Ep. 49 — 201 "A Grain of Truth" from Netflix's The Witcher (Part 1)
Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye and Elsa from France join Alyssa for Part 1 of our discussion of Netflix’s The Witcher Episode 201 “A Grain of Truth”. Very important bits include: the role of a script editor, the parental relationships between Yennefer & Tissaia and Ciri & Geralt, comparisons to Sapkowski’s short story, “the ancient art of bucket swinging”, and Elsa breaks down the Big Question of The Witcher Season 2.
This episode is available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.
In this Episode
[0:00] Cold Open
[0:56] Introduction
[2:41] Discussion
[32:41] “Tidings from Toussaint”
[38:05] “Dear Friend…”: Listener Call-In Segment
[39:33] Discussion
[59:13] Outro & Credits
Relevant Links
News: Mysterious New Characters Added to The Witcher Season 3 (The Illuminerdi)
News: The Witcher season 3 reportedly casts a villain from the books (winteriscoming.net)
News: The Witcher season 3: everything we know so far (TechRadar)
News: The Witcher Season 3 Filming Locations Reportedly Revealed (comicbook.com)
Transcript
Cold Open
ALYSSA: You know we smash cut to the opening graphic, like, The Witcher, Grain of Truth, merh, there's the graphic. I just had James proofreading some of the transcripts for last season.
ELSA: Yeah.
ALYSSA: And he's like, "Alyssa, I had to, like, figure out how to properly transcribe merrrh because you say it so much."
[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.
This past Monday/Tuesday, I celebrated my birthday! Thanks so much for the birthday wishes—I’ve had a lovely start to 30.
[Patron Announcements]
This episode, we welcome Miya the Bard and Jeanette of Brokilon to our Patreon! Jeanette joins our producer-level patrons: Luis of Kovir, The Owner of The Churlish Porpoise, Katie (The Redhead of Toussaint), Jacob B., Ayvo of Gulet, Bee Haven of the Edge of the World, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, RedKite, The Original Roach, Codringher’s Cat, Libby, Clare Odell, Jennidy Mundilovitch, Wolf, Corey from the US, John of Ryblia, Tom from Australia, Jill Cate, The Tabby Witch, Olle from Sweden, James Carson III, Kyle, the H2HOE, Psilocybe Sorcerer, A Toussaint Knight, and Roxas.
If you’d like to hear more about becoming a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/breakfastinbeauclair.
[Episode Details]
As for this episode, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye and Elsa from France call in to kick off our discussions of Netflix’s The Witcher Season 2 with Episode 201 “A Grain of Truth”. Join us as we discuss the role of a script editor, the parental relationships between Yennefer & Tissaia and Ciri & Geralt, comparisons to Sapkowski’s short story, “the ancient art of bucket swinging”, and Elsa breaks down the Big Question of The Witcher Season 2.
In our mid-episode news segment, “Tidings from Toussaint,” Lars from Witcherflix shares casting speculation and production updates for The Witcher Season 3. After the break, don’t miss our listener call-in segment, “Dear Friend”.
Without further ado, let’s get to our discussion of Netflix’s The Witcher 201 “A Grain of Truth” (Part 1).
Discussion
[Breakfast in Beauclair stinger by MojoFilter Media]
ALYSSA: Welcome to Breakfast in Beauclair. My name is Alyssa and today I'm joined by two guests from around the world. My first guest is originally from Burgundy, France and pursued film in Paris before settling in London where she currently works as a script reader and researcher in the film and TV industry. She's a fan of The Witcher and an active member of the Hanza discord, please welcome Elsa from France. Hi Elsa.
ELSA: Hi.
ALYSSA: My second guest is a returning fan favorite here at Breakfast in Beauclair. She is based in North Carolina where she runs Vengerberg Glamarye, an independent online shop specializing in lore-accurate Witcher inspired perfumes. Please welcome back Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye. Hi, Charlotte!
CHARLOTTE: Thank you so much for having me back. It's always a pleasure.
ALYSSA: Charlotte, I guess it's been maybe a year and a half since you were last on the show. Didn't you just recently hit, like, a pretty big sales milestone?
CHARLOTTE: Yeah, I hit I think it was 1500 sales on Etsy. Yeah.
ALYSSA: That's so many sales.
ELSA: Oh whoa! That's amazing. Congratulations!
CHARLOTTE: Like, I can't even really, like, comprehend that. I'm like, wait, I filled like 1500 little jars? Like…
ALYSSA: Well, if it's individual sales, does that mean the individual products? Or is it like you can have three to five items per sale?
CHARLOTTE: You can have, like, three to five items in sales, so I'm just like, it's a little hard for me to really conceptualize.
ALYSSA: Yeah, I mean, that's absolutely incredible. It's been really cool to just, like, see your success in your shop grow over the last, what, like, two and a half, almost three years that we've been friends?
CHARLOTTE: Well, I can certainly thank you for helping with that because I definitely wouldn't have had nearly as big of an impact on the Witcher community without you involved, so my hat's off to you. I bow.
ALYSSA: If I could, like, virtually hug you through the screen, I will. One day we'll get to it. One day we'll get to it.
CHARLOTTE: Yeah, one of these days.
ELSA: I spent so much time I feel like ending up on your shop on Etsy and be like, oh my god these are also cool. And it took me a while to make the connection and to be that Oh, no, actually, that's Charlotte from the Discord.
CHARLOTTE: Hi! I am a person.
ELSA: It's really amazing. Yeah, it's just, it's just really nice to put the name on the Etsy shop, I guess.
ALYSSA: Yeah, actually, just in case people are curious or there have been, like, longtime customers of the shop because now that I'm thinking about it. I think I got my original Vengerberg Glamarye two years ago, now that I've had these jars for a while, and our community may have bought some around that time, too. How long should we be using bottles of Vengerberg Glamarye for? Is there an opportunity to get them refilled? Yeah. What's that process like?
CHARLOTTE: So typically, I recommend, you know, that they have about a year lifespan, but I think it really comes down to how you're storing them, how frequently you use them, and like exposing the cream to air. And also just, like, does it still smell right? You know, like, does it still smell good to you. As far as, like, an expiry date, I'd give it about a year, but personally, like, my personal jars, I've had them longer than that. I find that, like, I use a relatively small amount when I use it, because it's, like, a pretty concentrated fragrance, so it may take you longer than that to get through a bottle. But if the fragrance, you know, begins to turn due to exposure to air, or you know, the cork doesn't really fit in the bottle anymore, I would definitely recommend replacing it. I'm working on a refill system just because the glass jars sort of beg for that, you know, they're reusable, and they're cool, and they're glass. I'm trying to figure out a way to do that. I sent out my first prototype for, like, a little refill, like, icing bag to a friend of mine.
ALYSSA: Oh, cool.
