The Witcher Season 3 Episode 7 Review: Out of the Fire, Into the Frying Pan
Diana Keng
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Despite the fact Geralt is the accepted protagonist of the franchise, The Witcher Season 3 Episode 7 shifts the focus nearly entirely to Cirilla, the Lion Cub of Cintra.
Ciri's power is understood to be the key to multiple schemes and power plays, but as she struggles to control it, she faces opposition from both kings and mages and her own subconscious.
Her Elder Blood takes those standard fears of abandonment and insecurities and turns them into real nightmares. Of course, the poisonous desert lizard she snacks on probably doesn't help.
Falka's presence is an exciting twist. She appears to be an entity independent of Ciri's subconscious, bent on unleashing Ciri's powers upon the world in an anarchistic purge of the old system.
She combines the fire magic of Rience with the predatory calculations of Voleth Meir.
In the literary lore, Falka curses her executioners, declaring that their progeny will suffer at the hands of a child bearing her blood.
The thing is, Falka is not a descendant of Lara Dorren, although her daughter was raised with the twin children of Rhiannon, Lara's only daughter.
So if Ciri is descended from Falka and thus the child who will rain retribution down upon Falka's killers, she is not the Child of Prophecy.
Conversely, if Ciri is Lara Dorren's heir -- which was the entire point of The Witcher Season 2, -- she is not Falka's foretold tool of revenge.
So, is Falka knocking on the wrong family tree? Or is she attracted to the power Ciri has, realizing she can hurt a lot more people if she can light Cirilla's fuse?
Ciri: I think I have the power to change things.
Falka: You’re not the first person to feel that way. But you, my friend, you could be the last.
Meanwhile, Ciri's subconscious is bringing all the dead female ancestors back to verbalize her deepest self-doubts, pushing her to despair and give up.
The harshest is Pavetta, her mother, who died when Ciri was young. What is initially a happy and comforting reunion turns when Pavetta points out that Ciri's a lot, and no one's pleased to be saddled with her.
Perhaps, when you get down to it, you are too much for everyone.
Pavetta
Grandmother Calanthe never was the warm, fuzzy type, so for her to burst from Ciri's brain as a bloody, slightly-mad, and needlessly cruel critic is less surprising.
The Korath Desert is insane with dangers and desolation. The sand monster is basically a giant cross between a Sarlacc and a Venus Fly Trap. And whatever that thing is, that wounded Little Horse seems like something Calanthe would've dreamed up on a creative bender.
But then there's Little Horse.
No explanation, no reason. Suddenly, she's traveling with a unicorn, and that's just cool beans.
A strategic mind might suspect Little Horse is sent by Falka to make sure Ciri stays alive and to create emotional leverage to push her into trying fire magic.
After all, once Ciri does the thing, Little Horse just up and leaves.
The current trend among folks trying to use Ciri and her powers is to underestimate the mind and feelings of a teenage girl with attachment issues.
First, Vilgefortz gets Tor Lara blown up by chasing Ciri down and telling her she's not ready for the Chaos.
Then Falka overreaches by assuming Ciri is just as misanthropic as she is and won't mind torturing and killing Geralt, Yennefer, and Jaskier in the same figurative breath as Vilgefortz and Cahir.
There will be a time of contempt. And then, finally, you can take back what’s yours. Your wrath is righteous. Your revenge is justice. They deserve to suffer. Make them. Those you love will betray you too. Trick you. You’ll always be their pawn. Feel your rage, child of the Elder Blood. Feel the pleasure of release. You said it yourself. You don’t need anyone.
Falka
(Quick aside: What happened to Cahir anyway? On The Witcher Season 3 Episode 6, he's right in front of her, begging to be killed, then volunteering to hold off Scoia'tael forces, then M.I.A. when Francesca wants to talk to him. Where will he pop up next?)
Does relinquishing her powers mean Ciri can never get them back?
Can it really be that easy? Or was it just the fire magic she gave up?
In any case, she didn't have the magic to stave off the bounty hunters. Is there a time twist in her story? That's the only way Jaskier reporting her being on the way to Nilfgaard lines up with him finding Geralt.
Her time in the desert is an ordeal, unlike anything she has undergone before. Even her training at Kaer Morhen doesn't compare. Yes, witcher training is harsh, but it is a collective experience.
The effect of the isolation out on the red sands and the torturous visions she had there may never heal.
When Yennefer and Geralt find their daughter again, they will find her considerably changed.
Powerful women have been labeled insane since the dawn of time. It’s bullshit. Always has been. Always will be. History repeating itself. Something we have in common. Both insane princesses, abandoned by the people who were supposed to protect us, and royally fucked over by our families. At least yours had the decency to die on their own. I had to kill mine.
Falka
That's assuming they do find her, which I feel is a pretty safe assumption.
Granted, based on the planned casting transition, she may also find Geralt significantly different.
That begs the question: Will the dryads of Brokilon enact the magic that will turn Henry Cavill Geralt into Liam Hemsworth Geralt?
Will the canon be retconned to make resurrection transformations a thing?
Ciri: You murdered your father. You started a rebellion. But what did you actually want?
Falka: I wanted the freedom to feel my rage. To stop shaming myself for what I could not control. You want to change the system, Princess Cirilla? Burn it to the ground.
Like many contemporary villains, Falka's demand that Ciri burn down the system that holds women like them back is understandable.
While the humans of the Continent bicker, scheme, and oppress, and elves scrape, scramble, and suffer, the dryads at Brokilon seem to have it pretty good.
It's a shame that societal structure cannot be sustained on a large scale.
With the question of how permanent relinquishing one's powers is up in the air, will Ciri be able to tap into Chaos again if need be?
What do you think she'll do to Emhyr upon arriving in Nilfgaard?
How will Geralt bring himself back and reunite his family?
Hit our comments with your best guesses, biggest hopes, and darkest fears, Fanatics!
Diana Keng was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lifelong fan of smart sci-fi and fantasy media, an upstanding citizen of the United Federation of Planets, and a supporter of AFC Richmond 'til she dies. Her guilty pleasures include female-led procedurals, old-school sitcoms, and Bluey. She teaches, knits, and dreams big. Follow her on X.
