The Witcher (2019) s03e03 Episode Script

1
[CHIRPING]
[JASKIER] Vespula? Vespula!
Are you even listening?
What does Radovid even
mean, I see people?
How does he know what I see? I
mean, he's only met me, like, twice.
[TRADERS SHOUTING OUTSIDE]
Nah You can't play a player.
That's what I always say.
He's hiding something, and
if I'm gonna help Geralt,
I need to find out what that is.
Because Geralt is
a hammer.
- [COCKEREL CROWS]
- You know?
[HOOVES CLATTERING]
You're confused.
All right Wait Okay. Ah
When you're a hammer,
every problem is a nail.
You see a nail and you're
like, "Grrr. Fuck this nail."
"Fuck this nail, in particular."
And you hammer the nail.
But sometimes the
problem is something else.
Sometimes the problem is,
uh a bunch of petunias,
or a bowl of porridge, and you
can't hammer a bowl of porridge.
I mean, you can try, but then
your hammer gets all gunked up,
porridge goes everywhere, and
then you have no porridge.
The solution requires
a different kind of tool.
And Radovid is that tool.
Radovid is a spoon.
- Oh, obviously.
- Obviously. Yeah.
Aah Yeah, I'm aware this
doesn't make a lot of sense.
What I'm trying to say is,
the problem is different.
The solution needs to be different.
And Radovid is different.
He's intelligent. He tries to
hide it, but he's insightful.
Sharp like a knife.
If he's a knife, I need to
keep him away from Geralt.
[VESPULA] You like him!
Who, Geralt? Yeah, I guess.
Platonically, and
occasionally with great effort,
as one would a family goat.
- Hang on, when did you get dressed?
- I mean the spoon guy.
What, Radovid? No!
- [VESPULA] Yes.
- No!
I've cursed you for
chasing tail of every kind.
Men, women, dwarves,
elves, polymorphous
That was one time and
I regret nothing.
- It was amazing.
- Hmm.
But never have I ever
seen you have a crush.
[PLAYFUL MUSIC]
- A crush?
- Mmm.
Oh, you think I have crushes.
Mmm-hmm.
- Crushes are for children, my darling.
- Mmm?
[VESPULA GASPS]
- [JASKIER] I have mind-bending
- Mmm?
world-ending,
heart-wrenching affairs.
- Whatever you say.
- [LAUGHS]
- The Lothario of Lyria.
- Oh!
- The Romancer of Redania!
- Aah!
- The Stud of Cidaris!
- [LAUGHS]
- [BANGING ON DOOR]
- [GERALT] Jaskier.
For fuck's
Sorry. It's the family goat.
[JASKIER] Good to see
you too. How'd it go?
[GERALT] Not quite as expected.
[JASKIER] Did you find the castle?
Please tell me you killed Firefingers.
- [HORSE NEIGHS]
- [GERALT] Rience wasn't there.
I did find something else, though.
- Yeah, and what's that?
- [GIRL TALKING]
- [GERALT] Her.
- [MURMURING]
[JASKIER] And she is?
I don't know.
[GIRL] Ooh, ooh ooh!
But she thinks she's Ciri.
[GIRL] Always a source. No room for
I hate you. Ooh!
[GERALT] It's all right Ciri.
- This is a friend.
- [MUTTERING]
I'm Jaskier.
[GIRL] Always a source.
No room for vermin.
- Always.
- Fuck. Is she all right?
She was part of an experiment.
- [GIRL] Don't be
- The only survivor.
[WHIMPERING]
She has lucid moments,
but reverts back to this.
[SINGING]
Whatever she's rambling about,
it's stuck in her head
in a nonsensical loop.
I need to find out why.
[JASKIER] Please tell
me you have a plan.
[GERALT] We're taking her to Anika.
If this is an enchantment,
she'll be able to fix it.
And who's Anika?
She's a druid. And a
friend of my mother's.
[GIRL CHUCKLING SOFTLY]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
- [MAN] Yep, it's him all right.
- [ROACH SNORTS]
Smelled you from two hilltops away.
What are you doing here, Otto?
Blame the heightened senses, but we
both know you're a ripe old bugger.
I suppose you're here for a reason.
[GIRL MURMURING]
- [GERALT] Hello, Anika.
- [GIRL] Wait. Just
- [OTTO] She's missed you too.
- [SIGHS]
Come on.
[RUSTLING]
- [CLATTERING]
- [JASKIER] Whew! Oh, that burns.
That burns like a Raróg's arsehole.
- [CHUCKLES] What is it?
- [OTTO] Uh, that's table salt.
[JASKIER COUGHING] Yeah.
Ooh-hoo.
Yep, that's just, uh
that's just table salt.
That's not, um not very druidic.
- I'm not a druid.
- Oh, right.
- I'm a werewolf.
- Whoa.
What? You're What? Uh, a
[CHUCKLES] I was bit,
back in the plague of '21.