CHARLOTTE: And they said it worked really well. So that's in the works. I don't really have a refill situation up for sale yet, but I am working on it. So just, like, to be safe, you know, I'd give it about a year after the day that you buy it, but also just kind of use your judgment. If it doesn't smell right, you know, you don't like the way it smells anymore. Or if it's been exposed to air too much or, like, the cork is starting to look funky, then I would definitely replace it.
ALYSSA: That's good to know. I have so many of them and I've just, like, I haven't left my house in two years, so there have been, like, very infrequent opportunities to really wear them that often since it's just me. And I don't need to impress myself with body glitter.
ELSA: Maybe you should! Wear it for yourself.
ALYSSA: That's true. Yeah, that's really awesome to just know, especially I think is a lot of people in our community have been purchasing bottles of Vengerberg Glamarye and I love seeing all of the, all the photos that, like, people share with you and share with me about their own bottles.
CHARLOTTE: And I'm just glad people like it. You know, I'm glad they're enjoying it. It makes me happy.
ALYSSA: So, Elsa, I'd love to turn the conversation over to you as well. I'm so curious about the work that you do as a script tutor and researcher.
ELSA: Yeah. So I, I always panic a little bit when people ask me what my job is, because I feel like I just do a lot of different things. And also, the pandemic got a little bit in the way of where I was hoping to be right now, but yeah, so I decided really early on, when I was a teenager, that I wanted to work in film, so I studied film. And that was, like, the early 2000s, because I'm really old. So um, so that was roughly around the time, what we call the golden age of TV sort of hit, you know, when they were all those shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men, stuff like that sort of started coming out. And suddenly, TV was kind of cool again, and it was, you know, considered an art form in the same way that film suddenly was. And I was particularly interested in British Diversion. I always like British cinema as well, so I was like, well, it would be kind of cool to work in, in that area. So, I ended up moving to London at the end of my studies and kind of made my way up. As, as you can see, I am right now, I basically found a job like an internship as sort of an what we call a runner. Yeah, like an office runner to a production company. And then I worked as a development assistant and office assistant. And I've been working freelance as a script reader and researcher for the year. A year and a half now. I'm hoping to sort of make the jump to script editor in the next few months/year. Obviously, all things that i can explain because I know that those job titles don't always mean a lot from the outside. Basically, I mostly work for production companies for one in particular, so they send me scripts to read which are from writers they may be interested in working with. And so, I have to sort of assess the writing. Assess whether it could be good for certain projects the company has at the moment. And I also read, like, manuscripts and books to company might be interested in purchasing the rights for. And I also work for screenwriting competitions, which are quite a big thing in the UK film and TV industry, so reading all the scripts that writers sent to the competition and sort of help picking which one are going to be able to go into the next stage. I also work with writers. Work through the writers room. I'm hoping to do a bit more of that in the near future. So yeah, so helping them developing scripts, helping them developing ideas, researching projects and stuff like that. It's been very fun. It's been almost 10 years. And I feel like I still have a lot to learn but it's, yeah.
ALYSSA: Yeah. I feel like certainly in any industry, I feel like the more you learn, the more you realize you have more to learn.
ELSA: Yeah, exactly.
ALYSSA: Which is such a good place to be, I think.
ELSA: Yeah, no, exactly this moment where you're like, Oh, God, I just know nothing. And then you're like, Well, you've been doing that for almost 10 years, you know, some stuff.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
ELSA: You don't have to know everything, but you know, some things. Yeah. And it's just, it's just really nice. That's one of the main things I love about it is that you're always learning new things. Like, I love reading, I love stories, so it's just such a privilege to be able to read so many things, and so many stories and to have writers let me in and allow me to help them and guide them because also, there's often this idea that writing, even script writing is a very lonely job, a very solitary job, but I like that it's actually a team effort. And we're all working together to try and tell the best story possible and in the best way possible. So yeah, it's pretty fun.
ALYSSA: Yeah. So, what is it that you really look for as you're assessing a script? Like, what aspects of the writing, the plot, the storytelling, the character development, are you really taking a critical look at? Is it even, like, things like the feasibility of production, that you're really exploring as a script reader?
ELSA: Like in any art form, there's always a technical side, there's always things that you can spot and be like, this works, this doesn't. You know, in painting, you can be like, "Oh, the brushwork is not very precise," or stuff like that. And there's also stuff like that in creative writing, so you know, very technical things like, "Oh, the plot is not very clear, the dialogue is a bit like all the characters are talking in the same voice." You can be like, yeah, the world is not fleshed out enough. There's a lot of very specific things that we can look at, and then there's always part of it, that's a bit hard to pinpoint. Like, suddenly, you're into the story and you cannot stop worrying about all those little things, about all those little technical details. Like suddenly, you're just reading it, and you just want to see where it's going to go and there's a bit of almost magical element to it. That's like, oh, yeah, I'm into it. I'm into the story. This works. I'm not quite sure why, but there's something that works. So, you're kind of always looking for this little spark, like a lot of time, you know, it's good, may not be perfect, and maybe a few problems here and there, but if you can feel this little thing that sort of hooked you, then you're like, Okay, I think they maybe onto something. I would be interested in, in meeting this person or pushing this project a little further. And also, there's what we all accept is that there's a big subjective element to it. Like, you know, taste is going to be a big thing. Personally, I don't really like true crimes. I don't really like thrillers, but I love uh, I love fantasy. I love horror, I love, like, ghost stories and monster stories, which is relevant to our conversation today.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
ELSA: So, obviously, I will be a bit more issue like, Okay, this is a story about a haunting house. I'm like, okay, yeah, I mean, it also means that I know the genre really well, so you'd better you know, you have to impress me. But yeah, so there's also a subjective part of it because it's not, it's not an exact science. Yeah.
ALYSSA: Absolutely. It's really interesting to think about, like, what makes a script like a good story, and what makes it technically good as you had brought up, and I'm sure that in order to have a good proposal to give to you or to give to production houses, it has to be a combination of both. Although, as you said like, writing can be a team sport. And if you have, like, a solid story and, like, decent, like technical prowess that can still be refined further with the help of editors and a production company as well.
ELSA: Yeah.
ALYSSA: That's really neat.
ELSA: Yeah, it's really like, I think people are sometimes a bit precious about writing, you know, it's like "Ooh, it's writing. You have to, you know, you have the secret gift or you don't," but I don't really believe in that. I think it's just practice.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
ELSA: And like, yeah, you need to give it a try. And you need to work and um, and you need to allow other people to read you and find nice people to read you. Find, like, people who will be honest, but also want…just practice, you get better and better. Yeah.
