]
Stregobor, of all people, snapped me out of it.
"Forget about the girl. Get back to work." And work saved me.
Remembered why I loved it. The beauty, the purity. No...
distractions when I'm in it.
You went after the thing you loved.
So you chose power.
[sighs]
[sniffles]
At least you kept your eyes.
[sighs shakily]
His loss.
Piss off.
Well, I would, but we don't have much time.
Who the fuck are you?
[whispering] I'm Vilgefortz of Roggeveen.
Why are you whispering?
Nilfgaard is conscripting mages like us into their service.
Now, since...
Now, since I don't have a letter of safe conduct,
and yours is probably fake, we should go,
before those lads start asking questions.
Go where?
[Vilgefortz] Aretuza.
[laughs]
[Vilgefortz] Well, the feeling's mutual.
The Chapter thinks you're rash,
unpredictable and dangerous.
But right now,
that's exactly what Tissaia and I need.
Tissaia asked for me?
She said you're the best student she ever taught.
[Vilgefortz] Let's talk.
About what?
Nilfgaard.
Their army's camped near Cintra, and we think they're going to attack.
And they won't stop there.
We need allies from the Northern Kingdoms.
I'll leave this to the people who actually give a shit. Where's Tissaia?
[Vilgefortz] Tissaia can wait.
Fine, I'll just follow the sound of crying girls.
[Vilgefortz] She has no idea you're here.
You said she asked for me.
No.
I told you that she said you were her best student.
I'm the one that wants you here.
It took five minutes for the lies to start.
Why did I expect anything else from a place held together by bullshit?
[Tissaia, echoing] Do you know how many people wouldn't blink if you died?
-[young Yennefer] Let me out! -[thumping on door]
Let me out!
[Tissaia] Sometimes, the best thing a flower can do for us is die.
[Yennefer] You should've let me die.
At least I had control over that.
[Tissaia] Mm, that's adorable, piglet.
[girls giggling]
[Tissaia] You weren't taking control,
you were losing it.
-[echoing] You were losing it. -What the hell's going on in here?
[girl] We were studying. Botany.
If I gave Rectress de Vries your pitiful excuse about that pitiful plant,
I'd be gone by nightfall.
[scoffs softly]
But fuck that old bag!
[girls laugh hesitantly]
This was my room.
Before anyone you know was born.
So, you've been to court?
Aedirn.
It's very elegant.
-Very boring. -Why are you back, then?
Why am I back?
I bet you hate botany as much as I did.
Who wants to know what those herbs are really good for?
Rhwydwaith carthion.
They've taught you about its healing powers
and fortifying blah, blah, blah.
But they leave out that if you mix these two together,
you'll see colors like never...
before.
Miss tells us never to mix herbs.
They tell you that so you have to go to them for all the answers.
A word of advice.
Think for yourselves.
It'll save you a lifetime of heartbreak.
[girl] The ceiling's melting.
[Yennefer] No.
The herbs are working.
-[giggling] -[girl, echoing] Well, I don't feel...
-What was I saying? -[laughing]
Gods, you're pretty.
Oh, don't worry, Fola.
You'll look like that too.
Nobody starts off that way.
-You want to know a secret? -Nobody starts off that way.
It's overrated.
Look, I'm levitating!
[echoing] Levitating, I'm levitating.
[Yennefer] Glacella, whatever you lack in talent, you make up for in confidence.
[Fola] She doesn't need confidence. Her father owns half of Creyden.
So he could swap a hundred horses for her spot here.
[giggling]
Your parents paid Aretuza?
The Chapter decided it needed students from the best families.
But you all must have had a conduit moment?
We shouldn't be mixing herbs. We shouldn't even be here.
You know, if they catch us, they really will expel us.
There are far worse things than expulsion.
Like what?
What is this place?
[Yennefer] Aretuza's windmill.
Enough bridled chaos to keep the curtains hung...
and the torches lit, but that's not what we're here for.
-[Glacella] I think we should go. -[Fola] Wait. I've got so many questions.
[Yennefer] You want to know more.
[Fola] Yes.
Everything.
The ability to create life,
real life,
they take that from you.
