The Witcher Season 1 Episode 7 Recap – Before a Fall

[00:01:00] Cirilla was walking in a town alone. She tried to steal a cob of corn, but someone saw her trying to pocket it. She asked the man how to reach Skellige. The man responded that she could reach the shore in a week with a fast horse. The man laughed when Cirilla asked how long it would take to reach the shore on foot. A woman advised Cirilla that she isn’t safe when she’s alone. Cirilla responded that it was just like any other town she’s been in. Meanwhile, Geralt saw the army of Nilfgaard marching towards Cintra.

[00:02:00] We go back to the past, a few days before Nilfgaard sacked the city of Cintra. Geralt secretly met with Mousesack. He thought Geralt came to claim his law of surprise. Geralt asked about the son of Duny and Parvetta however Mousesack clarified that they have a daughter named Cirilla. Geralt told Mousesack about the army that marches to the gates of Cintra. Mousesack told Geralt that Queen Calanthe has done everything she could to prevent a war happening in Cintra. Someone knew about their meeting and sent assassins to kill them. They were heavily outnumbered, so Mousesack chose to portal them out and escape.

[00:05:00] Queen Calanthe is checking their weapon caches when Mousesack arrived with Geralt. Calanthe tried to send Geralt away and even offered to pay him just to leave. Geralt came back to fulfill his promise to Duny and Parvetta. Calanthe refused to give Cirilla away because she raised her like a daughter. Geralt knew that Calanthe sent the assassins to try and kill him. He told Calanthe to give him Cirilla so that he could protect her. Geralt promised to bring Cirilla back unharmed after the war. Queen Calanthe decided to honor the law of surprise and told Geralt that she would tell Cirilla herself.

[00:08:00] Back at the present, Cirilla exchanged her mother’s ring in order to get a new pair of gloves. The woman earlier saw Cirilla hanging out in the market and told her to come with them instead. She told Cirilla that it was safer to travel in a group and offered to take her in. The woman told Cirilla that they have food and shelter. Cirilla agreed as the woman resumed shopping. She saw their horse and saw the opportunity to take it. Cirilla rode the horse out of town and headed for Skellige. Previously, Queen Calanthe introduced a random girl to Geralt. She posed as Cirilla, but somehow destiny led Geralt to the real Cirilla. He went out through a secret passage and saw Cirilla playing in the street. The fake Cirilla addressed the real Cirilla as your highness, which gave everything away.

[00:13:00] Geralt went back to Queen Calanthe and confronted her about the lies. Calanthe responded that she wouldn’t allow him to take Cirilla away from her. She arrogantly told Geralt that she could defend Cintra from the Nilfgaardians. Geralt only wanted to save Cirilla, so he decided to speak with King Eist. The King had already sided with Calanthe. He explained that Calanthe almost died in agony over the loss of Parvetta. Eist saw Calanthe stand up again as she took Cirilla in and care for her. He wouldn’t want it any other way. Eist asked Geralt to promise never to return, but he couldn’t do it. Geralt responded that if he ever heard Cirilla was in danger, he would always come back. This left Eist with no other choice but to imprison Geralt.

[00:15:30] Yennefer went to Nazair to see Istredd. She tried to get back with him so that they could continue where they left off in Aretuza. Istredd refused to get back with Yennefer. He had longed for the day that Yennefer would realize that they were meant for each other, but as the years passed by Istredd slowly forgot about her. He focused on work in order to forget about her. Istredd succeeded, and he didn’t plan on going back. As Istredd left, another man took his seat. Yennefer thought he was just a random man trying to flirt with her. The man introduced himself as Vilgefortz of Roggeveen. Tissaia sent him to convince Yennefer to go back to Aretuza. Vilgefortz told Yennefer that she was the best student Tissaia had ever taught, and she needed her back.

[00:22:00] Yennefer went back to Aretuza with Vilgefortz. He wanted to talk about Nilfgaard, but Yennefer wanted to see Tissaia first. Vilgefortz told Yennefer that Tissaia doesn’t know she’s in Aretuza. Yennefer lost her trust in Vilgefortz and left. All her memories came crashing back. The days and nights she spent in Aretuza thinking that she was going to die. The moments that she wanted to die, the time she tried to take her own life and nearly succeeded. Yennefer went back to her old room and found three young girls who were studying to be mages. She took them to the greenhouse to teach them the different uses of herbs. Yennefer gave the girls a mixture of herbs which took them to a new level of high. It’s here that Yennefer found out that the girls weren’t chosen.

[00:27:00] The girls’ family paid for their spot in Aretuza. Gone were the days that mages were chosen for their magic abilities. Aretuza is now accepting payments to train little girls into becoming mages. This angered Yennefer. She took the three girls to the secret cave where Tissaia turned her friends into eels. Yennefer told the girls the hard truth, but Tissaia arrived to stop her lecture. Their conversation turned into an argument, but was also stopped because of a commotion. Yennefer saw Triss and asked her what’s going on. She told Yennefer that the northern mages are having an emergency meeting because of Nilfgaard. The Kingdom of Nilfgaard is currently attacking Cintra.

[00:31:00] Tissaia wants to help Cintra but Stregobor and the rest of the mages didn’t care for the Kingdom of Cintra. They’ve rejected the mages of Aretuza which is why they didn’t want to help. Vilgefortz and Tissaia tried to convince the other mages to help Cintra, but Fringilla arrived to seal the deal. After her speech, Stregobor called a vote and the majority of the mages voted against helping Cintra. The meeting ended and Tissaia approached Yennefer to ask for her help. Yennefer didn’t care about Aretuza, so Tissaia told her to do it for her instead.

[00:36:30] We go back to the moment Nilfgaard breached the castle gates of Cintra. Queen Calanthe told Mousesack about Geralt being inside the gate keep. He went over to free Geralt, but he had already escaped. Calanthe ordered Mousesack to find Geralt so that he could keep Cirilla safe. It’s the reason why Mousesack chose to separate from Cirilla when they exited the secret path. He went looking for Geralt. Geralt was out in the city helping Cintra win the war. He even saw Calanthe when she jumped from her window. At that moment, Geralt realized that Cirilla’s life is in danger. He went back in the castle looking for Cirilla, but she had already left with Lazlo.

[00:42:00] Cirilla was in a field with the horse that she stole. She lit a fire in order to keep warm. Cirilla regretted her choice to trade the ring for gloves when she needed food. Cirilla heard footsteps approaching her. She recognized one of the men as her old playmates in Cintra. The name of the boy is Anton. They went over to raid her stuff and salvage anything they could use. Cirilla apologized to them for what happened to their families. Cirilla even tried to convince Anton to see reason, but the death of their families and the life they were currently living changed them. Anton told Cirilla that the only thing special about her was her crown. With the crown gone, they no longer needed to listen to her. The men ganged up on Cirilla.

[00:44:00] Cirilla’s eyes went pitch black. Something possessed her. She began chanting and uttering words. She called out that the era of the sword and axe is nigh. The era of the wolf’s blizzard, the time of the white chill, the time of the white light. None of the things she was saying made sense to the men. They took a step back. Cirilla continued stating it was the time of madness and contempt. The fire she lit up suddenly went out. The next thing we hear is the sound of her shriek.