ALYSSA: Well, I really love that you're here as well to, like, add to the conversation now that we're diving into the Netflix show and into what I personally think is one of the best episodes of The Witcher Season Two. Today we'll begin our discussion of Netflix's The Witcher Season Two with Episode 201, A Grain of Truth in which Geralt and Ciri visit an old friend, while Yennefer and the Sorcerers of the North deal with the aftermath of Sodden. In the opening scene, a merchant and his family arrive at an abandoned estate before quickly being slaughtered by a creature in the dark. This was, oh I can finally say this now. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I got invited by Netflix to, like, hang out in New York for a couple of days and, like, got to see this episode, A Grain of Truth, at the Netflix office in New York a couple of days before the show came out, so I got to see this episode on a big screen while they were filming us for a little bit. This is like that opening scene in the, like, the first season. I was bugging out and I was in such a fetal position. My shoulders are hunched, sitting on the sofa, like, listening to the screaming on, like, surround sound. I hated it so much.
ELSA: It was really funny because I rewatched the episode with my sister and her boyfriend who don't know anything about the books, but they've played the game. First two seconds in, they were like, yeah, that works out. That's the monster of the episode. And I was like, how did you guys know that? So clearly, they did something good. Yeah, gotta like it, like it's efficient. It tells you what you're getting into. Also, what I really enjoyed is that you can automatically see that they had a little more than, like, $1 to make the entire show. Contrary to season one, it just looks a lot better.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
ELSA: The atmospheres are better. I really like also, there's a lot more nice little visual details. For example, in this one, there's all this shot in the village, the entire village is dark, but you can sort of see Nivellen’s mansion that's all lit up in the background, so it's kind of like foreshadowing where the monster is coming from and you get a lot of little things like that throughout the episode, which I really liked. Like, you can tell they were a bit more focused on the cinematography.
CHARLOTTE: So, I definitely agree with Elsa, the cinematography has certainly changed since the first season. And this, this might sound kind of mean, but I found this scene to be really funny. I've found it to be really hilarious. And I don't know why I fixated on this but there's this opening part of the scene or where, like, they're walking into the village, there's this well, and there's a bucket swinging in the well.
ELSA: That came back so often. I think that because we saw it in the subtitles, and it was like bucket clanging or something.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
ELSA: I'm like, okay.
CHARLOTTE: Yeah, yeah. If you turn the subtitles on, like it's even in the subtitles. It's like the bucket.
ELSA: Yeah, like this is relevant.
CHARLOTTE: So, like, I don't know why I fixated on this bucket, but I think it was because, like, the swinging of this bucket was just, like, so unnatural to everything else that was going on. Like, the wind wasn't blowing that hard. You know what I'm saying? Like, it was clearly being swung around very enthusiastically by somebody underneath it who was off camera.
ELSA: I can't believe you're insulting the ancient art of bucket swinging like that.
CHARLOTTE: Exactly. I'm like, who was in charge of being the bucket swinger? I need to know who was the bucket swinger. And the travelers, like, it was nice to see them because this was automatically kind of straight to the book.
ELSA: Yeah.
CHARLOTTE: It's good to see them there, because yeah, there they were in the story, but the girl's response to her mother being attacked. That also made me laugh, because who just stands there and just screams at this guy.
ALYSSA: Like, run. Girl, run!
CHARLOTTE: Yeah. Any other person would have been running for cover, but this girl, she's just gonna stand there and scream at it. She's gonna scream at it.
ELSA: I mean, I'm not sure that's going to help though, but yeah, she could have tried.
CHARLOTTE: This. That's not, this, yeah.
ALYSSA: Like, I feel like any time these kinds of opening scenes happen in The Witcher or other fantasy shows it's inevitable that everybody's gonna die.
ELSA: Yeah.
ALYSSA: But it did kind of get me when like, he was like, "I'm a merchant. We're just here for the night. We're just looking for a place to stay. Hello." And I was like, Oh, dude, don't be sympathetic. Man. Oh, no, you're gonna die. And I was gutted. Not just gotta to see was when he got murked and just that body was severed.
ELSA: Yeah, you can get too attached.
CHARLOTTE: I knew they were gonna die as soon as I saw the bucket.
ALYSSA: That's the greatest spiritual omen that we could have. Not the crows, not the crazy things in the sky or the bottoms of teacups. It's…
CHARLOTTE: It's the bucket.
ALYSSA: It's Bill the bucket man at the bottom of the well.
ELSA: If a bucket is just swinging, like, run for your life.
ALYSSA: So yeah, so we see this opening scene, we smash cut to the opening credits, and then are then transported over the fields of Sodden and the remnants of that battle. We'd actually heard, I believe it was in WitcherCon, or they've had so many talkback shows about The Witcher at this point that they're all starting to blur together in my mind, but in one of them, showrunner Lauren Hissrich had mentioned that Declan de Barra, who wrote this episode and also Blood Origin, in the script, he had said like piles of Nilfgaardian armor burn. And so, that's the pan that we see as we go over Sodden where Tissaia is searching for Yennefer amongst the dead and then she briefly meets Geralt and Ciri who were also searching for the sorceress. I kind of like this scene. Like, I think it makes sense for what happened at the end of season one.
CHARLOTTE: Yeah.
ALYSSA: Geralt would find his way here because Sodden is apparently close to where Ciri was.
ELSA: Yeah.
ALYSSA: And Tissaia is still there. So, we see her using, I don't know if it's necromancy or something, to see into the dead's final moments, which is also really cool. And then Geralt comes out of the mist.
ELSA: Yeah, you always need a good new season introduction of your hero. And obviously emerging from the mist is, yeah, that's a good shot. Yeah, I really like the scene. I really love the idea of Geralt and Tissaia, like, the two most important people in Yennefer's life, and so it's kind of nice to see them meet. And also, I just really like this idea of Geralt thinking that Yennefer is dead, because obviously A Grain of Truth is all about, like, lost love, and true love and everything, so it really gives some sort of melancholy to this whole story, because obviously, he's lost what he thinks is just the woman loved. Yeah, so I think, I think it was a nice touch. And also, it's kind of a nice nod to the books because I feel like in the books Yennefer, Ciri, and Geralt spend that time thinking that the others are dead and looking for each other.
ALYSSA: Yeah, that's all the Witcher is, is just a continental game of Marco Polo.
ELSA: Yeah, exactly. So, I thought it was, like, a nice nod to that. And, and obviously, it had a nice weight to the story, because you know, Geralt is sad and so are we.
CHARLOTTE: Well, as a pretty big fan of the books, seeing these characters and meeting at Sodden is very confusing, but I understand why they did it for the show. For me, I generally just kind of find it odd that they made Tissaia such an integral character here at this point. And I realize it's supposed to be a really heavy, sad moment. I just, I have the opposite reaction to everything that I'm supposed to have. That's sort of like how it feels for me. There's this moment where Tissaia was looking for Yennefer using this necromancy. Vilgefortz, like, comes up and just said, like, she's gone or you're not going to be able to find her. And she just turns around and literally does the anime scream of Yennefer's name three times in a row. It made me laugh. I'm sorry. I was just like, wow, really. Like, Yennefer! You know it is?
