Did you watch The Witcher while playing around on your phone? Did you try to make sense of all the timelines through a haze of eggnog and turkey sweats? Or were you too busy staring at Henry Cavill's Geralt to notice what was happening?
If so, then chances are you struggled to keep up with everything going on in season one. Hell, even if you did focus, this show's narrative is more slippery than a Witcher in a bathtub.
But that's where we come in. Join us here at Digital Spy as we toss a bone to The Witcher newbies and unravel each of the three main timelines in this messy, messy show.
What to Read Next
Let's start with Ciri
Geralt's timeline spans over 30 years, and Yennefer's is even longer, but the show refuses to make that clear with some handy title cards, dropping in and out of different time periods without any notice whatsoever.
This is made all the more confusing when you factor in how most of the main characters don't age through traditional means – even though Jaskier at the very least should look older as time progresses.
Perhaps secretly lusting after Geralt does wonders for your skin? If so, then millions should be looking 10 years younger already if the show's success is anything to go by.
Because Geralt and Yennefer's adventures jump around and crisscross at multiple junctions, the key to understanding what's actually happening lies with Ciri.
Her story begins just before the invasion of Cintra by Nilfgaard which we first see in the very first episode. Everything that involves Ciri takes place roughly over one week, and even more importantly, it's told in a linear fashion. Because of this, it's easier to think of the other two timelines as flashbacks which all lead towards Ciri's arc, otherwise considered to be the "present".
Now that the Geralt and Ciri timelines have finally intertwined at the end of season one, expect season two to unfold in a more linear fashion. Unfortunately, that doesn't help us right now though.
What about Geralt?
The timeline of Geralt and his beloved horse Roach is even trickier to untangle than that majestic silver mane, but thanks to Mashable's sleuthing, we're able to pinpoint roughly where The Witcher's arc first begins.
As it explains, Ciri mentions in episode one that her grandmother called Calanthe won her first battle when she was Ciri's age. Later in the same episode, Renfri refers to that battle being recent in Geralt's earlier timeline. This means that The Witcher's arc started when Queen Calanthe was the same age as young Ciri at that banquet.
Still with us?
So we know from Calanthe's argument with Geralt in episode seven that The Witcher hadn't been in Cintra for 12 years. He left when Pavetta was pregnant with Ciri, which means that the princess was roughly 11 years old during the episode one banquet. This then also means that Calanthe won her aforementioned first battle at the same age.
Through some more convoluted and rather impressive detective work, Mashable went on to deduce that the marriage ball in episode four took place 20 years after Calanthe's first battle, which means it occurs 20 years after Geralt's story in episode one as well.
Combine that with Ciri's age, and it looks like his "present-day" timeline is set roughly three decades after his story in the first episode. However, Geralt doesn't age because of his Witcher heritage, so he looks the same throughout.
So where does that leave Yennefer?
The key thing to remember about Yennefer is that she's far, far older than her youthful skin would have you believe (looks like that 'lusting after Geralt theory' is holding up better than expected!).
Basically, everything we see of Yennefer before she meets Geralt in episode five takes place long before his timeline on the show. After that, her storyline is mostly concurrent with his, but the specifics are tough to nail down.
For example, we have no idea how long Yennefer studied magic for/was basically tortured at Aretuza, so her true age is impossible to discern at this point.
However, through a lot of timey-wimey inference, we do know that the surprisingly old mage left the Brotherhood at some point between the time King Foltest was usurped and Jaskier's 10-year-long "friendship" with Geralt.
This means that Yennefer's time at Aretuza took place around 20 to 30 years before Geralt's storyline starts in episode one.
Now that the three main timelines finally started to merge in the season one finale, it looks like the show's chronology should be clearer moving forward, which also means that explainers like this will no longer be necessary...
Toss a coin to your writer. He might soon be out of a job.
The Witcher is now streaming worldwide on Netflix.
The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher
Sword of Destiny: Witcher 2
The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Complete Edition (Nintendo Switch)
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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
