Triss Merigold
We begin with the final ramblings of a dying man; a man with slashes right across his chest. Upon hearing his woes, the witcher asks for 3000 florens upfront before heading outside and following the blood trail. Unfortunately, he’s ambushed and killed. The witcher’s death ultimately sets up the foundations for episode 3 of The Witcher as Geralt arrives at the scene and takes over the job. Before we get there though, Geralt awakens with a whore and promises payment, intent on hunting down his mark and heading to Temeria to finish the job. As the army arrives, the rebellious, restless villagers shrug off the King’s guard and leave, as Geralt is forced to do the same too, despite hanging back in the wings and watching this drama unfold silently. As he walks out the city, he runs into Triss Merigold in the woods who wants his help saving the creature he hunts rather than killing it. The creature isn’t a vudolak either from the looks of it, and she shows Geralt the dead body, which is missing a liver and heart. The creature happens to be a Striga but not just any creature; it’s a princess. Yennefer and Istridd continue to play games as the initiation draws closer. Surrounded by a ring of fire, an enchanted artist promises to turn her into something beautiful while Tissaia approaches and reinforces this notion that they can free any and all deformities. As she grooms Yennefer’s powers into her own vision, in secret the council hold a meeting, forcing Yennefer to leave. Meanwhile in court, Geralt and Triss try to convince the King to allow them to cure the creature. He shrugs it off though, telling them to leave. Geralt locks the door and confronts the King alone and after talking, tells Geralt to leave Temeria forever. Instead, he waits outside the castle with Triss and manages to sneak in and investigate. In the chambers, they find damning evidence that could cause havoc for the royal family. It turns out the curse was meant for Foltest but unfortunately Adda was the one who succumb to it. The truth between Yennefer and Istridd comes to light and in the depths of the chamber, an enraged Yennefer leaves him, declaring she’s going to be all-powerful. She heads straight for the artist and demands he use his tools to make her beautiful. While Geralt finds valuable information out about his prey, Yennefer prepares for her operation. The creature reveals itself to Geralt and screeches viciously in the hallway while he clutches chains tightly, ready to fight. However, it breaks free from his restraints and winds up facing Geralt head-on in hand to hand combat. As the episode reaches its climactic crescendo, both Geralt’s fight with the creature and Yennefer’s transformation cut back and forth as the sun rises and the chaos subsides for now. Yennefer presents herself to a stunned Tissaia while Geralt awakens to find Triss standing over him. She tells him something more is out there for him to see, while Ciri wanders off, entranced by whispers in the forest, and through the frozen wasteland littered with numerous dead bodies. With Yennefer’s transformation complete and more action this time around, The Witcher continues to deliver its storyline with flair and confidence, interweaving these two plotlines together nicely. Although there are a few patches of inconsistent CGI here and there, for the most part the show does a very good job bringing everything together in a compelling way. Henry Cavill is so good here as Geralt though and his demeanor perfectly echoes both the book and game counterparts. From here on out, the show really kicks into high gear and the episodes ahead are well worth the patience to get to!