ALYSSA: Yeah.
CHARLOTTE: It was a sad. Yeah, that's a sad scene.
ALYSSA: Yeah. I mean, I do like, overall, the changes that they've made to Tissaia's character in the show, just because like, I didn't connect with her as much in the books as I do on the show, just because, one, MyAnna is just incredible.
ELSA: Yeah.
ALYSSA: She's so good. And she brings so much depth to this character. And she's just stunning on screen to watch. And she steals every scene she's in. I think it is, like, if you try to map the show to the books one to one, I think there are multiple reasons why this feels weird, but like I said, I feel like for the sake of the show, it's almost like a little bit of closure, even if it is false closure for Geralt and Tissaia that they kind of have this moment sitting in the reality and the acceptance of what they believe has happened. And then they part ways.
CHARLOTTE: Yeah, because the confirmation, you know, that he believes that Yennefer is dead, it's just generally really important. For Tissaia to deliver that, that's a nice way to do it, it's a good way to arrange it. And I do like that they, you know, gave more to her character in the show. I definitely agree with you about, you know, her character in the books sort of being lesser known and sort of less talked about, but I found her character in the books to be really intriguing, so I'm curious to see, you know, the the things that they do with Tissaia's character in the show.
ELSA: Yeah, it was one of those things where I read the book after watching the show and reading the book, I was like, oh, okay, that's why she's so important in the show, because you can tell that she's kind of like Yennefer's Vesemir, so you need a bit more of that, like, mother figure. And you can tell there's going to be a point where Yennefer is probably going to have to choose between her and Geralt and between her and Ciri and Geralt, so I guess that was kind of a way to sort of reinforce how important their relationship is and that's, you know, Tissaia really care about Yennefer as much as Yennefer care about her.
ALYSSA: Yeah. And that's something really interesting that you bring up just because I've heard Lauren Hissrich talk in interviews about how, if I'm paraphrasing this correctly, they didn't necessarily need to teach Geralt how to be a good dad or they chose not to spend the season figuring it out because to Lauren's point, Geralt has learned how to be a father from Vesemir. He's learned how to be a brother from all of the other Witchers in Kaer Morhen, who we'll meet in the next episode. However, Yennefer has had the opportunity to learn how to be a mother figure from Tissaia, which I think --
ELSA: Yeah.
ALYSSA: -- has the potential to give us a lot of understanding about how Yennefer could mother Ciri in future seasons. So, it's really interesting to bring that up and, like, see how that generational foundation is set with season one and then here in season two as well.
ELSA: Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, yeah, I'm excited to see how it's going to play out a little further on.
ALYSSA: After leaving Sodden. Ciri suffers from nightmares about the fall of Cintra and the Black Knight on their journey. So this is a small little scene between Geralt and Ciri. Ciri is having nightmares which eventually wakes her up. In a moment of, I think it's less comfort than it is relatability. Geralt says I sleep like shit too. And Ciri's response, "You don't sleep at all." Geralt says, "It makes for fewer nightmares, except for the ones about the rock troll. Overly friendly, tough image to shake." And just, like, a cute little nod to I think the video games in which there are a number of rock trolls, a lot of them are friendly. And Gwent as well as the famous rock troll named Shoop. And yeah, so the rest of the scene takes place. Geralt explains the Law of Surprise to Ciri and her father's decision to invoke the Law of Surprise. And we also hear this quote from Sword of Destiny in which Ciri says, "So I'm your destiny?" Whatever that means.” And Geralt says, "You're much more than that Cirilla." There certainly, like, a moment here I think that given that they've only maybe met that day or the day before, Ciri has been hearing about this man all of her life, but there's still that level of trust that they need to establish, so this almost feels like a timid footstep toward what will eventually become a father-daughter relationship. But right now, it's just kind of like poking the small child with a stick and being like, "See, I can do it too. Daka, daka, daka, daka, daka, daka, daka, daka.” So, he's trying. He's certainly trying.
ELSA: Yeah, I'm sad that he's trying to talk her out of going to Skellige, because Skellige is the best. Who doesn't want to go there?
CHARLOTTE: That's definitely an important point for exposition for the story. For the viewers as well.
ELSA: Yeah, it's a good reminder of what happened in season one, in case you haven't seen it recently.
ALYSSA: And it's definitely, I think, a more subtle injection of exposition and a recap than I think we've seen in, in other shows or even in other parts of the Witcher as well. Like, Ciri doesn't know any of this stuff, so it makes sense that Geralt is the one to tell her. And it happens in such a way that it's not, like, a big lit reminder that like, "Hey, this is what happened, remember?" which is nice, because it doesn't break the immersion of the scene.
ELSA: Yeah, no, it feels quite organic. It feels like a pretty natural conversation. I also like the fact that Geralt tells Ciri, the official reason of why he took her in. It's like, okay, it's this very practical Law of Surprise thing, but then a bit later in the episode Nivellen will ask him his personal reason for doing it. And then he kind of explains, you know, that he's changed because of Yennefer, so it's kind of nice to see this sort of different of how he tells the story, depending on who is telling him to and you can tell that he's not that close to Ciri yet that he can unpack his entire tragic backstory to her, so yeah.
ALYSSA: It's starting to lay the foundation of their relationship a little bit carefully. So, after we leave the campfire, we are suddenly brought to Aretuza in a thunderstorm and the mages care for the wounded including Triss and resolve to interrogate their prisoner of war. This is, you know, a stunning overview of Aretuza. It's, like, dark and it's grim. And this is actually a scene in the trailers as well. And we fly straight into Aretuza down the hallways and corridors eventually meeting with Tissaia and seeing Triss suffer from a seizure because of her wounds at Sodden. There's a number of mages that we see there. Most notably Triss, who is bedridden, Artorius, Fringilla's uncle, we met in season one, as well as Vilgefortz and Tissaia.
CHARLOTTE: I do like that they showed that Triss was, you know, very badly wounded. That's an important aspect of her character and another detail that they included from the books is that using magic is actually painful. After Tissaia calms Triss with magic, I noticed that she, as she's, like, walking away, she places a hand over her lower belly. And I like that they included that. I want to think that that's what that was about that using magic as a woman in The Witcher world, you know, causes a painful sensation in the womb area. And I think that's what that was about. I don't, I don't want to assume that, like, usually when women are depicted doing that it has something to do with pregnancy, so I'm like, okay, it's either that magic is, you know, painful in that area, or, you know, she's dealing with something else.
ELSA: I mean, that's one of things I really liked in the first season that this whole idea that magic isn't free. You always have to pay for it. You always have to, like, it is not something you do easily. And so yeah, I think you're right on that. It's a way of showing that doing something like, yeah, doing big magic is going to impact, like, to have a physical impact on you.
