By Though this is not surprising considering the source material, our sources have confirmed that Freya Allan has already worn Ciri‘s iconic facial scar on the set of The Witcher Season 5. The scar, which was popularized and made iconic by Ciri’s character model in The Witcher III: The Wild Hunt, first appeared in the novel Tower of the Swallow, parts of which will be adapted in the final season of the Netflix series.
How Ciri gets her iconic scar
The events that led to Ciri obtaining her scar were originally expected to occur in the yet-to-be-released Season 4, as that season was expected to cover most of Ciri’s material from the books “Baptism of Fire” and “Tower of the Swallow.” As production of the fourth season progressed, filming continued to involve the cast of the Rats (Ben Radcliffe as Giselher, Fabian McCallum as Kayleigh, Aggy K. Adams as Iskra, Christelle Elwin as Mistle, and Juliette Alexandra as Reef).
Following that, it became clear that Netflix would be expanding quite a lot on the Rats narrative and pushing most of the material from Tower of the Swallow to the final season. Knowing that, it’s still not clear if Ciri gets her scar at the end of Season 4 or during the fifth and final season. But we do know, as confirmed by our sources, that the scar will be included in the Netflix adaptation.
If you have not read the books and would like to avoid spoilers, you should skip this next paragraph.
In the books, Ciri’s scar is obtained during her escape from captivity. After mercenary headhunter Leo Bonhart (who will be portrayed by District 9‘s Sharlto Copley) brutally kills the Rats and takes Ciri captive, he eventually hands her over to Nilfgaardian intelligence agent Stefan Skellen (who will be portrayed by Rome‘s James Purefoy). Ciri then manages to escape, but not before Skellen throws an orion at her and opens a gash in her face, which turns into the iconic scar.
A wounded Ciri then rides the dark horse Kelpie into the nearby woods, where she collapses and is found by the exiled physician Vysogota, who treated her wounds. It is not yet clear whether Vysgota will appear in the show, but we hope he will.
As it happens, Ciri actress Freya Allan has recently shared an Instagram story featuring a page from Tower of the Swallow in which Ciri shares a touching scene with Vysogota. We certainly hope that’s a tease that the old lecturer and philospher will appear in the show, but we will have to wait and see as Ciri has a lot of ground to cover in the final season.
What’s next for Ciri after getting the scar?
Season 5 will have a lot of ground to cover, in particular in Ciri’s storyline. Considering the first few episodes should cover her experience with Bonhart, the fighting pits, the escape from Skellen, and a very iconic ice skating sequence, that leaves a lot less than a full season to cover Ciri’s lengthy material from the series’ final novel, The Lady of the Lake.
Book readers will remember that Ciri’s adventures in the final novel begin with the Aen Elle elves and the Wild Hunt, and later evolve into a trip through the multiverse, before the ultimate climax of the Saga in Stygga Castle and Rivia. With so much material in so few episodes, it’s likely the show will be pulling out some of the events that happened in the books, and this should come as no surprise for those who have watched the spinoff The Witcher: Blood Origin.
With respect to the Aen Elle elves and the Wild Hunt, the Netflix adaptation has strayed very far from the source material. It has changed so much, in fact, that it does not seem likely the show will cover the same material as the books in that section even in broad strokes. Most likely, we are looking at a fundamental change to the Wild Hunt storyline, which is already confirmed to be part of the final season.
What changes can we expect? Well, for one, it is not likely we will see the Aen Elle city of Tir ná Lia. With the Aen Elle elves not technically existing in the show continuity, and with the desolate dimension in which the Wild Hunt reside by a random wiped out dimension, that city probably doesn’t exist in the show continuity.
This also puts into question what will be the role of Avallac’h (portrayed by in Blood Origin by Samuel Blenkin). It’s quite possible that Avallac’h will not be involved in this version of the story, or that he will be involved in a very different way. Skipping Avallac’h entirely would be strange considering the post-credit scene of Blood Origin, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the show abandons that storyline.
Whatever adventure the show has in store for Ciri and the Wild Hunt, it will probably not resemble the one we saw in the books, perhaps besides the very end, in which Ciri escapes the Wild Hunt through many strange dimensions. After that, we expect Ciri’s story to converge with the books at Stygga Castle. As showrunner Lauren Hissrich repeatedly said she is planning to be faithful to the ending of the books, we expect the events at Stygga Castle to be quite similar to those in the books, and the same goes for the story’s conclusion in Rivia.
The Witcher Season 4 is in post-production for a 2025 release. Andrzej Sapkowski’s new Witcher book Crossroads of Ravens is available in Poland and will be released internationally in September 2025. CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 4 is now in full production.
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