Went out to the woods to
isolate. Avoid the disease.
Was so worried about boils
and shitting myself to death,
I wasn't thinking about werewolves.
Priority, yeah. I get it.
Geralt was hired by the
villagers to kill me.
He found me a cure instead.
- Kept close to my chest, it keeps me safe.
- Oh.
Almost got himself killed
in the process, but
he saved my life.
Yeah. Seems about right.
[GIRL MURMURING SOFTLY]
I don't know
How'd you and Otto meet?
It was about a year ago.
We were at the Temple
of Truth. Mourning.
His wife, Edwina, was killed
in a fire. The children too.
I was there for Visenna.
She's dead?
She talked about you a lot at the end.
[MOURNFUL MUSIC]
Well, whoever did this
fucked her up pretty good.
It's a mind-control enchantment.
[GERALT] Mind control?
So someone needs her
to believe she's Ciri.
It's extremely powerful.
Elements of Chaos, druidic magic,
even some ancient elven
sorcery in the spell.
Oh, that's another
thing. She's part elven.
Maybe a couple of generations
removed, but still.
Poor girl's head's a tangled mess.
Who would have the power to do this?
I don't know anyone with
the knowledge to do this.
It would take lifetimes to
acquire all these tricks.
Whoever this mage is, they have
quite a variety of interests.
[OTTO] An extraction elixir.
[ANIKA] Well done, Otto.
[UNCORKS BOTTLE]
[SOFT HISSING]
[MYSTICAL MUSIC]
[WINCES]
[GASPS AND SPLUTTERS]
[WHIMPERING]
Ah, it'll take a while,
and there's no guarantee.
If it works, she'll be able
to tell us who did this.
[GERALT] And what they want with Ciri.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[SEABIRDS CALLING]
- [BELL TINKLES]
- [CIRI] This is the dwarven bank.
- I thought we were going to Aretuza.
- [YENNEFER] We are.
But as you said yourself, there's
always more to the picture.
- Aah! [LAUGHS]
- [DWARF] My eyes deceive me!
For surely, a creature this
beautiful cannot be real!
My sweet Yennefer,
it is the most sumptuous
of pleasures, as always.
- The pleasure is all mine, Giancardi.
- Mmm!
Please, take a seat while we
finalize your arrangements.
[GIANCARDI] Horror! Pure
'horror on my family's faces,
as they watched me dragged
away to certain death,
their own fate hanging in the balance.
When who should appear?
A goddess from the heaven?
- Better! Yennefer of Vengerberg.
- [YENNEFER GIGGLES]
She blasted the villainous
wretches into dust.
You exaggerate my heroism.
[GIANCARDI] Nonsense.
This is why the Giancardi
Bank, mind well the name,
will do anything for a friend.
For your other matter,
my most secure vault is yours.
Thank you.
If it's not too much to
ask, I have one more favor.
- [GIANCARDI] Sure.
- My ward needs a chaperone.
- Say no more.
- [CIRI] What?
Fabio is at your disposal.
I thought you said this
was important for my future.
It is. But first, my
past must be settled.
I know you're nervous.
Let me be there with you.
[WHIMSICAL MUSIC]
There.
Now you look ordinary.
Stop that.
No one is after you here. You're
just a normal girl having fun.
Take this. Buy something nice.
Now, let me see that talisman
you're constantly fiddling with.
- [SPEAKING IN ELDER]
- [SHIMMERING SOUND]
What's that for?
A locator spell.
If you get into any trouble, hold
this tight and recite the chant.
But don't get into any trouble.
[SIGHS]
[MAN BREATHING HEAVILY]
- [GASPS]
- [VIZIMIR GRUNTS]
- [CLANG]
- [MAN YELPS]
- [DIJKSTRA] Your Highness
- [VIZIMIR GROWLS]
Your Highness, uh
there seems to be some
confusion among your advisors.
- [CLANG]
- [VIZIMIR] Yes!
[MAN GROANS]
- Did you see that?
- Yes, very good.
Whispers of a meeting with
an emissary from Nilfgaard?
Oh, that. Yes.
- We brokered a deal.
- [LAUGHS]
Quite a good one. In the inevitable
event of their push North,
Nilfgaard has agreed to
leave Redania untouched.
And they're offering half
of Temeria as a vassal state.
Oh, pray tell, my lord,
what's the return on this
generous Nilfgaardian investment?
Oh, nothing we can't afford.
- "We"?
- [CLANG]
[MAN GROANS]
And, should we find her first,
we turn the Princess
of Cintra over to them.
You are being conned!
With all due respect, sir,
Nilfgaard are playing you for a fool.
With all due respect, Dijkstra,
you provide the intelligence,
I make the decisions.
- [SIGHS]
- [CLANG]
- [MAN GROANS]
- [GROWLS]
- [THUMP]
- [EVA] Pardon, your Grace
[MAN GROANS]
Queen Hedwig sent me to see
if you're finished with the,
uh important affairs of state?
