Ep. 30 — Chapter 1 from "Blood of Elves" (Part 2)

Brett from Whispers of Oxenfurt and Lars from WitcherFlix join Alyssa for Part 2 of our discussion of Andrzej Sapkowski’s first Witcher novel Blood of Elves, Chapter 1. Very important bits include: debates on names, stakes, and plagiarism; “The Witcher Bros.”; speculation on the upcoming Netflix spin-offs; what you need to know from the Witcher short stories before Blood of Elves; and the transition between the anthologies and novels. Plus, three Witcher content creators attempt to “Mission: Impossible” their way to a spoiler-free episode.

This episode is available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.

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In this Episode

  • [00:00] Cold Open

  • [00:54] Introduction

  • [05:14] Discussion

  • [21:09] “Tidings from Toussaint”

  • [26:22] Ad Read: Patreon & Ko-fi

  • [27:33] Discussion

  • [44:56] Outro & Credits

Relevant Links

Transcript

Cold Open

ALYSSA: So… I don’t know. While you’re just chillin’ listening to the – to the Breakfast in Beauclair intro, go to thehanza.com and, I don’t know, just see what comes up. Just go to thehanza.com and see what’s up. T-H-E H-A-N-Z-A [dot] com.

[Breakfast in Beauclair theme music by MojoFilter Media]

Introduction

ALYSSA: Welcome to Breakfast in Beauclair, a global Witcher Podcast. My name is Alyssa from GoodMorhen, and I’ll be your host as you, I, and our international hanza accompany Geralt of Rivia and his destiny, Cirilla of Cintra, across the Continent.

Introduction

[Patron Announcements]

Welcome to Dol Blathanna to our hanza on Patreon and shout out to Tom from Australia who upgraded their pledge and John of Ryblia who upgraded to a producer-level pledge!

John joins our other producer-level patrons: Luis of Kovir, The Owner of The Churlish Porpoise, Arix the Godling, Katie (The Redhead of Toussaint), Jacob B., Julie, Jamison, Ayvo of Gulet, Bee Haven of the Edge of the World, Jacob Meeks, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, RedKite, The Original Roach, AerialKitty, Dustin, Libby, The Castel Ravello Sommelier, Clare Odell, Jennidy Mundilovitch, Katrin from Austria, Brett from California, Wolf, and Corey from the US.

If you’d like to explore becoming a patron of the show, head over to patreon.com/breakfastinbeauclair.

[Episode Details]

As for this episode, Brett from Whispers of Oxenfurt and Lars from WitcherFlix call in for the second half of our discussion of Blood of Elves, Chapter 1. Join us as we debate names, stakes, and plagiarism; speculate about the upcoming Netflix spin-offs; tell you what you need to know from the Witcher short stories before Blood of Elves; and discuss the transition between the anthologies and novels. Plus, hear three Witcher content creators squirm attempting to “Mission: Impossible” their way to a spoiler-free episode.

In our mid-episode news segment, “Tidings from Toussaint,” Lars from Witcherflix shares cast and production updates for Season 2 of Netflix’s The Witcher.

Without further ado, let’s finish our discussion of Blood of Elves, Chapter 1.

Discussion

[Breakfast in Beauclair stinger by MojoFilter Media]

ALYSSA: Everyone under the tree is kind of at each other's throats, you know, debating Geralt, Yen, and Ciri, the state of the North, what happened, what will happen in the future. And then they realize that… Dandelion has wandered off and he has snuck away after his little performance, which brings us to the next section of this chapter. In this section, Rience threatens and tortures Dandelion for information about Ciri and, eventually, Yennefer intervenes. Peter Kenny pronounced this as Rience [“RI-AHN-ce”] So, I guess I'll say that. Because the way that I think I pronounced it was just ‘rinse’ like R-I-N-S-E. So, we open with Dandelion in a brothel, naturally. If you are coming from the games, that is unsurprising to you. There's this man that enters the brothel looking for him and his name is Rience.

BRETT: So, CDPR... I call him Rience, because—

LARS: Me too.

BRETT: —he has a Gwent card that has not been released and they had voiceover in. One of it is, like, “The names Rience.” And, so, I've kind of had it as Rience, too. But, at first, I did the same where it was like Ri-ence or Ree-nce. I think I might have actually said at first.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

BRETT: But Rience. Yeah, Dandelion’s in the brothel. And it's a very different – I believe it's a very different Dandelion, uh, than from the show.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

BRETT: This is a more, you know, competent Dandelion. But he comes in and I don't – you know what? I’ll, I'll wait till the end because my whole thing about Rience is how Yennefer reacts. So, I’ll, I'll save that.

