Freya Allan breaks down the importance of Ciri’s “rebellious” journey in The Witcher season 4. During The Witcher season 3 finale, Ciri kills a man and joins a group of teenage criminals known as the Rats. This sets her on a different path than when she was with Geralt of Rivia and Yennefer of Vengerberg.
In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley, Allan was asked how the Rats change Ciri’s perspective of her found family of Geralt and Yennefer. Allan explains that, since the Rats seemingly don’t know Ciri’s real identity, she feels a sense of freedom and is not burdened by the kinds of weighty expectations she has faced in the past.
This helps Ciri figure out who she is without Geralt and Yennefer, while also wrestling with the weighty question of whether they are “better off” without having Ciri in their lives. At the same time, the Rats contribute to Ciri’s coming-of-age journey that involves drugs, partying, and her first sexual experience. Check out Allan’s comments below:
I think what’s interesting about the Rats is that they provide a space for her to be whatever she wants to be. They don’t know who she is, or so she thinks, they don’t know who she is. And I think that, for a moment, offers her a freedom to be able to figure out what she is without Geralt and Yennefer. And obviously that’s a complicated journey. And I think once she starts becoming closer to them, you realize it’s harder to hide your whole history and who you really are at the core. And I think during that time, she’s trying to push away this past life, and she treats joining the Rats as a way of saying that Geralt and Yennefer would be better off without me, if they are out there. And I think she just leans into what she is fearing she is. She goes, “Okay, I’m fearing I’m a monster. I’m going to kind of act like one.” But then there’s still those moments where you get to see that the real Ciri comes through. And so I think it’s a journey of her kind of navigating that. But the Rats just, you know, they also want a lighter note, offer her a kind of rebellious streak in terms of — yeah, she’s always been this child, and now she’s getting to — she has her first sexual experience. She’s doing drugs, she’s drinking, she’s partying, she’s killing people. So she’s just letting it all loose and finding herself within that, I guess, or not.
Traveling with the Rats is unlike anything Ciri has experienced in The Witcher‘s previous seasons. She grew up as a princess of Cintra, and along with the privileges that came with a royal upbringing, Ciri’s grandparents concealed her powers from her.
Ciri learned how to survive largely on her own while on the run in season 1. After Geralt found her, though, she has been consistently protected and trained either by him or Yennefer, all while powerful figures across the Continent plot to use Ciri for their own gain.
The Rats offer a unique form of liberation and self-discovery that Ciri has never known before. For the first time in her life, Ciri is able to get a taste of what it feels like to simply be a teenager in The Witcher‘s world, although there is no true escape from her past or her destiny.
These developments are important not only for Ciri, but for when she ultimately reunites with Geralt and Yennefer. After spending so much time with them in seasons 2 and 3, Ciri needs to grow without them. At the same time, Allan confirms that Geralt and Yennefer continue to greatly impact Ciri, even when they are not physically around her.
What Ciri learns will carry over into The Witcher season 5, which will be the end of the Netflix series. Ciri’s endgame can only work after her experiences with the Rats and what they teach her about herself.
Release Date
December 20, 2019
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
Directors
Stephen Surjik, Charlotte Brändström, Edward Bazalgette, Loni Peristere, Louise Hooper, Bola Ogun, Alex Garcia Lopez, Gandja Monteiro, Sarah O’Gorman
Writers
Haily Hall, Clare Higgins, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Jenny Klein, Tania Lotia
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Anya Chalotra
Yennefer of Vengerberg