She said to tell you they're here.
In case you wanted to say, uh hello.
Oh, yes. Quite finished.
But you've still got two more serves.
It can wait. My sweet Hedwig can't.
Sire, as your most senior advisor,
I cannot stress enough that
[VIZIMIR] You stress too much.
The only reason you have any power
here, Sigismund, is because of me.
Don't forget that.
[CHUCKLES]
- [DOOR SLAMS]
- He doesn't take a shit
without me knowing about it.
No one gets a private audience
with him outside my purview.
Radovid told us they did. He was
right. And they're doing it again.
Vizimir's not scheming alone.
Queen Hedwig has been in
such a useful mood of late.
Perhaps it's time to
make her useful to us.
Or should I do it?
No. You have enough fires to fight.
Hmm.
Speaking of fires, annoyingly,
I met another dead end
through that portal in the shape
of an artsy-fartsy crafting studio.
Apparently, Rience is being backed
by someone with appalling taste.
I meant the portal itself. You said
it felt different. More powerful.
Perhaps it's time to reach out
to one of your old community.
- Tissaia might be useful.
- Ooh
I only mean that if what
the bard says is true,
the witcher is on our scent.
If he gets to Rience
first, we lose the girl.
And our leverage.
Which is why we must both act now.
You know as well as I do, there are
many ways to persuade the stubborn.
Use Radovid. Time for
him to cut his teeth.
[RADOVID] Yes, Dijkstra.
Use me.
Shall I, uh chat with kitchen hands?
Uh, watch for shady
carriages rolling up?
Shadow my brother's wife?
You seem nowhere close to finding
this powerful Princess Cirilla.
You're just so busy
with your royal duties,
I dare not split your focus.
I don't need your help.
Well, tell that to your king.
And your boss.
[DOOR GRINDING]
[YENNEFER] You came.
- [COINS SHUFFLING]
- [DOOR CLANGS SHUT]
Strange, isn't it?
Men bleed and kill for this stuff.
Only to let it rust.
In dark rooms.
[YENNEFER] Because it's worthless.
It's too soft to make anything useful.
You can't eat it. Can't fuck it.
Though the King of Aedirn
used to like to try.
Its power comes from
believing in its value.
An illusion designed
to control the masses.
The leader of the Brotherhood
should know all about that.
She seems to know everything else.
You know, it started to
gnaw at me, back in Ellander.
Northerners killing their own.
[MELANCHOLY MUSIC]
The whispers of a dozen
bounties on Cirilla of Cintra.
When last everyone knew, she
was killed in the slaughter.
I think you learned Cirilla
was alive and shared the news,
hoping to curry favor
with the Northern kings.
Except no one can find her. The
Brotherhood is on their shit list,
and they're so focused
on terrorizing an orphan
that they can't see an empire
waiting to destroy them.
Curry favor?
I don't know what's more insulting.
That you think my goals so basic,
or that you free a
Nilfgaardian prisoner of war,
then lecture me on Northern unity.
What mess will you
leave us with this time?
I have been a mess.
And I'm sorry.
When I tried to kill myself at Aretuza,
I was so desperate
to control my destiny.
You weren't taking
control. You were losing it.
I know.
And I still feel like that sometimes.
Like I'm at a loss.
Rience. A fire mage.
He's after Cirilla too, but someone
far more powerful is backing him.
We can't let him get to her.
You want me to help hide a
princess whose existence means war?
I want more than that.
She's extraordinary.
She's the rightful heir to Cintra
and a great deal more, so I'm told.
If war is coming, there
is no hiding her from it.
Well, then, maybe she
can lead us out of it.
For all the Brotherhood's
faults, they respect magic.
She deserves to know
what hers is capable of.
She deserves control of her destiny.
Please.
Please help me make this right. For us.
For her.
After all this time
After all your searching,
you actually did it.
Did what?
Became a mother.
[MELANCHOLY MUSIC SWELLS]
[LAUGHS]
[FABIO] Smart rates for a smart lady.
- Giancardi Bank, mind well the name.
- Yes, that's four.
- Smart rates for a smart gentleman.
- [MAN 1] No thanks, son.
- Smart rates for a smart lady?
- [WOMAN] Oh, piss off.
Smart rates. Come by Giancardi Bank,
mind well the name, to open an account.
[MAN 2] Yeah, go on, then.
Smart rates for a smart lady.
Maybe you'd have better luck
if you didn't want it so bad.
Maybe I'd have better luck
if I wasn't with a girl who
pounds donuts like a truffle pig.
- Want one?
- I'm wheat intolerant.
Come by Giancardi Bank,
mind well the name, sir.
What's that place?
Thanedd Island.
Home to Aretuza. That's the
Tower of the Gull. Tor Lara.
Looks scary, doesn't it?
Legend has it, they take failing
novices to the caves below the tower
and turn them into eels.
Sounds more exciting than this market.
