Let Us Help You Understand The Witcher's Scattered Timeline

Despite the first episode opening with a battle between the witcher and a kikimora, it is Yennefer's story that comes first in this timeline. Bullied and abused because of her deformity, Yennefer is sold to Tissaia de Vries for four marks after accidentally opening a magic portal. She is then taken to Aretuza where she begins her training in controlling chaos — magic. Although she does possess some abilities, she falls short in comparison to the other trainees leaving her frustrated and insecure.

After having her mage assignment changed by the Brotherhood from Aedirn to Nilfgaard, Yennefer becomes fed up with the way things have been going for years at Aretuza and decides to take control of her own destiny. She sacrifices her uterus and undergoes a transformation to rid herself of her deformity and become beautiful, leaving her sterile. Instead of Nilfgaard, her beauty wins over the king of Aedirn and leaves a bitter Fringilla to take her place in Nilfgaard.

Geralt slays a kikimora and ends up in a town called Blaviken to collect a bounty. In a tavern, he encounters Renfri — a head strong, young woman with an entourage of bad men at her beck and call. Led away by a young girl, Geralt is introduced to Stregobor, a sorcerer in hiding from Renfri. He tells Geralt that Renfri must be killed as she is the last of 60 women born during the Curse of the Black Sun — women that would bring about Lilit, a big bad that would bring about destruction. Not interested in his offer, Geralt leaves Blaviken where he encounters Renfri again. They share a moment in the woods where Renfri whispers about a "girl in the woods" being his destiny. Renfri and her entourage all die brutal, bloody deaths at the hand of Geralt, leaving him with the moniker "the Butcher of Blaviken."

Temeria is a small mining kingdom terrorized by a monster that bested another witcher. Hearing of this, Geralt makes his way there, where he encounters Triss Merigold — the mage to King Foltest. It is discovered that the monster is actually a striga — a creature that is created by a curse. This striga is a princess, the daughter of Adda, the king's sister. Geralt figures how to break the curse and is nearly killed in the process. Before leaving Temeria, Triss reminds him again of his destiny with the girl in the woods.

Jaskier, Geralt's annoying companion and singer-songwriter we've grown to love, hires our witcher as a bodyguard of sorts to keep him safe during a wedding feast in Cintra. Pavetta, the daughter of Queen Calanthe, is to be promised to another when a cursed knight, Duny, shows up to claim her hand in marriage through the Law of Surprise. A fight breaks out and Geralt defends Duny against the Queen herself. As payment, Geralt chooses the Law of Surprise which unknowingly binds himself to the child Pavetta is carrying.

Suffering from major insomnia, Geralt fishes a djinn out of a river in an attempt to wish himself to sleep. He and Jaskier fight over the bottle when Jaskier begins choking and coughing up blood. To save his life, Geralt takes Jaskier to an elf healer who recommends they see the mage at the mayor's house - Yennefer. She tries to trap the djinn inside her own body, which almost kills her. Saved by Geralt, they share a physical moment that cures our hero of his insomnia and begins a tumultuous relationship.

Yennefer is lured back to Aretuza where the brotherhood has convened to discuss Nilfgaard's rise to power and potential to overthrow the order of things. After a vote, the brotherhood agrees to allow Cintra to defend itself, leaving Nilfgaard to seize them without the magical assistance of mages. After being scolded about abandoning his destiny, Geralt returns to Cintra to check on his child surprise. Concerned about the safety of the child, Geralt urges Queen Calanthe to let him take Ciri away until the kingdom is safe for her to return. Queen Calanthe refuses and Geralt is imprisoned. Shortly after, Nilfgaard invades Cintra. Mousesack attempts to find Geralt, who by then, has escaped the dungeon, leaving his child surprise behind.

Cintra has been invaded and Ciri is on the run when she meets Dara. Voices call Ciri into Brokilan — a mystical forest inhabited by Dryads. Later, a doppler disguised as Mousesack comes to rescue her. She figures out his deception and gets away when she comes across Anton. She unleashes a world of hurt on Anton and his crew and is then taken in by a woman who has tried to help her before.

After the siege of Cintra, a small group of mages from the Brotherhood go to Sodden Hill in an effort to put a stop to Nilfgaard's uprising to conquer the North. During the battle, when hope seems lost, Yennefer releases her chaos and we finally see just how powerful she truly is.

As Geralt recovers from a nasty bite that haunts him with hallucinations of his past, when his mother first gave him up to be turned into a witcher, he finally happens upon a lead that guides him to his destiny - Ciri, the girl in the woods. Relieved that they have finally found each other, Ciri asks Geralt a simple, yet complicated question — Who is Yennefer?