‘The Witcher’ season 3 finale bids goodbye to Henry Cavill as Geralt

MANILA, Philippines – Spoilers ahead!

It was a bittersweet Season 3 finale for fans of The Witcher as they bid farewell to Henry Cavill, who has played monster hunter Geralt of Rivia since the first season of the show. 

On Thursday, July 27, Netflix released Part 2 of the third season of the fantasy drama, which includes Cavill’s last appearance on the series. Liam Hemsworth will replace Cavill as Geralt beginning Season 4, joining the rest of the cast – except for those who died in Season 3. 

While fans look forward to Hemsworth’s entrance, Cavill makes his grand exit “riding off into the sunset” according to Variety’s recap of the Season 3 finale. After escaping death during his fight with powerful mage Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu), Cavill’s Geralt is separated from his love interest, the sorceress Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), and his ward Ciri (Freya Allan), but reunites with his occasional companion, the bard Jaskier (Joey Batey) to journey into the powerful and destructive kingdom of Nilfgaard. 

Geralt has also parted with the pin he has carried since Season 1, signifying that his character will become more involved in the Continent’s political strife. 

Meanwhile, Ciri meets a mysterious woman named Falka, who she has seen in visions while lost in the desert. Falka explains that as a princess years ago, she was denied her birthright and this led her to rally with commoners using illegal fire magic. However, she was later burned at the stake as punishment. 

It was also hinted that Ciri is a descendant of Falka as she unlocks fire powers. Later rescued from Nilfgaardian bounty hunters by a group of thieves called Rats, Ciri introduces herself to the thieves as Falka. 

Sorceress Philippa Eilhart (Cassie Clare) masterminds the death of King Vizimir, ruler of the kingdom the weatlhy kingdom of Redania. Because of this, his heir Prince Radovid (Hugh Skinner) steps in grudgingly letting go of his plans to run away with Jaskier, who is his lover. 

The finale ends with a number of character deaths – some more shocking than others.

For the upcoming fourth season, fans can expect Hemsworth’s Geralt and Jaskier to team up in an effort to find Ciri after she joins the Rats. Meanwhile, Yennefer will be striking against the Nilfgaardians as the de-facto leader of the mages. Nilfgaard’s ruler Emhyr var Emreis is also up for an awful revelation once he discovers that an imposter named Teryn is the one controlling Ciri instead of him. When the characters realize that the real Ciri is still missing, the already war-stricken Continent is bound for even worse events. 

The Witcher was first released in December 2019. It is a television series created by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, and is based on the book series of the same name by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. –with reports from Cheska Lingad/Rappler.com