The Witcher season 3 episode 6 — rather appropriately titled “Everyone Has a Plan ‘til They Get Punched in the Face” — picks up right where we left off at the end of the first volume of episodes.
The Witcher season 3’s first batch of episodes built up towards one of the saga’s most infamous moments, the Thanedd Coup. Slowly, everyone was rounded up and brought to the Academy of Aretuza (which stands on Thanedd Island) for a Conclave of Mages.
Episode six finds us at the very start of what becomes a very bloody conflict. Redanian forces are rounding the mages up to make a power play and try to sway them over to fight under the Redanian banner. After a shocking moment of betrayal, some very uninvited guests assault the Academy, leading to a bloody conflict that none of the sides could really claim to win. Here’s what went down.
A rude awakening
Geralt wakes up to the sounds of conflict and is cornered by the Redanian Spymaster, Sigismund Dijkstra. He explains that the Northern kingdom has grown tired of the mages refusing to ally with the forces of the North against Nilfgaard, and has decided to hold the Academy hostage.
The hostages have been bound in dimeritium bands to ensure they can’t use their magic against Redania, and Dijkstra’s ally Philippa Eilhart encloses the fortress in an anti-magic spell to ensure their success. Geralt chooses to remain neutral and see what plays out; Dijkstra intends to out Vilgefortz as a traitor to the mages for having collaborated with Nilfgaard, and Geralt knows Vilgefortz has put Ciri through hell, so having him ousted wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing anyway.
Once those loyal to Nilfgaard are ‘purged’, to use Philippa’s words, they hope to unite the forces of the Continent against the Nilfgaardian invaders under the Redanian banner. Unfortunately, Dijkstra doesn’t quite have the forces he expected. If you cast your mind back, you’ll remember that King Vizimir’s messenger was intercepted by Nilfgaard, meaning the forces that are seen landing on the beach outside are from somewhere else. Unbeknownst to everyone else, Nilfgaard has dispatched Francesca, Cahir, and the Scoia’tel to attack Aretuza.
At Vilgefortz's behest, Tissaia, the leader of Aretuza, frees the mages and undoes the spell, prompting the mages to fight back against their occupiers. In the commotion, Geralt confronts Dijkstra, who had told him Ciri had already been kidnapped, and easily overpowers him, and goes off in search of the princess.
Vilgefortz reveals his true colors
Amidst all the commotion, Tissaia follows Vilgefortz to a chamber where he opens the way to allow Nilfgaard’s troops into the building. The other mages rally at her side, but Nilfgaard has equipped its troops with dimeritium-tipped arrows which can bypass their magical barriers and sent along two powerful mages of their own: Francesca and Fringilla.
A bloody battle ensues, with heavy losses on both sides. Filavandrel manages to step in the way of one of Tissaia’s spells to save Francesca’s life at the last second, and he is eviscerated in the process. Furious, Francesca uses her powers to trap the mages in the room and collapses a floating ring of fire down in the chamber.
The mages are forced to evermore extreme measures to take down their invaders. Tissaia leaves the battlefield to make use of Alzur’s Thunder, a last-resort spell that takes a heavy toll on its wielder. Whilst she blasts the fray with lightning, Stregobor uses fire magic to strike a final blow at the elves, sacrificing himself in the process.
Where’s Ciri?
Dijkstra sought to marry Ciri to King Vizimir in an effort to empower the North, and he sent Vizimir’s brother Radovid to kidnap her (a revelation that led to a quarrel between Radovid and his new lover, Jaskier).
Luckily, Ciri fled where she was staying, thanks to a warning from Yennefer, who had fled Aretuza to reunite with her daughter. Lydia, a mage loyal to Vilgefortz, attempts to stop her in her tracks, but Triss intervenes, and then Yennefer uses her magic to kill her.
Triss returns to the battle where she ends up sending Istredd to retrieve the Book of Monoliths (which Vilgefortz retrieves, and shoves Istredd through a portal to… somewhere). Outside the fortress, Yennefer catches up to Ciri.
The pair decide to flee the island, under the assumption that Geralt will manage to track them down… but that’s when the fire mage Rience arrives. He takes Ciri hostage and threatens to kill her because he no longer has a master to stop him.
Yennefer tricks him into thinking she is giving up, but she throws her sword towards him. Geralt arrives just in the nick of time to snatch the sword out of mid-air and take Rience’s head from his shoulders.
After a brief reunion, the trio sees the effects of Alzur’s Thunder in use. Ciri tells Yennefer to go back and help Tissaia, as she knows how much her old mentor means to her. Yenn promises she’ll come back to them both after the battle is over, and heads back to Aretuza.
Geralt's defeat
Geralt and Ciri are stopped in their tracks by Cahir, who’d been sent by Francesca to capture the girl. Ciri recognizes him as the man who kidnapped her during the assault on Cintra and faces him in battle.
Cahir yields and swears that he’s got everything all wrong, and tells her to take his life and forgive him. At that moment, a group of Scoia’tel warriors arrives on horseback, and Cahir starts to earn his forgiveness by holding them off.
Geralt and Ciri don’t get far before Vilgefortz arrives. Whilst Ciri flees towards the tower of Tor Lara, Vilgefortz tries to entice Geralt to side with him one last time. When the White Wolf refuses, they face off in battle.
Unfortunately, Vilgefortz reveals himself to be far more capable in combat than he’s been letting on. He puts up an impressive fight, but Vilgefortz brutally beats him down, breaks his bones, and leaves him for dead as a warning to those who might stand against Nilfgaard.
Ciri makes her escape
Vilgefortz follows Ciri to Tor Lara and attempts to bring her onto his side. He tells her he’s the only one who can teach her how to wield her abilities properly, but she ignores him and continues to climb to the top of the tower.
There, she’s faced with a magical monolith which communicates with her. Vilgefortz warns her she’s not capable of handling such power right now, but she ignores him and approaches it, opening a portal that also causes an explosion that blasts Vilgefortz backward and destroys the tower.
Artaud the mage finds Sigismund on the floor in Aretuza and threatens to kill him, though Philippa arrives and saves him. Outside, Yennefer and the surviving mages watch on as the tower crumbles. Triss find’s Geralt adrift in the sea and pledges to take him to safety, whilst the remaining Scoia’tel troops leave the island behind. How do you move on from this?
The Witcher season 3 is available to stream on Netflix.
