“My grandmother fought battles wearing dresses. She’s jeered by Lambert and Coen, now the stand-ins for basically every Witcher in Kaer Morhen.Ĭiri’s attempts to fit in at Kaer Morhen while retaining some part of her identity has been one of this season’s more heartbreaking story threads.
Their rapport is reflective of The Witcher’s generally strong handling of female friendships, encouraging Ciri to shed her training rags in favor of what looks like Zelda cosplay from Breath of the Wild (I like it!). The former gets a nice shakeup with the arrival of Triss Merigold, who is immediately concerned about Ciri’s treatment in the all-male Kaer Morhen. With Djikstra enacting his plans in the background for now, the plot picks up this season’s two main threads: Geralt’s continued training of Ciri, and Yennefer and Cahir’s flight from Aretuza. Djikstra is just the sort of backroom schemer that this show needs, and McTavish’s energetic performance makes him an immediate standout. As I discussed in my Episode 3 review, this Witcher adaptation’s politics haven’t really landed to this point, mainly because they tend to be related in the abstract. As establishing character moments go, it’s pretty good.ĭespite the episode title, Djikstra doesn’t figure prominently into this week’s plot, his only other big scene involving him striding back and forth and rambling animatedly to an owl. He makes his entrance into the show by throwing a knife through one noble’s throat and forcing another to drink poison, whereupon he begins laying out his plan for Cintra. Played by a glowering Graham McTavish, Djikstra personifies the Witcherverse’s often brutal realpolitik. Apparently The Witcher’s writers had other plans.ĭara figures into this episode’s C Plot, which introduces the titular Redanian Intelligence and Djikstra, a towering figure in both the books and the games. As a wholly original character who wasn’t particularly well-received, his exit from the story seemed destined to be permanent.
We last saw Dara as he parted ways with Ciri following their battle with Doppler Mousesack - one of Season 1’s most criticized storylines outside of Brokilon, in which he also featured prominently (Season 1 had a lot of heavily criticized storylines, come to think of it). “Oh my god, Dara’s back!” I yelled involuntarily when Ciri’s erstwhile companion from Season 1 popped up midway through Episode 4, now sporting an afro and clearly in the throes of adolescence.