Ep. 63 — 206 "Dear Friend" from Netflix's The Witcher (Part 2)

Charli from Austria and Kim from Germany join Alyssa for our discussion of Netflix’s The Witcher Episode 206 “Dear Friend”. Very important bits include: ‘The Aard Incident’, parallels to the 2001 Polish series, ‘The Hexer’, becoming the only human in a Muppet noir, what Cahir’s bathrobe tells us, the history of wooden training swords. and the proper etiquette for ‘Reuniting With The Ex Lover You Abandoned at the Top of a Mountain At Least 15 Years Ago, probably.’

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

In this Episode

  • [0:00] Cold Open

  • [0:57] Introduction

  • [3:34] Discussion

  • [22:26] “Tidings from Toussaint”

  • [27:29] “Dear Friend”, Listener Call-in Segment

  • [28:50] Discussion

  • [50:46] Outro & Credits

Relevant Links

Transcript

Cold Open

KIM: I just had a flashback to that scene from Harry Potter, where they’re in the library and Hermione says “she only likes you because she thinks you’re the Chosen One!” and Harry just says “but I am the Chosen One”. And she just whacks him over the head with a book.

ALYSSA: Cahir probably would deserve that.

KIM: Yeah.

ALYSSA: Actually, there, I think there’s a lot of people who would deserve a good, like a good thwack over the head with a book. Cahir’s probably not even at the top of the list.

[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.

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Join us live on the Breakfast in Beauclair Instagram on Saturday, September 24 as we cover Netflix’s global fan event, TUDUM. The event starts at 10AM PST / 1PM EST / 6PM GMT / 7PM CET.

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[Episode Details]

As for this episode, Kim from Germany and Charli from Austria continue our discussion of Netflix’s The Witcher Episode 206 “Dear Friend”. Join us as we discuss ‘The Aard Incident’, parallels to the 2001 Polish series, ‘The Hexer’, becoming the only human in a Muppet noir, what Cahir’s bathrobe tells us, the history of wooden training swords. and the proper etiquette for ‘Reuniting With The Ex Lover You Abandoned at the Top of a Mountain At Least 15 Years Ago, probably.’

In our mid-episode news segment, “Tidings from Toussaint,” Lars from Witcherflix shares casting news 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 206 “Dear Friend” (Part 2).

Discussion

[Breakfast in Beauclair stinger by MojoFilter Media]

ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Hey everyone, welcome back from the break. When we left off, Geralt and Ciri had journeyed across the Continent to seek help with her powers as Rience infiltrates Kaer Morhen. Meanwhile, the Nilfgaardians and the elves respond to Cahir’s homecoming.

And as you move throughout the temple, we meet Adjoa Andoh as Nenneke. She's so delightful in Bridgerton as Lady Danbury, if you guys have seen Bridgerton, I certainly have. I think a number of people in the Hanza have. This as such a specific reference. But if you're familiar with Disney's animated Robin Hood, Maid Marian's lady in the waiting, Lady Cluck, is basically what I imagined for Nenneke. And she's like a homely Scottish chicken, and there was something about Nenneke's description in the books that, like, I always went to, like Lady Cluck in my head. Adjoa is incredible and it was really cool to have her in The Witcher, especially after seeing her in Bridgerton. I would have just loved to see more out of her character, because she's capable of so much in Bridgerton, and I would have liked to have seen her more in The Witcher.

CHARLI: Yeah, she's got absolutely fantastic screen presence, like she just owns the screen, which is something that really draws you in, in my opinion, as a viewer. But yeah, I agree with you about wish I'd see more of her, more of her character, but I think they filled out the essence of Nenneke quite well. You know, she's— she has this very nurturing side to her in the books but she's also very quick, like very sharp-witted and a bit sarcastic and stuff like that. And I just remember the one scene to Geralt, she's like, I'm not your mother, Geralt and stuff like that, like, get your shit together, stuff like that, along those lines, and it's just so refreshing. I don't know. Is she in any of the books past Blood of Elves, really?

ALYSSA: Yeah. She's in some of the later books—very briefly, and with various characters.

KIM: Yeah, I thought even though she is very witty and clever and, like, takes no one's shit. She is still this very motherly figure and you basically just want to run up to her and let her embrace you, pet your head, like everything's alright. I don't think that the Netflix Nenneke really has that aura.

CHARLI: She's very cryptic. 

KIM: Yeah, basically, like aphinx. 

CHARLI: But it was a wonder. I mean, Geralt grew up at the temple, which you're right, in the books. How old is Nenneke supposed to be here? How old is Geralt supposed to be in the show? Because in the books at this point it is probably like 70?

ALYSSA: Oh, Geralt in the books is—yeah, I think like 70-ish. But Geralt in the show…it's a little unclear because Geralt is older than Yen, according to the Netflix timeline on their website. And I guess it's not necessarily clear how old Nenneke was when Geralt was a child either. Like they could be closer in age than we would assume from the books.

