As The Witcher barrels toward its conclusion, showrunner Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich has hinted that Ciri’s upcoming arc will mirror a “baptism of fire.” She shared in an interview with Variety,
This is going to be Ciri letting go and touching those deepest, darkest places within herself that she’s always pushed away — Once she deals with the heartbreak and loss of the Rats, we get to see her start to access that for a while.
“It’s her baptism of fire that needs to happen before she can be redeemed,” she added, reflecting on her character arc in the upcoming series finale.
The baptism of fire recalls Daenerys Targaryen’s fiery rebirth in Game of Thrones Season 6. However, where Daenerys emerged purified and crowned, Hissrich suggested that Ciri’s “fire” will scorch rather than sanctify.
What Happened to Ciri in The Witcher Season 4?
The Witcher Season 4 takes Ciri (Freya Allan) to her darkest and most harrowing chapter yet. After joining the outlaw gang known as the Rats, Ciri’s brief taste of freedom turns into horror when the ruthless bounty hunter Leo Bonhart (Sharlto Copley) comes for them.
Bonhart launches an ambush at the Rats at the Chimera’s Head and effortlessly decimates the group, killing them in gruesome fashion, even forcing Ciri to watch as he beheads each one, saving her love interest Mistle (Christelle Elwin) for last.
Ciri charges into battle, unleashing all her fury and grief against him, but Bonhart overpowers and captures her. Unbeknownst to Ciri, her torment is part of a larger Nilfgaardian plot.
Emperor Emhyr, her biological father, seeks to marry her to fulfill a prophecy and solidify his rule. Bonhart’s brutality, orchestrated by Emhyr’s agent Stefan Skellen, marks the beginning of Ciri’s descent, her ‘baptism of fire,’ that will forge the woman she must become in the final season of The Witcher.
Sharlto Copley Says Bonhart is Testing Ciri Through Brutality
Sharlto Copley joined The Witcher Season 4 as Leo Bonhart, a ruthless killer tasked with capturing Ciri. And according to the actor, Bonhart recognizes Ciri’s “potential for violence” and intends to harness it for his own gain.
According to Copley, Bonhart’s cruelty isn’t mindless, but it’s a twisted experiment. “He wants her to see if she has the stomach to be the fighter he thinks she can be,” Copley told Netflix, explaining,
He sees her as a strange kindred spirit and is excited by her talent, which is why he doesn’t kill her. He’s normally not excited by much other than fighting and killing, but Ciri is different — a test and a challenge.
While it remains to be seen whether Ciri will allow that to happen, Freya Allan, who plays Ciri, echoes Copley’s view of her character’s transformation.
“What Falka represents is this darkness,” she said, adding, “In Season 3, she had quite an idealized version of what she wanted to become… but there’s this other side she’s gone into.”
And the series creator, Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich, along with cast members Sharlto Copley and Freya Allen, all strongly hint that Ciri’s journey in The Witcher is about to take a far darker and more dangerous turn.
What do you think will happen to Ciri in the final season of The Witcher? Share your thoughts with us.
The Witcher is streaming on Netflix.
