The Witcher season 4 ending explained: Every twist broken down by cast

*Warning: Full spoilers ahead for The Witcher season 4.*

With brand new characters, ever expanding storylines and an escalating conflict amongst the nations, The Witcher season 4 is certainly a sprawling one.

As the core trio are once again scattered across the Continent, each going on their own path, the final episode saw Ciri (Freya Allan) in a particularly sticky situation, captured by the infamous bounty hunter and Witcher killer, Leo Bonhart (Sharlto Copley).

Just how will this impact the various factions searching for the lost lion cub of Cintra?! There’s plenty to unpack as we wait for the final chapter in Geralt (Liam Hemsworth), Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) and Ciri’s destiny-fuelled saga to unfold (thankfully, the fourth and fifth season were filmed consecutively, so there shouldn’t be too long to wait!).

Here's everything you need to know about how season 4 ended – complete with a breakdown from the cast.

Why did Geralt have such a weird reaction to being knighted?

On their travels to visit the Druids of Caed Dhu, Geralt and his rag-tag company (aka the hansa), comprised of Jaskier (Joey Batey), Regis (Laurence Fishburne), Cahir (Eamon Farren) and Zoltan (Danny Woodburn), find themselves embroiled in an intense battle between Nilfgaardian and Northern forces (comprised of both Lyria and Rivia soldiers.)

As they sail down the river Yaruga, they’re ambushed by archers, and just as they’re about to be wiped out by a fire-fuelled weapon, a returning Milva (Meng'er Zhang) swoops in to save the day.

Despite Geralt’s insistence to remain impartial amidst the unfolding war across the Continent, the company can’t stand by and watch the Nilfgaardian forces claim the crossing. So begins the fierce Battle for the Bridge on the Yaruga, as Geralt, Cahir and Zoltan fight alongside the Northern forces to help save Queen Meve.

Meanwhile, Milva miscarries during this period, but is cared for by Regis and the rest of the company.

Following the aftermath of the battle, Geralt is knighted by Queen Meve, finally becoming “Geralt of Rivia”. But why did he have such a weird reaction?

Breaking that moment down exclusively with RadioTimes.com, Geralt actor Hemsworth pointed out that Geralt's life has been made infinitely more complicated now he effectively belongs to Meve.

He explained: "There's that initial [thing of] 'This is funny, and now you belong to me forever'. It's funny and ironic to him, I think. But it's definitely gonna create some complications."

Did Yennefer stop Vilgefortz?

Not yet. Despite rallying rival mages, strategising and even sending Fringilla in undercover in the wake of the Thanedd coup, Yennefer and the sorceresses fail to stop Vilgefortz and his cloaked minions (note: Death Eater rip-offs) in the Battle of Montecalvo.

In what is perhaps the biggest change to the source material this season, Yennefer rallies together the remaining sorceresses after their brutal showdown with Vilgefortz to form The Lodge of Sorceresses.

Following her failed trip to save her “daughter” from the clutches of ruthless Nilgaard emperor Emhyr (Bart Edwards), Yennefer and the remaining sorceresses, Fringilla (Mimî M. Khayisa), Philippa (Cassie Clare), Triss (Anna Shaffer), Sabrina (Therica Wilson-Read) and elven leader Francesca (Mecia Simson) band together to unite their strength for a common cause.

Explaining why that major change to the source material was made, showrunner Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich told RadioTimes.com: "There are moments that are completely ripped from the books, and then we also have to do some different things with our characters. I think Yennefer is the perfect example – in these books, in this period of time, she's actually off-page quite a bit. She's a jade statue.

"We just knew that that was not what we needed to do with the character this season. So we did have to create a story. We always try to stick to the spirit of The Witcher, and I think that's the most important thing to us, is when we do create things, when we do have to go off the path, the most important thing is feeling like it's still The Witcher."

With Vilgefortz still out there, Ciri is still at risk, along with the future of magic. She proposes that they form the sisterhood to clean up the mess at the castle, while making sure that there’s a home for Ciri to come back to.

In possession of the dagger Vesemir used to wound Vilgefortz, Yennefer asks Triss to use it to track him back to Stygga in order to fulfil her promise – to destroy him once and for all while he’s weak. After initially arguing against the idea, Triss unlocks the portal matrix using the dagger.

Before Yennefer steps through, she asks Triss to promise to rebuild Aretuza in case she doesn’t make it back. Once she steps through the portal, she ends up in the middle of the sea, presumably in Stygga, on her way to the powerful mage’s stone lair.

Meanwhile, Vilgefortz mutilates and kills the three remaining mages who survived the battle, waiting for the arrival of Yennefer and his “final victory.”

What happened to Ciri and The Rats?

The Rats foolishly attempt to enact their plan of ambushing bounty hunter Leo Bonhart (Sharlto Copley) at the Chimera’s Head, despite his offer of taking them in alive.

As Ciri races back on Kelpie to help, the young bandits go toe-to-toe with the ruthless mercenary, but he soon overpowers them, gleefully maiming and mutilating the gang in gruesome ways. He even shoves one of Kayleigh’s green bombs inside his stomach!

While Leo is interrogating Mistle (Christelle Elwin) on Falka/Ciri’s whereabouts, she arrives and, witnessing the brutal and bloody massacre, she then pours all her rage and her hate into the ensuing duel with Leo.

“If your friends had fought like you, maybe they’d still be alive,” he taunts, before overpowering and disarming her.

As she regains consciousness following the attack, she discovers she’s bound, while Bonhart nonchalantly beheads the Rats one by one to collect his bounty. His accomplice then cruelly makes Ciri watch the mercenary behead Mistle last.

So begins one of Ciri’s darkest and most traumatic arcs from the novel The Tower of the Swallow...

Actress Allan explained of Ciri's fate: "For Ciri, it's as low as it's ever got and it's got pretty low before. But this is traumatic, it's going to be embedded in her forever. It's going to be a long old journey out of that pit."

What happens to Emhyr and the fake Ciri?

Following Yennefer’s discovery that former Aretuza novice Teryn (Frances Pooley) is in fact a “false Ciri” planted by Vilgefortz, Nilfgaard’s emperor instructs his spymaster Skellen (James Purefoy) to prevent the truth of Ciri’s identity from being exposed.

While Teryn reaffirms her loyalty to the White Flame, Yennefer portals to Geralt to tell him that the wedding is a sham and Ciri is still out there.

With the news of the fake marriage soon to spread across the Continent, Emhyr turns to removing the one who “stands in the way of his destiny”.

“With two parallel destinies, only one can bear fruit,” Xarthisius preaches, and the two set a shadowy caged beast (presumably a Jackapce) on Geralt’s scent using Renfri's brooch that the Witcher dropped in the season 4 finale.

Who is ‘little Nimue’ and what is her significance?

Throughout the episode, it’s revealed that the main trio’s story is actually being told by traveller Storyteller Stribog to a group of children, with the mysterious new character “little Nimue” introduced in these interludes.

After telling Stribog that she has a “destiny to find” and is leaving to study in Aretuza, the old storyteller hands her the book “A Half Century of Poetry” by Julian Alfred Pankratz, Viscount of Lettenhove, aka Dandelion’s memoirs!

Inside is a picture of Ciri next to a mysterious tower, teasing the next novel in the series, The Tower of the Swallow.

The new addition is a direct tie to the final book in the series, The Lady in the Lake, and a nod to the series’ legends and myths, as the sorceress chronicles the historical events of the Witcher legend.

She serves as a somewhat meta-historian in a rather bonkers, timey-wimey finale.

The Witcher season 4 is available to stream now on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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