The Witcher season 3 recap guide: All 8 episodes explained

The Witcher season 3 episode 7 recap: Out of the Fire, Into the Frying Pan

The Thanedd coup has essentially left everything in ruins. Another war has begun. We catch up with Jaskier again, who finds Radovid hiding in the wreckage at Aretuza. Despite everything that happened, Jaskier still tries to help Radovid by providing him with an address to a safe house in Oxenfurt.

Meanwhile, Jaskier intends to find his family (awe!), meaning Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer. Luckily, he runs into Yennefer right outside the room. She tells him that Triss took Geralt to Brokilon to heal, and they don’t know where Ciri is after the explosion of Tor Lara, but they assume she’s been brought to Nilfgaard.

Geralt is dying. Vilgefortz might not have killed him outright, but the beating was brutal enough that he cannot heal on his own. He seems prepared to die, believing Ciri to be lost.

Speaking of Ciri, the Tor Lara portal dumps her out in the brutal, hostile Korath Desert, where a massive sandworm almost immediately attacks her. Luckily, a unicorn comes to her aid. This horse is known as Ihuarraquax in the book, though in both cases Ciri affectionately dubs it “Little Horse.”

Not long after meeting the unicorn, Ciri starts hallucinating people like her mother, Pavetta, and her grandmother, Calanthe. She also sees a mysterious woman in a hooded cloak that later reveals herself as Falka. None of Ciri’s familial hallucinations are kind to her. The false versions of Pavetta and Calanthe taunt Ciri, revealing her deepest insecurities about being a burden to Geralt and Yennefer. Falka is the only one who speaks to a different, darker part of Ciri, the one tapping into her great power.

MORE: Everything you need to know about Falka

For those who need a quick refresher, you might remember that Stregobor spoke of Falka in The Witcher season 2. He taught a group of mages that Falka was a power-mad princess who led a ruthless rebellion and slaughtered countless innocents when her father, King Vridank of Redania, rejected her elven heritage.

Ciri’s version of Falka encourages her to emulate her past and take back what is hers through blood if it comes to it. Falka appears to be a manifestation of Ciri’s subconscious, convincing her to harness her magic to become more powerful and ensure her survival.

The majority of this episode follows Ciri as she grapples with these illusions and tries to survive the unrelenting dangers of the Korath Desert. Only with the help of Little Horse does she make it out alive, as the two support one another, and the unicorn later protects Ciri from a monster.

Unfortunately, Little Horse is poisoned in the process, and the only way for Ciri to heal him is to summon forbidden fire magic as a chaos source. She does heal the unicorn, but it’s frightened by Ciri’s power and takes off running. “Falka” tells Ciri to let him go, that she doesn’t need anyone by her side who doesn’t respect her abilities.

Ciri eventually finds a water source near an oasis, but the days in the desert and her usage of magic push her past the point of exhaustion. She passes out, and a group of bounty hunters find her.

In Brokilon, Jaskier finally arrives to see Geralt. The elves hesitate to grant him entry until he sings an old Elven song. We officially meet Milva (Meng’er Zhang), who allows Jaskier to enter. The second he sees Geralt, Jaskier tells him what’s happened and that Ciri appears to be on her way to Nilfgaard.