The Witcher season 3 ending: What is the meaning of Henry Cavill’s final scene as Geralt?

Well, we’ve done it. After a lengthy wait between seasons, The Witcher season 3 is finally out in the world in its entirety. All eight episodes of the third season are now on Netflix, and that means we can see how Henry Cavill’s time as Geralt winds down.

The final episode of The Witcher season 3 is excellent, but it does feel a little more like a stepping stone to set up season 4 than a climactic last act. That’s fair since the sixth episode, involving the Thanedd coup and Vilgefortz vs. Geralt, is the season’s climax more than anything.

Major spoilers ahead for The Witcher season 3 part 2

In the finale, many pieces are moved around the chess board to get everyone where they need to be for the next season.

What happens at the end of The Witcher season 3?

Here are the most important things that happen in the finale:

• Blaming herself for the coup and everything that happened with Vilgefortz, Tissaia commits suicide.
• The Brotherhood is no more, so Yennefer begins setting up the Lodge of Sorceresses, including Keira, Sabrina, Triss, and Margarita.
• Ciri kills her first human and falls in with the outcast group of rebels known as the Rats. She starts calling herself Falka.
• Emhyr publicly announces that “Ciri” (actually Teryn, the show’s False Ciri) has returned to her rightful place in Cintra.
• Phillippa orchestrates King Vizimir’s murder, putting Radovid on the throne.
• Fringilla reveals the truth about Emhyr to Francesca, revealing he orchestrated the death of her child, and Fringilla technically had a part to play in the death of Francesca’s loved ones due to her lie. Francesca vows to make both of them suffer.
• This doesn’t happen in the finale, but the last we saw of Istredd, Vilgefortz had portaled him and the Book of Monoliths somewhere unknown. We also don’t see Vilgefortz again after the explosion at Tor Lara, but he’ll obviously be back.

Henry Cavill’s final scene as Geralt in The Witcher season 3

Geralt’s season 4 journey will see him trying to find Ciri no matter what. He doesn’t yet know that the “Ciri” in Cintra is not the real Ciri, but he intends to go after Emhyr and Vilgefortz anyway. In his final scene on the show, Cavill’s Geralt interferes with Nilfgaardian soldiers taking a family as prisoners in their caravans.

Realizing he can no longer remain neutral if he wants to protect Ciri, Geralt kills the soldiers and leaves the leader alive to send a powerful message to Emhyr. The final shot is a close-up of Renfri’s crest, which Geralt leaves behind on the ground.

What is the significance of Renfri’s crest?

Cavill’s last scene seems to be a homage to his first episode. It’s not a coincidence that it’s Renfri’s crest left behind since she is a prominent part of the series premiere episode, which adapts the short story “The Lesser Evil,” recounting how Geralt earned the “Butcher of Blaviken” moniker.

The crest is a homage to Cavill’s beginning on the show and symbolic of his exit as he leaves it behind. It also symbolizes Geralt’s acceptance of Yennefer’s words from her last “Dear Friend” letter/narration of the season: “Neutrality be damned.”

Geralt told Milva that the crest reminded him that fate always forced his hand no matter how hard he tried to stay out of things. Now he appears to understand that and is ready to move forward. Cavill also gets to go out with a big, epic sword fight, which serves as a proper goodbye to fans and his version of the character.