Jaskier has returned to Vespula and is thinking aloud about Radovid.

Vespula intuits he has a crush on Radovid, an unusual state of affection for him.

Geralt knocks on the door, interrupting his romp. He leads Jaskier through the woods to where the not-Ciri girl is muttering to herself about vermin and sources.

Geralt plans to take her to Anika, a druid friend of his mother’s. If not-Ciri is enchanted, Anika will be able to reverse it.

When they arrive, they’re greeted by Otto, a werewolf friend of Anika’s and Geralt’s. He credits Geralt with saving his life.

Anika tells Geralt how she and Otto met when mourning their lost loved ones. Otto’s family had died in a fire. Anika mourned Visenna, Geralt’s mother.

This is the first Geralt’s heard of his mother’s death.

Anika diagnoses a mind-control enchantment has hold of the girl. It’s extremely powerful. Otto brings her an extraction elixir. Anika feeds it to the girl and they wait to see if it works.

Yennefer brings Ciri to the dwarven bank. She is greeted enthusiastically by Giancardi. He provides her with coin and a vault. When she asks for someone to watch Ciri, Giancardi offers her Fabio.

Yennefer gives her the coin and removes her sword. She tells her to go have fun, buy something nice, and don’t get into trouble. She gives her a talisman with a locator spell just in case.

At the Redanian palace, Vizimir is throwing metal balls at a servant as sport.

He informs Dijkstra he’s brokered a deal with Nilfgaard, ensuring Redania’s safety and adding part of Temeria as a vassal state in exchange for Ciri if they get her first.

Dijkstra tries to convince him the Nilfgaardians are playing him for a fool, but Vizimir ignores him.

Debriefing later, with Radovid sitting nearby listening, Dijkstra and Philippa plan to make Vizimir’s queen useful. Philippa comments the portal she followed Rience through led to a crafting studio. Dijkstra is more interested in how the portal felt different. He recommends she reach out to Tissaia.

Philippa recommends Dijkstra use Radovid. Radovid offers to help but Dijkstra says he is not needed.

Tissaia is waiting for Yennefer in the dwarven vault. Yennefer confronts her with the theory that Tissaia let the Northern kings know Ciri is alive.

Tissaia retorts that Yennefer is the cause of the Northern kings’ anger for freeing Cahir. Yennefer owns it and apologizes.

Yennefer wants Tissaia to train Ciri. Tissaia realizes Yennefer treats Ciri as her own child.

Fabio and Ciri wander the market, Ciri eating donuts and Fabio advertising for the bank.

In a tavern, Istredd waits for a fence to bring him elven artifacts. The Book of Monoliths is not in her haul. She tells him it’s been sent to Aretuza already, by order of the Emperor himself.

Cahir and Gage wait to report to Emhyr. When he arrives, Gage tells him that Francesca is defying his orders to search for a girl. Emhyr sends Gage to have a meal, leaving Cahir alone to talk with him.

Emhyr is willing to welcome Cahir back into the fold but Cahir must prove his loyalty first.

Jaskier and Geralt discuss their plans. Geralt tells Jaskier that Yarpen saw him talking to Philippa. He absolves Jaskier and asks what Dijkstra’s orders were.

Jaskier shares he agrees that Ciri would be safest in Redania. Geralt doesn’t agree. But as Jaskier argues that Ciri is a princess and Geralt should support her decisions, Geralt realizes he knows what not-Ciri has been talking about.

Geralt returns to not-Ciri and wakes her. He asks her name and she’s able to remember that she is Teryn. She describes being dragged from her room by a man. Geralt asks if it was Rience. Teryn says Rience was there sometimes and there was a woman with a funny voice. They worked for the scary man.

Geralt realizes she knew the scary man. She confirmed he was someone at Aretuza. As Geralt tries to question her further, she begins to scream. Otto goes for more elixir. Anika insists they put Teryn back under.

