‘Betrayer Moon’ is an episode where it all begins to come together and viewers will most definitely be invested after this one, if they’re not already. Within the episode, we see Geralt head to Temeria to face a striga, while Yennefer undergoes a transformation at Aretuza.
In the previous episode, we are introduced to Yennefer who is brought to Aretuza to undergo a series of magical trials where she also meets Istredd and Tissaia. As for Ciri, she is on the run and seeks shelter at a Cintran camp until it is attacked and she escapes with an elf named Dara. Geralt’s journey sees him cross paths with a bard by the name of Jaskier and they are briefly captured by elves, including King Filavandrel.
A Beast
Just before he dies, a young boy named Mikal (Bogdan Iancu) is speaking to a Witcher of pregnant women dying before their time and the baby growing into a monster—a vukodlak. The Witcher, Remus (Gudmundur Thorvaldsson), searches for the monster and he also ends up being killed.
Meanwhile, Geralt (Henry Cavill) lies in bed with a woman who recognises his scars from Jaskier’s songs and she tells him of another Witcher who was on his way to Temeria. With not enough money to pay for his woman and the room, he leaves Roach behind and heads for Temeria. He offers his services to the townsfolk, while Lord Ostrit (Jason Thorpe) and some of King Foltest’s army tell them to return home. Geralt is in the woods when he meets a witch named Triss Merigold (Anna Shaffer), who serves Foltest, and she wants Geralt to help her save the beast.
She tells him they realised the creature was coming from the crypt where Foltest’s sister, Adda, is buried and rumour has it that she was having an affair. The Brotherhood sent Triss to cure the beast and that the creature is not a vukodlak. Upon seeing the bodies, Geralt realises the liver and heart are missing, which means it’s a striga and likely Adda’s daughter.
A Princess
Triss and Geralt go to see Foltest (Shaun Dooley) and Geralt refers to the princess as an overgrown abortion as she feasted on her mother’s corpse. Foltest orders them all to leave, but Geralt locks the door and asks many questions of Foltest and insinuates Foltest is the father.
Geralt and Triss enter the castle of Wyzim and find Adda’s bedroom where they find letters from Queen Sancia about Adda and Foltest’s affair. They go to see Lord Ostrit and Geralt says he could smell Ostrit on Adda’s sheets. He then spills that he cursed Foltest for what he did and didn’t want to sully Adda’s memory.
Geralt returns to the castle at night and Foltest and his men are there, but Foltest is willing to give Geralt a chance and wonders if his daughter will be normal afterwards. Foltest receives Renfri’s pin as a gift for the princess as Geralt may not see the morning. Ostrit wakes to find himself in the castle and Geralt wants to know how to lift the curse. Upon telling him how the curse was conducted and the chant, Geralt realises he will have to fight the striga until dawn.
Ostrit dies a very gruesome death and we’re treated to quite the ugliest princess ever. Geralt binds her with silver chains but she breaks free and a fight ensues. As the sun begins to shine, Geralt locks himself in Adda’s tomb. When Geralt leaves the tomb, he finds the princess in human form but she attacks him and bites his neck. He later wakes to find himself being cared for by Triss, who says she’s sent the princess to the Sisters of Melitele.
A Betrayal
Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) and Istredd (Royce Pierreson) are having sex while at least 15 people watch on, which she conjured. Istredd is bound for Temeria, while Yennefer is meant to work for Aedirn’s King Virfuril after the initiation. Yennefer visits Giltine (Julian Rhind-Tutt) who picks clothing for her and prepares for her transformation.
Tissaia (MyAnna Buring) sits with the Chapter and they speak of King Dagorad banning mages from Cintra and of his daughter, Princess Calanthe. They move on to Nilfgaard and King Fergus is described as “effective and excitable” or in other terms, “horny”. Fringilla, whom is Artorius’s (Terence Maynard) niece, is bound for Nilfgaard, but Stregobor (Lars Mikkelsen) believes she might not be capable and suggests Yennefer. However, Tissaia says Virfuril prefer mages from his country when Stregobor brings up that Yennefer is of elven blood. The Chapter vote and Yennefer is given a new dress by Giltine, one that was picked by King Fergus. With that, she goes to see Tissaia, who tells her it was her blood that prevented her from going to Aedirn and that Stregobor informed the Chapter.
Istredd searches for Yennefer as she wasn’t at the initiation and she wants her father to confirm she is his daughter and not elven. Istredd wants Yennefer to come with him, but things turn ugly and all she wants is to be powerful.
A Transformation
After the initiation, they host a gala with each mage dancing with their King and Virfuril (Ben Lambert) is not exactly pleased to be paired with Fringilla (Mimi Ndiweni). We also see a young Foltest and Adda. Meanwhile, Yennefer goes to see Giltine and asks her to prove himself and that she doesn’t need to be asleep during the transformation.
Yennefer is strapped to a chair and asks for her eyes and scars to be left. At one point, Giltine appears to digging deep into her nether-regions and we see later that he has removed her uterus. He burns and crushes her uterus and paints it on to her skin while speaking Elder. What follows is intense screams, burning, and a lot of blood. At the event, the newly transformed Yennefer storms in and introduces herself to the Virfuril and everyone is most definitely pissed.
A Call
Ciri wakes in the woods in a trance-like state and begins walking. Dara chases after her only to be shot at with an arrow, while Ciri is called to by the woods
Overall Thoughts?
This episode was quite enjoyable as you begin to see all of the elements coming together, which is what truly made it a great episode. It seemed to have a much better flow than the previous episodes, which is largely because the two plots had some overlap, along with the parallels with princess and Yennefer’s transformation from beast to beauty. In my personal opinion, I think ‘Betrayer Moon’ showcases well what the fantasy series holds and if people unsure if they should continue watching, their interest will most definitely pique when it comes to watching this episode.
