The Witcher Season 2 premiere recap: A Grain of Truth

The season 2 premiere of the Netflix series The Witcher begins with a wintry scene. A merchant named Colin Coppercloth (Andrew Paul) is in need of a lodge.

However, he and his companion, Kira (Melissandre St Hilaire), are attacked and presumably killed by some creature. Then, the next scene has soldiers in a bloody battle, with the Northern Kingdoms achieving victory.

However, Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra) seems to be gone. Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) and his trusty horse Roach are out looking for her, accompanied by Ciri/Cirilla (Freya Allana).

In the woods, Geralt has a strange nightmare about what appears to be a jovial troll. Not to be outdone, Ciri has a recurring nightmare about the black knight (Eamon Farren) who is pursuing her.

Ciri then asks Geralt about the “law of surprise” that either fatedly or haphazardly placed her under his protective custody. Elsewhere, sorceress Triss Merigold (Anna Shaffer) is experiencing medical problems.

Fringilla (Mimî M. Khayisa), niece of Artorius (Terence Maynard), seems lost, too.

The Witcher and Nivellen

We learn a few new details about The Witcher, such as Kaer Morhen being a place where Witchers go in the winter to rest and heal. After Geralt and Ciri happen upon a slain animal, they enter a village appearing to be abandoned, where we meet the cursed man-beast named Nivellen (Kristofer Hivju).

Feeling welcome in Nivellen’s home, Ciri takes a bath but is somewhat disturbed when she hears animal sounds. Later, as the trio feast, we learn that Nivellen can magically summon food (which would be quite a useful gift to have, obviously).

We also learn that, at some point in the past, Geralt saved Nivellen from a wyvern (a variety of dragon). He says Geralt told Nivellen’s father that Nivellen killed it himself.

Nivellen also mentions that his unique condition results from the curse of a priestess. There is some talk about the Wraiths of Mörhogg.

After dinner, they play a dart-like drinking game throwing knives at Nivellen’s father’s portrait. At this point, Geralt admits that Yennefer changed him.

Meet Vereena

Later at night, we meet Vereena (Agnes Born), an almost catlike lady crawling around the house. Speaking to the humanoid creature (also called a “bruxa”), Ciri at one point notes that “monsters do bad things to people,”.

Vereena replies: “Humans do bad things to everybody.” A mic drop moment from the bruxa?

Maybe so. Indeed, we soon learn that Nivellen hid Vereena from The Witcher (though technically a magical mutant of sorts, Geralt still has his human side).

When Geralt discovers corpses, he tells Ciri what she already knows: Tere is a bruxa in the house. Soon enough, it’s discovered that Vereena has been feeding on Nivellen’s throat, as he can’t die.

Being a monster slayer, Geralt gets into battle mode. The bruxa demonstrates her banshee-like scream, then takes flight, making it that much trickier to take her out.

Still, The Witcher has the skills to pay the bills, right?

A tragic end

As with many of Geralt’s battles, this one has some tragic elements. After grappling with this creature, it is actually Nivellen who significantly stabs her. When Geralt beheads her, she catches on fire and presumably dies.

Nivellen’s own curse is suddenly lifted. He admits he was transformed into a beast not for destroying a temple (as originally claimed) but for raping a priestess.

So, basically, Nivellen is not as cool as he first seems (to say the very least). There are a few other developments in this episode of The Witcher.

We get further insight into the cruelty of Tissaia (MyAnna Buring), who interrogates a prisoner of war by digging her fingers into his skull. Yennefer is captured.

In a world full of magic and curses, we are reminded that human motivations and conflicts still dominate the power of storytelling.

What are your thoughts on this episode of The Witcher? Let us know in the comments!