Teryn’s voice suddenly deepens and she blasts Anika across the room. Otto begins to wolf out because Teryn’s stolen his amulet. Jaskier gets it to Geralt who holds it to Otto’s skin until he calms.

Jaskier administers the elixir to Teryn but Anika lies motionless in the corner.

At the market, Fabio takes Ciri to where a barker is selling his basilisk show. When he reveals his creature, Ciri interrupts to contradict him, identifying the animal in the cage as a wyvern. The barker takes a swing at Ciri who ducks and he overbalances, knocking the cage over and freeing the wyvern.

Ciri tries to capture the frantic wyvern but a pickpocket has stolen her knife. She returns the knife and Ciri kills the wyvern but deflects the attention onto a wannabe knight in the crowd. Leaving the show area, she realizes the pickpocket also took her money.

Ciri tries to activate her tracking spell but it doesn’t seem to work. She runs, looking for Yennefer but gets caught by the Aretuzan headmistress. Yennefer intervenes and introduces Ciri to Tissaia.

Tissaia probes mentally Ciri for some time until Yennefer breaks the link. She leads the other ladies away. Ciri follows. Tissaia is left stunned and leaks bloody tears.

Yennefer, Sabrina, and Rita lounge in a spa, drinking. Ciri is expected to wait on them which she does sullenly. Eventually, she snaps. Yennefer drags her from the room and they have a fight in a storage space where Yennefer explains returning to Aretuza means being a different version of herself to get along. Ciri is incensed by the artifice.

Anika wakes up with Geralt sitting at her bedside. He tells her Otto saved her.

They discuss how Geralt’s mother died and the choice she made to abandon him when he was a boy. Geralt swears he’ll never abandon Ciri even at the cost of his own life. He asks Anika to watch over Teryn while he figures out what to do to help her.

He intends to go to Aretuza.

Tissaia and Yennefer discuss how the politics are tearing the North apart just as the Brotherhood is fracturing.

Yennefer proposes they host a conclave of mages.

Ciri runs out of the building and tries to summon Geralt.

Dijkstra and Vizimir are dining when Radovid brings in a gift for the king.

Seeing that the gift is from Nilfgaard, he opens the box to find his wife’s head inside.

Vizimir suffers a breakdown and is helped to his room. Radovid realizes Dijkstra and Philippa killed the queen and confronts Dijkstra. Dijkstra warns him to keep quiet or it’ll be him in the box next.

Philippa makes love to Queen Hedwig’s maidservant, Eva. Eva was the one who cut Hedwig’s head off. Philippa considers the information Eva shared about the Hedwig’s secret meeting. There was a woman there who didn’t move her mouth. And she entered the palace through a portal like the one Rience used. Philippa realizes the Rience and his master work for Nilfgaard.

Rience and the silent woman argue as Rience didn’t know he was working for Nilfgaard. She insists working with Nilfgaard is different from working for Nilfgaard. Rience counters that if they still want his cooperation, they must meet his demands.

At the elf encampment, Francesca works on healing her people. She asks Filavandrel for news of Ciri and Gallatin. None of it is good. Filavandrel recommends an escape plan.

Cahir visits Gallatin in his room. They have some drinks and Cahir recounts for Gallatin how he grew up, the youngest brother. The Usurper enslaved his family but the White Flame freed Cahir, calling him the strongest. While Gallatin jokes, Cahir stabs him through the neck and lowers him to the ground as he dies. Cahir apologizes to Gallatin’s corpse and punches his own reflection in disgust.

Ciri gallops her horse through the woods. Thunder pursues her and the clouds form into the Wild Hunt. They call to her, calling her Death itself. As they overtake her, Geralt arrives, firing shock waves at them, scattering them and sending them back to the sky.

Geralt and Ciri embrace in relief. Ciri looks over and finds a steaming piece of armor knocked off the Wild Hunt riders by Geralt’s magic. She realizes they were real.