The fifth episode of “The Witcher” Season 3 is a little masterpiece, in which the audience joins Geralt (Henry Cavill) and Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) finally discovers the identity of the mysterious wizard who has been pulling the strings in the background all along: Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu) is the master of Rience (Sam Woolf) and Lydia (Aisha Fabienne Ross). Chasing the missing magic students, he teams up with Nilfgaard Emperor Emhyr (Bart Edwards) and wants to win over Ciri (Freya Allan) to his own sinister ends.
Not only readers of Andrzej Sapkowski’s books could guess that, but also all observant fans of the Netflix series. Finally, in the season 1 finale, Vilgefortz shed his carefully maintained mask and killed an injured fellow wizard lying helpless on the floor. But before Geralt and Yennefer can do anything about Vilgefortz, the witcher realizes something else is going on in Aretuza – and is threatened by a knife-wielding figure.
The coup in full swing
What about the sounds of the battle that Geralt hears in the background at the end? This was alluded to earlier when Cahir (Eamon Farren) delivered a message to the elves surrounding Francesca (Mecia Simson) on behalf of Emperor Emhyr.
Because in the book template the so-called Scoia’tael attack the mages and sorceresses gathered in Aretuzawhile dealing with their own internal conflict. The Brotherhood here is divided between those loyal to the Northern Kingdoms and those who secretly support Nilfgaard.
In the Netflix series it will probably be a bit different, as here only Vilgefortz supports Nilfgaard’s invaders and only to the extent that it serves its own purposes. However, since the Brotherhood is also deeply divided in The Witcher, we don’t think female mages fighting wizards are out of the question for the rest of season 3. And even if not, at least Vilgefortz has the support of Francesca and her Scoia’tael.
The knife scene: Dijkstra vs. Geralt?
But now to the very last scene: even if his face is only out of focus, most will see the distinctive beard and equally distinctive voice of master spy Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) recognized. He had already tried to win over Geralt and Phillippa’s (Cassie Clare) plans at the previous ball – this is what his “You should have chosen sides, witcher” refers to here.
In the book, Dijkstra and Philippa play key roles in Aretuza’s coup and the plot to arrest Nilfgaard sympathizers. And also in the Netflix series, the two have apparently taken precautions if their plans for an alliance of the Northern Kingdoms don’t work out:
The messenger Aplegatt (Jim Sturgeon) is on his way with orders for the Redan fleet, which was due to arrive in Aretuza with reinforcements at dawn. But before he can give those orders, he is killed – perhaps by the Scoia’tael shown in the previous scene?
Dijkstra and Philippa therefore do not have to hope for reinforcements. That’s probably why Dijkstra just wants to try again in the knife scene to win Geralt over to her cause. We can’t imagine he really wants the witcher’s leather armor, after all, he probably wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight.
However, he and Phillipa could use a powerful ally as Aretuza is full of Scoia’tael and Cahir, who in turn are after Ciri on behalf of Emhyr. And then, of course, there’s the conflict within the Brotherhood and the fight between Geralt and Yennefer against Vilgefortz – plenty of material for the next three episodes.
The second half of The Witcher Season 3 (Episodes 6 – 8) will be released on Netflix on July 27, 2023.