Warning: This article contains spoilers from Season 4 of Netflix’s “The Witcher.”
Everyone is trying to find Ciri in Season 4 of “The Witcher, and that includes the wayward princess herself.
Now going by the name Falka, Ciri spends her eight episodes embarking on a journey of self-discovery, joining a motley group of pickpockets known as the Rats. (They have their own pledge and everything, it’s pretty cute.) But it isn’t Ciri’s newfound kleptomania that is sure to have viewers in their feelings. Instead, we’re talking about the special relationship she strikes up with Mistle (Christelle Eldin), one of the aforementioned Rats.
Ciri and Mistle share their first kiss midway through Episode 1, immediately after another member of the Rats — the less-friendly Kayleigh (Fabian McCallum) — tries to force himself on Ciri after threatening to claim the bounty on her head. Mistle arrives before things get too dicey, but Ciri is visibly shaken from the experience, eventually finding comfort in Mistle’s embrace. When Mistle asks if Ciri wants her to leave, the secret princess says no, resulting in their first kiss. Of many.
Discovering a new side of her character through Ciri’s interactions with Mistle was a “really interesting” experience, Freya Allan tells TVLine. “I knew there was a lot of discussion about this relationship between Mistle and Ciri. It’s kind of a controversial one online and there’s a lot of conversation around it. I actually felt like it was really important to maintain some of that. I wanted it to be complicated and I didn’t want it to be perfect. I didn’t want it to be a fluffy little romance.”
Why Is Ciri And Mistle’s Relationship So ‘Controversial’?
And “fluffy” it’s not. But what exactly is so controversial about this pairing? Ciri and Mistle’s initial physical encounter plays out on the show similarly to the way it does in the “Witcher” books, save for one very important distinction: On the show, Ciri gives explicit consent for Mistle to kiss her, which she doesn’t do in the books. This has led many readers to feel that Mistle took advantage of Ciri in an emotionally and physically vulnerable moment. This seemingly small change allows the couple to be introduced in a better light, one more fans can get behind.
“Mistle is a character that enables us to see parts of Ciri we haven’t seen and really shows a different kind of vulnerability in her,” Allan tells TVLine, adding that “there’s also a big part of her saying goodbye to her childhood. There’s a push and pull there, and I think we really get to see how desperate Ciri is to not be alone.”
What Ciri Will Take Away From Her Relationship With Mistle?
Warning: This next portion contains major spoilers from the Season 4 finale of “The Witcher.”
Unfortunately, Ciri’s relationship with Mistle does not have a happy ending. During the Rats’ showdown with Leo in the season finale, Ciri is the only member of the group who makes it out alive. What’s more, she’s forced to watch as Leo beheads each Rat and dumps their remains in a barrel — including Mistle, with whom she recently swapped L-bombs.
But even though the couple doesn’t have a “future” together, Allan is grateful for the time Ciri and Mistle got to spend together, as it ultimately teaches Ciri some life lessons that will surely serve her well in the show’s fifth and final season.
“Mistle is the one who’s confronting Siri with the fact that Ciri’s trying to run from her past, push it all away and become this different person, and just lean into this anger she has towards the world,” Allan tells TVLine. “But Mistle … comes in and says you can’t just run away from who you truly are. … In order to find out who you’re going to become, you can’t just run away from that past.”
How do you feel about Ciri and Mistle’s relationship? And what are your thoughts on Season 4 overall? Grade the latest batch of episodes in our poll below, then drop a comment with your full review.
This story originally appeared on TVLine