LARS: Well, yeah, he is described as a classic fantasy villain from the beginning. He is cloaked, of course. He has ugly, narrow lips. He has dark, dark eyes – unfriendly eyes. And, of course, you get suspicious as soon as he enters the brothel. And, yeah, well, I think you're not quite wrong if you say, “Nah, there's more to him.” And only – I think he calls him some kind of fan? Well, you get the impression that – well, he, he says he likes Dandelion’s poetry and his songs. And, of course, there's more to that than only Rience being a fan of Dandelion’s.

ALYSSA:  Yeah, this dude's super sketchy.

LARS: Yeah.

ALYSSA: And, yeah, what you said Lars: Sapkowski describes him as having “dark, damp, and tearful eyes, a pointed nose, and ugly, narrow lips.”

LARS: Yeah.

ALYSSA: And then he again says that Rience – I'm just gonna say Rience now – has narrow lips and he just, like, fixates on that. But, my god, it, it's not a very lovely picture, uh, that Sapkowski paints here. It gets increasingly unnerving because, as you said, Rience just kind of saddles up to Dandelion and doesn't even introduce himself. He says like, “I'm a fan, but I wanted to ask you about this very specific thing that no one seems to care about.” [Laughs] And he gets really direct and creepy asking Dandelion about Ciri. He wants to get to the bottom of something because Dandelion’s ballads about, you know, Geralt and Ciri meeting and yada, yada, uh, contradict eyewitness statements and accounts that Ciri died at Cintra, whether by the hand of Calanthe or out on the streets as she was attempting to escape. So, this is why Rience has sought out Dandelion to try to figure out: Is this fact or fiction? And it's so unsettling, this entire exchange.

BRETT: I do like that this is very much two agents kind of in this standoff. And, again, who are they talking about? It's about Ciri. Dandelion tries to play coy and make a run for it. And, uh, that didn't work out too well for him as we do find out that, no, not only is this guy a sketchy agent, he has some kind of, you know, magical ability.

ALYSSA: Which increases the stakes tremendously for Dandelion. Dandelion, as Brett said, tries to make this escape down a trapdoor and, unexpectedly, gets caught by magic. Dandelion wakes up strung up with a bucket of lime hanging down his feet. Rience is ready to torture him for the information he's looking for and Dandelion panics. He tells him about the Law of Surprise. He tells them about Geralt's turning around during the story, “Something More”, when Geralt heard about the fall of Cintra. Again, this is partially rehashing stuff for the reader. Dandelion’s just kind of blurting stuff out. The root of Rience’s questioning is that, if no one has seen Geralt for over a year, then where is he hiding? And, at that point, there's an interruption. But, yeah, this, this whole scene is like super tense.

BRETT: Yeah, I was gonna say it's about them trying to play coy again. And the idea of Dandelion – and I like how they said that he used this trap door due to jealous husbands, which, again, is one thing. Okay. He's a philanderer. He's an adulterer. That, to me, is less egregious than what comes right after that when they say that he had stolen rhymes or tunes from people. So, now, I'm like, “Hold up. He’s – is he a – is he a fraud?”

LARS: Mhmm.

BRETT: But, yeah, I'll let – I’ll let Lars handle that aspect. But just him in this tortured spot – and I think it's just because of what the character is. I can't help but almost think it's almost humorous of him just spouting all this stuff like, “I don't know! I don't know!” As he's being, like, slowly pulled apart—

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

BRETT: —by Rience. And, you know, his henchmen are kind of helping him there. It's just hard to fully take Dandelion that seriously. And he's just, “Oh, he’s being tortured? Ah, it’s Dandelion.” He'll, he'll be kind of funny with it where there'll always be some kind of smile or, yeah, like a wry smile on his face as he’s slowly being tortured to death.

LARS: Yeah, I mean I, I think so too. I, I never got the impression that he's in actual danger when reading that. Well, we know he isn't., well, the main character of the whole story – not even in the short story – but, you know, he's one of the most important characters. So, I felt the stakes weren't that high in that moment. At least, for me when I was reading that for the first time.

BRETT: Yeah, it's one of those also, again, having read the books after playing the Witcher 3—

LARS: Yeah, of course.

BRETT: He's in the Witcher 3. And, so, it's one of those I didn't think he was really gonna die either. But maybe that was different for people who know nothing about it and are reading it for the first time.

ALYSSA: Mhmm. Absolutely. And, yeah, like, he does get some reprieve from that early grave in the form of Yennefer. As this interrogation is going on, there's Rience and two henchmen. One of whom smells atrociously as Sapkowski keeps reminding us. And Yennefer or some sort of, I guess, like, projection of her bursts into the room. And one of the henchmen tries to kill it before just falling through this cloud of smoke. And then the real Yennefer steps in through the door and then kills both men. Rience tries to make an escape. He is no match for Yennefer and, instead, attempts to flee through a portal. And she sends this huge wave of something after him. We can assume it's fire because she says he's going to need medical attention for burns after the fact.

