The Witcher S3: The Touching Moment Between Ciri & Yennefer That Was Improvised

Season 3 may be the end of an era for some fans of Netflix's "The Witcher," but in many regards, it finally delivers on promises set up in Season 1. Despite the aftermath of Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) nearly choosing to sacrifice Ciri (Freya Allan) to Voleth Meir, the season opens on a high note. Yennefer is slowly working her way back into Geralt's (Henry Cavill) heart, starting with schooling Ciri in the ways of magic. One day, however, in a charming departure from the high stakes of the series, the two take to the frozen lake in a botched attempt at ice-skating.

Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich shared in the making-of special "Making The Witcher: Season 3" that the addition of the scene was a purposeful inclusion for the benefit of those fans who have long pointed out the biggest differences between Netflix's "The Witcher" and the book series. However, the scene in question did not exactly go as planned. Instead of demonstrating their characters to be majestic ice-skaters, Allan and Chalotra's interpretation ended up being clumsy, with the two actors falling on top of each other during filming.

Understanding the significance of the snowy sequence, Freya Allan was determined to get it right. So the actor requested ice-skating lessons, hoping it would get her closer to how Ciri is presented on the page. However, Allan revealed that she was doomed to fail from the beginning, especially since the consistency of the "ice" they ended up using for the scene was closer to plastic. This made movement difficult, resulting in one take where she and Anya Chalotra fell on top of each other — one they ultimately used for the episode.

"Freya ends up on top of Anya, and they're laughing, and someone has to roll off, they can't get back up," Lauren Schmidt Hissrich explained. "And it was such a... just a gorgeous, real moment. We ended up putting it in the show." For all intents and purposes, Yennefer is Ciri's mother, and to see them bonding in a moment where nothing is exploding or on fire is a refreshing reprieve from the imminent doom. Audiences get to see not only a classic Ciri trait from the books but the found family that "The WIthcher" is all about.