ALYSSA: What I really like about this scene is that it just shows the devastation after Sodden. It's not that they had this little battle and everybody kind of walked away scot free. You're actually able to see how frantic this magical ward is. You know, mages are running around trying to heal all of the wounded. You hear moans, you hear screaming, you hear pain and anxiety and panic. That post battle feeling is really captured in this brief scene, which I think is so important because I feel like when it comes to battles in television, and specifically fantasy television, usually like the battle just happens and you cut somewhere. And you don't actually yeah, meditate on, like, the gravity of what has just occurred and the sacrifice that it requires. I really like that we spend the time here.
ELSA: I think Tissaia actually tells Artorius that they made it out but barely.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
ELSA: And so, it's, it's nice to yeah, to show that. Just because they're big mages with big powers doesn't mean that they can come off easy, and obviously to highlight the fact that they're all pretty desperate and, you know, desperate times calls for desperate measures, and it kind of announces all the bad things they're going to do next to keep the upper hand.
ALYSSA: By the end of this, we also learned that the northern kingdoms have one prisoner of war. At this point in the story, we don't know who that is. We can probably make a good educated guess. I know I did when I was sitting watching it. I was like, it's Cahir. It is, isn't it?
ELSA: A boy is here!
ALYSSA: But at this point, we, the audience, don't technically know, but Tissaia has a very, very strong resolve to break him,
ELSA: Then we're like, no, our, boy. What do I do?
ALYSSA: I know. It's a, it's a very conflicted feeling I feel like for book readers, we, you know, again, shmash cut to Yennefer, who wakes in dimeritium shackles with Fringilla and a small band of Nilfgaardian survivors.
CHARLOTTE: Yeah, it's a nice setup for the complex relationship between Fringilla and Yennefer. So, I'm very curious to see where the show takes it. Their relationship in the books is also very interesting.
ALYSSA: Yeah. And I think when you add on the layers of them in the show, having gone to school together, having had found themselves on opposite sides of, like, a huge scale battle, where Yennefer completely decimated Fringilla's forces, and now she's a prisoner of war. It's such a weird and uncomfortable dynamic, I feel like. But Yennefer is not one to be pushed around. Even in dimeritium shackles and dress stomping around in the mud, she's still not really taking anything from anybody.
ELSA: Yeah, I really liked Fringilla in the books. She's such a fascinating character. And I was just really excited to see them together because it's such an interesting dynamic. Also, I think the actress playing her, Mimî Khayisa, I think.
ALYSSA: Oh, she's stunning. Oh, my god.
ELSA: She's amazing. And she's just so good for the entire season. She goes from this, like, very kind of shy and kind of awkward character to being this absolute badass. And you just see it all happening in her eyes. She's just so good. They just have such an interesting dynamic, because yeah, that's the sort of school girl jealousy and rivalry going on but there's also the fact that they're on different side of the war. So yeah, I was really happy to see them spend time together.
ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Before we continue our discussion, we’re going to hand it over to Lars from WitcherFlix for recent news on the Netflix show. When we come back, Charlotte, Elsa, and I will continue our discussion of “A Grain of Truth”.
“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 preparation for the filming of season 3 is well on its way and there is a lot to report. So let's head right into it.
Thanks to various new casting descriptions and audition tapes we have learned about almost a dozen new characters that will make their first appearance in Season 3 of The Witcher. According to Redanian Intelligence and The Illuminerdi a fan favorite character first appearing in the book “Time of Contempt” will be introduced in the new Witcher season: Milva also known as Maria Barring will interact with Geralt towards the end of the season and assist him in a tricky situation. In “Time of Contempt” this meeting is the beginning of the iconic Hansa. As always, the Witcher production doesn't use the actual character names in the casting calls. In 2022 as well, they are using codenames. A female character named “Marylebone” could be Milva. Her description reads as follows: “Marylebone possesses not only a razor sharp wit but a quick blade as well. Her age belies her experience, for she has been forced to mature quickly and learn to survive in a cruel world.” Marylebone is described as a series regular, so if she is indeed Milva, Milva will already be introduced before she interacts with Geralt.
In addition, there are several more casting calls that could belong to characters from the Witcher books. According to the casting call, the character named “Angel” is a “royal messenger, played by someone who will need to know his way around a horse. This middle-aged gentleman was tired of his life and the horrors he’d witnessed on the job until he heard something that revolutionized his outlook from that moment on.” This is definitely Aplegatt, the royal messenger of King Demavend of Aedirn. Another female character codenamed “Parsons” is described as a “teenage girl convinced she is someone else in order to become a political pawn”. Without giving too much away, this could be a character named “Fake Ciri”. Ralf Blunden, nicknamed The Professor, has made an appearance in an audition tape and is linked to the rogue mage Rience. Blunden appears in “Time of Contempt” as well. He is a murderous assassin.
Another character description for a female character reads as follows: “Plus-sized and powerful, she is a member of a particular group of women you don’t want to cross. Vivacious and self-confident, she’s sure to be a match for anyone she meets in The Witcher.” This character is codenamed Maida Vale and her description could fit several sorceresses. But due to the fact that a lot of codenames start with the same letter as the characters' real names, it is possible that Maida Vale could be Margarita Laux-Antille. She is a rector of Aretuza in the books. Similarly, the character “Greenwich”’s description is kind of vague: “A brave and loyal soldier, portrayed by an actor in his 20s, who feels his fervor fade slightly when he realizes his comrades are not as committed as he is.” This could be the origin story of Giselher, the leader of the Rats. But, as it would be too early for the Rats to appear, this could also be a show-only character. One last female character that we can maybe recognize from the name and description is “Hampstead". She is “a middle-aged married woman trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who is more like her child than her husband. Though she inhabits courtly life, her opinions more often than not fall on deaf ears.” It is possible that she is Queen Hedwig of Malleore, the wife of King Vizimir of Redania who already made an appearance in season 2.
Moreover there are four characters that we cannot actually link to a book character at the moment and are therefore possibly show creations. First, there is “Picadilly”, a man second in line to the throne, prone to a player lifestyle and not to a political one. Then there is “Euston”, a timid ladies' maid, played by an actress in her 20s, there is “Victoria”, described as a “gorgeous free spirit” and last but not least there is “Richmond” who is a musician selling instruments.
In other Witcher news, we already learned about two Season 3 directors. According to Redanian Intelligence, Stephen Surjik will return for Season 3. He directed the first two episodes of Season 2, “A Grain of Truth” and “Kaer Morhen”. His other works include “The Umbrella Academy”, “Daredevil” or “Lost in Space”. Season 3 will also welcome a new director. Loni Peristere will make his Witcher debut in Season 3. His previous work includes shows like "American Horror Story", “Outcast", "Castle Rock" or "Warrior". As both previous seasons had four different directors, we can expect to learn about the other two directors for Season 3 in the near future.