BRETT: I love that when Rience leaves that she basically writes him off as this incompetent or little mage. That she just is like, ‘Oh, he's – he's nothing there. There must be somebody else behind this or he must be in service of someone because he's such a little weak pissant mage. I thought that was really funny. And it shows, like, the arrogance of her and, to me, the confidence I should say. It's arrogance, but it's – this is the confidence of she is a, you know, max-level sorceress. And she comes in with these two knucklehead henchmen and this just little – you know, little mage. And she’s just like, “Oh, that guy's nothing” as she essentially, like you said, sends a little wave of fire to give him a reminder of their encounter.

LARS: I felt when reading that for the first time it was actually some kind of superhero entrance almost as she explodes into the room. Well, of course after sending the illusion first. And, well we learn that she is not a fraud, she is that powerful. She is not only powerful, she's also intelligent and clever by sending the illusion first. I think she, she knows her anatomy, anatomy too—

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

LARS: —when she looks at those bodies of those henchmen. I think it's the Yennefer I remember from “The Last Wish” from the story of the – with the djinn. So—

ALYSSA: Yeah.

LARS: —she's definitely the same character. So, Sapkowski really got that across.

ALYSSA: Mhmm. It's really a stunning entrance for her. She just knifed someone straight through the – one of the arteries in the neck.

LARS: Mhmm. Right.

ALYSSA: And then the other she just – she fries! She's like, “Hmm, maybe I fried him a little too hard,” and Dandelion vomits from this sight. It's, uh, it's pretty grim.

LARS: Classic Dandelion.

ALYSSA: [Laughs]

BRETT: Yeah. [Laughs]

ALYSSA: Certainly speaks to her competency and her coolness under pressure. The outcome of this questioning with Rience is more clearly felt in the following scene. Yennefer and Dandelion have a meal. I don't remember if it's in the brothel or somewhere else, but they're eating chicken, which Sapkowski takes the time to tell us. They have kind of a debrief about what had happened between Dandelion and Rience. And Yennefer tells him how she was able to find him. Apparently, Yennefer was also under the tree watching Dandelion’s performance. So, she heard all of the songs that Dandelion had been singing about her and Geralt to a little bit of awkwardness. The conversation between them evolves as the relationship between them has since the short stories.

BRETT: It also kind of resets their relationship that where, if people remember the short stories, Dandelion and Yennefer did not always see eye to eye. They're only common… like, if you will, was Geralt. And there were some not so happy events. I'm thinking of the “Bounds of Reason” to show that they did not get along with each other. And here it’s very much Dandelion kind of gives her some of that information. You know, he deduces some information from Rience. And then Yennefer even thanks him for keeping Geralt company.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

BRETT: And that kind of lets us know that she still cares about Geralt and is grateful to Dandelion that Geralt had a friend and did not have to travel alone.

ALYSSA: Lars?

LARS: Well, what I wanted to get into is actually, while, while we were just analyzing stuff, but I only have a little fun fact right here because Dandelion mentions that he was at King Esterad Thyssen’s court at Pont Vanis. I scribbled it down in my notes. And that this means, the fact that he was at Pont Vanis means, that he must have been in Kovir and Poviss while – after seeing Geralt for the first time because we didn't already mention that when Geralt and Dandelion saw each other last time, right?

ALYSSA: We've mentioned it in passing.

LARS: Okay.

ALYSSA: So, in “Something More”, the last time that Dandelion and Geralt saw each other—

LARS: Oh, right.

ALYSSA: —was when Geralt was trying to make his way to Cintra to get Ciri and then Dandelion—

LARS: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: —broke the news about the fall of Cintra.

LARS: Yeah, right after a Geralt and Dandelion see each other for the last time, Dandelion goes to King Esterad Thyssen’s court at Pont Vanis, which is one of the two capitals of the Kingdom of Kovir and Poviss. And well, it must have been in summer when he was there. And, well, some kind of time must have already been passed since then. And he also mentions a King Niedamir of Hengfors. I think he appear – also appears in the “Bounds of Reason.”

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

LARS: So, there are various threats that are coming together in this chapter from the short stories. And, of course, what's also kind of interesting, when you read the lyrics that Yennefer quotes from her own song that Dandelion has written about her, you, of course, get reminded of “The Wolven Storm” song from the Witcher 3. And, well, both songs use the same metaphors and symbols; raven wings, storm in the night, violet eyes, of course.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

LARS: And, well, I think maybe the guys at CD Projekt got the inspiration from this passage in the books. Maybe.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

BRETT: I, I just want to point out that Alyssa said “fall of Cintra”. So, Nilfgaardian confirmed.

ALYSSA: [Laughs]

LARS: Oh, no.

BRETT: Don't cut that out. [Laughs]

ALYSSA: I do always play Nilfgaard at Gwent because I don't know how to play anybody else.

