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The Witcher’s third season marks a stark turning level within the sequence — and never solely as a result of it will likely be Henry Cavill’s final as Geralt of Rivia. The fifth episode, “The Artwork of Phantasm,” reveals the identification of the rogue mage who employed Rience (Chris Fulton) to hunt Ciri (Freya Allan) and units up a political upheaval that resets the board of energy within the brewing conflict between the North and Nilfgaard.
[Ed. note: The following contains spoilers for The Witcher season 3 and Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher novels.]
Within the half 1 finale, Geralt and Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) go to the conclave with the purpose of proving Stregobor’s (Lars Mikkelsen) guilt, solely to find the true identification of the traitorous mage is Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu). He employed Rience by way of his secret girlfriend and proxy, Lydia van Bredevoort (Aisha Fabienne Ross).
Although Tissaia (MyAnna Buring) appears unaware of each Vilgefortz’s in poor health intentions and secret lover, the mage’s two-timing is what did him in: Geralt and Yennefer put the ultimate piece in place after noticing Lydia and Tissaia’s matching jewellery.
Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu) in The Witcher
Photograph: Jay Maidment/Netflix
The implications of Vilgefortz being Rience’s grasp are far-reaching, as they dramatically recolor previous occasions and form the place the Netflix present will go when season 3 returns on July 27. So let’s break down the place Vilgefortz’s true allegiance lies, what he needs with Ciri, and the methods this reveal performed out in a different way — and so significantly better — within the books.
Is Vilgefortz working for Nilfgaard?
Technically, Vilgefortz isn’t working for Nilfgaard, he’s working with Nilfgaard. After Rience found out he was searching Ciri for the White Flame (Bart Edwards), he confronted Lydia, who supplied that clarification. Whereas this will likely appear to be semantics, there’s a enormous distinction between being a associate and a servant to Nilfgaard. And figuring out Vilgefortz isn’t just one other Nilfgaardian loyalist like Cahir (Eamon Farren) however maintains his personal agenda sheds a variety of gentle on his previous actions.
Wanting again, all of Vilgefortz’s work to seemingly strengthen the Brotherhood was in actuality steps to undermine it and strengthen his private energy. In season 1, Vilgefortz was a vocal supporter of serving to Cintra within the conflict in opposition to Nilfgaard and led the mages into battle regardless of the Brotherhood’s lack of assist. However throughout the Battle of Sodden, he stumbled on an injured member of the Brotherhood and brutally killed him with a mace — a second that beforehand confounded viewers.
Tissaia (MyAnna Buring), Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), and Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu) in The Witcher
Photograph: Katalin Vermes/Netflix
Whereas Yennefer did handle to cease Nilfgaard from taking the hold in the long run, it’s probably Vilgefortz’s true aim at Sodden wasn’t victory in any respect, however to leverage the battle for political affect — and to decimate the mages who had been keen to face in opposition to him within the course of. After Sodden, Vilgefortz took credit score for the victory that rightfully belonged to Yen and used that goodwill to realize a place of energy throughout the Brotherhood. This season, Vilgefortz as soon as once more used his public-facing assist for the Brotherhood as a masks to cover his underhand dealings, capitalizing off the conclave to border Stregobor and try to recruit Geralt to his aspect.
Within the books, Vilgefortz enters his partnership with Emhyr below the settlement that if Vilgefortz offers Ciri to Nilfgaard, he’ll rule the provinces that might substitute the Northern Kingdoms. Nonetheless, as poor Tissaia realized the laborious means, Vilgefortz is a person keen to make use of and betray anybody if it serves him. So, how far the partnership between Vilgefortz and the White Flame in the end goes will depend upon how lengthy their particular person goals align. And talking of goals…
What does Vilgefortz need with Ciri?
Nothing good, that a lot is apparent. Whereas we all know Emhyr needs to marry Ciri — his daughter, thoughts you — and make her his queen, there are indications Vilgefortz has a unique goal for the princess in thoughts.
Episode 2 uncovered Vilgefortz’s twisted experiments trying to show Aretuza novices into Ciri imposters (although most was flesh monsters as a substitute). Geralt hypothesized that these experiments are supposed to discover a solution to management Ciri’s thoughts — one thing that might show helpful in preserving her captive if Nilfgaard does get ahold of her. However certainly there are simpler methods to take action. Actually, the books’ false Ciri storyline didn’t hassle with magic in any respect. They only discovered an unfortunate orphan woman with a passing resemblance to the princess and publicly acknowledged her as Ciri whereas the hunt for the actual Ciri continued.
