WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Season 2 of The Witcher, now available on Netflix.
The Witcher Season 2 made its smashing debut on Dec. 17 with higher stakes than previously experienced in Season 1. Following the Nilfgaardians' defeat at Sodden Hill, thanks in large part to the efforts of Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra), the hunt for Princess Cirilla "Ciri" of Cintra (Freya Allan) continues stronger and more brutal than ever. Having finally united with Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), Ciri learns that she is at the center of an elven prophecy that predicts the end of the world.
As Ciri learns more about her mysterious origins, she discovers that Elder blood flows inside her veins, which is the source of incredible power. This power can not only create a whole new generation of witchers, but it can even shatter whole monoliths with a screech and create portals to other spheres. Knowing what he knows about the elven prophecy and what this means for the fate of the world, Geralt commits to protecting Ciri at all costs. This shifts the emotional core of The Witcher Netflix series from his romance with Yennefer to building a father-daughter relationship with Ciri.
In the first half of The Witcher Season 2, Geralt brings Ciri back to Kaer Morhen -- the place where he was raised to become a witcher under the guidance of Vesemir (Kim Bodnia), the oldest witcher in existence. At first, Geralt starts teaching Ciri combat skills alone as part of his goal to keep her safe from harm. He reasons that she needs to be able to protect herself in the event that he is not able to protect her. Once the other witchers get involved to give Ciri more well-rounded training, however, his fatherly concerns are only exacerbated.
During her training with the other witchers, Geralt discovers that Ciri is willing to put her life on the line to become stronger. He's especially alarmed when Ciri offers her own blood to make the potion needed to create new witchers in exchange for her becoming a new witcher -- a process both she and Geralt know can result in her own death. Geralt stops Vesemir from going forward with Ciri's request and they leave Kaer Morhen together to continue their travels. They arrive at the Temple of Melitele where Geralt hopes Ciri can learn to control her powers under the guidance of Mother Nenneke (Adjoa Andoh) -- a task he originally entrusted to Triss (Anna Shaffer) at Kaer Morhen.
At the Temple of Melitele, Geralt reunites with Yennefer, whom he previously thought was dead. He is completely unaware Yennefer has lost her powers and that she has encountered the Deathless Mother, a mysterious witch who wants Ciri in exchange for getting her powers back. He is thus also unaware of Yennefer's ulterior motives for helping both him and Ciri until Rience (Chris Fulton), a rogue fire mage , attacks the Temple of Melitele in search of Ciri. He doesn't discover Yennefer's betrayal until she instructs Ciri into opening a portal to a location near Cintra where she needs to deliver Ciri to the Deathless Mother.
Despite Yennefer being close to completing her task for the Deathless Mother, she is shown to be conflicted about her decision. Not only does she not feel right about sacrificing a child's life in exchange for getting her powers back, but Yennefer has herself grown fond of Ciri. By teaching Ciri how to use her powers in a controlled manner, Yennefer finds herself in the maternal role she's been wanting since Season 1. In serving as a mentor to Ciri, Yennefer, is perhaps also compensating for her earlier failure to protect another infant princess -- a tragedy that kickstarted her desire for motherhood in the first place.
In the end, Yennefer ends up betraying the Deathless Mother, though not in time to prevent the latter from possessing Ciri's body after feeding on enough human suffering to free herself from her prison. After the Deathless Mother reveals herself to be a demon named Voleth Meir, Yennefer offers her own body as a vehicle for her in exchange for leaving Ciri's body. Yennefer's sacrifice is successful, and while it is not enough to earn Geralt's forgiveness, she nonetheless agrees to mentor Ciri to control her powers.
See Geralt and Yennefer's bond with Ciri in The Witcher Season 2, now available for streaming on Netflix.