DISCLAIMER: This recap of The Witcher Season 3 Episode 8, “The Cost of Chaos,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
Welcome back, citizens of the Continent! It’s season finale time for The Witcher, and war is (pretty much) already here. “The Cost of Chaos” dives into the, you guessed it, cost of chaos. The deadly fallout from the attack on Aretuza continues to devastate our core characters. It’s also Henry Cavill‘s final episode as Geralt of Rivia. Thankfully, he gets one last fun fight sequence before riding off into the sunset.
Listen, a lot happens in this outing, so let’s get down to business (okay, finish the song…).
We open with Milva (Meng’er Zhang) hunting for grouse in Brokilon. Upon successfully catching one, she tries to get Geralt (Cavill) to eat. However, Geralt is stubborn as all get-out, so he refuses. Milva confronts Eithné (Lorna Brown) about it. Why is it so important to save him? Eithné reminds her that she wasn’t exactly in the best place when Brokilon took her in. Plus, Milva owes a debt. Then, Jaskier (Joey Batey) sits with Geralt as the dryads attempt to use their special water to treat Geralt’s wounds. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. After all, he’s a mutant, not a human.
Geralt says, “F*ck it,” and hobbles out of bed with a walking stick. Milva knocks it out of his hand, sending him groundward. He’s clearly not in fighting shape. How can he save Ciri if he’s not at full strength? The humor in this scene doesn’t work for me. It feels forced. Anyway, Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) is doing her best to search for Ciri outside Brokilon. She asks Crach an Craite (Johannes Haukur Johannesson) for any updates regarding her location. He only knows she’s bound for Nilfgaard. Crach an Craite believes that if Ciri becomes Pro-Nilfgaard, he and his crew must support her. Yen surmises it’s all Vilgefortz’s doing.
Later, Yen, Tissaia (MyAnna Buring), Rita (Rochelle Rose), Triss (Anna Shaffer), Sabrina (Therica Wilson-Read) and Keira (Safiyya Ingar) arrive at Vuilpanne, the castle where Geralt found Teryn. They’re looking for Ciri. Philippa (Cassie Clare) is already there. They don’t find Ciri, but they discover the grotesque creature Geralt fought, a composite of Aretuza novices — the ones missing courtesy of Vilgefortz. Tissaia claims they can reverse the spell if they all work together. After casting it, we see three girls on the ground instead of the monster.
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While departing, Philippa and Tissaia have it out. Philippa accuses Tissaia of being blinded by Vilgefortz’s charms, while Tissaia believes that Philippa’s move to disarm the Brotherhood was to impress King Vizimir and step outside Dijkstra’s shadow. Side note: white hair suits Tissaia. Yen defuses the situation by reminding the mages of their mission: to protect the Continent from chaos. They must rebuild Aretuza. Meanwhile, Fringilla (Mimî M. Khayisa) and Francesca (Mecia Simson) arrive in Nilfgaard to reunite with the emperor. They present a proposition to Emhyr var Emreis (Bart Edwards).
The army should seize control of Xin’trea’s ports and the Yaruga — a critical supply chain of Temeria. Fringilla wants to serve as Imperial Governor of Xin’trea, as someone with Nilfgaard’s best interests at heart, with Francesca and the elves finally getting a place to call home. Francesca hopes to take the Scoia’tael there, too. Emhyr only allows Francesca to take the sick and elderly, aka those who cannot fight, and disown the Scoia’tael. He needs them to fight for him. Francesca rejects that, claiming he views her army as dispensable. He gives her an ultimatum: either save some of her people, or they all die.
Next, Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) reunites with King Vizimir (Ed Birch), who’s posing for a painting. According to the king, the Thanedd coup was a disaster, and there’s a good chance Dijkstra and Philippa left his brother to die. Vizimir reveals that someone must pay and makes it clear he plans to kill Philippa. Uh-oh. Meanwhile, Geralt tries to train while healing in Brokilon, but Milva reminds him to rest. While Milva seems content with staying put, Geralt says he’s not. She tells him it’s not that she’s scared to leave; she’s merely terrified of what she’ll do to those who hurt her.
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Milva asks Geralt about Renfri’s brooch. He explains it belonged to someone he killed (Renfri), and it serves as a reminder. He keeps it with him always. At Aretuza, Yen checks in with Tissaia. She feels awful that Vilgefortz and his crew attacked Aretuza on her watch. Tissaia beats herself up for falling for his ruse. Yennefer gives her mentor a pep talk. She’s Tissaia Flippin’ de Vries. She’s a badass! Triss pops in to reveal they’re starting the funeral for the novices they found at Vuilpanne. Tissaia encourages Yen to go and says she’ll be behind her. As Yen joins the procession, we see Tissaia write a letter to her. Oh, no.
Suddenly, Yen feels a sharp pain, like a signal alerting her to something wrong. Yen runs into Tissaia’s office to find her on the ground in a pool of her blood. Tissaia is gone. Yennefer sobs over her body. This is so heartbreaking. RIP, Tissaia. You deserved better. Later, Yen heads to Brokilon to see Geralt. They reunite. She tells him about Tissaia’s death. She also confesses that she couldn’t find Ciri. They embrace. He vows to get her back so they can be together as a family. Yen makes Geralt promise her that they’ll see each other again before using magic to heal his wounds. Well … she might not see this version of Geralt again.
Meanwhile, Radovid (Hugh Skinner) returns to Redania, much to Vizimir’s delight. He asks his brother if he’s free to leave the castle. Someone out there needs him (hint, hint, Jaskier). Vizimir grants him permission. Radovid credits Philippa with him leaving the Thanedd coup alive. She claims she has a grand plan to remedy the egregious error that was said coup. Vizzy just needs to trust her.