BRETT: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: And Beauclair is still a duchy of Nilfgaard. So—

BRETT: So, that is correct.

ALYSSA: Yep. The other thing about Dandelion’s song about Yennefer is that she picks apart Dandelion’s lyrics. You know, obviously, talking about the obvious fact that it's about her because he's naming just physical attributes of her. But, more specifically, he talks about, like, her lack of having a heart. And Yennefer has a visible reaction to, to quoting that line back to Dandelion. And it seems that she is really sensitive to what Geralt may have told him about their relationship and about private highs and lows in their relationship. So, it's clear that she still has a strong connection to Geralt, which was established in “The Last Wish” and the “Bounds of Reason” as well as “A Shard of Ice” in the short stories. We, as readers, are getting to revisit that relationship one more time, now, from a very distinct perspective. Something that does come up is Yennefer tells Dandelion, that Dijkstra or Dijkstra says hello, which puts him a little bit on edge. Do you guys have a little bit more context for listeners of the show?

LARS: Well, I think, at that point of the story, we don't – this is the first mention Sigismund Dijkstra, I think. So, we don't really know who that guy is. But, of course you get immediately – you immediately get the feeling that he's some kind of guy to be afraid of as, well, Dandelion is visibly scared after only his name is mentioned by Yennefer.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

BRETT: Yeah, I think we can also – I don't know if it was blatantly stated to say that he's in service to Dijkstra. Can we gather that from there?

ALYSSA Yeah, I think – I think it's a little bit implied.

BRETT: Yes.

ALYSSA: Or, at least, that Dandelion owes him something.

BRETT: Yep. Yeah.

LARS: Mhmm. I think he needed to report to Dijkstra about King Ervyll’s court. So, I think – yeah, right, they are involved in some kind of way.

BRETT: Yeah, she tells him, “Go to Tretogor, Redania and talk to Dijkstra and Philippa.”

ALYSSA: Yeah, mystery people. As Lars said, we don't really know who they are, but, now, we've tied them to Redania, at least, and to having some sort of position in this Vizimir’s court. And she also makes the point to tell him to forget everything that he knows about the Lion Cub of Cintra and to scrap any songs about her from his repertoire because it's obviously very concerning that he's sung this song and then somebody’s suddenly out for his head and torturing him for information. So, this is also something that we're gonna see continually throughout Blood of Elves is we see, obviously, Geralt’s relationship with Ciri. But we're also going to see the impact that she – as a kind of, like, the Schrödinger’s cat of the Continent at the moment. Nobody knows if she's dead or alive, but what impact that has on the greater social political landscape. And it is… everything kind of blows open in the next – in the next few books. But, yeah, we'll – we’ll really get to dive into that toward the end of Blood of Elves in the beg – and throughout Time of Contempt.

ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Before we continue with the episode, we're gonna hand it over to Lars from WitcherFlix for recent news on the Netflix show. When we come back, Brett, Lars, and I will continue our discussion of Blood of Elves, Chapter 1.

“Tidings from Toussaint”

[“Tidings from Toussaint” theme music by MojoFilter Media]

LARS FROM WITCHERFLIX: Hey, it's Lars from WitcherFlix and this is "Tidings from Toussaint". Welcome back everybody! The filming for Season 2 is still well on its way, even though it is almost definitely in its finals weeks. So, what has changed in the last two weeks? Let's jump right into it.

The Witcher crew was filming on some interesting sets in the last 14 days. First, Redanian Intelligence reports that the production revolved around a Nilfgaardian stronghold set at Arborfield Studios near London. We do not know unfortunately what castle or town this set exactly is. But what we do know is that the following actors and actresses have been present on or near this set: Eamon Farren (Cahir) and Mimi Ndiweni (Fringilla), as well as Tom Canton (Filavandrel), Mecia Simson (Francesca Findabair), and Kaine Zajaz (who plays her brother Gage). Moreover, the crew has built another set at Arboutfield Studios which represents a fortified, medieval town. As it is the most prominent town in the book "Blood of Elves", which is adapted in Season 2, and characters linked with with this town like Sigismund Dijkstra or the mage Rience are already confirmed for the new season, this town set might almost definitely represent the university city of Oxenfurt. In this town some of the most important sequences of the book happen, so we can expect that Oxenfurt will play quite an important role on the show, too.

