Everything You Need To Remember To Watch The Witcher Season 3

With six novels and nearly a dozen different video games to its name, "The Witcher" franchise can feel like a daunting fantasy saga to dig into. Luckily, the Netflix series of the same name has pretty much always been its own thing, adapting the stories by Andrzej Sapkowski while tweaking them — for better and worse — for a streaming TV audience.

The first two seasons of "The Witcher" have crammed a tremendous amount of plot into just 16 episodes, covering decades in the fantasy realm's history and turning complex, imperfect characters like Geralt (Henry Cavill), Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), Jaskier (Joey Batey), and Ciri (Freya Allan) into full-fledged heroes forged by hardship and fueled by both love and duty. Meanwhile, a prequel series, "The Witcher: Blood Origin," doesn't directly relate to much of the flagship series, but does further explain the Conjunction of the Spheres (see below) and give viewers a closer look at elf history, if you're into that sort of thing.

Ahead of Henry Cavill's last season as Geralt on "The Witcher," it's worth looking back at the first two seasons of the show to figure out exactly where we've left off. Here's a quick recap:

Geralt of Rivera is a Witcher. Born human but enhanced through experiments, the Witchers' purpose is to hunt monsters in a place called The Continent. Geralt helps locals wherever he goes, but is loyal only to himself. Early in the series, a princess named Renfri (Emma Appleton) shares prophetic words with Geralt about a "girl in the woods" who is his destiny.

Meanwhile, a girl with elven heritage named Yennefer is sold by her father and ends up at the magical school Aretuza. There, she learns to master magic and corrects her physical deformities at the cost of her fertility. She beds a fellow magical student named Istredd (Royce Pierreson) before realizing he told the shady wizard Stregobor (Lars Mikkelsen) about her elven background. Yen also gets another witch, Fringilla (Mimî M. Khayisa), sent to the Nilfgaardian Empire, then becomes a royal adviser.

When Geralt helps lift a curse preventing star-crossed royals of Cintra from marrying, he jokingly invokes a tradition called the Law of Surprise, which promises him Princess Pavetta's (Gaia Mondadori) first-born. She's secretly pregnant, so when she dies and the kingdom is invaded by Nilfgaard years later, her daughter Ciri is sent to find Geralt for protection. Along the way, Ciri meets an elf named Dara (Wilson Mbomio) and is pursued by Nilfgaardian forces, aided by Fringilla.

Meanwhile, Geralt and Yennefer (and Geralt's playboy bard, Jaskier) meet when Yen is in pursuit of a djinn's wish to recover her fertility. Geralt gets the wish instead, and seemingly uses it to bond the pair together. Yenn travels with her lover before returning to Aretuza where mages vow to oppose a Nilfgaardian invasion in the north. During battle, the mage Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu) betrays the alliance. Yen disappears after a fiery display of magic.

Geralt decides to find and protect Ciri, and the fated pair finally meet in the forest.

In the battle's aftermath, Yennefer is presumed dead but taken captive by Fringilla. Both are captured by the elven army, led by Francesca (Mecia Simson), an elven sorceress. Elves are a historically persecuted group now fighting back, and Francesca takes her captives to a monolith where the demon Voleth Meir (Ania Marson) offers a sketchy path to power. She gives Francesca a miracle baby symbolizing hope for the elves, helps Fringilla rise through the ranks at Nilfgaard (now an elven refuge), and offers Yen access to her missing magic in exchange for Ciri.

Geralt takes Ciri to the Witcher hideout Kaer Morhen and trains her to protect herself. Ciri has visions of the future, and the pair learn that an event called the Conjunction of the Spheres led elves, humans, and monsters to the same world. Monsters appear through monoliths linked to other worlds. They also find out that Ciri is the descendant of an elf who prophesied Ciri would bring about the end of the world. Ciri, meanwhile, has special Elder blood that can make new Witchers. A fire mage named Rience (Chris Fulton) steals some of her blood for his mysterious partner, but it scars her badly.

Yen and Jaskier reunite with the group, where Yen teaches Ciri portal magic and decides not to sacrifice her to Voleth. The demon is freed anyway when Francesca's baby is assassinated, leading her to kill human babies in retaliation and feed Voleth with her pain. She possesses Ciri and opens a monstrous portal, then leaves the realm to become a member of a group of apocalyptic horsemen called The Wild Hunt. Yen's magic returns.

Meanwhile, two spies, Philippa and Dijkstra (Graham McTavish and Cassie Clare), gather intelligence for Redanian King Vizimir (Ed Birch). Fringilla aligns herself with sinister Nilfgaardian commander Cahir (Eamon Farren), only to find out their boss, the White Flame (Bart Edwards), is Ciri's long-lost dad. 

Volume 1 of the third season of "The Witcher" premieres on June 29, 2023, and Volume 2 follows on July 27.