[GOAT BLEATS]
Spectacles here would
haunt you to your deathbed,
you rude little duck's arse.
Try me.
[CROWD, TO MELODY OF "THE WILD
ROVER"] All hail Cintra ♪
Nilfgaard ever more ♪
And I wave the flag of Nilfgaard ♪
Nilfgaard ever more! ♪
[CHEERING]
- [MAN] Nilfgaard!
- [LAUGHTER]
Anyone give you any trouble?
Please. No one gives a shit
about this ancient elven garbage.
[ROWDY CHEERING AND LAUGHTER]
- Where's the book?
- There's no book on monotones.
- Monoliths.
- Whatever.
There is. I've been
researching for months.
Codringher and Fenn confirmed it
was buried in a Xin'trean cavern.
Where is the book?
If you let me finish, the book of
whatever had already been recovered.
- I assumed it'd been sent to you.
- Why would you assume that?
'Cause it went to Aretuza.
By order of the emperor himself.
You owe me 20 marks, Isturd.
It's Istredd.
Whatever.
All hail the White Flame.
[FOREBODING MUSIC]
[SOLDIERS MARCHING OUTSIDE]
[SOLDIER SHOUTING INSTRUCTIONS]
Thought I was gonna shit my
kecks comin' through those gates.
Never seen anything
quite like this place.
[CAHIR] Well, you just wait.
If the Emperor likes our proposal,
- you could be seeing a lot more of it.
- [DOOR OPENS]
My man says you're from
the Scoia'tael front.
What news do you bring, son?
Gallatin, sir.
- Bad news. We're getting slaughtered.
- [COUGHS]
Forgive me. I'm a
fighter, not a politician.
I don't really know how
to sugarcoat the truth.
All the better for it.
Continue.
[GALLATIN] I've been
a soldier all my life.
I take no pleasure in jumping rank.
But Francesca has been siphoning
off our best fighters, our resources,
leading my men on side missions
straight to their graves.
[EMHYR] Well, Francesca has made
many sacrifices for her people.
What makes you think her
choices can't be trusted?
Her choices are in defiance
of your orders, sir.
She's not fighting to soften the
North. She's searching for a girl.
[INHALES SHARPLY]
I'd like you to stay awhile.
We can resolve this
issue, I have no doubt.
- Make sure this man is fed.
- [MAN] My lord.
[BOOTS STAMP]
Thank you.
[MARCHING AWAY]
[SOLDIERS CONTINUE DRILLING OUTSIDE]
Thank you, my lord.
I knew your righteousness would prevail.
[EMHYR] Is this a manipulation
to end your punishment?
Because, don't forget, it was deceit
that got you where you are now.
No, my lord.
I would not lie about this.
I asked for a private audience
to protect your secret.
But Cirilla Cirilla is out there.
I am having dreams about her.
- She wants me to find her.
- You tried that once.
You failed.
My lord, I have been in the
field. Gallatin is a good fighter.
He knows the land. The
elves are loyal to him.
He can deliver us the North.
Division among the elves would
only hurt our cause on both fronts.
But, uh
an army is only as good
as its leader, uh
I know a good leader when I see one.
It gave me no pleasure to punish you.
But I had to know you could be trusted.
That I had not lost you.
Are you ready to come home, Cahir?
Yes.
Prove it.
[JASKIER] I think you've chopped
enough wood here for two,
maybe three centuries of fire.
What's the plan, Geralt?
We wait for her to wake
up, make sure she's okay,
find Rience and the mage
that did this, and kill them.
And then what?
Yarpen told me he saw you talking
to Philippa Eilhart in Ban Gleán.
It's okay, Jaskier.
What did Dijkstra want you to do?
He wanted me to convince you
to take Ciri to Redania.
[CHUCKLES]
And I agree with him.
She'd be safe with an army,
an entire army at her back.
Ciri would be nothing more than a
brood mare on the Cintran throne.
She's a princess, Geralt.
That's what princesses do.
They sit on little royal thrones
and they have little royal babies.
And they rule kingdoms.
This is what Ciri wants.
Does she want to be a political
pawn for Vizimir and Dijkstra?
- No
- No.
We stay the course.
Neutrality has consequences too.
There are already consequences,
Jaskier. And not just for Ciri.
I thought by taking her off the board,
the world would stop trying to use her.
Instead, they're trying
to use others in her place.
And they will continue to.
Because that is what people in power do.
But she's not a witcher.
She's certainly not an Aretuzan
witch sourcing magic out of
stones, or hemp,
or plants, or whatever
it is that Yennefer does.
She's a princess.
I think you should trust her.
Her source.
Her what now?
You're right.
[JASKIER] I'm right
Well, that's deeply worrying. What?
[ANIKA] Geralt
- I need you to wake up.
- [ANIKA] Geralt, no.
- [OTTO] It's too soon.
- Can you hear me?
[OTTO] You could hurt
the extraction spell.
You said there was always a source.