CHARLI: She looks respectable and wise and old and everything.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLI: But not like she would have raised a 70-year-old witcher, really. So I don't know if priestesses in the show age differently to humans as well. I don't know. But the way she talked about the art incident and stuff, which is obviously from when Geralt was a child and he destroyed the office, almost. Maybe that's the WiFi name from Kaer Morhen, the art incident. Something happened some time ago. Everybody knows what you're talking about when you mention the art incident.

ALYSSA: That sounds like a really good, like, Witcher cover band name or something? What kind of music would The Art Incident play, Charli?

CHARLI: Probably like ska.

ALYSSA: I'm gonna need a reference. 

CHARLI: Yeah, ska. Maybe some free jazz, maybe a mix, an interesting new mix, like some sort of new age….I don't know. I think a little bit of everything because it would just be pure chaos. It's a surprise act, you never know what you're gonna get. Something different every night.

ALYSSA: Okay, I'm into it. I'm into the concept. And you know at the mention of the art inciden,t after Nenneke greets Ciri, her and Ciri have a private conversation in her office, which is where the art incident happened. And she promises Ciri that she’ll help her control her chaos. Ciri upon hearing this, she's like, oh, do you mean the daughter of chaos? And then Nenneke was like, where'd you hear that? Because it's not something that you know, a child would bring up. So again, it's pretty interesting to see Ciri and Nenneke sus each other out.

CHARLI: And I love that line that she says to him. “I don't see any side upon which you're not entirely fucked.”

ALYSSA: Yeah, it's…not great. It's not a great assessment. 

CHARLI: No, but it made me laugh. It is not, but it made me laugh. It was kind of unexpected for her in that moment. I don't know. It is very funny.

ALYSSA: Yeah. 100%. I think even on like three or four rewatches as I've prepared this episode, that sentence always takes me by surprise, every time.

KIM: Yeah, it was very funny, but it also felt very out of character.

CHARLI: They've taken her personality and certain demeanors that she has from the books up a few steps for the show. And like made her more sassy in a way. I think she's good. And they work, so.

ALYSSA: She's forward in the books, but I feel like this is more blunt. With every adjective I'm adding on, it's like Nenneke was the one who told Geralt, like, Yennefer doesn't want your shit. 

CHARLI: Right?! 

ALYSSA: Don’t send her diamonds, you’re an idiot. Maybe it is just a matter of the writing for the show versus the writing for the books. I think a lot of it is the language that's used because, again, all of these qualities and all of these adjectives do feel consistent.

CHARLI: Yeah, those are some of the best moments in the entire book series, it is always when somebody, and many people do, call Geralt out on something. It's always a fun ride. 

ALYSSA: But Geralt is so delightfully dumb at times. 

CHARLI: He really is!

ALYSSA: Just so, so chaotically dense. I do, it makes for a good time, though, as I think both readers and the characters themselves in the world when they realize that like oh no, there's nothing behind the mask. No thoughts, head empty. 

KIM: Light’s on, but nobody's home.

ALYSSA: Yeah, but we have eight books about this by now, so what are you gonna do? 

KIM: Yeah, I just thought one more quick point, maybe on geography, is also little witchers are sent to Ellander to learn how to cast signs. Obviously, that's geography-speaking, quite a long way to send the witchers just to learn the signs and then just get back and risk half of them like getting mugged on the way there or back and just losing them also.

ALYSSA: Yeah, maybe it's the kind of thing that they, like, leave them there for a couple of months. 

KIM: Yeah, maybe.

ALYSSA: And just like come around for a pickup and drop off once a year. 

KIM: Yeah. 

ALYSSA: And swap them every once in a while, but that's a—

CHARLI: It's like the thing and the Polish TV show from 2001, where Vesemir leaves child Geralt in the woods for three months. I don't know if you've seen it, Kim.

KIM: I haven't seen it. But I heard about this. Yes.

CHARLI: There's an episode in this called The Child, or something, which follows Geralt as he's still a child, and apparently in the show, the witchers had this ritual of leaving acolytes, I guess, like their students, by themselves in the forest for a few months. And they have to fend for themselves and kind of teach themselves how to survive. Because if you don't, eh, it's too bad for you. So it's kind of what Nightmare of the Wolf has done with sending the kids into the swamps. But yeah, this just reminded me of that. So it's just, “see in three months, bye!”

ALYSSA: As of 10 years ago, that was still a very prominent fraternity hazing ritual. Yeah, I think geography woes kind of plagued the whole season. But yeah, I think production has acknowledged that. And if I'm remembering correctly, an interview that they had done had said something along the lines of like, well, we don't necessarily want people to walk around for like, eight episodes. And I'm, kind of, on mixed feelings about that. I personally really love character development shows. The shows I'm currently obsessed with are, like, Heartstopper, Our Flag Means Death, Bridgerton, like soft character development shows that have a lot of romance and stuff. So like, I know, I personally don't mind sitting through a lot of character development, and Game of Thrones was quite like this in its first few seasons, as well, much less action heavy and much more focused on the character dynamics themselves. I feel like there's definitely an opportunity to have slowed things down in certain spaces. But I think in order to tell the story that they wanted to tell, we just had to geography jump.

