This is a mature series. This episode has: profanity, violence, gore, and nudity. This is not for children.

It has been a good while since I was reviewing or saying anything about the Witcher. Of course we start with a recap of Season 1, giving us all a needed reminder. But there are some of us (like me) who re-watched the whole of Season 1 in the last month because I knew this was coming. Still, plenty of good tidbits, and more than a little missed as well.

The episode did a good job opening up with it being night-time and having simple set-up. An absolutely dark village at night with a bucket forgotten and unsecured at the well. We meet Kira and Colin who are picked off with little more than a glimpse of the monster doing it. The woman who remained screamed, went silence and then was killed herself. A strange creature is afoot here.

We also get to see the aftermath of the Battle of Sodden, where Yennefer expelled what seemed like all of her chaos as fire to clear the field. As the survivors finish off their fallen foes, Tissaia was looking at people's deaths to find Yennefer. Geralt and Ciri made their way onto the battlefield.

Geralt was generally rough on people, and his gruffness continues with Ciri. He did open up a bit and was more polite about things than most gave him credit for. They were traveling toward Kaer Morhen. They did find their way to the same village we saw at the start. Geralt recognized the danger and went to an old friend nearby, Nivellen. Nivellen was surprisingly friendly and forthcoming with magic that just seems to cause things to drop from the ceiling above. Usually splattering the food or drink onto the surrounding area. This is the main plot of the episode. Geralt eventually gets his friend to talk about the curse laid on him, giving him his present bestial shape.

We did eventually meet Yennefer. She's got the problem she was captured by Fringilla. She is quick to get to the truth of what is going to happen to her. The problem the remains of the army encounters is simply taken out by monsters in the surrounding area. This quickly leaves just Fringilla and the bound Yennefer. Yennefer is demanding the Fringilla release her from the magic-denying handcuffs. How things go can only be revealed later in the season.

Tissaia, we get to see, is willing to set her rules aside for Yennefer. Their captive, Cahir, is their best source of information. We've only seen her bound by the rules of the Mages. Just seeing her step beyond them this far was something. But given what we've seen of Cahir throughout the previous season, it did feel cathertic for him to suffer like that. Still it remains worrying about Tissaia because of what she described the spells effects to be. Massive props to the VFX teams for her fingers just sinking in deeper and deeper into his head as she pulled the memories and knowledge from him. Just the pure drive to get the information to save the other kingdoms from Nilfgarrd. That and Tissaia fixation on saving Yennefer.

The storyline this episode with Geralt, Ciri, and Nivellen offers some great moments. An apparent respite is slowly undermined. Getting the truth slowly from Nivellen showed some great pacing throughout. Nivellen offers us someone jolly, and gives us someone to better illustrate what Geralt's... nicer side looks like. There were a number of insidious implications throughout the episode about Witchers taking children to Kaer Morhen to ensure more Witchers. Geralt is clear that he isn't planning that. His only concern is keeping her safe. Seeing Geralt and Nivellen drink and play a knife throwing game offered a good change from everything else the show had shown us. While Geralt is open, Nivellen proves to be reluctant to let any truths pass his lips. This goes a long way of just showing where things have been with this pair. By the end of the episode, we learn the truth he'd been hiding with the Bruxa that has fallen in love with Nivellen, and he's fallen in love with her too. We get to see the cost of it, and have from the beginning: the empty town below. When the Bruxa is killed, we do see Nivellen revert to his human form. Apparently the cost of breaking the curse was his true love being killed. We also learned the true reason that he was cursed as well; something worse than just defiling a god's temple, but their agents.

There is something I do wish they did, which is talk a little more about the Bruxa, Vereena. The danger presented is clear. Her inhuman abilities of climbing, strength, and flight. In her more primal form, we also get to see the rows of teeth she would use to feed. . Her sonic screams sending an off-guard Geralt into a wall and holding him there for a few seconds. We haven't really encountered these Vampires before. Hearing a bit more on top everything we saw would have been a wonderful combination. Vereena did prove to be a powerful foe against Geralt with how much she had been tossing him around in her attacks. This is something I hope comes up again and the Bruxa was not just a one-off monster. But with everything the season has to cover, it's unlikely we'll get more. But she did prove to be a solid monster. Her scenes with Ciri added a lot of dimension to her; that we get to see more than just the surface of this monster. She is a threat and did need to be stopped since she wasn't just feeding on Nivellen (made immortal by his curse) but also passing through travelers.

This episode was a good way to start off the new season. Everything remains in one place, chronologically. It starting giving us answers from what was left at the end of the first season. Just getting confirmation Yennefer is alive was a great relief. Also, finally seeing Geralt and Ciri together after the pair chasing each other, in so many words, throughout the first season. There are only a few story lines to follow with Geralt and Ciri, Tissaia and the Mages, as well as Yennefer and Fringilla. Everything is in position for what is going to be happening throughout the series. It is just a question of where it all is going to go from here.