We’ve said goodbye to Cavill as Geralt of Rivia.
*Warning: Major spoilers for The Witcher season 3 volume 2 ahead.*
The time has come to say goodbye to Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, with the actor stepping down from his role in The Witcher after three seasons.
Liam Hemsworth will take over in the role, with exec producer Tomek Baginski previously teasing to RadioTimes.com how the switch will happen in the upcoming season 4.
Before that, though, fans have got the final episodes of season 3 to enjoy, with Geralt (Cavill) and Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) determined to protect Ciri (Freya Allan) with just about everyone on the Continent after her.
With the three final episodes of season 3 now out, here’s exactly how Cavill’s exit went down.
How did Henry Cavill leave The Witcher?
The final episode of The Witcher season 3 sees Geralt finally leave the dryads after being mortally wounded in his fight with Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu).
As he and Jaskier (Joey Batey) embark on their journey to rescue Ciri, who they believe is being taken to Nilfgaard, they encounter a group of nasty and overbearing guards, who demand identification. Of course, they don’t have any and offer payment instead – which they don’t have much in the way of either.
As Geralt offers up payment, a letter from Yennefer, in which she speaks about Geralt losing everything, is spoken over the top and the pair walk on. They hear a commotion behind and see a family being denied entry, with the guards telling the parents: “Any more out of you and she will leave here an orphan.”
Jaskier urges Geralt to keep walking, but he goes back to confront the guards. After Geralt tells one of the guards to let the family go, he responds: “Maybe I’ll take her home and see what use she can be put to,” dropping the girl’s doll and stamping on it.
Geralt punches the guard before taking on every other guard in the vicinity in a brutal battle. Jaskier helps the family hide under a nearby wagon and Milva (Meng’er Zhang) comes to Geralt’s aid, helping him defeat the guards and joining him and Jaskier on their journey.
Leaving one guard alive, Geralt gives him a message for Emhyr if he reaches Nilfgaard first: “No matter his armies, no matter his wars, I will free Ciri.” He then returns the doll to the terrified girl.
!["Freya]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2023/07/EE306Unit00414-copyRT-dbc1538.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Freya")
Yennefer’s letter ends: “I know in my heart, Geralt, you will find Ciri. And I will make sure there’s a safe world for her to return to. And if we must face the cold blue eyes of death, we will, but we will be the last to fall. Of that I am sure. All my love, Yennefer.”
Geralt, Jaskier and Milva collect their horses and, with the light shining through the trees, walk into the distance.
Executive producer Baginski told RadioTimes.com of that final scene: “At the time, the crew were not aware, I was not aware that Henry was leaving, so it was just the perfect ending for him.”
He added: “The disappearance in[to] the light is so symbolic for me. Many things may happen…it’s just a symbolic ending for Henry in this role.”
Baginksi also remembered the final day on set, recalling: “On the last day with Henry, we were doing one of the action scenes from one of the last episodes. I think it was the the training with the dryads. It was a really dense day, we had to move very fast, we had to go very fast…and we’re going set-up by set-up by set-up, going through all the move, it was beautiful. It didn’t feel like the end.”
The Witcher season 3 is available to stream on Netflix now. You can sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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