Speaking of directors and filming: Redanian Intelligence has also learned that once again The Witcher will journey across Europe. After Season 2 was only shot in the UK due to the pandemic, the production will start filming at the beginning of March in other European countries. It will start in South Tyrol, a province of Northern Italy with spectacular mountain scenery. Then the production will move on to Slovenia and after that to Croatia. All these countries are new for the Witcher production, but they are no strangers to fantasy movies and shows. Croatia for example has been a staple for all seasons of Game of Thrones.
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]
“Dear Friend…”: Listener Call-In Segment
[Music by MojoFilter Media]
ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Hi everyone! Welcome to our listener call-in segment, “Dear Friend…”. Keep on listening as members of our international hanza share their thoughts on what we’re discussing in this episode:
MADI: Transcript to come
DENNIS: Transcript to come
KARA: Transcript to come
ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Thanks to Madi, Dennis, and Kara for sending in their thoughts on Episode 201 “A Grain of Truth”! Hear your voice in a future “Dear Friend…” segment by emailing greetings@breakfastinbeauclair.com or DMing the podcast on social for more information.
[Music by MojoFilter Media]
Discussion
ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Hey everyone! Welcome back from the break. When we left off, we had seen the aftermath of Sodden for Geralt, Ciri, Yennefer, and the mages of the Northern Kingdoms.
ALYSSA: In the next scene back on the way to Kaer Morhen, Geralt tells Ciri about the history of the keep and he spots a suspicious animal carcass. The pair reach an abandoned village and Geralt instead brings Ciri to a friend nearby. Geralt and Ciri arrived at Nivellen's estate. The house clatters all the windows and doors and Nivellen bursts through the front doors and tackles a speechless Geralt. So we hear that Gearlt and Ciri are on the path to Kaer Morhen. I do like the use of the short story as a kind of a vehicle for getting them from Sodden to the keep. He spots what we assume is probably an animal carcass that has been attacked by a monster, at least that's what I assume because he, like, checks it out, I think it's food and then goes and nibbles some raw meat on the side of the road. I'm unclear what that was.
ELSA: I thought, because I reread the short story a few days ago. And isn't it supposed to be like a reference to the short story? Because they kind of see dead animals and he’s like, oh, that wasn't killed by an animal that was killed by a monster. But I don't know if they are not close enough for it to be Vereena already.
ALYSSA: I would assume so. I would assume that they're still within the hunting grounds of the monster that we saw on the opening scene.
CHARLOTTE: Yeah, I don't understand why he eats a piece of the dead carcass. How does this help determine anything? I'm like, What? What about the flavor?
ALYSSA: That was a plot point in Nightmare of the Wolf. From the last two episodes of Breakfast in Beauclair, we talked about Nightmare of the Wolf. And one of the things that Vessemir does in that is he knows what a Mar, which is a demon, tastes like.
CHARLOTTE: Ugh, okay.
ALYSSA: And that's a plot point that's used I think two or three times throughout the film, the taste and scent of the blood is something that he recognizes.
CHARLOTTE: I see.
ELSA: Oh, I thought it was, it was to help him determine how long the animal had been dead or something. I didn't, I didn't know it.
ALYSSA: I feel like that'd be a weird thing to do. That feels like something a child would do. How long is it dead? I don't know. Eat it. Put it in your mouth.
ELSA: Yeah.
ALYSSA: It's like don't do that.
ELSA: If there's one thing we know from The Witcher training is that they're not big on, like, health and safety, so you know, who knows?
ALYSSA: I feel like there's definitely scientific ways that you could be like, ah, rigor mortis, this is clearly bloated. Ah, like Geralt, don't put it in your mouth. Stop it.
ELSA: I don't know.
CHARLOTTE: You know, just have a little, have a little snacky snack.
ALYSSA: Oh my God, just flash frozen jerky? Like, it's terrible.
CHARLOTTE: Yeah. Let me, let me put my tongue on it and find out
ELSA: I could like the idea of witchers kind of eating everything to determine what it is though.
ALYSSA: The cool thing about this scene is of course that we eventually arrive at Nivellen's Manor. Nivellen is a wonderful and well I should be a little sparse of the word wonderful. He's a very beloved character from the short stories, which is part of the reason why I brought Charlotte on to reprise her discussion from episode two of Breakfast in Beauclair with the adaptation. I should have said that in your intro. Why didn't I say that in your intro? Yeah, we finally get to the manor, we meet Nivellen, who Geralt is startled by because as we find out here, they have met before, but in that time, he has been cursed. Also, you had a really lovely point about Nivellen's introduction that I actually saw in the notes that I really, really loved. Do you want to, like, tell us about that?
ELSA: The short story is just amazing. And I think it's a favorite for a lot of people. So I was really glad that they did it. And they moved it to such an interesting point in Geralt's story, and Geralt's arc in the show. Him and Vereena are such an interesting mirror to sort of Geralt and Ciri's relationship, they’re almost like a sort of default version. Obviously, they are very different relationships, but you can see they both find echoes into each other at some point in the episodes. And also, it's a great way of introducing what I feel like is sort of Gearlt's big arc for the season, which is, what do I do when someone I love is hurting other people, even if they can't really help themselves? And obviously, we will see that when we reach Kaer Morhen in Episode Two. We will see that with Yennefer. We will see that with Ciri. And so, he constantly has this whole debate with himself, which is basically like, what is like loving someone, and what's the sort of bandwidth you have to put and how loving someone can sort of interfere with his job and with the principles he has set for himself. Obviously, we get to explore that for Nivellen in this episode, so I feel like, yeah, the episode does a really good job of sort of establishing one of the big themes of the season and one of the big sort of questions that Geralt is going to have to ask himself throughout.
ALYSSA: That's such a pointed and thoughtful interpretation of, like, what has happened here and like how, you know, obviously the themes stretch across the entire season. And it's something that I certainly, like, didn't think about as I was watching this episode or the season as a whole. And it's such a concise and beautiful way of putting it. What do you do when someone you love hurts other people? Because this is something as I said that we saw in Nightmare of the Wolf between Vessemir and Deglan for example, we will see that here with Nivellen and Vereena and as you said with Geralt and Ciri as well, as, you know, with numerous other points throughout the season. The repetition of themes, I think is something that is certainly necessary for television and film, but also harks back to something that's Sapkowski does heavily throughout his writing as well, so I think it's really great to point that out, and to kind of explicitly see all the examples within this episode alone, and I think having Vereena and Nivellen as not necessarily a blueprint, but as a possibility of a person's response to this question is really interesting by the time we get to the end of it, and the juxtaposition between Geralt's response to Ciri by episode eight: Family.
