The Witcher season 3 continues the stories of Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer of Vengerberg, and Ciri, as half the Continent is going after the latter. Among them is The White Flame, whose motivations to go after Ciri became clearer in The Witcher season 3. After the controversial events of The Witcher season 2, season 3 finally sees Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri together, doing their best to stay safe as Ciri is being hunted by various groups due to her Elder blood, but that won’t last for long. Their biggest threat is a lot closer than they expected, and the one pulling the strings is none other than Emhyr var Emreis a.k.a. The White Flame (Bart Edwards).
The Witcher season 1 established that Ciri grew up with her grandmother, Queen Calanthe, as her parents died in an accident, but she was bound to Geralt by the Law of Surprise. One of the biggest reveals in The Witcher season 2 was that Ciri’s father, Duny, is alive and he’s the emperor of Nilfgaard, best known as The White Flame. Emhyr is one of the biggest threats in The Witcher as he wants to capture his own daughter, but his plan is not new, as he had been working on it for years, so much so that Ciri’s mother, Pavetta, paid the price of Emhyr’s ambition
Duny Was Hatching A Plan To Marry Ciri (& Did Kill Pavetta)
As mentioned above, Ciri’s parents supposedly died while traveling by sea, but the final episode of The Witcher season 2 revealed that Ciri’s father is alive. As per The Witcher novels, Duny’s real identity is Emhyr var Emreis, emperor of Nilfgaard, son of Fergus var Emreis, former emperor of Nilfgaard who was overthrown by the Usurper. This same character tortured Fergus and Emhyr and turned the latter into a humanoid hedgehog. Emhyr started going by the name of Duny, met Pavetta, and fell in love, which also broke the curse.
Sometime after Ciri’s birth, Emhyr was visited by Vilgefortz, who told him about the prophecy of Ithlinne, which claims that Emhyr’s son will inherit the Elder Blood and rule the Continent – and as it turns out, Ciri has Elder Blood. Because of this, Emhyr decided to return to Nilfgaard, where he overthrew the Usurper and took the throne. Emhyr had his dead political enemies disinterred and used their gravestones to pave his ballroom, so he became known as “The White Flame Dancing on the Barrows of his Enemies”, or simply “The White Flame”.
Emhyr came up with a plan with Vilgefortz through which they would fake his, Pavetta’s, and Ciri’s deaths so that they could escape to Nilfgaard, but Pavetta learned of his plans and smuggled Ciri out of the ship before they sailed. After an argument on board, Emhyr pushed Pavetta overboard, and the only thing left was to fake his death as Duny and return to Nilfgaard as Emhyr. Emhyr’s reasons to go after his own daughter are some of the most controversial points from The Witcher books, as his goal is to impregnate Ciri so their child can fulfill the prophecy and be the ruler of the world.
Did Duny Ever Love Pavetta?
Given the twisted nature of Duny’s plot, it’s inevitable to question whether he ever loved Pavetta or whether marrying her was always simply a means to achieving power. While it’s hard to say if Duny’s feelings for Pavetta were genuine or not, there is evidence to suggest that what Duny and Pavetta had was real, namely the timing of when Duny received the prophecy of Ithlinne. Apart from being the White Flame, Witcher viewers may remember that Duny, theoretically, had no idea that he would have a chance to reclaim his throne after being cursed and banished by the Usurper.
This means that when he met Pavetta, Duny had no reason to be with her other than the Law of Surprise, which he claims he never even intended to use anyway. This makes it seem like Duny only stayed to claim Pavetta’s hand because they were truly in love. He still could have had ulterior motives all along, though, but that’s something Netflix’s The Witcher will have to address in future seasons.
What The Witcher Season 3 Reveals About The White Flame’s Plan & What Questions Still Need Answering
The White Flame doesn’t appear much throughout The Witcher season 3, but his presence is bigger than ever. Emhyr continues his search for Ciri, but the Emperor is a very intelligent man, and he knows he needs allies in order to achieve his goals. The Witcher season 3 saw Emhyr forming a new alliance with Francesca Findabair and the elves, as they are going after Ciri too in order to save their people, but Emhyr only cares about his own plans. However, the biggest twist in The Witcher season 3 was the reveal that the White Flame has been working with the most powerful mage in this universe: Vilgefortz.
Geralt and Yennefer found out that Rience and Lydia van Bredevoort aren’t working alone, and they are backed by a powerful mage. Said mage turned out to be Vilgefortz, and to make it all more complicated, he’s working with Nilfgaard and the White Flame. Vilgefortz went as far as to kidnap half-elf girls from Aretuza to experiment on them and create fake Ciris. Exactly why Vilgefortz is creating fake Ciris is unclear, but if the series stays true to the books, Vilgefortz might not be planning to deliver the real Ciri to Emhyr as he has his own, deadly plans for her, and instead, he will give the Emperor a fake Ciri.
The biggest question about Emhyr’s plans in Netflix’s The Witcher is whether he’s following his controversial storyline from the books or not. As mentioned above, Emhyr wants his own daughter to bear his child, which would surely be risky territory for the Netflix series. The terms of The White Flame and Vilgefortz’s deal are also unclear, and given that Vilgefortz has shown he won’t hesitate to betray anyone, he could end up doing so to the Emperor. There’s no way to stop The White Flame’s plans now, but The Witcher still has a lot to address and answer about them.