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Dijkstra enters Philippa’s quarters, seemingly to kill her. However, he hands her his blade and orders her to take his life. Relieved, Philippa reveals she’s glad she can trust him. Oh, and he shouldn’t worry about the whole Vizimir thing — she’s got a foolproof plan in place to protect them both.
Next, Fringilla and Francesca have a heart-to-heart. Francesca reveals she’s going to take Emhyr’s deal. Fringilla urges her to reconsider. Then, she drops a bombshell: Emhyr was the one who killed Francesca’s baby. Francesca can’t believe Fringilla knew all this time and didn’t utter a word. Fringilla confesses she was trying to get in Emhyr’s good graces, so she told him about Francesca’s child. Francesca vows to make Emhyr and Fringilla pay. Well, there goes that alliance.
Then, we see Eva (Cal Watson) slice Vizimir’s throat. Dijkstra and Philippa emerge after it’s done. Clearly, that was Philippa’s grand plan. Radovid arrives, horrified and grief-stricken at the sight. Philippa seizes the opportunity to crown Radovid the next King of Redania. Everyone chants, “Long live the King!” while bowing before Radovid. It looks like he won’t be reuniting with Jaskier after all. Meanwhile, at Aretuza, Yen and the mages continue their cleanup while contemplating their next move. No more tears will be shed. It’s time for action. Yen believes they need to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
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Later, Dara (Wilson Mbomio) chats with Jaskier about his association with Ciri. He also reveals why he left the Scoia’tael and prefers the company at Brokilon. He didn’t like the Scoia’tael swearing fealty to Nilfgaard. Dara asks Geralt to pass on a message to Ciri: He forgives her and is sorry, too. After their chat with Dara, Geralt and Jaskier make an elixir that’s a twist on Vesemir’s. Geralt downs it before resuming his training. Once again, Milva kicks his ass.
In Nilfgaard, Emperor Emhyr, Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu) and the court welcome Ciri home with open arms. Vilgefortz is missing some of his face courtesy of the Tor Lara explosion. Good. When Ciri stands before Emhyr, we see it’s not actually Ciri but Teryn (Frances Pooley), the girl Geralt rescued who thought she was Ciri for a spell. Speaking of Ciri (Freya Allan), our girl is tied up with Kayleigh (Fabian McCallum), a member of The Rats, in a tavern, no thanks to their captors. They plan to bring her to Emhyr in Nilfgaard.
Suddenly, the other Rats appear to rescue Kayleigh. There’s Mistle (Christelle Elwin), Giselher (Ben Radcliffe), Iskra (Aggy K. Adams), Asse (Connor Crawford) and Reef (Juliette Alexandra). If you recall, we met Mistle in an earlier Season 3 episode. The Rats are a Geso gang of criminals. Anyway, they kick Ciri’s captors’ asses. However, one of them grabs her, holding a blade to her throat. Once the rest of this man’s buddies are dead, Mistle allows the man to fight for his life. She tosses a sword to Ciri. Ciri and this man battle it out, with our girl delivering the killing blow.
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Later, Geralt and Jaskier are at a toll area as they attempt to enter Nilfgaard. While they don’t have their papers, Geralt offers Renfri’s brooch as payment, which the guard accepts. However, Geralt notices the guard rejects the family behind him. Said guard rips a stuffed animal from the child’s hands, too. Naturally, our witcher won’t stand for injustice. While Geralt battles this guard and some soldiers, Yen writes a letter to him — her “friend.” As for Geralt’s fight, only a handful of soldiers remain.
Suddenly, Milva swiftly kills them with her arrows from quite a distance. Geralt catches the only remaining guard, who treated that family like sh*t, and orders him to tell Emhyr that our witcher is coming for him. He’s going to get Ciri back. After delivering that threat, Geralt returns the stuffed animal to the family. Now officially part of the team, Milva tags along with Geralt and Jaskier. Someone’s getting more screen time in Season 4! I like Meng’er Zhang, so this is good. As the trio grabs horses for departure, we see Renfri’s brooch on the ground. Geralt doesn’t go back for it.
Back at that tavern, Ciri stands in shock after killing that man. The Rats are unsure of what to do with her as they steal what they can. Well, they know she’s highborn and can wield a sword. Mistle asks Ciri for her name. Ciri merely says, “Falka.”
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“The Cost of Chaos” keeps the momentum established in episode six (not counting episode seven since it’s mostly Ciri) going. It sets up several storylines for Season 4 and beyond. It’s not my favorite Volume 2 episode (that belongs to episode six), but it’s stronger than anything from Volume 1. While there are fewer episodes in Volume 2, it’s considerably more consistent than the first batch. It’s 100 percent stronger on all fronts. Actors like MyAnna Buring and Anya Chalotra, who deliver tour de force performances, make up for the show’s low moments. They are utterly compelling.
Unfortunately, Cavill isn’t on screen quite as much this season. Volume 2 is only slightly better in that regard. Sadly, Cavill didn’t get the badass, balls-to-the-wall bon voyage he deserved. That said, thank you, Henry Cavill. You are Geralt of Rivia. Sure, Liam Hemsworth will do a fine job, but you embodied this role. Heart and soul.
How long until Emhyr discovers that Vilgy installed that Ciri lookalike to save his own ass? Where the hell is Istredd? Why didn’t Henry regenerate like a Time Lord into Liam? We’re gonna have to wait a while to find out.
The Witcher Seasons 1-3 are now streaming on Netflix.
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