The Witcher Season 1 Episode 4 Recap – Of Banquets, Bastards, and Burials

[00:01:00] Cirilla continues to follow the whispers through the forest. She followed the whispers until she stumbled upon a great source of light. Cirilla woke up from her trance and saw warriors around her. They pointed their spears and bows at her. Cirilla begged for her life. The commander of the warriors led Cirilla to their chieftain. She told Cirilla that she was inside the Brokilon Forest. Meanwhile, at the pub, a man told them the tale of Geralt who died after being swallowed whole by a Selkiemore. Jaskier, the bard, told the man that Geralt was alive. The man insisted that he saw Geralt die however Geralt marched inside the pub carrying the stench of the Selkiemore.

[00:04:00] Geralt asked the man for his payment as the bard led everyone to sing the songs of Geralt. While everyone was singing, Geralt went to the bar for a drink. Jaskier asked Geralt a favor in exchange for his newfound glory. He asked Geralt to accompany him as many lords and ladies wanted him dead. The next day, Geralt accompanied Jaskier to a ball. He told Geralt to blend in so that no one would recognize him; however, the first person to see them was Mousesack. He immediately recognized Geralt and went over to meet him. The timeline of this story suggests that this is a flashback. Mousesack is much younger, and so is Queen Calanthe. Calanthe argued with her daughter Parvetta upon her arrival. She didn’t want to have an arranged marriage, but the Queen didn’t listen to her woes.

[00:10:00] Calanthe pointed out that her marriage would assure that they remained in power long after her death. Dara and Cirilla continued their journey inside the Brokilon forest. The Dryad Queen told them that they needed to drink the waters of the Brokilon in order for them to be trusted. Those that bear ill fate against the dryads will suffer a painful death once they drink the water. Back at Cintra, men were arguing over whether or not they killed a manticore. Queen Calanthe asked Geralt to shed some light on the truth. He told the Queen that neither man was telling the truth about the manticore that they killed. Jaskier signaled to Geralt not to continue any further, so he refuted his previous statement and told the crowd that the men might have killed a sub-species of manticore.

[00:14:00] The men asked Geralt to tell them the tale of how he defeated Filavandrel’s band of elves. Geralt told them the truth. He didn’t defeat the elves, and that Filavandrel released them in good faith. He wished all the men inside the hall to not shit themselves when they face their end, whether it be at the blade of the elves or elsewhere. Calanthe invited Geralt to accompany her while she changed into something more comfortable. Meanwhile, Cirillia finally told Dara her true identity. Dara was taken back upon know who Cirilla really is. He told Cirilla that Queen Calanthe ordered that his whole family be killed. Dara survived because he hid himself. He should’ve fought for his family, but he chose not to. Cirilla told Dara that she needed to find Geralt because he was her destiny.

[00:18:00] Dara pointed out that she should start thinking for herself because Queen Calanthe is already dead. Back at Cintra, we see Queen Calanthe doing her best to convince Geralt to take up her side. Geralt refused and told Calanthe that he was merely helping his friend overcome his problems. Calanthe offered anything in exchange for Geralt’s protection; however, he still refused. Lord Peregrine of Nilfgaard approached the royal table. He asked for Queen Calanthe’s daughter to be wed to one of his brothers. Queen Calanthe chose to ridicule Lord Peregrine and the Nilfgaardians in front of everyone. A mistake that we all know would cost Calanthe her life.

[00:20:30] We now take a peek at Yennefer’s life after her trials at Aretuza. She seems to have succeeded in becoming the mage for Aedrin. She accompanies Queen Kalis and her newborn daughter to Lyria. The two of them had a conversation about their lives when the caravan was attacked. All the king’s guards were slaughtered like pigs. One guard remained as Yennefer and Kalis got out of their carriage. The assassin has a monster pet with him. The monster attacked them but Yennefer was able to open a portal to save them. The assassin was able to chase them down, and Yennefer knew that they were being tracked. She instructed Kalis to get rid of all the things the King gave her. Yennefer knew that the King sent an assassin to kill Kalis because she could no longer give him a rightful heir.

[00:25:00] Kalis and Yennefer managed to survive the assassin’s attack three times. On the third time, Yennefer had enough of Kalis. She called Yennefer a useless mage for not foreseeing the threat to her life. Yennefer portalled herself away from the assassin, leaving Kalis and her newborn daughter to die. Yennefer found herself in the fields on an unknown land. Back at Cintra, a knight named Urcheon of Erlenward approached the royal table. He asked Queen Calanthe for Parvetta’s hand in marriage. He asked Parvetta’s hand through the law of surprise. Calanthe demanded to see the knight’s face, but he refused. Eist approached the knight and removed his helm. The sight of the cursed knight shocked everyone. He had the face of a porcupine. Queen Calanthe ordered Geralt to kill the knight, but he refused. He told Calanthe that the knight was cursed.