We know about a third interesting set from some behind-the-scenes photos posted by Redanian Intelligence. On these pics the crew is shooting at night and everything is illuminated, by a strange, otherwordly red light. It is the same light that we already know from Season 1, when Ciri had her nightmares and visions. So, on theses pictures we can in fact see Ciri's actress Freya Allan who is still wearing her Season 1 costume. But this is not an old picture from the Season 1 set, as several of the crew members in the background are wearing the mandatory face masks that have become necessary on the set since the start of the pandemic. On a second photo illuminated by the red light, we can also see a strange, shadowy figure dressed in a cloak in the middle of red smoke. Who exactly this mysterious figure is, is currently unknown to us. It will be exciting to find out in season 2. Moreover, Redanian Intelligence wrote that a major scene in Cintra was being filmed: It involved characters like Princess Pavetta (Gaia Mondadori), Duny of Erlenwald (Bart Edwards), as well as Sonny Serkis, which is a bit of a surprise, as the actor had played a character named Martin in season 1. It is the young man Ciri danced with in the pilot episode of Season 1. Speaking of dancing: Choreographer Diana Scrivener has joined the Witcher team. She works on episodes 3 and 8 of Season 2 and is an expert for European folk dances, especially from Eastern and Central Europe. She has already shown her talent on shows such as Downton Abbey.

In other news, there are also a bunch of interesting castings to report this week. Due to its implications, arguably the most important one is the casting of actress Natasha Fletcher in a role called "unnamed priestess". If you know the book "Blood of Elves", you of course know in what temple we will meet this priestess: Season 2 will introduce the Temple of Melitele in Ellander. Redanian Intelligence adds that we will also meet other important characters from the Temple in Season 2. This included Mother Nenneke, the head priestess and a motherly figure to Geralt, Iola, a young priestess who took a vow of silence and Jarre, a 16-year-old student who wants to be a scribe. Equally important is of course the casting of one of the long-awaited characters from the Witcher books: According to Redanian Intelligence, Cassie Clare will play the sorceress Philippa Eilhart in Season 2. She has appeared in smaller roles in TV shows such as "Brave New World" or "Ransom". Other new castings include Britsh actor Kevin Doyle who we know as Mr. Molesly on "Downton Abbey". His role's name is Ba'lian, a character that doesn't appear in the books. Moreover, we also know that two generals from the Nilfgaardian army have been cast. Whereas it is unknown to us which actor will play a character named "General Gerhen", "General Hake" will be played by British actress Jo Mariott. Her skills include horse riding and jousting, as well as combat with period weaponry. Sounds perfect for the role if you ask me.

Last, but not least, we finally have confirmation for all Season 2 directors and their respective episodes: Episodes 1 and 2 are directed by Stephen Surjik whose recent work include "The Umbrella Academy" or "Lost in Space". Sarah O'Gorman is responsible for episodes 3 and 4. We know her from Netflix shows such as "Cursed" or "The Last Kingdom". Episodes 5 and 8 is directed by Ed Bazalgette who has worked on period pieces such as "The Last Kingdom", "Versailles" and "Poldark". Finally Louise Hooper is the director for episodes 6 and 7. Her previous work includes TV shows like "Flesh and Blood" or "Lucky Man". As you can see, the Witcher Season 2 has gathered a lot of talent here.

Anyway guys, that's it for me for today. I hope you all stay safe and well. We'll talk again in the next episode of Breakfast in Beauclair. Until then, thanks again for listening and good luck on the path!

[“Tidings from Toussaint” theme music by MojoFilter Media]

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Discussion

ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Hey, everyone! Welcome back from the break. When we left off, we had discussed Dandelion’s dangerous encounter with Rience, a mysterious mage, and the bard’s surprise reunion with Yennefer of Vengerberg.

ALYSSA: In the last little part of this chapter, Geralt and Ciri meet the Witchers at Kaer Morhen. So, they meet Eskel, Lambert, Coën, and Vesemir. We unfortunately don't really have a strong timeframe for when this is. We hear that Dandelion’s scenes are taking place about two years after the fall of Cintra. And we don't really have a timeline for when Ciri and Geralt arrived at Kaer Morhen, but I, at least, assume that it was before – like, way before Dandelion’s scenes.

BRETT: Yeah, I think it's one of those. You know, it doesn't – it doesn't really kind of matter, like, when it is it can exist at the same – Schrödinger’s cat. It can exist at the same time and not – you know, it doesn't really matter in that sense there. I just like that we get Kaer Morhen and we get the Witcher bros as they’ve been called with the, like, upcoming Season 2. And I’m really excited to see that in the show, like, how they handled that because we get them here in this beginning and we see Eskel. And they say his voice and it was such an interesting description that his voice was metallic and sounded like a dog's bark.

LARS: Mhmm.

BRETT: And I'm trying to think of a metallic dog's bark that isn't like a robot because that's all I think of. It’s a robot. And they talk about, like, his mangled face that Ciri’s like, “That is not a human. Like, that face cannot be human.”

ALYSSA: Yeah.

