Episode 4 of Netflix & # 39; s Witch The series, ancient tradition and time itself is called upon to resolve the ballroom conflict between our unknown hero and the defender of his works. And thus the key & # 39; s string is painted right before our eyes, paving the way for the rest of the season. But if you haven't read the books, the energy of the situation won't hit you.
(Vol. note: this post contains spoilers for Witch section 4)
The custom referred to is the Surprise Act, which is asked by Duny, her husband to be the princess Pavetta, after Geralt saved his life in a room full of rival royalty in marriage. After a bloody conflict, Duny, also known as the Urcheon of Erlenwald, feels he owes a witch to save him, but he has nothing on his part to pay for it. Geralt blames Surprise law.
“What you have but you don't know,” says Law of Surprise. A world-renowned tradition Witch, the law is often called upon to negotiate a payment between the hero and the assistant they saved from certain deaths. In most cases it can only be approved by a vulnerable assistant. These endangered tragedies are often encountered by the witch, but sometimes the ordinary knight can encounter them for what happened – such was the case with Duny himself, who saved Pavetta's father's life 15 years before the events of the fourth episode and won the right to marry his daughter through the Law of Surprises. It is only after the Law is called that everyone in the room stops fighting. Disrespect for culture is as scary as it is disrespecting the future itself.
Photo: Katalin Vermes / Netflix
The rule works like this: when they realize they have nothing to pay their points, the debtor can say something like, “explain your salary.” This sets out the requirements of the Act, giving the veteran enough opportunity to file a claim. : the first thing you get when you get home will be as good as paying off the debt you owe.
That first could be some kind of gardening or horseback utility or some kind of parachernalia paruchernalia that you can find in medieval fantasy countryside. Or, perhaps, a saved person might come home to hear that his wife was pregnant in their absence, when the first thing they had unknowingly was their unborn child. When it does, the unborn now owes the hero who invoked the law of Surprise, a child tied to them with a mysterious fate. That is what happened to Geralt in the matter of seconds at the end of episode 4.
“Fuck,” Geralt trembles after Duny reveals what he has but he doesn't know. The witch goes out of the room and comes at night, leaving her adopted daughter growing up as a queen, with no idea of her future. But with these ancient traditions – this wonderful – the future is on. And despite many attempts to prevent it, the power of fate only grows.
To Andrzej Sapkowski & # 39; s The Sword of Destiny a collection of short stories, Queen Calanthe, Ciri's grandmother, sees this: after ordering her adviser, Marruck married, to kill Geralt so as not to hide Ciri from him, she returns her request at the last minute for reasons Mouseack did not understand. Perhaps this was a test of credibility. Or maybe this was a homage to – or fear of – the future.
On the Netflix show, Calanthe reaps what he sows in keeping Geralt and Ciri long. In the scene of his death, seen in episode 1, he tells his grandson, "find Geralt from Rivia," realizing that the girl's fate is a different experience than this witch, and if they are to survive the invading black sea from Nilfgaard, they must act collectively. The devil is carried his trump card, and the witch in the prison cell below breaks free from his shackles and heads to find his Baby Baby.
Eventually the paths of Geralt, Ciri, and even Yennefer will cross. At the crux of Witch is a law of Surprise, which brings three people apart from the family by fate.