- [SIGHS]
- [GERALT] What did you mean?
Always a source to what?
Magic.
[GERALT] Can you tell me your name?
Teryn.
[GERALT] Good.
Something happened
that affected your mind.
Do you remember what happened?
[GASPS]
I was dragged from my room.
Yes.
By a man.
A man with a scar?
[ANIKA] Careful, Geralt.
[TERYN, SHAKILY] He
was there. Sometimes.
And the woman with the funny voice.
They all helped the man.
The man, he
He always scared me.
You knew him.
At school.
At Aretuza.
[GASPS]
Oh [SOBBING]
We need to put her back under.
- [GERALT] I need a name.
- [OTTO] I'll grab elixir.
- [WAILING]
- It's all right.
- Just say it.
- What was his name, Teryn?
[SCREAMING]
[WAILS]
[SOBS]
[DEEP VOICE] Stupid witcher.
You're doomed and you
don't even know it.
[OVERLAPPING VOICES]
I am Cirilla's destiny.
May all ye wail,
for the Destroyer of Nations is upon us.
[YELPS]
Anika!
- [CRACKING SOUNDS]
- [GROANING]
- [CRUNCHING]
- [DEEP VOICE] Geralt!
- [GROWLING]
- Jaskier, the amulet!
No, no, no, no. Teryn. Teryn!
- Jaskier!
- [ROARING]
- [GRUNTING]
- Geralt!
[OTTO] Ah! Aah
- [TERYN GASPING]
- [JASKIER] Shh, shh.
- [OTTO SIGHING]
- [TERYN WHIMPERING]
[JASKIER] Shh, shh.
[BARKER] Roll up! Roll up!
Roll up!
See with your own eyes
the most frightful creature
the gods ever created!
A live basilisk, the venomous
terror of the Zerrikanian desert!
An insatiable man-eater!
- Only 15 groats.
- Told you.
[BARKER] That's 15 groats,
yeah? Hey, you, hop it.
15 groats, everyone. Yeah, go
on. Pay the money to the boy.
In you go. Enjoy. In you go.
Enjoy the show.
[CHUCKLES] Enjoy the show.
[BARKER CONTINUES SHOUTING]
[MAN] Come on, hurry up!
Careful. These beasts are
notoriously unpredictable.
I've fought enough of them to know.
[WOMAN] Hey, let's get to the front.
[GROWLING]
- [CIRI] That cage looks small.
- Maybe it's a baby basilisk.
That would be a rip-off.
How scary could that be?
You'd be surprised.
They are unpredictable.
And unpredictable means trouble.
What's wrong with a little trouble?
[SCOFFS] A lot if you've lived my life.
That sounds like a challenge.
[SOFT CLINK]
[GROWLING CONTINUES]
Ladies and gentlemen!
[LAUGHING]
The king of all serpents.
'Tis a most rare monster.
- [THUMP]
- [SQUEALING]
Hatching from an egg only laid
by a knavish cockerel, well!
Who presents his rump to another
in the manner of a horny hen!
- Ooooh!
- [LAUGHTER]
Cock-a-doodle-doo-ooh-ooh!
- Ta-da!
- [CROWD GASPS]
An egg that must be brooded
by a hundred and one venomous snakes.
[GROWLING]
Good people, keep your distance.
Its breath alone could poison you.
- [CIRI] That's not a basilisk.
- [GASPS AND MURMURS]
[MAN] Stop interrupting, love.
When the basilisk hatches,
it devours the snakes,
imbibing their venom.
And when a knight
stabs it with his sword,
the poison runs up the
blade, killing the knight
- Chhkk, chhkk! Outright.
- [CROWD GASPS]
That is the falsest lie.
'Tis the truest truth.
That's why a basilisk can only be killed
by seeing its reflection in the mirror.
Quite right, sir!
- Don't.
- No, you're all wrong. This is a wyvern.
And it's young, and it's starving
because you're keeping it in this cage!
[LAUGHS MOCKINGLY]
Listen, darlin', if you
don't like my little show,
why don't you just piss off and shut up?
- [WYVERN SQUEALS]
- [BARKER GROANS]
[WOOD CRUNCHING]
[PURRING AND CHIRPING]
[SCREAMING]
[CHITTERING]
- [ROARS]
- [SCREAMING]
[SNARLING]
[SCREAMING]
[WYVERN SQUEALING]
Oi, oi, you little shit!
This girl is under the
protection of Giancardi Bank.
Mind well the name, arsehole.
[THUMPING]
[GASPS]
[SNARLING]
Where's my knife?
Here!
[WYVERN CRIES]
[WYVERN WHIMPERING]
[WOMAN] Who is she? Is she okay?
- [CIRI GROANS]
- [KNIGHT] Get off of her, devil dog!
You saved me, brave knight!
We have a hero in our midst!
- He saved us all!
- [KNIGHT] I did?
- I did!
- [CIRI] I have to get out of here!