CHARLI: Yes, It's just a bit of a shame because it does make it look a little lazy, even though you know, it's just the script says you need to be here. So you've got to be here. Who cares how you got here, how you know about this place, just be there because we need you there. I don't mind it as much if it happens, occasionally. The entire season two was full of that kind of stuff. So I just—I'm just crossing my fingers that they will kind of remedy that in the following seasons.

ALYSSA: When the last thing that happens before we go elsewhere, Ciri meets Jarre. And Jarre is, of course, like a…beloved? Question mark? character from the books who we see in Blood of Elves, as well as in other places throughout the series.

CHARLI: It was kind of the equivalent to “he said the thing!” 

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLI: He didn't look anything like I imagined him in the books.

ALYSSA: Oh no. The Jarre in the books is like—almost feels a little grubbier in like a preteen awkward way. Whereas this Jarre just had a mushroom cut. And that was like—”I'm awkward, and I made an accidental dick joke.”

CHARLI: I kind of wish they'd given him his three single beard hairs though. 

ALYSSA: Oh my god.

KIM: Oh my god.

CHARLI: Just because it would have been hilarious. 

KIM: Yeah. I still thought, like, the dynamic between Ciri and him goes off beautifully. That scene where she's following him down that corridor and Geralt is just standing to the side and she looks at him and goes like, help me! Poor Jarre. I feel like he doesn't deserve this harsh treatment. But I guess that's what teenagers are—just harsh.

CHARLI: It is in line with the books as well though, because she's quite conceited towards him in the books. You know, she's quite like, look at me, I'm so cool, basically. I mean, she is polite and nice. And she does thank him, you know, I think, if I recall correctly. But she is very, very sure of herself and you know, keeps correcting him on things, I think.

ALYSSA: Yeah, I'd be curious to see in season three if they, like, actually push that to the point of attraction. Or curiosity, I think is a better term between Ciri and Jarre. In the next scene, ahead of her baby's arrival, Francesca proposes a partnership to Filavandrel. Francesca is making up their baby's nursery and Filavandrel is basically proclaiming, :I'll do anything for you, any act of service you need. I want to be there for you. I'll don Nilfgaardian armor, if I have to!” and she's like, you could just like, hang out here, and that's all I really need. He's like, oh, okay. 

CHARLI: Thank God.

ALYSSA: Yeah, it's a very big declaration of loyalty. I feel like up until this point, maybe I'm misreading the room. But it’s never felt like explicit love or explicit partnership, until she actually asks for it.

KIM: Yeah, I wasn't that sure the first time I watched the season if I maybe had missed something about their relationship. This baby is just—it stands for so much more than just being a baby. And I'm not sure if I really dig that whole love relationship between those two. But I think it's nice that this baby has this protection of Filavandrel, and he obviously is an important figure in the Elven uprising and in the training and the protection of what, what the elves want. I mean, obviously, he's devoted to her. But yeah, that she reciprocates these feelings, feels kind of new in that scene.

CHARLI: I kind of agree. And it's never explicitly stated, but I always got the feeling that it was more a situation of “while we're here, let's just try” sort of thing. Like, you know, it was some night around the campfire and they figured what the hell and either we make a baby or we don't, fine, and then it kind of happened and spiraled from there. That's sort of the vibe that I get from their relationship and how they work together and how this pregnancy came to be. Maybe, I don't know.

ALYSSA: Yeah, I mean, it could definitely be just more of an opportunity thing. “Well, you're the former leader of the Elves, and you're a guy, it's fine.” In the next scene, at Kaer Morhen, Triss discovers that Rience had stolen the vial of Ciris's Elder Blood. Rience shows it to Lydia and they hatch plans to invade the Temple of Melitele. In this section, Triss lets Coen know that Vesemir is at least stable. As they're kind of chit-chatting amongst the witchers, she realizes that the vial of Ciris's blood is gone, and then it kind of cuts to Rience, twirling it in his little fingees in a tavern and showing it to Lydia. Lydia reprimands him for being like, ah, you didn't get the girl, but you brought me this vial of crap. And he was like, yeah, well, maybe it changes our negotiation. I want to meet your employer. They're still trying to figure out their dynamic. And the reveal at the end of this is that, like, they know where Geralt is and they plan to go to the Temple Melitele. Lydia offers him the Michelet brothers, which we have seen in the books.

CHARLI: I believe that he knows to go to the temple because he listened in on Triss and Vesemir earlier. However, that worked, that's the only way I could think of how that works, but okay. In the scene at Kaer Morhen between Triss and the other witchers, there's some brief exposition on the brotherhood and fire magic being forbidden. Again, just so we remember basically. And then we remember what Rience said in the previous episode about how fire magic consumes the soul. So he's a really evil guy in this. He is intimidating. I'll give him that. He is not so in the books, not so much. Like you say, he knows how to leverage what he's found at the keep. And that's going to be interesting. I also love the casting for Lydia. 

ALYSSA: Oh yeah, she's super interesting. 

CHARLI: Funnily enough. She looks exactly sort of like I pictured Lydia looking while reading the books.