BRETT: I would just be really excited to see more of the witchers because we really only have gotten to this point Geralt. And, you know, I just – I really can't wait to see how that's done in the show and then even more so as they get in the books with Ciri arriving to their home – to the only home Geralt may consider having.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

LARS: When we're talking a little bit about the show at this point more – a little bit more about the show at this point, there will be more, which was even beyond the show as there are to spin offs already, at least, in production. I think there's this animated movie—

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

LARS: —called Nightmare of the Wolf, at the moment, which is about a, a young Vesemir. So, this will be very interesting to see. And I think there's the spin off miniseries. I think this is the one where Witcher writer Declan De Barra is showing off.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

LARS: And I think it will be about the early history of the Continent. And it, also – I think it should also feature the creation of the first Witcher. So, I think we will see a lot of this more. And maybe we will have a look at a Kaer Morhen that isn't in ruins as described in this chapter.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

LARS: So—

BRETT: Because, that one, that's Blood Origin.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

BRETT: And I believe that has to do with the Conjunction, right?

LARS: Yeah.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

LARS: I think it first—

BRETT: Okay.

LARS: —mentioned that it will start around the times of the Conjunction and leads to the creation of the first Witcher. Right.

ALYSSA: I don't think we have any sense of what that timeline is gonna be.

LARS: Right.

ALYSSA: Whether that's gonna be over the course of, like, a couple days, months, or if it's gonna take place over, like, hundreds of years, I guess we'll see.

LARS: Yeah.

BRETT: It will be interesting though to get, at least, their – or what they want to portray. Like, the dynamic—

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

BRETT: —of the elves and the humans beyond this time right now, which is very much persecution. You know, we – from the first part of this, we definitely get that there is persecution here. There is racial divisions. And, to do it so much in the past, I just can't wait to see how they handle that dynamic.

ALYSSA: And we do know one of the actors attached to the project – the name slipped off the top my head, but she's the main actress in Queen & Slim, which I heard fantastic, fantastic things about. So, I’m interested to see what's going to happen once she actually gets in front of the camera and when we get to see the outcome of Blood Origin.

LARS: Yeah, I think she's named Jodie Turner-Smith.

ALYSSA: Yes!

LARS: And she will play a character named – oh, no. Again, the pronunciation. I would pronounce her Éile. Éli. I don't know. So, she's an elf. We know that she's an elf.

ALYSSA: Fantastic. The, the upcoming depictions of The Witcher from the Netflix spin offs aside, the Witchers that we get here in Blood of Elves are, I think, at a – at a much different place than either of the Netflix spin offs will, will show. We get this section from Ciri’s perspective and she is terrified. There are skulls outside of the keep. Everything is in ruins. And, as Brett said when she finally does meet someone, his face is, like, hideously disfigured and he has a terrifying voice. Thankfully, at that point, Geralt kind of comes and the situation is diffused. And she starts to feel a little bit more welcomed. I think that there's a lot of uncertainty. And I, I really enjoy that we get to see it from her perspective, this unfamiliar territory.

BRETT: Yeah. And she eases into it definitely because of Geralt.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

BRETT: And it's one of those – they show up in these two, again, mutant, monstrous-looking people looking down at this little girl and being like, “What the hell is this? Like—”

ALYSSA: Yeah.

BRETT: “—who is this? Why is she here?” And Geralt makes it known and very clearly, “Like, she's with me and she is now with us.”

ALYSSA: And the chapter closes with a short exchange between Geralt and the witchers in the keep; Vesemir, Eskel, Lambert, and Coën. Vesemir, I believe, asks, “Who is this child. Who is this girl?” Geralt says, “She's my…” He stammers little bit and then finally gets out, “She's our destiny,” which I think is a lovely way to, you know, bring everything from the short stories full circle and to ground the new narrative and the new series in something that we've seen before. 

BRETT: And I'm not sure. This probably isn't it. But it's also, while Ciri is definitely comfortable with Geralt, I'm sure there's still a lot of that trauma that's brought with her. And, when they show up to this weird place, skulls, broken down, you know, keep and then these monsters freaks, there, there’s still this, “What am I getting into?” And in that moment, at the end, is Geralt putting all her fears to rest. That not only is he home, that she is home as well.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

LARS: Mhmm. What's especially important because she, she has lost her home. She not only has lost her home, she's – well, she's lost her identity. And, by seeing all these guys and having Geralt next to her, maybe she feels that she can regain parts of her identity again. And, well, what also struck me at this point was that, again, there was this mention of fire. The fire in the fireplace. And, again, a fire has the meaning of something positive. It has a positive meaning in this – at this point of the story for her. An opposite to what it meant to her when she was having the nightmare with the black knight and the downfall of Cintra.

ALYSSA: And, to actually revisit a moment from the opening scene as he had mentioned, when Ciri wakes up, there's a moment where she was like, “I think I can hear a lute playing. They're talking about the Princess of Cintra.” And then she thinks to herself, “No, the princess died in the streets of Cintra.”