[FABIO] That was fucking incredible!
Did you see me hit that guy?
- [CIRI] Yennefer will kill me.
- I'll get fired, I don't even care!
- Where the fuck's my money?
- I can travel.
- Kick arse through this fucking Continent!
- Where's my money?
- [WOMAN] Hey, trouble!
- [COINS JINGLE]
[HORSE SNORTS]
You were great in there.
Fucking hell.
I've gotta go. Thank you.
- Where are you goin'?
- And good luck kicking arse!
[SPEAKING IN ELDER]
[REPEATS SPELL]
[REPEATS SPELL]
Where are you, Yennefer?
[REPEATS SPELL]
[REPEATS SPELL]
Another runaway. You've
had your fun, novice.
- Back to the dorms.
- Get your hands off me!
[GASPS]
You will address me as
Mistress Laux-Antille.
And you'll clean the toilets
for your impertinence.
[YENNEFER] I'll take it from here.
[MISTRESS LAUX-ANTILLE] Yen.
[SABRINA] What are you doing here?
Bringing my ward to
get a proper education,
one she obviously sorely needs.
Forgive her, Rita.
So this is the girl.
Don't look at her.
Look at me.
Don't you dare take your eyes off me.
[LOW RUMBLING]
- [YENNEFER] That's enough introductions.
- [BREATHING SHAKILY]
As an apology for her impudence,
allow me to treat you
ladies to some luxury.
[SABRINA] Thank gods, I'm bored.
Shall we take the waters
at the Silver Heron?
[BOTH GIGGLE]
[RITA] Don't threaten
me with a good time.
[GASPS]
[SIGHS]
[ECHOING LAUGHTER]
[RITA CHUCKLES] Hands off. He's mine.
[SABRINA] I wasn't
planning on using my hands.
[RITA] Fuck magic, let's stay here.
[SABRINA] If this place ever closes,
I'll burn this fucking
city to the ground.
Here, girl!
Novices these days are useless.
- [SABRINA] Mmm.
- [RITA] Not like when we were girls.
I told you to bring the wine.
I'm surprised you can taste
anything at this point.
Are you calling me a lush?
Better a lush than a traitor.
Tell me, Yennefer.
Are the rumors about witchers true?
That their mutations make them impotent?
- [RITA] You're fucking a witcher? [LAUGHS]
- [SABRINA] Atrocious, isn't it?
- Almost as atrocious as your manners.
- Mmm.
- [RITA] Ooh.
- [SABRINA GIGGLES]
Perhaps instead of dwelling on the past,
focus our attention on the future.
I wanted red!
[SABRINA] Here.
We deserve a drink.
After all the fires we've been
putting out between kingdoms.
Fires we didn't start.
[RITA] Damned Cintran princess.
- What's so special about her, anyway?
- [SABRINA] Mmm.
Girl, the wine! Now.
Get it yourself.
[BANGS PITCHER DOWN]
[LAUGHS]
She'll only screw it up.
Besides, I know where the good stuff is.
[GASPS]
- What the hell is wrong with you?
- Shut the fuck up.
- Before you spoil everything.
- I can't spoil something already rotten!
This place, these women, it's horrible!
"This place"? You're
not a princess here.
You're a low-level novice. Get
used to being treated like one.
Entitlement will get you nowhere.
[BREATHING HEAVILY] I
don't want to do this.
You know, I don't
want to do this either.
Tomorrow I'll be expected to
crawl back to the Brotherhood,
tail between my legs,
begging for forgiveness.
And I'll do it.
Because Aretuza is my best hope of
protecting you from those who hunt you.
Our best chance to be safe.
- You have to go along to get along.
- To what end?
If I can't learn to control my powers,
will you let Tissaia
turn me into an eel?
And if I do become some
powerful, learned Aretuzan maid,
will you let her scrape out my insides
to become vapid and power-hungry
like your friends out there?
Tissaia is one of the most powerful
sorceresses on this Continent!
You should be grateful
she's willing to teach you!
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
[WHISPERS] Just because she saved you
does not mean you owe
her the rest of your life.
You told me to never
apologize for my power,
and yet that's all you seem to do.
You want to be a great leader?
You want to change the world?
Well, the day-to-day of leading
is dealing with a lot of
vapid, power-hungry arseholes!
I'm not Geralt.
This isn't Kaer Morhen.
This is the version of
myself I have to be here.
So you need to find a version of
yourself that can deal with that.
Trust me, I know you're not Geralt.
- He would never sell his soul like this.
- [SOBBING]
- [YELLS]
- [GLASS CLATTERS]
[SOBBING]
[FIRE CRACKLING]
- [OWL HOOTING]
- [SIGHS]
[GASPING]
- It's all right.
- [SIGHS]
Thanks to Otto.
I've never seen someone
make a potion so fast.
You taught him well.
[SIGHS] Just like Visenna taught me.
Did she suffer?
She was mistaken for an elf
while helping a villager.