KIM: Yeah. I thought that Rience is doing a nice job of being that slimy, opportunistic bastard that he is in the books.

ALYSSA: After that scene, Istredd journeys to the office of Codringher and Fenn looking for information about the central bloodline. In the beginning of the season, Stregobor, at some point, tells Istredd that historians should know their bloodlines better. So I really do like that we're kind of seeing that extend here and that Istredd, our sweet, lovely boy, has nothing to do and it feels in line with his character certainly. He journeys to the offices of Codringher and Fenn. If you've read the books, you'll be familiar with them from Time of Contempt, which we haven't necessarily gotten to on the podcast yet, but you meet them here. Codringher and Fenn deal in knowledge and secrets. They know everything about everything and everyone, which makes them an incredibly useful source. If you're looking for information as Istredd is. His big question to them is, I need to know what a witcher, a monolith, and a mysterious girl have to do with Nilfgaard. And I just love Codringher and Fenn in this scene. They're very, very fun. It's the kind of thing where like, if this was a scene from The Muppets, Istredd would be the only human, and Codringher and Fenn would one hundo p be Muppets as well.

CHARLI: Oh, yeah.

ALYSSA: It's like this fun kind of dynamic and I like it as a breather within the rest of the series.

CHARLI: I just love the line that, I think you said, that you just quoted because it reminded me so much of like one of those old film noir detective movies you know, where you have the detective: cigar, quaffed up collar, trench coat, cigar is dangling from his mouth, nice hat, and he steps onto the scene of the crime and he's just like asking the important questions. And I agree. I love that he's the one who gets to do it in the show since they're keeping him around because he isn't around in the books at this point. Yeah, he just gets a mystery to solve and it feels right that he's the one who gets to do it because he's the historian, the archaeologist, you know, lost secrets discoverer and he's Mr. Exposition Guy, you know, he's all these things, so he's just perfect. And Codingher and Fenn, the casting is just phenomenal, these two, it's so much fun to watch. The entire set was great, too. 

ALYSSA: Oh, yes.

CHARLI: Those tombs, and it looked really, really old. And you could smell it almost, like old books and old leather. And I loved it, it was great. I loved everything about it. And also that Fenn is we see more of them, because, in the books, they're quite in the background, and always the one in like the back rooms and stuff, brooding over old tomes. So it's cool that they're both out there, you know, solving the mystery, all the three of them together, so.

KIM: Yeah, I felt that—that first sentence had a very Sherlock vibe to it. Like these things have nothing in common, but I need to know their connection. A;right, let's solve this riddle, shall we? And they just go straight to work. And I also love that little remark about the place being booby-trapped, basically. And that Codingher— it takes particular joy in his booby traps, actually killing people that he doesn’t want snooping around.

ALYSSA: Yeah, and I think the fun thing about that and the way it was acted is that you have no idea if he's telling the truth or not. He could be completely making that up, and Istredd still feels insecure like either way, like that forward roll at the beginning of Willy Wonka with Gene Wilder, as soon as he comes forward with his cane, but he does this forward roll. You have no idea what's real and what's fake. I get that sense from Codingher and Fenn too, It makes it interesting.

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, Kim, Charli, and I will continue our discussion of “Dear Friend”.

“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! It's over, it's done. The filming for Season 3 of The Witcher has wrapped! The actors, actresses, producers and the Witcher team have proudly announced on social media that they have finished filming for the new season. Now, the post production is about to start. We can expect Season 3's release in spring 2023, if the post production takes as a long as the post production for the first two seasons. So, now the long wait begins...

Let's see what else happened in the Witcher world in the last weeks. First, we know about more than a handful of new mages and sorceresses that will make an appearance in the new season. Redanian Intelligence posted about several new actors and mages for Season 3, such as Philip Philmar as the oldest living mage Gerhart of Aelle, Eric Nolan as monster/animal rights activist Dorregaray, Polish actress Michalina Olszanska as the healer Marti Sodergren or Poppy Almond as Bianca D'Est and Harvey Quinn as Radcliffe of Oxenfurt, the advisor of King Demawend of Aedirn. We knew about Safiyya Ingar, Rochelle Rose or Ryan Hayes as Keira Metz, Margarita Laux-Antille and Artaud Terranova for a few months already. All of these mages (and a big bunch of the ones that already were in earlier seasons) will appear in a central event that takes place on the island of Thanedd. We know from set reports that the Thanedd incident made for the biggest set piece in the Netflix Witcher history and we can expect something very big next season.

Moreover, we have learned about a handful of other new castings that are not mages. According to Redanian Intelligence, Juliette Alexander will play Reef and most likely Aggy K. Adams will be the elf Iskra, two members of the Rats, a young gang of criminals. We already knew that Christelle Elwin will play Mistle, another important member of the Rats. In addition, Nicholas Karimi will play a trapper as well as most likely Andrew Lee Potts. Trappers will play an important role in Ciri's storyline by the end of the new season. All these characters do appear in Time of Contempt, the Witcher book that is being adapted for Season 3.