LARS: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: And I think that ties really nicely back to what you just said. This gets to be a potential fresh start for Ciri. Even though there's a lot of, you know, trepidation with, with being brought to this new place, there's certainly the opportunity for growth or she's on the precipice of something big. So, I think that we kind of get that sense at the end of Chapter One.

BRETT: No, I think this chapter started somewhere that was filling everything in. And it just hits the ground running and ends with what you need to know. Everybody who was notable from the short stories, we know exactly where they're at. We know what their immediate motivations are. So, from a storytelling perspective, it's right there. And, if you read this chapter and you're interested, you know, to go on, then you're right where you need to be. If this doesn't hook you, then, I guess, you know where to go from there.

ALYSSA: Mhmm. [chuckles] And, Lars, do you as well have any other thoughts on the chapter or anything that you'd like to say to someone who's about to dive into the series for the first time?

LARS: Yeah, I think, while reading this chapter, I was – I was always thinking, while it is necessary to read the first books, you, you miss so many things that are very tiny maybe, but that gets important later. And Sapkowski cannot write about all of this in this summary chapter. I would call this Chapter One a summary chapter from everything that happened before. And he cannot talk about all of this. And you missed so many things. So many nuances of stuff that will get important later and things that are between the characters. And, well, it's – the chapter serves its purpose, definitely, by summarizing the first book and being a nice introduction for those who didn't read the short stories as we get the main characters, we get the important events from the short stories, and, of course, the different fractions and the conflicts. But, yeah, I really liked rereading it. And, especially after concentrating even more on all the characters during the – during the scene at the Great Oak, it made a lot of things more clear for me because there were so many characters involved. And I think this reread was kind of necessary for me to get to everything that was happened – that’s happening there all at once.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

BRETT: I think, in the short stories, if someone has not read the short stories and this is, literally, the first thing they're reading and they actually want some of that background, if I can remember these correctly—

LARS: Mhmm.

BRETT: —I think the ones you really need to read are “A Question of Price”—

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

LARS: Mhmm.

BRETT: —because that's where we get introduced to that. I would say “The Bounds of Reason” because that lays into Yennefer and Geralt’s relationship. I would then say “A Shard of Ice” because it's my favorite one. And, again, Geralt and Yen relationship. And then, from there, I would say “ Sword of Destiny” and then “Something More”.

ALYSSA: Yes.

LARS: Mhmm.

BRETT: Did I cover him? Okay.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

BRETT: So, those are – just really those five and you will be—

LARS: Mhmm.

BRETT: —fully caught up to date. Now, the other ones, there are some very good short stories in there.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

BRETT: But you don't need them. But I would say those five, if you get caught up on those, you'll be good to go from here on out.

ALYSSA: Mhmm. And the great thing is that, between those five, they're spread out across two books anyway. So, you have to buy them all.

LARS: Yeah. Right.

BRETT: That's true. Yeah.

ALYSSA: So, you might as well just read them. They, they really are fantastic.

LARS: Right. Right.

ALYSSA: This chapter really serves as an opening to the rest of the series as I said. And what do you think this chapter tells us about Ciri’s mental state and how the siege and everything that follows could possibly shape our character in the future?

BRETT: I guess, with that, I would say – and you can – you can cut this out by all means – is this very much leans on Ciri and I've said that before. And, to me, these novels, if these novels are not Geralt story—

LARS: Mhmm.

BRETT: —and it's not Geralt as main character with all of these supporting characters, I would honestly say it's 1A and 1B.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

BRETT: And Geralt is 1A and Ciri is 1B. But that's just because he's the witcher and, most of the time, we are with him. But, in reality, this – you know, leading off with the prophecy and then getting Ciri’s escaped from the slaughter of Cintra and ending with her at Kaer Morhen, this is her story. And, to anybody that may be more interested in her or isn’t that interested in the typical protagonists, you know, lone wolf, that it's her story. And a lot that happens is not what you're going to expect. This is not as straightforward for good and bad. This is not a straightforward narrative. It's not a straightforward story. And just buckle in because it gets kind of crazy and wild.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

BRETT: But it is well worth continuing to read.

LARS: Well, what – I just wanted to add, but you can cut that out too, is the fact – well, we have this first chapter of the min saga. And there's various time and place jumps throughout this chapter. We have a dream sequence. It jumps ahead to Geralt and Ciri on the road. It changes to Dandelion again. Then it changes to another place with Dandelion. Suddenly, Yennefer appears. And then it jumps back to another place with Ciri and Geralt arriving at Kaer Morhen. Well, of course, I got reminded of the first season of the Netflix show, where this was one of the biggest, well, criticism that they are jumping through space and time. No pun intended, of course. But, well, this is part of The Witcher. Jumping between characters, times, and places is – well, at least for me, is what makes these books so special and so interesting as Sapkowski has the ability to put so much story, so much, well, feelings, character work into only, sometimes, chapters – well, minor chapters that are only a few pages long. And this is what makes it so special. But I think you mentioned, mentioned it, Alyssa, throughout this episode. Yeah, that's the character work Sapkowski does with even tertiary characters is so special.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

LARS: And, yeah, this is what I wanted to stress again. Time jumps and places which, which could make things quite difficult from time to time, but it's so worth it.

