Diksha Sundriyal
The third season of Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’ fans the fire of chaos and war in the Continent as Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer try to protect what they hold dear. They make some startling discoveries about their enemies and realize that the threat has been much closer to home than they previously imagined. With the kidnapping of the girls in Aretuza, and Rience, the rogue mage, chasing after Ciri, Geralt and Yennefer have to figure out the identity of the mysterious mage, who seems to be at the center of all the conflict they face.
Unbeknownst to them, Lydia, a sorceress at Aretuza, is also involved with Rience and is ready to do whatever their mysterious master asks of them. Lydia is so dedicated to the cause that even a grave injury to her face has not stopped her from continuing with the plan. In the third season, we find her hiding behind a face that is an illusion and using telepathy to communicate because she cannot speak. If you want to find out what happened to Lydia, we’ve got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD
Lydia’s Tragic Transformation and Silence
Lydia was tasked by her employer to get Rience out of prison in Cintra and set him on the quest of finding Ciri. Lydia acted as the middleman between Rience and their employer and would often assist the fire mage by giving him the resources he would need to find Ciri. Despite being very powerful and doggedly pursuing Ciri through the Continent, Rience meets a huge obstacle in the form of Geralt. Whenever he comes close enough to getting Ciri, Geralt stops him.
Eventually, Rience tracks Geralt and Ciri to Kaer Morhen. Instead of going face-to-face with them, he decides to be a little sneakier about it. However, by the time he arrives there, Geralt and Ciri have already left. At Kaer Morhen, Rience comes across Vesemir and Triss. He attacks them, leaving Vesemir unconscious, and steals a vial of blood he knows is Ciri’s. However, he doesn’t know why Vesemir had it.
Previously, during her training, when Ciri got a cut, and her blood fell on the ground, it created the rare purple flowers instrumental in creating the Witcher potion. Because the flower is hard to come by, Vesemir realizes that Ciri’s blood could serve as the missing ingredient. He and Triss use her blood to create the potion, which Ciri agrees to take, but Geralt stops her.
With the potion in his hands, Vesemir thinks about creating new Witchers, but Triss warns him that they still don’t know enough about Ciri, her powers, and what exactly is in her blood that makes it such a potent thing. It is during this conversation that Rience interrupts them and runs away with the only vial of Ciri’s blood, which had been treated with the Witcher mutagen to create the potion. Rience doesn’t know this, and neither does Triss before she uses the blood to track Ciri.
By now, it is a well-known fact that Ciri is Hen Ichaer, i.e., she has Elder Blood flowing in her veins, which is the source of her immense powers. The extent of her abilities has not been tested yet, because, for now, Ciri is focusing on controlling her powers as opposed to suddenly bursting out on her enemies. Yennefer becomes her teacher and shows her how to control the Chaos within her. That doesn’t erase the fact that the powers in Ciri’s blood are extremely unpredictable. While Lydia has been working closely with her employer, we don’t know how much she actually knows about his plans. It seems like her mysterious master is making her do his bidding, but he doesn’t actually trust her when it comes to important things.
It’s clear that the master wants Ciri because of the powers she possesses, but he didn’t share the details with Lydia. Otherwise, she would have been a bit more cautious while handling Ciri’s blood. It could be the power of the Elder Blood or the presence of the Witcher mutagen, but when Lydia smells Ciri’s blood in an effort to track her, her face is horribly burnt. Half of it is gone, and it also renders her speechless. This is why Lydia doesn’t speak and presents the illusion of her face, even when it is destroyed beyond repair.
Read More: Who is Rience Working For?