ELSA: Yeah.
ALYSSA: Yeah, I really appreciate you bringing that to the discussion because when I saw that in the notes, I was like, "Oh, you're so right!" Like, I had, like, a little mind blown moment when I was reading your notes this morning.
ELSA: Thank you. I think it was also rewatching the first episode. I rewatched it right after watching the last one, so it kind of jumped into my face and I was like, Okay, this is what the entire season has been about because the last episode is such a good parallel to the first one, where Geralt basically has to make the choice that Nivellen has to make at the end of this episode. He handled it a bit better, but you know, that's up for debate. Yeah. And it's also this idea that what do you do if this person can't really help themselves, because obviously, we'll see with Vereena very nice of this whole thing of like, is it instinct? What happens if this person is acting on instinct? Or is being possessed? Or is being forced into doing it? Like, where do you sort of draw the line, so what do you do when you're sort of stuck in this dilemma and disposition?
CHARLOTTE: And I definitely agree with you Alyssa about Elsa's noting of the mirroring and characters, I think it was a really good observation. When I was making notes about this, I was definitely thinking back to our first recording together about this story. And I think, like, the first thing that comes up in that recording is us talking about how Roach is the one who's just, like, more aware than anybody else in the room, most of the time.
ALYSSA: Oh, all of the time. Geralt would not have gotten anything done without Roach in A Grain of Truth, he would have completely lost the mystery.
ELSA: Of course, Roach is the real hero.
CHARLOTTE: Yeah, Roach is the MVP here in this particular story, at least in my opinion anyway. When they come across that carcass, Roach is freaking out. And there's a reference to the games here, which I really enjoyed, because I love The Witcher 3, it's like my favorite video game thus far. When Roach is freaking out Geralt casts the Witcher sign of Axii, and in the game, your horse actually has a fear meter. And if Roach gets too scared while you're around the monsters, she will throw you. I quite enjoyed that detail of, like, your horse is freaking out, you got to calm your horse down, so the only way to reduce the fear meter is to run away or to cast Axii. So, I was like, oh, look at that, you know? It’s from the game. Nice.
ELSA: I think we would enjoy, like, every time Geralt chooses the sign. I think everyone who's played the game is like, oh, yeah, I do that too. Yeah, good job Geralt, I would have done the same.
CHARLOTTE: Like, a little tidbit when I was playing my character, my build for Geralt was very much reliant on I think it was the, like, swordplay and sign casting. But I noticed that, you know, Ciri sees this as she sees him casting this magical sign. And she compares it to the magic of a druid. And Geralt is just kind of like not really. Like, that's not really what this is like. And though witchers are supposed to be this sort of caste of mutated warrior monk monster killers that utilize their own magic. Personally, I think a more appropriate term for their sort of, like, magical casting class is a warlock. And I think this word in particular really suits the magical abilities of witchers the best, so if I had to compare witcher magic to something, I would use the word warlock, not druid.
ELSA: So, it's like something a bit more basic, I guess? Practical?
CHARLOTTE: Yeah, yeah. And then the origin of the word warlock, I think suits the Witcher backstories as well. I honestly found it interesting that the name of The Witcher books translated to the Witcher because in my mind, it translates more to the word Warlock. Like, I love the word The Witcher. I love that, that they used that to describe, you know, this group of warriors, but I personally just have a soft spot for the word warlock. It comes from the root word wærloga which means oathbreaker and it translates to a male witch, which is pretty neat.
ELSA: Yeah, that's cool.
CHARLOTTE: And as far as these scenes, like, coming up on Nivellen's mansion, there's this little scene where they're riding through the woods at night hearing these like, you know, ethereal screeches in the background that reminded me very much from a cinematography standpoint of the scene in Lord of the Rings where the Hobbits are, it was in The Fellowship where they're running through the woods at night trying to escape the Nazgul.
ELSA: I thought the same thing. Yeah.
CHARLOTTE: Yeah, I was like, that looks just like that scene in Lord of the Rings, so I always love seeing, you know, sort of vague cinematographic references to other films that I've seen.
ELSA: Yeah, I was almost expecting the, like, race music scene.
CHARLOTTE: Exactly. Yeah, I was like, there was even a slo mo and everything, like, the horse is like, so yes, and then we come to the absence of the roses.
ALYSSA: I know. Yeah, in the trailers for season two, I really thought we were going to see them, but it turned out to be a completely different flower that has its own importance, which we'll talk about in future episodes.
ELSA: Yeah.
ALYSSA: But when they showed, like, a flash of, like, blue nature sparkle thing, you had, like, a 10th of a second to see it. I was like blue roses. Alas, that's not what they were.
CHARLOTTE: No, honestly, I was quite disappointed, because, you know, would it have killed them to just throw some in the courtyard? It would have been so beautiful, especially during the fight scene. Like, they don't have to provide any, any context for that. You know what I'm saying? Like, the mansion is already magical as it is. There's things going on there that aren't natural, so I feel like they could have done that. You know, I mean, clearly, it didn't really play into the story that they are telling because they didn't really talk about Nivellen's visitors--
ALYSSA: Right.
CHARLOTTE: --that would come to collect the roses and things like that.
ALYSSA: Yeah, it doesn't really sound like you had any either in this iteration.
CHARLOTTE: But you guys know how I feel about the roses. I just have, like, a personal like, where are my roses?
ALYSSA: Yeah, I feel like it's one of those things that in the iteration that it was wouldn't have added or detracted from the story.
ELSA: Yeah.
ALYSSA: I do you think visually to have something like that there in the dead of winter would have been beautiful to just kind of like have that as part of the courtyard. However, I do wonder if, like, the exterior of the house was purposefully made barren, so that you could have that contrast with, like, what magic does to the inside of the house and how kind of decrepit the whole places become without Nivellen's help. And it's in the middle of winter, so everything is dead.
ELSA: Yeah. Yeah, it was kind of sad, because it's such a nice little detail in the short story. And it's such a nice reference to, like, the 18th century Beauty and the Beast, original story. So I was like, Oh, it would have been nice to have, like, Ciri trying to pick one of the roses.
CHARLOTTE: Yeah.
ELSA: I guess it would have maybe slowed down the pace a bit too much.
CHARLOTTE: Like, I feel like they could have, they could have woven like, as they're coming up on the mansion like before, Nivellen bursts out, like Ciri could have wandered off. And like, "Oh, what a pretty rose." And then Nivellen bursts out. Like, it didn't have to have much context, but I have to say despite that, my first impression of Nivellen was awesome. I think the practical effects and the CG were excellent.
ELSA: It's so good, yeah.
ALYSSA: Oh yeah.
CHARLOTTE: They did a great job with casting Kristofer. And I think he really nailed the character.