BRETT: Yeah, nonlinear. It's very nonlinear. It is – especially the last book.

ALYSSA: [Chuckles]

BRETT: The last book is [blows air] all over. So, if that's your jam, you're in for a treat.

LARS: [Chuckles] Yeah.

ALYSSA: You know, I think, as, as we said, this does end up being a chapter centered around Ciri. And I think, by the end of the chapter, as Brett had said, this kind of puts Ciri in a place where it gives her a foundation for whatever comes next. So, we'll kind of spend the rest of the – of the book and the next few chapters, specifically, kind of seeing if she continues to grow from the trauma at Cintra or she falls into deeper despair. And that's going to be something that, as I’ve said, that we explore the next few books. But this really lays the foundation for her character. And, yeah, so, I don't know if there's anything else. Anything from you guys?

BRETT: I think – I think they heard enough from me. I hope I didn't bore too many people with the historical stuff.

ALYSSA: No.

BRETT: I will say though that I might have said that Edward III was the Black Prince and, obviously, that kind of negates. He was the son of Edward III. So, if anybody's out there gonna catch me, Alyssa cut that part out or preface it! Save me!

ALYSSA: I, I will take this disclaimer… and put it right next to whatever you said.

BRETT: Okay. Yeah, I think – I think I did say that.

ALYSSA: I don't remember. You did mention Edward III.

BRETT: Yeah.

ALYSSA: And you did mention the Black Prince. So—

BRETT: I think I might have said that they were the same person. So—

ALYSSA: All right. Well, we'll sort that out.

BRETT: Edward, the Black Prince. Yeah, he’s cute. He’s fine.

ALYSSA: Amazing. So, that is it for our show today. Brett, Lars, thank you so much for joining us for this episode and thank you to our hanza for listening. So, where can people find you guys? And is there anything that our community can help you with or anything that you'd like to share with them?

BRETT: Again, thank you very much for having me and inviting me. This was a blast. Lars, it was very – it's very nice to hear just different perspectives, especially, like, Alyssa, a woman's perspective, and then, Lars, a non-American perspective. So, I really just enjoy not just it being an echo chamber of always hearing, you know, kind of the same thing. And you can find me mainly at Twitter, theFoxBride4. And, from there, you will find the Whispers of Oxenfurt. You’ll find Whispers of Hogwarts. Kind of everything goes from there. I try to funnel it to where somebody finds that Twitter. You know, they'll kind of be a bridge to everything else. So, that's really the main thing. And, again, Alyssa, thank you very much for having me.

ALYSSA: Yeah, of course.

LARS: Thanks for having me, too, of course. And it was nice meeting you, Brett, talking to you for the first time. And, yeah, as always, it's a treat being in, in your podcast. And I can't wait to see what you have in store for us for this season, of course. And, yeah, again, if any of your listeners is into doing Witcher art, fan art, paintings, drawings, whatever, feel free to send me a message on Instagram. It's WitcherFlix. I’ll get in touch with you to illustrate parts of my Witcher lore book. So, thank you again.

ALYSSA: Yeah. And thank you guys so much for joining me for this episode. And, next episode, join us as we discussed Chapter Two of Andrzej Sapkowski’s Blood of Elves.

BRETT: And... scene!

Outro & Credits

[Breakfast in Beauclair theme music by MojoFilter Media]

ALYSSA: Thanks for joining us at the breakfast table! For show notes, transcripts of each episode, and a complete list of our social platforms and listening services, head over to breakfastinbeauclair.com.

Breakfast in Beauclair is created by Alyssa from GoodMorhen. It’s hosted by Alyssa with the “Tidings from Toussaint” News Segment by Lars from WitcherFlix. The show is edited by Alyssa with music by MojoFilter Media.

Breakfast in Beauclair is produced by Alyssa in New York City with Luis of Kovir, The Owner of The Churlish Porpoise, Arix the Godling, Katie (The Redhead of Toussaint), Jacob B., Julie, Jamison, Ayvo of Gulet, Bee Haven of the Edge of the World, Jacob Meeks, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, RedKite, The Original Roach, AerialKitty, Dustin, Libby, Clare Odell, Jennidy Mundilovitch, Katrin from Austria, Brett from California, Wolf, Corey from the US, and John of Ryblia.

Special thanks to Brett and Lars for joining us for this episode and our international hanza for their support.

Transcriptionist: Rachelle Rose Bacharo
Editor: Krizia Casil

 

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