Ciri (Freya Allan) in The Witcher
Photograph: Susie Allnutt/Netflix
But when Vilgefortz doesn’t wish to make Ciri Emhyr’s queen, what does he need together with her? The largest clues now we have to his true agenda within the present are the corrupted portals and the E book on Monoliths, which holds the important thing to touring between spheres. Whereas it’s unlikely Vilgefortz’s grasp plan is merely to banish the elven novices to a different world — as Istredd urged — if he controls each the power to journey between worlds and the princess prophesied to finish the world, Vilgefortz can be primed to leverage the destruction into astounding energy and affect, just like how he instigated the Battle of Sodden to realize energy throughout the Brotherhood.
How is the Vilgefortz reveal completely different within the books?
The explanation Geralt goes to the conclave within the second Witcher novel, Time of Contempt, has nothing to do with monitoring Rience’s grasp, defending Ciri, or something of stake or substance; he’s simply there to be Yennefer’s arm sweet. As such, the conclave doesn’t serve up any on-the-nose buildup towards the Vilgefortz revelation — whereas the sequence all however paints “BAD GUY!!!” on Vilgefortz’s brow in crimson paint earlier than Geralt and Yennefer lastly determine it out. Within the books, Geralt simply kind of… stumbles into the information.
After spending your complete occasion avoiding any involvement within the brewing conflict between the North and Nilfgaard, Geralt and Yennefer retire for the night. Partway by way of the night time, Geralt wakes up needing to alleviate himself. He decides he has extra scruples than peeing off the balcony like a brute, so he decides to stroll all the way down to the backyard to piss on the flowers instantly, like a gentleman. Alongside the way in which, Geralt simply so occurs to stroll into an ongoing confrontation between two sects of mages — these loyal to the North, led by Philippa (Cassie Clare), and people loyal to Nilfgaard, led by Vilgefortz. Actually, Geralt solely learns Vilgefortz is the chief of the traitorous mages when he overhears an informal point out of it throughout the complicated fray.
Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu) in The Witcher
Photograph: Katalin Vermes/Netflix
Geralt by accident strolling into the center of a coup on the way in which again from utilizing the toilet is just not solely a lot funnier than how they dealt with this within the present, however it’s additionally a lot extra Geralt. This man’s total deal is wishing to remain out of the drama, however he simply retains stepping in it. And as soon as once more, the price of his neutrality proves fairly excessive, because the Brotherhood doesn’t survive the Thanedd coup. In altering how Geralt learns Vilgefortz is working with Nilfgaard, the present not solely replaces a singular path to discovery with a predictable one, however removes the very best character aspect from this climactic second.
By the point the books get thus far, readers had additionally been completely primed to grasp the political nuances of the Vilgefortz revelation and its fallout, as Sapkowski spends the whole thing of the conclave laying the groundwork for these occasions slightly than sending Yennefer and Geralt off on some wild goose chase. Within the novel, Vilgefortz — not Yennefer — requires all of the mages to assemble. The books had already established Vilgefortz as an enigmatic chief who performs chess whereas everybody else nonetheless struggles by way of checkers. So when the conclave is named, nobody, not to mention Yennefer, is naive sufficient to assume the occasion is about something as idealistic as mage unity. Fairly, each the mages loyal to the North and to Nilfgaard are keen to make use of the occasion for his or her political functions.
Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) and Philippa (Cassie Clare) in The Witcher
Photograph: Susie Allnutt/Netflix
Not like within the present, the place Philippa and Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) are pressured to go to the conclave by the Redanian king, they go to the occasion for the only goal of hanging in opposition to Vilgefortz and the opposite mages aligned with Nilfgaard. In the meantime, Vilgefortz is rallying his personal forces to strike on the northern mages. And at the exact same time, the Northern Kingdoms time a preemptive strike in opposition to Nilfgaard to the conclave, kickstarting the Second Northern Struggle simply because the Brotherhood of Sorcerers crumbles. In brief, it’s an entire political clusterfuck, and Geralt finds himself within the thick of it just because he wanted a late-night pee.
The Vilgefortz reveal, and ensuing battle of Thanedd, is a seismic turning level within the sequence, because it fully reshuffles the steadiness of energy throughout the Continent. However what makes the ebook’s portrayal of it so thrilling is its deliberate disarray, throwing readers headfirst into the motion after offering simply sufficient crumbs of data to observe together with Geralt as he stitches collectively the larger image. But the present scraps all this for a rote investigation caper and a few ham-fisted plot reveals that expose Vilgefortz as Rience’s grasp however obscure the far-reaching implications of why all this issues.
On the earth of The Witcher, magic lies in harnessing chaos. And by stripping the Vilgefortz reveal of its political nuance and purposeful chaos, the Netflix adaptation misplaced its magic within the course of.
The Witcher season 3 quantity 2 returns to Netflix with three extra episodes on July 27.
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