Unfortunately, we have also learned about a recast of a mage: According to Redanian Intelligence, Chris Fulton will no longer play the mage Rience in Season 3 of The Witcher. Instead, Sam Woolf will now play the rogue mage. In fact, we already have some photos from the set of Sam Woolf as Rience. They were taken a few weeks ago, when the Witcher was filming in Wales.

In other news, in the last weeks of filming some interesting scenes were shot. According to Redanian Intelligence we now know more about an iconic scene from Time of Contempt involving the market in Gors Velen, a "basilisk" and Ciri. In the books, Ciri explores the town of Gors Velen, together with a boy named Fabio Sachs (played by Stuart Thompson in the show). There they stumble upon a man who claims to have caught a basilisk. Ciri quickly realizes this was lie and the beast is a wyvern. This charlatan is codenamed "Barker" and is played by British actor Martyn Ellis, who appeared in shows like The Last Kingdom or The Romanoffs. Moreover, Yennefer and Ciri meet an old acquaintance of the sorceress in the same book chapter: The dwarf Molnar Giancardi is played by Belgian-Italian actor Giuseppe Lentini. His work includes productions like Mobsters or Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

The Witcher production crew has also filmed at Guildford Cathedral in Guildford, southwest of London. Thanks to set photos posted by Redanian Intelligence we have learned that the Cathedral stands in for Loc Grim, the summer palace of Emhyr var Emreis, the Emperor of Nilfgaard. Several Nilfgaardian banners are visible on Redanian Intelligence's photos. The crew has also filmed more scenes taking place in the Korath desert. While some of the scenes were already filmed near Erfoud in Morocco a few weeks ago, the filming for the Korath scenes also took place in a quarry near London. Moreover Henry Cavill has also filmed scenes taking places at Brokilon forest. Those scenes will appear in Episodes 7 and/or 8 of Season 3. Among the cast involved at the set were also Meng’er Zhang (who plays Milva) and, surprisingly, Eamon Farren (Cahir). Without giving too much away, according to a Redanian Intelligence report something bad will happen in Brokilon forest which involves Cahir and Nilfgaardians. This is something new that hasn't happened in the books and I'm really looking forward to how all of this will play out on the show.

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:

MICHELLE: Transcript to come.

JACKDAW: Transcript to come.

ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Thanks to Michelle and Jackdaw for sending in their thoughts on Episode 206 “Dear Friend”! 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, Geralt and Ciri had reached the Temple of Melitele to seek help with her powers as Triss and the witchers realize Ciri’s Elder Blood has been stolen from them. Meanwhile, Istredd has set off to solve his own mystery.

In the next scene, Jarre shows Ciri around the temple. Yennefer arrives and is finally reunited with Geralt. So the scene is awkward on so many different levels, I feel like. Jarre, who we know from the books, he's our favorite awkward boy with the one wart with the big old whisker, and he's delightfully awkward in the show with his Ned's Declassified haircut, Coconut Head haircut. And he's showing Ciri around the temple. She's just like, oh my god help. He has a lot of things to say to her though. He starts off by saying, “I don't want to brag, but my tool is much bigger and much more powerful…knowledge!” You could tell that Ciri's like, uh huh, okay. He starts to drop in a couple of treats that will delight book readers, things like, “did you know that some oneiromancers can relive past events just by looking at a painting? There's a myth about a long-lost tower somewhere on the continent that used to connect the isle–” and then he gets cut off.

KIM: I loved how awkward he was. This phrase of “My tool is bigger and more powerful.” And then dot dot dot “Knowledge!” Yeah, right. That's what we all were thinking—knowledge, right? Yeah, I thought it was just really cute, and not sure. Yeah, it's probably in the books as well. But my mind went straight to that side quest in Witcher 3, that Tower of Mice, maybe? The long lost house on one continent that used to connect to the aisle.

ALYSSA: I think that's like Fyke Isle, right? 

KIM: Oh, yeah, that one. 

ALYSSA: That is one from the games. There's one in the books, also.

CHARLI: I think Ciri's face said it all, you know with his lewd comments.

ALYSSA: Yeah, she has such a delightfully expressive face, every time we see her. And it's always the same, like, whaaaat the fuck kind of face. Once we leave Ciri and Jarre, we see Yennefer who's just creeping about the temple. She, like, gets glimpses of Ciri here and there and starts wandering about, but then she bumps into Geralt. You see it on his face that he likes, probably smells, something. The lilacs and gooseberries. And then he turns around, and then they're just like, how is this possible? And then they start making out.

CHARLI: When Yennefer shows up, she bumps into Jarre first, and he's all like, oh, can I help you? It did feel like one of those you know, place-hopping coincidence thingies that shouldn't be there. So I'm wondering, is it Voleth Meir, who guides her toward where to find Ciri? It's just too big of a coincidence.

ALYSSA: I know. As we've been watching rom-coms in the lounge, if you're in the Hanza Discord, one of our like, emerging favorite rom-com tropes is that you can live in a huge city, like a major city, like Paris or Rome, and you'll only meet the same four people and those four people also all know each other. And it feels kind of the same here where, like, the continent is so big and so vast, yet they still constantly, like, bump into each other. It's entirely possible that Voleth Meir is pushing her little pieces around the board in order to make sure she gets what she wants.

