The Witcher is a popular fantasy show on Netflix that has enraptured the masses. In fact, it’s popular enough that the second season had over two billion watched minutes in its first week alone, and the highly anticipated season three has been split up into two halves, with the first recently premiering on June 29 and the second half set for July 27, 2023. However, for those who are just joining in, or those who haven’t read the books they are based on, the timeline might seem a little strange. This is because the directors chose to tell the story uniquely, in a way that included a lot of time jumps without any indication that the events weren’t happening at the same time.
Update July 6, 2023: This article has been updated following the premiere of The Witcher season three on Netflix.
If you’re new to The Witcher universe, or even if you’ve heard of it a little outside the show, you might not know that there are eight books in the series. Two of these books are only short stories to help build up the world of the Witchers and introduce one of the main characters, Geralt, and a lot of those short stories were what made up the stories throughout the first season. There are also several video games based on the books, including one that was announced in 2022. When you don’t know what’s going on in either, it can make watching the show a little confusing. Check the rest of this article out to help you put the timeline in a linear, chronological order; that way, you can remember everything, but you jump into the new season.
Yennefer
Yennefer’s plot in season one is actually the oldest. Sorcerers and sorceresses use their magic to make their appearance whatever they wish, so while Yennefer may look forever young, she’s actually around 100 years old in the present timeline, and there’s much to her life we don’t see. Since everything we see is the beginning of her journey to become a sorceress, this means her story actually begins around 80 to 90 years ago. Though her story does progress in a chronological fashion, there are several time jumps that aren’t made clear.
Her first appearance in episode two, Four Marks, is the beginning of her journey, where she first finds out she has magic. This means she is still just as young as she looks. Her transformation happens at the end of episode three, and episode four is no more than a handful of years later as she grows bored with her court assignment. The first big-time jump in her story is when she first meets Geralt and Jaskier in episode five, Bottled Appetites, though it’s unclear how long.
Considering Jaskier is only in his 30s or 40s, it is much closer to the present day than the rest of her story. Another time jump happens going into episode six, Rare Species, though it’s only a matter of a few years that Geralt and Yennefer haven’t seen each other in. We can then assume some kind of jump exists going into episode seven, but seven and eight happen very close together and bring us right up to the present day and into season two.
In season two, the time jumps end, and each character’s storyline becomes more linear. Yennefer, who was missing after the battle at Sodden Hill, has lost her magic and is on the run from Nilfgaard soldiers. However, she escapes and teams with Jaskier to help free enslaved elves, only to be captured and nearly executed. During a vision, she’s told that if she captures Ciri and surrenders the princess to Cintra, she’ll get her magic back. After finding Ciri and Geralt, Yennefer delivers the princess to the demon, who then possesses Ciri. Yennefer only receives her magic after she selflessly attempts to sacrifice herself to save Ciri.
Geralt
Sorcerers and Witchers are similar in that they all look far younger than they actually are. The only difference is, Witchers do still age. When they are young, several potions are pumped into their bloodstreams to give them the traits that separate them from normal humans. This helps them fight off monsters better than anyone. So, that being said, Geralt is around 100 in the present timeline. However, there are several things the show does with his character that don’t make sense, including telling his story out of order.
Geralt’s story actually begins in episode eight, Much More, when he has flashbacks to his childhood. This shows a very young Geralt with his mother and how she abandoned him and left him to become a Witcher, giving us the origins of his character in the last episode. However, the rest of his story is in chronological order starting in episode one, The End’s Beginning. From then on, each episode has a time jump of at least a few years until episode seven and eight, in which his story does happen back to back, with only a few weeks at most in between. Even the episodes in which Geralt sees his human friend Jaskier are not all together, as they usually just happen to meet each other on the road since both of their jobs involve traveling from place to place.
In the second season, Geralt focuses on training Ciri after being told Yennefer is dead, and while audiences learn more about his past through the new characters he encounters, there are no more leaps in time. Geralt promises Ciri he won’t let anyone harm her, and most of his time in season two involves training Ciri to be a Witcher while also protecting her from the new and unexpected monsters they encounter.
Ciri
As the youngest, Ciri’s story is the closest to the present day. Though she has strange gifts that no one really understands and has elven blood within her veins, she is still human, so she still ages just as we would expect. This means Ciri is only a teenager in the present-day timeline, and was still a teen when her story began. Though they are still hiding a lot of facts about Ciri in the show, it’s clear she’s been through a lot in a very short amount of time.
We first meet Ciri in episode one, The End’s Beginning, during the fall of her hometown, Cintra. She leaves the castle before it can be overrun with only one message from her grandmother — that she must find Geralt of Rivia. In episode seven, Before a Fall, the fall of Cintra is revisited briefly, and we can see that Geralt was actually in the city at the time, and they just managed to miss each other. While Geralt skips over a small amount of time between that moment and the next part of his story, the majority of Ciri’s story happens within that time jump of a few weeks.
Since she was raised in the palace, she finds it difficult to get used to the wilds of the forests, but she manages to survive as she passes through different settlements in hope of finding somewhere safe, or someone who might know where Geralt is. When they finally do manage to reach one another in the end of episode eight, the final battle at Sodden that Yennefer is in is close to their location, and this moment where all three timelines join together is where The Witcher season two picks up.
As with the others, there are no more time jumps for Ciri in the second season. Ciri’s bond with Geralt solidifies as he trains her in sword fighting and defense, but her special abilities also intensify. She begins having visions, only to finally learn when Yennefer delivers her to Voleth Meir, aka the Deathless Mother, that she is incredibly powerful.
Season Three
Since season three has recently premiered, it won’t be spoiled here. Yet it is certain to pick up after the shocking cliffhanger and reveal that the Nilgaardian ruler Emhyr is Ciri’s father, hence his reason for pursuing her. Emhyr is also The White Flame, who it has been said “will cleanse us all.” Season three will also be the first time Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri start a season together as a team, running from Yennefer’s mentor Tissaia, who believes Ciri’s powers pose a danger to them all. At least all indications are that the time jumps are now a thing of the past.
The Witcher season three has premiered to positive reviews, and with it being the final one for star Henry Cavill, it will be interesting to see how the next season adjusts to the recasting. It won’t be the time jump that confuses the audience, but it will be why Geralt looks like Liam Hemsworth instead of Henry Cavill.
