Does the Unicorn Die in The Witcher?

Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’ follows the tumultuous life of a young girl named Ciri. Brought up as the Princess of Cintra by her grandmother, Calanthe, Ciri didn’t know what fate had in store for her. Everything changed when Nilfgaard declared war on her kingdom, killing everyone she knew and loved and forcing her out of Cintra to venture into the Continent on her own. Destiny leads her to Geralt of Rivia, the Witcher to whom she was promised in the Law of Surprise. With him, she begins a new journey of revelations that change everything she thought she knew about herself.

In the third season, Ciri learns to control the Chaos inside her and harness it to create magic the likes of which have never been seen before. A part of her journey lands her in the middle of the desert with only a unicorn to keep her company. While Ciri survives the ordeal, what happens to the unicorn? Does it survive? Let’s find out. SPOILERS AHEAD

Fate of the Unicorn in Ciri’s Journey

When Yennefer started training Ciri, she realized that the girl was too powerful to be taught by someone who had never helped someone else control their power. She knew that Ciri needed someone who was much more experienced, someone like Tissaia de Vries, who could give a sense of direction to Ciri. For this, they go to Aretuza, but things take a turn for the worse when the coup of Thanedd breaks out, and the whole place is destroyed.

While Yennefer leaves to help Tissaia and other mages, Ciri ends up in Tor Lara after Geralt leaves to fight Vilgefortz. In the tower, Ciri comes across a portal that leads her to the desert of Korath. A few markers help Ciri realize where she is, but she cannot make her journey any less arduous. With nothing to sustain her, Ciri has to fight hunger and dehydration. She knows she is all alone but feels a strange presence around her. She sees the marks on the sand, but no one answers when she calls out.

Eventually, a unicorn presents itself, which comes as a source of comfort to Ciri. The unicorn gives Ciri the strength to continue and accompanies her for the rest of the journey as her body and mind start to weaken. Soon, Ciri starts having hallucinations, in which she sees her mother, Pavetta, her grandmother, Calanthe, and a strange figure who turns out to be Falka. Falka encourages Ciri to accept her powers in their full force and not be afraid to unleash them on the world. While Ciri says she wants to change the world, Falka asserts that the only change she can bring is by burning down the current system that runs things.

During the last leg of their journey, Ciri and the unicorn cross paths with a sand monster. Ciri tries to kill it, but she is weak, and as the monster is about to make a fatal blow, the unicorn interferes. The animal is wounded in trying to save her, and his situation worsens with time. Ciri tries to heal him using her powers, as Yennefer taught her, but it does nothing to help the animal. Then Falka shows up and tells Ciri to tap into fire magic. There is no magic as powerful and as dangerous as it is. Ciri hesitates because she knows what using fire magic can do to people, and Yennefer has expressly forbidden her from it. However, when she sees the unicorn dying, she decides to do it anyway.

The unicorn survives but is not seen again when Ciri is found by the locals and held captive to be taken to Emhyr. While the origins of the unicorn remain a mystery, we can say that this is not the last time we’ll see the Little Horse. The unicorn, as presented in Andrej Sapkowski’s books, is called Ihuarraquax. Ciri meets him again much later, in the novel ‘Lady of the Lake,’ which means the unicorn is set to return to the Netflix series, though there is still some time before that happens.

Read More: The Witcher Season 3: Does Emhyr Want to Marry Ciri?