[00:30:00] With Geralt refusing to kill the knight, Queen Calanthe ordered everyone in the hall to kill him. All the men picked up their swords to attack the knight. He tried to defend himself but was overwhelmed by the number of enemies in front of him. The knight was about to be killed when Geralt stepped in to defend him. Queen Calanthe ordered everyone to kill them both, but they were no match for Geralt. Eist stepped in, declaring that the law of surprise had been called. He defended the cursed knight as well as Geralt. The fight continued as the three of them faced off against everyone inside the hall. Queen Calanthe saw Eist fighting for his life, so she decided to join the fight as well. Before Geralt crossed swords with Calanthe, she ordered everyone to stop fighting.

[00:32:30] Kalis begged the assassin to spare her life. She left her baby on the ground as a sacrifice. She told the assassin that she could still give the King an heir to his throne. The assassin didn’t listen; he threw one of his daggers and killed Kalis. His monster pet was about to kill the baby when Yennefer returned. She slew the beast and tried to save Kalis’ baby. She managed to take a portal with the baby in hand, but the assassin threw one of her daggers at her. The dagger hit Yennefer’s back and went through her. The dagger hit the baby, and it died. Yennefer did everything she could to revive the baby, but she failed.

[00:34:30] Parvetta approached the cursed knight. His name is Duny. Eist tried to reason with Queen Calanthe, but she couldn’t accept that her daughter was going to marry Duny. Mousesack also tried to reason with Calanthe. She resorted to asking Geralt what he thought about Destiny. Geralt said he didn’t believe in destiny; however, he told Calanthe that a promise needs to be honored, whether it came from a peasant or a king. Parvetta is happy she’s going to be with the man she loves. Queen Calanthe gave her sword to Eist. She asked for Duny’s hand. Everyone thought that Calanthe was going to give her blessing to Duny. Calanthe pulled out her dagger and tried to kill him. The dagger came to an inch of Duny’s throat when Parvetta let out a loud roar that sent everyone flying in all directions.

[00:40:00] Parvetta held out her hand and took Duny with her. The two of them started floating in the air as she created a vortex around them. Geralt took a sip of his elixir in order to sustain himself. He tried to interfere and enter the vortex that Parvetta created. She realized what she was doing and lost concentration. Parvetta and Duny fell to the floor. After the events, Queen Calanthe approached Parvetta and gave her a hug. Everyone inside the hall got up to see what had happened. Queen Calanthe honored the law of surprise. She announced that Parvetta would be marrying Lord Urcheon. Eist also announced that he would marry Calanthe to unite Cintra and Skellige.

[00:45:30] Meanwhile, Cirilla woke up because of a nightmare. She saw the Nilfgaardian killing her in her dreams. Dara drank from the waters of Brokilon. He told Cirilla that everything would be okay. The Queen of the dryads offered the water to Cirilla. She told her to drink and leave her past behind. Cirilla took a drink from the jar of water, but nothing happened. The Queen told her to come with her. Yennefer, on the other hand, spoke with the baby. She told her that she cheated in the game called life and won. Yennefer buried the baby in a shallow grave by the shore.

[00:50:30] Queen Calanthe gave her blessing to the marriage of Parvetta and Lord Urcheon. Parvetta kissed Lord Urcheon, and it somehow lifted his curse. Lord Urcheon begged Geralt to allow him to repay his kindness. Geralt followed tradition and took the law of surprise. Immediately after claiming it, Parvetta vomited. Mousesack tried to convince Geralt to stay in Cintra, but he refused. Geralt wants to leave and told Mousesack to watch for his back. We go back to the present as the mages of Nilfgaard found Queen Calanthe’s body. They used her to find Cirilla and tracked her down using magic. They knew she was inside the forest of Brokilon. Fringilla is still the lead mage for the courts of Nilfgaard. She told her men that armies are not the key to entering the forest of Brokilon. They dragged Mousesack with them as he tried to pay respect to Queen Calanthe’s dead body.

[00:59:00] The Queen of the dryads told Cirilla to drink from the source of their water. She took her dagger and made a wound on the source tree. Cirilla took a sip of the tree sap. Cirilla saw a great tree in the middle of the desert. The tree asked Cirilla who she was.