'The Witcher' is back after two years with Henry Cavill for the last time

When The Witcher started in 2019, it was heavily praised for sticking to the source material and the perfect portrayal of Geralt of Rivia by Henry Cavill, who led the whole 'following the source' thing. 

But after season 2, showrunner Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich decided to diverge from the source and direct the series on her own. Since then, the story has started to become more convoluted, and Henry decided it was time to bid adieu to Geralt. The third season is finally here; will it be a good farewell for him?

This season starts right after the part where Yennefer of Vengerberg betrays Geralt and Princess Ciri with her association with Voleth Meir, the deathless mother who feeds on pain. 

Still not on good terms with Geralt, Yennefer decides to stay to teach Ciri the ways of magic and fulfil her destiny. But Ciri's training won't be long, as the trio is still on the run from various enemies.

Ciri was only treated as a bargaining tool for the last two seasons; she didn't have her own agency but had a destiny to fulfil. 

This season, she finally holds her sword and stands alongside Geralt and Yennefer to fend off her pursuers. She had a brief training at Kaer Morhen, so it's time to show her witcher skills. But she isn't quite ready yet; the foes are still much stronger than her, and she can only defeat them when she is with the witcher and the mage.

Ciri's enemies are diverse: the King of Nilfgaard, aka Emperor Emhyr; Rienne; Vilefortz; Dijkstra and Philippa Eilhart; and so on. They have their own political complexities, but they are the same in one thing: exploiting Ciri's elf powers to dominate the continent. But Ciri is tired of being someone else's pawn; can she rebuild her empire of Cintra? The books don't finish her tale, but as the show diverges from the source, it might conclude her story.

The third season has fewer monsters but more political enemies. Monsters are the heart of this franchise; the Witcher's legacy literally grows around their monster hunting. But the producers decided to show political machinations instead of swashbuckling Geralt vs. monster fights. But Geralt still outshines by solving political crimes and getting into trouble with powerful foes.

As Ciri is out of reach, her enemies are conducting inhuman experiments on elf children to possess their powers. Stregobor has seemed to be the villain since the first season of his animosity against Yennefer, but it turns out the antagonist is someone else. 

At the end of Part 1, Geralt unravels the plot after some plot twists. Will he get out of this mess? The last three episodes of Part Two are yet to be released on July 27 to conclude this elf children's experiment conspiracy arc and end Henry Cavill's tenure as Geralt to relay the role to Liam Hemsworth in season four.

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