[MOURNFUL MUSIC]
She was beaten very badly.
Does that make you feel better or worse?
I never wanted her to hurt.
- Just wanted her to know what she did.
- Oh, she knew.
Love for a child forces parents to make
the hardest choices of their lives.
Impossible ones, even.
Chances are, they toil over
it for the rest of their lives.
I do remember bits of our life.
She smelled like embers.
From keeping those measly
fires alive for the long nights.
I remember my hunger.
And her stomach growling
twice as loud as mine.
She used her magic
to create elaborate meals
that we couldn't afford.
I would have done
anything to make her smile.
And yet
the day she left me,
she was sick.
She needed water, so
I went to get her some.
And when I came back
she was gone.
I called for her.
But she was gone.
She loved you the best she could.
To save you, she had to let you go.
- This can't have been the only choice.
- It wasn't.
It's simply the one she made.
And now you have your
own impossible decision.
I won't abandon Ciri.
Even if it costs me my life.
[SIGHS]
Teryn.
Can she stay here, while
I work out how to help her?
- Mmm, of course.
- Thank you.
Where are you going?
Aretuza. [SIGHS]
[WATER SPLASHING GENTLY]
[QUIET LAUGHTER]
Are you all right?
No.
The magic is one thing.
- But the politics
- Hmm.
Even if I can curry enough
favor to get back into the
Brotherhood's fold and get
her trained, you're right.
War is coming, and she's
at the center of it.
Mages have kept kings
in check for centuries.
- We'll find a way.
- Toxicity's infectious.
The kings have turned
against each other.
How long before mages follow suit?
If we are to unite the
North, we must be united.
[TISSAIA CHUCKLES]
A conclave.
What?
We host a conclave of mages.
- We haven't had one since before Sodden.
- And then we went to war.
So we do it differently this time.
Instead of discord and
debate, we focus on trust.
Togetherness.
Is this also the girl's doing?
If we have any hope of
appealing to the kings,
we first have to find
better versions of ourselves.
I'm willing to try.
Are you?
- [CHUCKLES]
- [LAUGHTER DOWNSTAIRS]
[WISTFUL MUSIC]
[DOG BARKING]
[BREATHING SHAKILY]
[WHISPERS] Geralt.
Hey, Geralt, where are you?
- [WHISPERING VOICES]
- Geralt, where are you?
- [WIND WHISTLING]
- [VOICE] Who's Geralt?
- [VOICES OVERLAPPING]
- Where are you?
[JUMBLED VOICES AND LAUGHTER]
[VOICE WHISPERS] He's coming. Now.
[GERALT] We'll meet again soon.
[MOUTH FULL] I understand your
concerns. But I've made up my mind.
This Cirilla nonsense is
too much of a headache.
I couldn't agree more, Your Majesty.
But bargaining with
Nilfgaard is not the answer.
- The queen is opinionated and strong.
- Like a bull.
And Radovid is eager to please.
But all three of you
are far too important
to burden yourself with the
minutiae of Redanian intelligence.
What would you suggest?
Hope I'm not interrupting. Uh,
this was left with my manservant.
- The note says it's for you.
- Oh.
A present. [CHUCKLES]
"Courtesy of Nilfgaard."
See, I told you, Dijkstra.
They're not so ba
[YELPS]
[GASPS]
- [WAILING]
- [COUGHING]
[VIZIMIR SOBBING]
I want men on every door and
window. Nobody in or out but me!
Tell the gatekeeper
to scout the perimeter.
Bring me Radovid's
manservant immediately!
- [SOBBING]
- [GUARD 1] With me! Now!
Man on every door! We've got intruders!
[WHISPERS] I swear to you, I will
not let them get away with this.
- [MEN RUNNING]
- [GUARD 1] Guard the gates!
- Come. Come.
- [GUARD 2] Secure the perimeter!
- Through that gate!
- [GUARD 3] By me!
- Through there, now!
- Come.
- Take the king to his chambers.
- My lord.
- [DISTANT DOOR SLAMS]
- [GUARDS YELLING]
- [SIGHS]
- [VIZIMIR SOBBING]
[NEARBY DOOR SLAMS]
[INTRIGUING MUSIC]
Hmm.
[RADOVID GASPS]
Mmm. Hah!
You.
All that talk of making
the queen more useful.
You and Philippa did this.
You won't get away with it.
Huh.
It's treason.
- I'll tell my brother.
- Tell him what, exactly?
That his strong, opinionated
queen, gods rest her soul,
went a little rogue
in the secret meetings,
and deserved to be assassinated?
On your watch?
- He trusted you.
- Trusts.
He trusts me.
Now more than ever.
I am his most important advisor.
Whereas you are a weak,
silly, ineffectual little shit
who just delivered his
wife's head to him in a box.
Well, now I come to think of it,
how do we know you weren't
involved in her treachery?
You want to help? Go back
to sucking on the royal teat
until you're just drunk enough
to forget this terrible tragedy.