ALYSSA: Oh, absolutely. I know that I came into it with some uncertainty or skepticism, just because of the age difference between Nivellen in the books who's only supposed to be like 22, 23-ish, versus Kristofer, who's he must be in, like, his 40s probably. So, before the series came out, I obviously didn't really know what was going to happen when they adopted an older character. I think he did spectacularly. And as you said, the practical effects were super neat. Like, Netflix has put out a ton of behind-the-scenes content after the show was aired. Like, the arms were practical arms that they actually cast it on him and that he wore, like, these massive arm length gloves. And the only thing that was CG was really the dead center of his face.
ELSA: Yeah.
ALYSSA: So, it was, I think, much more successful than the previous practical effects that they've used in the past because it feels like they smartly combined the practical with CGI, like we had already spoken about the production value, the second season of the show just feels so much higher. And I feel like this is one of those reasons.
ELSA: It's a shame because when special effects are good, you don't even talk about them because you don't really notice them. And that's what tells you how good they are. So yeah, it's just really incredible and he’s very expressive, like yeah, I'd say it's one of the best Beauty and the Beast special effects we've had for the beast. Like, yeah.
ALYSSA: Yeah, I was actually just thinking about I've never seen the Emma Watson version, but I have seen the behind-the-scenes of them filming the ballroom scene of, like, Tale as Old as Time. And it's Emma Watson looking like Emma Watson does, just stunning. And then the actor who plays the beast is on the small stilts and completely in a gray mocap suit. Yeah, like, in there's no-- girl had to act. She really had to act.
ELSA: Yeah.
ALYSSA: The suit had the mass, but like there was no costuming or anything that was done for the beast that almost have been in CGI if I'm remembering correctly. So as I said, it's really cool to have both the CGI and the practical. One, to just make production easier, because you really only have to focus on that one part of the face. It gives the actors much more to play off of when it comes to having eyeline mass, like, they could actually see it. And it really feels like an actor's performance when they're in that combination of practical and CGI because it's actually them moving and it's not anything else. It's really cool. I think they did a really good job and you get Kristofer's, like, he's so expressive.
ELSA: Yeah, exactly. And he's got such good chemistry with Geralt and with Ciri. You really believe in the interactions. So yeah, it just works really well.
ALYSSA: And as we continue on with the episode, once Geralt gets over his initial shock, Nivellen welcomes Geralt and Ciri into his home. And he draws up a bath for the girl using the house's magic. And after the two leave Ciri to her bath, she finds a white gown waiting for her as a pair of eyes in the ceiling watch. This is kind of a fun scene, you know, the house is in a bit of a rough state, but we see the magic. And the magic of the house in the books, I don't think it's, like, that explicit. It's just like, ah, there were things but there's no real indication as to, like, how the magic actually worked. So, I feel like the production effect of just having stuff fall haphazardly from the ceiling is so fun. And I loved that and I was absolutely delighted by it. So, Nivellen calls for a bath and just this golden bathtub full of water just plops from the ceiling and splashes water everywhere. And I loved it. I thought it was delightful.
ELSA: Yeah, it's so good and, and you see it from Ciri's perspective, you know. She's discovering Geralt's world and Geralt's job. Before that, you can tell just she’s like, "Okay, what the fuck did I get into?" And you can see her being so amazed at all the effects and enjoying the bath and everything is just really nice. And then you can then just be like, Oh, maybe it won't be too bad. Maybe. Yeah, he's got weird friends, but you know, it should be okay. So yeah, it's just really nice. It was just really fun, fun detail.
CHARLOTTE: Uh, yeah, I thought that the entrance into the mansion was really fun. I thought it was funny that Geralt refused to have a bath even after Nivellen offers him one and, and notes that he reeks of old horse.
ELSA: Oh yeah.
CHARLOTTE: Game is up for those of you who've been asking me about releasing a Geralt scent, I'm working on it, but most of the time he smells fucking awful. If you really want to smell like Geralt, you can go ride a horse for a week without bathing and get some animals.
ALYSSA: It's grim.
ELSA: So, are you going to do clean Geralt or smelly Geralt?
CHARLOTTE: Geralt at the ball. Yeah.
ALYSSA: It just smells like soap.
CHARLOTTE: Yeah. I've had some fans of the book messaging me being like I found it. I found where it is in the book. And I'm like, I know. I am working on it.
ALYSSA: Oh, that's exciting.
CHARLOTTE: I like that they decided to have Vereena interact with Ciri.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
CHARLOTTE: Because obviously, Ciri wasn't there in the original story, so I found that this particular interaction was very exciting. And just watching her and leaving her a gift of the dress. After that, I was very curious to see how that relationship would progress throughout the episode. I was like, whoa, okay, we've got, like, two ultra rare beings in the same house. This is, this is a little explosive.
ALYSSA: I mean, as we're watching the episode in this screening room, panning up after Ciri has gotten comfortable, and she's getting dressed, and she's relaxed, and you just pan up and you see these little eyes in the ceiling. It's like, oh fuuuuck.
CHARLOTTE: Yeah.
ALYSSA: I was deeply disturbed as I was watching this. Like yeah, as you said Charlotte, like, definitely very curious about where their relationship could go now that Ciri is, like, this new factor in A Grain of Truth.
ELSA: Yeah, it's just such a nice addition because obviously in the original story, it's just Geralt against those monsters. He's just, you know, business as usual, but obviously I think Ciri adds this almost like Gothic Horror element to it, because it becomes about this young woman who, you know, arrives to this mysterious mansion that's full of secrets and monsters, and she's not really sure, like, who is the good guy, who is the bad guy? What's the deal with Nivellen? Does he have a scary attic wife who is going to murder her in her sleep?
ALYSSA: Yeah.
ELSA: And yeah, it just adds this little tension that I really like. And yeah, it becomes a bit more about Ciri than about Geralt, which is nice to sort of open their relationship.
ALYSSA: Absolutely. And we get to dive into that a little bit more and to see the relationship build in the next scene as well.
ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Before we get to the rest of the episode, we’re going to take a break here. Next episode, join me, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye and Elsa from France as we continue our discussion of Netflix’s The Witcher 201, “A Grain of Truth”
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, Katie (The Redhead of Toussaint), Jacob B., Ayvo of Gulet, Bee Haven of the Edge of the World, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, RedKite, The Original Roach, Codringher’s Cat, Libby, Clare Odell, Jennidy Mundilovitch, Wolf, Corey from the US, John of Ryblia, Tom from Australia, Jill Cate, The Tabby Witch, Olle from Sweden, James Carson III, Kyle, the H2HOE, Psilocybe Sorcerer, A Toussaint Knight, Roxas, and Jeanette of Brokilon.
Special thanks to Charlotte and Elsa for joining us for this episode and our international hanza for their support.
Transcriptionist: John Matthew M. Sarong