KIM: Yeah, so to be honest, I didn't even question that, like, why Yennefer would end up in Ellander of all places. I was just on the edge of my seat for that final reunion of those two, I was excited for that scene. And to be honest, I was a little bit disappointed. I don't know why, but I just feel like the energy between them, and then the kiss that happens. It feels a little anticlimactic, kind of. I feel like—I don't know. I was maybe imagining it to be this big magic moment and it's just like, Oh, you're here. Okay then, let's kiss I guess? It was missing a bit of passion, maybe, of like that real “I thought you were dead—We're finally reunited.” And I don't know. I felt like that seemed a little bit off.

CHARLI: And that's interesting to me, because it was different for me. It felt very real in a way, because if you have two people and they've been separated and they don't see each other for a long time, and then they see each other again, they're lovers, maybe they used to be lovers. I think the first thing you do is you don't run towards each other and immediately kiss and embrace. I think the first thing is caution, maybe, and caution in light of…I can't think of the word I'm sorry. Caution…

ALYSSA: Say it in German. 

KIM: Yes.

CHARLI: Yes. Unerwartetes Wiedersehen.

KIM: Unexpected…

CHARLI: Unexpected…

KIM: Oh, um, okay, so…

CHARLI: Reunion. 

KIM: Yeah!

CHARLI: An unexpected reunion, where you almost can't believe your eyes that the other person is there. So it's, it's a thing of caution. And you know, this, this kind of feeling like extending little feelers and, like, just coming together in that moment, but I think it probably wouldn't be running towards each other and kissing, I think it would be more like—like this. So I appreciated that I liked it. I've made it feel real, also considering how they left things, when last they met, which wasn't on the best of terms, obviously. So it felt natural for them to meet in this way, and to not immediately start, you know, asking questions like, how did you get here? Oh, my God, you're here. What did you do? Yeah, that felt very, very calm and collected. And that felt appropriate considering.

ALYSSA: Yeah, I think that's fair, something that we were talking about in episode I believe, 56 or 57, with Emma and Dallas, is the idea that every time they meet and see each other, they're like completely different people. It's almost like, what you're talking, about that caution from a distance. You don't really know what the other person has experienced in that time, how they've changed. So I would agree that, like, some caution is certainly warranted.

KIM: Yeah, that's true. It's easy to forget that there's so much time and so much that happened between the last time they saw each other.

CHARLI: I also feel like, when I think of the books, I don't think there's really ever a moment where they're all embracing each other immediately. It's always cautious, and it's always just this uncertainty of what they are to each other at any given moment, I think. Earlier on especially. Spoiler, sorry.

ALYSSA: And I think that leads really nicely into the end of this scene as well, Charli, just because, you know, Ciri comes in and watches dad making out with somebody. And again, she's like, ah, oh, no, and she starts to back out and her little face is so darn cute. And they turn around awkwardly and wipe their mouths. And Geralt is like, oh, yeah, this is my…dear friend, Yennefer. And then, of course, she turns around, she's like, dear friend? Which is the reference to the letter that Geralt writes to Yennefer in the books. So as we're talking about the relationship, and what happens when they kind of, like, see each other again, the Dear Friend letter is one of the first times that we even hear of Geralt and Yennefer contacting each other after Caingorn. The letter, presumably, was the way that they reached out to her, and we know how Yennefer received that letter. Just because it was incredibly, incredibly—meh—um—ta…how would you describe that letter in one word?

KIM: Oh, geez. 

CHARLI: Justified!

ALYSSA: We know who Charli's going with in the divorce.

CHARLI: Yeah, I was gonna go for—unfortunately phrased.

ALYSSA: Yeah, I think either way, like, it's clear that Geralt doesn't know how to approach this woman, considering her reaction. It's just a small nod to the letter that appears in Blood of Elves.

CHARLI: It's unfortunate that it wasn't in the show, and that it was only like a little nod towards it. But I did love the look that Geralt had on his face, the moment he said, this is my dear friend. And it was that exact moment that he knew he done fucked out.

KIM: Yeah. Exactly. The words left his mouth were like mmm I shouldn't have said that! I really shouldn't have said that.

CHARLI: Yeah, I wish she had countered with something more than just repeating the phrase and had said something incredibly sassy. Something, you know, because he deserves it. He fuckin deserves it. Even though we know why she's here in the temple. He still deserves that.

ALYSSA: Right. He's our sweet little boy. He doesn't always say the right thing. At that point, Yennefer and Ciri then meet and she pieces together that the woman that she saw in her Voleth Meir fever dream was actually Ciri, and Geralt's child's surprise. So now she kind of realizes like the crux of the issue is that the person that she's meant to sacrifice is dear to someone who is dear to her. This is where that conflict is seeded, and then it will grow over the next three episodes.

