Where is Ciri at the end of The Witcher Season 3?

By Lori Meek
Published: July 28, 2023 (Last updated: September 12, 2024)
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Where is Ciri at the end of The Witcher Season 3

Where is Ciri at the end of The Witcher Season 3? We discuss a crucial plot point from the popular Netflix series. Spoilers ahead. 

Episode 7 of season 3, Volume 2, centered almost entirely on Ciri’s (Freya Allan) journey through the Korath desert, where she was portalled after blowing up Tor Lara. Princess Cirilla of Cintria was at the forefront of the series, with every faction on the continent desperately trying to get their hands on her. 

Season 3 finally gave the Princess an episode entirely centered on her. While trying to survive the desert, she saw illusions of her mother, Princess Pavetta, and her grandmother, Queen Calanthe. She even got some you-should-burn-down-the-continent advice from the rebellious Falka. 

At the end of the episode, Ciri makes it out of the desert but is captured by bounty hunters. According to rumors heard by Jaskier, Ciri was on her way to Nilfgaard. 

What happens to Ciri at the end of The Witcher Season 3?

In the Battle of Aretuza, Ciri tapped into the magic of Tor Lara and made the whole tower explode while attempting to escape Vilgefortz, or at least get him to stop talking.  After the explosion, she was transported to the Korath desert, where she met Falka, her ancestor. Falka was a princess with Elder Blood who led a rebellion against her father before ending up burned at the stake for her crimes.

While in the desert, Falka encourages Ciri to tap into forbidden fire magic and tells the young Princess she must use her powers to destroy the continent and all in it. 

After making it through the desert, Ciri is apprehended by a group of bounty hunters who seem to be working for Nilfgaard. We don’t see her again until the end of episode 8. 

Where is Ciri at the end of The Witcher Season 3?

Ciri doesn’t appear until the end of the season 3 finale when it’s revealed she’s not in Nilfgaard but tied up in a tavern with Rat member Kayleigh. 

The Rats are a group of Robin Hood-type thieves. When the group storms the Tavern to rescue Kayleigh, they also free Ciri and give her a sword to fight the bounty hunter who had captured her. The Princess easily wins the fight and kills the man. 

This was the first time she killed a human, and seems greatly affected by it. 

Why do Geralt and Yennefer believe Ciri is in Nilfgaard?

Jaskier tells Geralt that Nilfgaard has Ciri, and she is on her way to Emhyr. We even get a scene where “Princess Ciri” is introduced to Emhyr’s court. But the girl Emhyr presents to the court as his daughter is Teryn, a young woman Vilgefortz brainwashed into believing she was Ciri. 

Teryn was a part-elf Aretuza mage kidnapped by Vilgefortz and experimented on. Geralt rescued her from the cave earlier in the season, but Vilgefortz must have gotten his hands on her again. 

It’s unclear if Emhyr knows that the evil mage is parading an imposter instead of Ciri. 

Throughout the finale, Geralt is desperate to recover from his injuries and go looking for her, while Yennefer is seeking intelligence on the young woman’s whereabouts. Both are certain Vilgefortz and Emhyr have gotten their hands on the Princess. 

And they’re both preparing for an epic fight to retrieve her. It will be interesting to see if either Yennefer or Geralt comes across the real Ciri before they try to rescue her from the Nilfgaardian castle. 

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