And then send you out,
so the only family, the only loyalty you have,
is to them.
And you'll trade it all for what?
Looks that never change.
A court full of idiots.
But you don't have to do it.
But what if I want to?
-We're leaving. Come on. -Lesson's not over yet!
Just because you fucked up, doesn't mean we will.
-You? -Come on.
With all the magical talent of shoe leather?
You'll have a home here forever, Glacella.
Right here.
With my sisters who never ascended.
[ringing sound]
What's happening?
Anica, is that you?
[young Yennefer] You turned my friend into a slug.
[Tissaia] An eel.
Come, push your friend into the pool.
[Yennefer] I don't care what you do, but remember this.
Even if you do everything right,
follow their rules,
that's still no guarantee you'll get what you want.
[Tissaia] Enough!
Back to your rooms, girls.
[Yennefer sighs]
[scoffs softly]
You ruined one life.
Stop there.
[Yennefer] I never even wanted to come back here!
[sighs] Then you failed at that, too.
[Yennefer] Look at this place.
It's a joke.
Letting in girls who can't even do magic!
Sometimes, you have to compromise in order to survive.
You say I never took responsibility for the way my life turned out.
What about you?
[girl] But what's happening? I don't understand...
[Yennefer] What's going on?
[Tissaia] It's happening.
[Yennefer] Triss!
Yennefer.
-I tried finding you for years. -Why are you all here?
An emergency conclave of the Northern Mages.
-Nilfgaard took Marnadal. -What?
They're attacking Cintra.
[Artorius] Going to war against Nilfgaard is madness.
And for Cintra?
They've rejected our mages for decades, so let's grant them their wish.
It's not just about Cintra.
Nilfgaard won't be satisfied until they have the whole Continent.
-And how do you know this? -Because that's the same lie I would tell.
I'm the only one here that's led soldiers into battle.
Oh, yes, and don't we know it?
You wear your silly costume
-every chance you get. -[mages laugh]
All those years swinging his sword around were years he wasn't serving as a mage.
Or killing babies born at an eclipse.
[murmuring]
We can stop Nilfgaard, if we act now.
The south... well, is the south.
It is up to the north to unite.
It is time to convince our kings to send their armies.
They could cross the Yaruga,
make it to Sodden by week's end.
They could save Cintra.
If Cintra falls, who cares?
-[muttering] -[woman] I care!
Because our kingdoms will be next.
[door opens]
Our fight is with Cintra, and only Cintra.
In Nilfgaard, we know what it's like to have corrupt leaders.
But under our new leader, Emperor Emhyr, we've changed.
We've strengthened trade.
We've funded research.
We have torn down walls,
whilst Queen Calanthe has done nothing but put them up.
I am not here to defend Cintra.
But I will defend our way of life.
The Brotherhood, the Academies,
the order that we have built up over centuries.
You've rejected it all, Fringilla.
[Fringilla] Not true. We've modified it.
Most of us came from Aretuza and Ban Ard.
We've simply charted a different path,
guided by the White Flame.
That makes us cousins, not enemies.
You force mages into servitude!
[Fringilla] When in training, yes. Like soldiers.
We believe in shared sacrifice.
[Triss] You also believe in forbidden magic.
Demonology, necromancy, fire magic!
[Fringilla] Forbidden magic is one of the ghost stories taught to us here.
There is no such thing as dark or light magic.
[screaming]
[Fringilla] Nothing in this world is as simple as that.
You think that we're destroying the Continent.
We know that if we take Cintra, we have a chance of saving it.
If you won't take sides, then at least stay out of our way.
[Stregobor] Ah, enough of this tiring debate.
Cintra's a lost cause.
Let them reap what they sow.
I say we vote.
-Yes, vote. Vote! -Vote?
First, you install your niece at Nilfgaard,
and now you want to ram through a vote.
[Fringilla] To be fair, Yennefer of Vengerberg
is the one I have to thank for my posting.
If she had taken it, I wouldn't be where I am today.
Neither would Nilfgaard.
If only Yennefer had gone to Nilfgaard.
With her at the helm, they'd still be a shitty backwater.
[laughing]
You're right.