CHARLI: One thing I noticed because you said he smelled her as she entered the room, which is very nice, the look on his face and stuff. But that's also the moment that we have something that brings us back to season one, where the instrument of choice for Yennefer was oboe, which was like her instrument on the score. And it kicks in here as well. And it's playing Geralt's theme, which is this nice symmetry that I already talked about on the podcast, when they were in the bathtub. You have her instrument playing his tune. It was recycled from season one. But it was very fitting in that moment because they hadn't seen each other in a long time. And it was just, it just served very well to like paint the picture of the scene and like to frame the whole scene for this musical snippet to be in there.

KIM: It's so nice when you say that, Charli because as someone who isn't very musically adept, I don't notice those things consciously. But unconsciously, I remember—I thought that the music, the background music was very touching, very fitting, kind of and when you put that into words, that is her instrument playing his theme, it all makes total sense. Honestly, I don't—I don't mind that they recycle it from season one. I think it fits very well.

ALYSSA: In the next scene, in Cintra, tension grows between the Nilfgaardian military and the Elven Alliance. In the scene, we're seeing the elves practice with each other, as we heard in a previous episode, learning how to train in human warfare, and they're becoming quite good at it. So we see Dara again and he's training with Filavandrel. We hear from one of the Nilfgardiaan generals, Hake, and Cahir that they're still skeptical of the Elven recruits. So this causes Cahir to spar Dara and Dara is still training, he's doing his best. The choreography is great, and they both go at it, so it's very compelling to watch. But Cahir, of course, disarms him at some point, and then just looks proud of himself for it. That's the end of that scene. But we can see, like, the growing resentment and skepticism between both parties and how it's starting to affect morale and camaraderie between them.

CHARLI: I have thoughts.

ALYSSA:  You want to share with the class?

CHARLI: I have many—I have many thoughts on this scene. First of all, I have to ask you guys a question. I wasn't sure, in that moment that I watched it, and even upon rewatching, I wasn't sure what was Cahir's intention with challenging Dara to a fight at this very moment and being so ferocious about it? Was it supposed to be a show of strength toward the elves? Or was it meant to be reassuring towards the officer he had just been talking to, who is obviously racist? Because he's like, oh, the pointy ears, blah, blah, think they can join us. And he was just trying to reassure him that the elves got nothing on Nilfgaard, and on himself, Cahir? I don't know.

ALYSSA: Yeah, it's just, it feels so short-sighted to do that. I think it's a number of things. Cahir has been powerless since episode 201, since he was captured. He's, like, sparkly clean, and fresh now. He's in a position of power amongst his own people again. So I feel like part of that is him taking advantage of the fact that he's in control. I think the second thing, I think as you said, trying to assure the Nilfgaardian command that they have power and that Fringilla hasn't let everything go downhill, that their mission is still the same, that their strength is still the same. And I think it's also meant to be, as you said, like a show of strength, but a threatening one toward the elves. Making sure that they're ready or exposing their weaknesses, in order to really challenge them and see what Nilfgaard has to work with. I would assume it's almost the mindset that like if we have these recruits, they better be good. So I would assume it's probably like one of those three things or a combination of all three.

CHARLI: Can I talk about Cahir's bathrobe now? I've been waiting two months for this. I say Cahir's bathrobe. I know it's not a bathrobe. It's some sort of walking frock robe, noble’s robe kind of thing. I don't know. But I love this costume choice for him. There’s a couple of reasons why. First of all, it made me laugh because it looked ridiculous. But in the best way. I mean, you have this guy, shows up, you don't expect it. And suddenly he shows up completely left field with this, this bathrobe, with this pomade freshly done hairdo. He looks like he came just right out of a spa, which is good for him, I support that. Self-care is important, but it made me laugh. So that's one reason why I love it. And I mean, Cahir's one of my favorite characters in the books. I'm sorry to anybody who doesn't agree with me. But those are the facts.

ALYSSA: All hail the Great Sun!

CHARLI: All hail the Great Sun. So I love Cahir, I also love him in the show, even though he's very different to the books, so far. So it just made me happy to see that because I wasn't expecting it and it looked ridiculous. And the second thing is, I think it's very, and you touched on this already, just there briefly, Alyssa, I think it's a very clever costume choice for him. And the reason for that is that it tells a story completely on his own without needing anything else to get the point across. Because it tells you something about the character of Cahir in this very moment in time and place. He feels very sure of himself. He's very certain of himself and of his position. And he's the only one who's not wearing his armor while he's there. Even though there’s other pretty higher ranking officers, apparently, we've seen the next episode at the table that sit with him and eat with him. They are all wearing armor constantly. And he's the only one we see who's out of his armor. And I think the costume choice, this robe thing, just illustrates that very well, like, he is home with his people. He is in command. He certainly perceives himself to be in command, he perceives himself to be the person to keep Fringilla in check and to get her back on track. And all this is illustrated very nicely by this particular costume choice, and it was just something that caught my eye. Especially because I feel like this entire show so far, has been a bit all over the place with its costumes. So it was really nice to see whoever decided this attire for him—really thought about why. Like, it serves a purpose, what he's wearing. And you see him wearing that and you know immediately what he's thinking, what's going on inside his mind. And also with what we learn later on in the season and what he himself, Cahir learns later on in the season, in the finale, you know, it just gives it a bit more impact even, because he has a pretty long high fall from grace apparently, to where he just was, is, perceives himself to be in this sixth episode. That's why I'm such a fan of this costume for him because it serves a purpose, and we learn something about him. So yeah, that was my monologue. Welcome to my Ted Talk.

