Netflix The Witcher season 2 recap guide: All 8 episodes explained

The Witcher season 2, episode 4 recap: Redanian Intelligence

Geralt and Ciri kick up her training a notch as he takes her along the famed “Killer Trail.” Ciri sustains several cuts along the way, leaving splotches of blood in her wake. She runs directly into Triss, who Geralt has invited to Kaer Morhen to serve as a guide for Ciri, similar to what Mousesack was to her mother. Triss heals the cut on Ciri’s face and receives a warm welcome from Vesemir, Coen, and Lambert upon her arrival at the keep.

With Triss’ help, Geralt tests the head of the creature that attacked Ciri in the woods in the previous episode for mutagenic alchemy, which would prove a mage sent the monster after her. The practice of mages controlling monsters is outlawed, but it could still be possible. Triss informs Geralt they’ll get the results back in the morning. They share a tender scene, commiserating about their shared losses, and Triss invites him to stay with her that night. Geralt politely declines.

Under Triss’ influence, Ciri chooses a decidedly more feminine look the following day and gets ruthlessly mocked by Lambert and Coen. Triss tells them off, shaming them for not providing feminine products or being empathetic to Ciri’s needs as a young woman. Later, Ciri points out that her grandmother wore dresses and fought battles, she can do both. Of course, Geralt knows that.

The results from the alchemy test come back negative. So a mage isn’t responsible for the monsters, but Triss notices something else. She finds traces of stellacite, which comes from monoliths. Geralt recognizes the substance and notes that he found similar on Eskel’s leshy when he dissected its arm. That means the two monsters came from the same monolith.

Ciri touches the stellacite and falls unconscious with another vision. She tells Geralt that she sees a monolith topple in her vision and reveals she was the one to topple it after the black knight took her. Ciri wonders if she’s at fault for the monsters coming and Geralt promises her he’ll fix things, but he needs to see the fallen monolith in person.

Triss portals him to Istredd, since he studies monoliths and would be the best person to ask about everything. Vesemir isn’t thrilled that Geralt is leaving for Cintra again, but it’s not like he has many choices.

Later, Vesemir discovers Feainnewedd blooming in the spots where Ciri bled along the Killer Trail. Feainnewedd only grows where Elder Blood is spilled, and Elder Blood is believed to have been wiped from the Continent. It’s an important ingredient in creating witcher mutagens. That means if Ciri has Elder Blood, she could be the key to making more witchers.

Chaos could never be done with the likes of you

In the Northern Kingdoms, things are getting really bad for elves. We get a glimpse of their treatment in the Redanian city of Oxenfurt where a guard humiliates one of the elves by forcing him to relieve himself in front of everyone. All of the elves we see are being chained up and beaten by guards.

Since fleeing Aretuza, Cahir and Yennefer have been trying to get to Cintra. Cahir promises Yennefer that she will be safe when she returns by his side. They’ve become reluctant allies, more or less, and they’ll need to since the brotherhood releases fliers targeting them as wanted war criminals. Yennefer informs Cahir that under Fringilla’s leadership, the elves have sided with Nilfgaard in a reclaimed Cintra.

Elsewhere, we get our first on-screen glimpse of Sigismund Dijkstra (Graham McTavish). He prevents the Redanian King Vizimir from being assassinated by two undercover advisors. Dijkstra tells Vizimir that now is the time for them to consider taking Cintra back. They would never have succeeded under Calanthe and her armies, but with elves, they might have a chance. We also get our first glimpse of Dijkstra’s mage ally, the sorceress Philippa Eilhart, though she remains in her owl form for the bulk of the season.

Dijkstra schemes a way to get eyes inside Cintra and realizes the best way to do that would be to turn an elf against his people. He visits a cell holding several captive and chooses Dara (Wilson Radjou-Pujalte), the elf who befriended Ciri in the first season.

Cahir and Yennefer take refuge in an elven aqueduct running beneath the city. There, they meet two elves, a deaf elf named Dermain (Jamal Ajala) and an older elf named Ba’lian (Kevin Doyle). Their first meeting devolves into violence quickly, but once the group realizes they’re all trying to get to the same place, they ally together. Ba’lian and Dermain tell Cahir and Yennefer about a mysterious person in town who is known as the “Sandpiper” that can take them to Cintra by boat.

As they trudge through the tunnel, Dermain tells Yennefer about what’s been happening to the elves. Believing all elves to be Nilfgaardian sleeper agents, the Northern Kingdom has been viciously torturing and capturing them at whim. But Dermain has heard whispers of a pregnant elf in Cintra, meaning Francesca’s pregnancy could become a sign of hope for their people.

Dermain is tragically killed by a zeugl, a sewer-dwelling tentacled monster. Yennefer and Cahir try to save him, but Ba’lian just turns tail and runs. Yennefer almost gets eaten too, but Cahir fights off the zeugl with a flaming torch. Upon resurfacing, Cahir realizes that Yennefer doesn’t have her magic anymore. He believes they all have a greater purpose. Outside, they notice Ba’lian skulking around in an alley and sneaking into a tavern. They follow him there and discover that the Sandpiper is actually Jaskier (Joey Batey)!

After he’s done with his song of the night (a bitter song clearly aimed at Geralt), Yennefer is surprisingly happy to see Jaskier and even gives him a hug. She questions him about being the Sandpiper, and Jaskier reveals that there are anonymous benefactors working behind the scenes. He says he was at the great oak Bleobheris, a place called the Seat of Friendship among druids. Jaskier believes that after the elves, the kingdoms will come for anyone they deem different. He agrees to help get Yennefer and Cahir to Cintra.

That night, Jaskier and his latest group of refugees slip out and onto a ship. They almost get caught by a guard, but a guilt-ridden Ba’lian essentially sacrifices himself to the guards to let everyone else escape.

Once they’re aboard the ship, we see that Dara is in the group, meaning he’s now on his way to Cintra and presumably working for Dijkstra. Yennefer and Jaskier say their goodbyes and despite what Yennefer tells him about her losing her magic, Jaskier doesn’t believe chaos is done with her just yet.

Shortly after Jaskier gets off the ship, Yennefer hears him scream. She follows the sound and notices his broken lute on the ground. Will she try to help him or leave to save herself?