Right now, those with a Netflix subscription are still in the middle of The Witcher Season 3 as the adventures of Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra) and Princess Cirilla of Cintra (Freya Allan) will see Vol. 2 hit the streamer on July 27. The trio at the center of the action-packed fantasy returned for the new episodes (though that will not be the case for Cavill in Season 4), along with our favorite bard, Jaskier (Joey Batey), but there may still be many fans who are either just starting the series, or who’ve watched all along but continue to have some serious questions about Season 1, because of the way the hit drama used three separate timelines to explore the lives of each of the main characters.
If you find yourself a wee bit confused about the particulars of when everything took place in The Witcher Season 1 (and where things stand now), though, you're in luck! We have for you now a handy guide to make sure everyone is completely up to speed on the order of events in the drama, starting with some answers to a few basic queries which many viewers had questions about.
How Old Are Geralt, Yennefer, Ciri, And Jaskier In Season 1?
Alright, this caused a fair amount of controversy among The Witcher’s viewers, and, as I see it, there are two problems. First of all, Geralt and Yen are magical and either don't age or age very, very slowly. Secondly, well, Jaskier is human, but doesn't age at all during the course of the first season, which covers several decades worth of action. Even though showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich admitted in the summer of 2020 that the bard's apparent lack of maturity later in the season was simply due to a production mistake, we might as well go ahead and clear up all the confusion now.
As you may have guessed, Ciri is, indeed, the youngest person among this group. Her Season 1 timeline is basically the "present day" of the series, and, according to the extremely detailed official site, she was born in 1250, and every time we see Ciri, the year is 1263, making her 13 during the first episodes. Our oldest main character is the Witcher nicknames the White Wolf, Geralt, who was born in 1160. Meanwhile, his soon-to-be partner in co-Child of Surprise parenting, Yen, was born in 1192, making her about 32 years younger than Geralt.
We come, once again, to the — very much human — Jaskier. The age-defying bard was birthed in 1221, meaning that when he and Geralt meet for the first time, the Witcher is (hold onto all those coins you were planning to toss) a whole 61 years older than Jaskier. Ah, the joys of not dying when you undergo a magical transformation, right?
The end of the season, which sees Geralt and Ciri meet for the first time and Yen save the Northern forces at the Battle of Sodden Hill, brought all three timelines together. Fans who’ve stuck with the series since have watched all of their storylines take place from 1264 onward. But, with nearly every episode of Season 1 jumping back and forth in time at least a bit, let’s take a look at when some major events actually happened in the overall timeline of this fantasy world.
Geralt Becomes The Butcher Of Blaviken (Season 1, Episode 1)
We're off to a roaring start now! The events of the first episode ("The End's Beginning") cover both a lot of time with Geralt and some of the fall of Cintra with Ciri. Remember, though, every time we see the princess during the course of Season 1, the year is 1263, so her portion of Episode 1 is already taken care of. However, Geralt's is not. When we meet him for the first time, he's doing his duty as a free-range monster-hunter, going where the trouble is so that he can make a living.
During this episode, we see him given the task of taking out Renfri because of the local mage's feud with her, and he does, despite what I can only call simmering sexual tension with the former princess-turned-bandit leader. In the process, the Witcher had to bloodily kill all of her men and her in one of Geralt’s most intense fights, and the people turned against him, branding him with the title of The Butcher of Blaviken. This all happened in 1231.
Yennefer Begins Her Training, Geralt Meets Jaskier (Season 1, Episode 2)
Here’s where these timeline shenanigans likely became super confusing for a lot of viewers, because all three timelines are in play. Ciri is here in the "present," but so are Yen and Geralt, as we're shown some of their pasts. Yen's story here is especially important, because Episode 2 ("Four Marks") is a large portion of her origin. In 1206, a young, hunchbacked Yen is sold by her father to famed sorceress Tissaia, and she begins her studies in wielding chaos at Aretuza.
Elsewhere, Geralt and Jaskier meet for the first time, and if you think this happened as Yen was first learning to use magic, you're quite wrong. This fateful event doesn't take place until 1240, which is 34 years after Yen gets to Aretuza. Also? Upon meeting Geralt, the excitable bard is a very youthful 18 years old.
The Law Of Surprise (Season 1, Episode 4)
This very important episode (Episode 4 "Of Banquets, Bastards and Burials"), which saw Geralt accidentally bind himself to Ciri forever, sees Jaskier and the Witcher attend royal festivities at the court of Queen Calanthe of Cintra, held to find a husband for her daughter, Pavetta. Lord Urcheon of Erlenwald barges in (looking like a hedgehog due to a childhood curse) and claims Pavetta by the Law of Surprise, which causes a brawl. Geralt steps in and saves the knight's life, which, in turn, entitles Geralt to a favor from Urcheon.
You'll remember what happens next, because, frustrated with the whole situation, Geralt blurts out that he also claims the Law of Surprise, thinking it would be nothing. But, Pavetta is already pregnant with Ciri, which became clear to everyone in the room when she tossed her regal cookies all over the banquet hall floor two seconds later. All of this happened in 1249.
Yennefer Meets Geralt (Season 1, Episode 5)
Things get very interesting in Episode 5 ("Bottled Wishes"), when Geralt accidentally releases a djinn while fighting over its vessel with Jaskier. The bard is hurt, and Geralt is compelled to find someone to heal him. That special someone turns out to be Yen, who'd abandoned life at court and was making money doing small spells and charms for people. She wanted the djinn's wishes for herself, to regain what she'd sacrificed for her transformation, and the two began a battle of wills.
This is where the long-standing romance between Yen and Geralt started, and it all happened in 1256. The next time we see them together in, Episode 6 ("Rare Species"), the duo wonder why they haven't been able to avoid each other during their travels, and it's clear that they've run into one another several times during the past six years, even though the audience hasn't been privy to those other meetings.
Ciri And Geralt Finally Find Each Other (Season 1, Episode 8)
Here is where it all comes together. The year is 1263 for everyone in Episode 8 ("Much More"), and after the fall of Cintra, which had Ciri fleeing her home and Geralt breaking out of the prison Calanthe put him in, both traversed the Continent in an effort to find the other. Yen had joined other powerful mages at the Battle of Sodden Hill, and after a lot of losses, finally gathered all of her chaos to deal a deadly blow to Nilfgaard's forces.
The next day, Geralt was still recovering from a ghoul attack, and was taken by the merchant he saved back to his family's home, where, unbeknownst to everyone, Ciri had been brought by the merchant's wife earlier. Finally, in the forest near Sodden Hill, Ciri and Geralt have their first meeting.
This, of course, took fans right into the events of the second season, with all timelines being set in the "present,” and happening from 1263 through sometime in 1266, based on what went down in The Witcher Season 2 ending. I think we can all agree that, now that our three leads are together in one timeline, the series has been much easier to follow. Jaskier even looks a bit older now!