ALYSSA: That's a very, very good breakdown. Thank you for that. The— we're just gonna have to keep calling it the bathrobe. It's so lavish. It's like this plush black and gold-trimmed fabric. It sets him apart from the elves so much, just with all of their, like, earth-colored linens and things. It's interesting. And I appreciate you breaking that down for us as well.

KIM: Yeah, um, what you just said, Alyssa about setting him apart. Francesca points out that Fringilla is the one that the elves see handing out food and providing shelter, providing a smile or something like that. This show of power in that courtyard, and then this robe monologue, just sets Cahir and that height of the Nilfgaardians, so much further at the opposite from that work that Fringilla does. He basically just strengthens the point that Nilfgaard might be afraid that the elves are not loyal to Nilfgaard, but are loyal to Fringilla

CHARLI: They're training with wooden training swords, which is also something that is historically accurate. And I say this lightly because this is a fantasy show, of course, but it's just nice to see when this is applied because it makes complete and total sense. And there are records, actually, and they even found some training equipment from like the Middle Ages. in Europe somewhere, in Italy or something, where people who were learning how to fight with swords, for example, they used wooden wasters as they called it, and this is still what we call it today in HEMA. You don't immediately get a steel weapon in your hand and even the ones we later use have folded tips and blunt edges, you know, but we use Niland wasters first, or wooden wasters, some clubs even and this is what they did in the Middle Ages too. Not just in Germany, Italy, France, and stuff, but also, you know, some Eastern martial arts as well. Because the reason is that steel sword, they're objects of utility, first and foremost, and you don't want to wear and tear them unnecessarily, because they're very expensive, they were very expensive. So there wouldn't be a point in that regard, if you use them to train initiates, you know, for initial weapon training. So they would find hardwood, because it was readily available, it was inexpensive, and they would make specifically short-shaped training gear from that. They also used sticks and clubs, sometimes that could be used in place of that. It's still different with wood, but it can be closer than it is with a stick. And I digress, because I have a bunch of notes on this. But it's just so funny to me because there's actually the king of Portugal in the 1430s, I believe, he released, like, a treatise or wrote a letter to someone, I don't recall. I wasn't there, but you know, the records. I don't recall which kind of record it is. But he wrote that everybody should own wooden training sorts at home, as many as possible, because you never know who's coming over. You know, you need those at home to give to visitors to spar with and learn something new from visitors and you need them to play with each other because by sparring and by using them and by playing with them, you learn how to wield them and you learn new techniques and you never know when a secret sword master is over for dinner in your house. That was so funny because he even made a point to say and even if you don't have any visitors come over, still make sure to have those wooden training swords and find whoever you can to train with. So basically he was like, go down to the kitchen and tell the cook you want to spar with them or tell the maid you want to spar with them, or something like that. Yeah. Wooden training swords. They were in use and it makes me happy when TV and movies, when they show that, as opposed to what you sometimes see people learning how to sword fight and bashing each other's heads in with steel weapons.

KIM: Yeah, also I imagine when you start learning how to fight with swords, nine times out of ten you hurt yourself first just by dropping it or wielding it incorrectly or that famous scene where someone gets just tossed the sword like let's go, let's start and you know, you grab it wrong and then you cut your own hand off or something. Definitely makes sense to start with wooden swords first.

CHARLI: Yeah, I mean, you can hurt yourself with wooden swords as well. 

KIM: I bet. Yes. Yes. 

CHARLI: Because it's blunt. It's like bludgeoning damage, right? As opposed to like–

ALYSSA: Piercing. 

CHARLI: Piercing. 

KIM: And now we've come full circle to twacks on the head. 

CHARLI: Yeah! There's one reason why else, I think, it was nice to see that, is of course that Nilfgaard would literally stab themselves in their own foot if they handed the frenemies within their walls actual steel weapons to train with. They're cautious. They're not about to hand those people weapons while they're inside these walls. It all made sense. It was a good scene, even though I didn't fully understand it.

ALYSSA: You're here for the bathrobe. You're here for the battle. 

CHARLI: Exactly.

ALYSSA:  And that's all that matters.

ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Before we get to the rest of the discussion, we’re going to take a break here. Next episode, join me, Kim from Germany, and Charli from Austria as we continue our discussion of Netflix's The Witcher 206, “Dear Friend.”

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, Jennidy Mundilovitch, Wolf, Corey from the US, John of Ryblia, Tom from Australia, Jill Cate, The Tabby Witch, Olle from Sweden, James Carson III, Psilocybe Sorcerer, A Toussaint Knight, Jeanette of Brokilon, Miriam of Temeria, Softie, and Mary the Moo.

Special thanks to Kim and Charli for joining us for this episode and our international hanza for their support.

Transcriptionist: Kristianne Benganio

 

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