The Witcher: What happened in season 1? Timeline explained

Geralt is one surly guy, that’s for sure. When we first meet him, he’s got one thing on his mind – hunting monsters. The series opens with his battle against an insectoid monster called a kikimora, offering a glimpse of what he’s all about.

When Princess Ciri makes her debut, viewers may be unaware about the different timelines being depicted on the show, hence the confusion.

Scenes with Ciri are set in the present day, as the princess and her grandmother, Queen Calanthe, learn that their kingdom, Cintra, is set to be invaded by Nilfgaard.

Ciri manages to escape the siege, unleashing her magical powers as she flees into the woods away from a Nilfgaardian soldier.

At the beginning of The Witcher, Yennefer is a young woman who has a physical deformity causing her to have a hunchback.

She discovers that she has the natural ability to use magic, and so she is bought from her father by sorceress Tissaia, who becomes her mentor.

Further down the line, Yennefer convinces another mage to transform her appearance to become beautiful, a decision that eventually results in her becoming infertile.

While Ciri is on the run, she’s told by her dying grandmother to find a witcher called Geralt of Rivia, whose destiny is tied to hers.

In scenes set in the past, it’s revealed that Geralt was in attendance at the wedding of Calanthe’s daughter, Pavetta, several years previously.

At the wedding, Geralt saved the life of a man called Duny, who was cursed with the face of a hedgehog and claimed Pavetta – who was pregnant – as his betrothed.

When saving Duny’s life, Geralt claimed the ‘Law of Surprise’, resulting in his destiny becoming connected to Pavetta’s future daughter, Ciri.

Yennefer and Geralt’s fateful meeting occurs after the bard Jaskier, who has become a companion of the witcher, requires the help of a mage to heal wounds sustained from a Djinn.

Geralt is immediately taken by Yennefer, before learning that she herself wants to take ownership of the Djinn so that she can be granted a magic wish.

Yennefer’s storyline actually begins several decades before Geralt’s adventures, when she first starts her training to become a mage.

They end up banding together once more when they set off on a quest to find a dragon, with Yennefer’s motivation being the possibility that the creature could make her fertile again.

After all of the toing and froing of timelines, by the end of season one, everyone is in the present day.

Geralt heads to Cintra to find Ciri so that he can fulfil his purpose of protecting her, while Yennefer and the other sorcerers in the brotherhood are at odds whether to defend the kingdom or not from the Nilfgaard attack.

During the Battle of Sodden against the Niflgaardian forces, Yennefer ceases the fighting by unleashing her chaos, causing a huge fire.

Meanwhile, Geralt finally catches up with Ciri, who – having dreamt about him and Yennefer – asks who the sorceress is.