Instead, I went to a prized kingdom and did fuck all for decades.
Just as you taught us.
Helped murderers and rapists keep their crown.
Maybe it is time for something different.
Pipe down. You-- you don't get a vote.
If I did, I'd vote to burn it all down.
-[clamoring] -There! There you have--
-There you have it! -[Tissaia] It's true.
Cintra has chosen to turn its back on us.
They are proud, and smart, and difficult, yes.
But I'd wager above all else...
-they are scared. -[woman] It's true.
We have called them a lost cause for years.
But we stopped trying too.
And it is time now...
that we risk not only our lives, but our pride,
and try again.
[indistinct murmuring]
With your permission,
all those in favor
of letting Cintra continue their proud tradition
of fending for themselves?
Well...
there you have it.
[sighs]
I know you hate this place, but there are girls who need it.
Those who have only ever known chaos until we teach them control.
You were right, in Rinde.
Aretuza is all I have.
If Nilfgaard wins...
-[indistinct chatter] -[door opens]
[softly] That's why Vilgefortz and I and some others are going to fight.
You should join us.
Did you hear a word I just said?
Why would I protect this?
If you will not do it for the Brotherhood, then do it for me.
Please.
Have you ever used that word before?
[Mousesack] Your Majesty,
the Nilfgaardians will breach the castle gates.
[cheering]
[Mousesack] Have breached.
Now what?
What do we do?
[grunts]
[keys clattering]
Hmm.
The Witcher...
I couldn't let him go.
I know what I've done.
He's in the gate keep.
If I can bring him here...
to Ciri...
destiny may yet side with us.
Danek.
It's time.
Wait, where are you going?
Geralt!
[sighs]
[man yells]
Your Majesty...
[whispers] He's gone.
Looks like he's escaped.
If he is out there,
then there is still hope for her.
-What is it? -Lazlo, bring her cloak.
[gasps]
What? No!
Continue to be brave. Promise me.
You are the Lion Cub of Cintra.
-You are destined for great things. -I can't do this without you.
-We must go, Your Highness. -[screams] No!
[rattling]
[softly] Go.
The world depends on it.
[softly] I love you.
Find Geralt of Rivia.
He is your destiny.
[Lazlo] We must go, Your Highness.
[thuds]
[exhales sharply]
Princess, come.
[groans]
Tell me what I want to know and you'll live.
[breathing heavily]
I am already saved.
[Geralt sighs]
-[groans] -[grunts]
[sighs]
[grunts]
Where is Cirilla?
No one... is left.
[whimpers]
Ah... we shall be born anew. [wheezes]
Thus it shall be.
Watch for the signs.
What signs these shall be I say unto--
[squelches]
[cicadas chirping]
[horse whinnies]
[loon calls]
[Ciri] I should've traded that ring for food.
You're right, Clop.
Or are you Clip?
[whinnies]
[laughs] Gods, what kind of crazy person talks to a horse?
[twig snaps]
[horse nickers]
[frog croaking]
[horse whinnies]
[bird calling]
[horse nickering]
[horse neighs]
It's all right.
It's all right. We're Cintrans.
-[twigs cracking] -[horse whinnying]
Anton!
[gasps] You made it out. You're all right!
I told you it was her at the market.
[Ciri] Hey.
-What are you doing? -[horse nickering]
Hey, stop that!
Anton. Please, stop it!
You don't give the orders anymore, Princess.
Rumor is Nilfgaard's looking for you.
And willing to pay a barrel of orens, too.
I'm sorry for what happened.
[horse whinnying]
I'm sorry if your family got hurt.
We played knucklebones together.
This isn't you. I know it.
You know fuck all.
You thought you were better than us because we had to let you win?
The only thing special about you was the fucking crown on your head.
[Ciri shrieks] No!
[screams] No!
[panting] I--
[grunting]
[whooshing]
[deep hum]
[silence]
[deep hum]
[whooshing]
[overlapping voices] Verily, I say unto you
the era of the sword and the ax is nigh,
the era of the Wolf's Blizzard.
The Time of the White Chill and the White Light is nigh...
[neighs]
...the Time of Madness and the Time of Contempt.
[screaming]