And keep your mouth shut.
[WHISPERS] Because next time,
it could be your head in a box.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[ECHOING SIGHS]
[ROMANTIC MUSIC]
[GROANING]
Breathe.
Breathe.
- [SCREAMS]
- [ECHOING GASPS]
Mmm.
Enough.
[LAUGHS]
[GROANS]
Aah! [LAUGHING]
Oh, I wish you were there today.
I mean, I knew Hedwig had a thick neck,
but gods, that was a workout
to cut through. [CHUCKLES]
[PHILIPPA] Mmm.
I wonder what Dijkstra thought
of my pièce de résistance.
[PHILIPPA] Mmm.
No one ever expects a
head in a box, do they?
- [PHILIPPA] It doesn't make any sense.
- Hmm?
Emhyr uses mages for cannon
fodder, not emissaries.
The woman you saw in the
meeting didn't move her mouth.
Oh, well, it takes all
sorts, I suppose. [CHUCKLES]
Unless she was using telepathy.
Hmm.
But how did she manage
to portal into the palace
and through my protection enchantments?
Maybe because the portal was special?
A portal is a portal.
I've seen your portals.
[SIGHS] This wasn't that.
This was a swirling black
vortex of fucking unnervingness.
The mage backing Rience
works for Nilfgaard.
Fuck me.
- [CAWS]
- [RIENCE] The only reason
I fucking agreed to do this job
is because you told me you
didn't work for Nilfgaard.
[LYDIA] I don't. I work for my lord.
- Who works for fucking Nilfgaard!
- [CAWING]
Oh, Rience, don't get so
agitated. It makes you uglier.
As for my lord, working with Nilfgaard
is not the same as
working for Nilfgaard.
The White Flame is
just a means to an end.
A small piece of a much bigger puzzle.
- Don't worry your hideous little face.
- [CROW CAWS]
At least I still have a face.
Instead of just the illusion of one.
Tell him I'm growing tired
of being kept in the dark.
If he wants me to go
along with his little plan,
I have a demand of my own.
[FRANCESCA SPEAKING IN ELDER]
- [CONTINUES SPEAKING IN ELDER]
- [CREAKING AND SIGHING SOUNDS]
[FILAVANDREL] Hey.
You are exhausted.
- You need to eat.
- Not until they do.
What news from the scouts?
There was a rumor that she was
spotted in Maribor. Nothing came of it.
And Gallatin?
He's headed to Xin'trea
with the roundy general.
So perhaps it would be wise to consider
an escape plan.
The only escape I'll take
is death, Filavandrel.
[KNOCKING AT DOOR]
I don't miss the snobbery
of the city, but
shit, I do miss the services.
[SIGHS] Your White Flame
sure knows how to host.
- [DOOR SLAMS]
- Well
I suppose it's not hard
to impress a backwards pointy
like you, though, is it?
I'd rather be a backwards
pointy invited to the palace
than the rich little shit
who got kicked out of it.
That's not fair. I lost my money
long before I was kicked out.
My father was the nobleman.
He expected me to have a disposition
of a diplomat like my brothers.
But I was impetuous. Short
temper, rash judgment.
- That's why I like fighting.
- [SCOFFS] You? No.
Well, if we've moved onto the
emotional story-swapping
part of our friendship,
I think we'd have got on as kids.
We may have burned down a town
or two on accident, but still.
When the Usurper took Nilfgaard, he
enslaved my father and my brothers.
He was afraid of their
strength and their
ability to someday take revenge, but
but I was
I was just a little boy, I was
too weak for concern.
I was left to starve or die.
Cahir, I've known you
to march into battle
with little more than a breastplate made
of chicken bones and
a stick for a sword.
Fuck the Usurper. He was an idiot.
That's what the White Flame said
to me when he came to free me.
"The Usurper was a
fool to let you go, son,
because you are the
strongest of them all."
Well, I suppose you're
strong for a scrawny little
[MOURNFUL MUSIC]
[CHOKING]
[CAHIR] I'm sorry.
I'm sorry it had to be this way.
[SOBBING]
[WIND WHISTLING]
[SIGHING SOUNDS]
[CAHIR GROANS]
[BIRDS CALLING]
- [WIND SIGHING]
- [HORSE GALLOPING]
[NEIGHS]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[THUNDER CRASHING]
[THUNDER BOOMING]
[FRIGHTENED NEIGHING]
[WHISPERING VOICE] Ciri
[WIND WHISTLING]
[WIND HOWLING]
[HOOVES THUNDERING]
[EREDIN] Cirilla!
Cirilla!
- [DEEP VOICE] Cirilla!
- [NEIGHING]
[EREDIN] Cirilla!
No. You're ghosts. Corpses.
Yes, we are corpses,
but you are death itself!
Join us.
[YELLS]
[HORSES SCREAMING]
[ROARING]
You found me.
[FOREBODING MUSIC]
They were real.