Geralt of Rivera is a Witcher. Born human but enhanced through experiments, the Witchers’ purpose is to hunt monsters in a place called The Continent. Geralt helps locals wherever he goes, but is loyal only to himself. Early in the series, a princess named Renfri (Emma Appleton) shares prophetic words with Geralt about a “girl in the woods” who is his destiny.
Meanwhile, a girl with elven heritage named Yennefer is sold by her father and ends up at the magical school Aretuza. There, she learns to master magic and corrects her physical deformities at the cost of her fertility. She beds a fellow magical student named Istredd (Royce Pierreson) before realizing he told the shady wizard Stregobor (Lars Mikkelsen) about her elven background. Yen also gets another witch, Fringilla (Mimî M. Khayisa), sent to the Nilfgaardian Empire, then becomes a royal adviser.
When Geralt helps lift a curse preventing star-crossed royals of Cintra from marrying, he jokingly invokes a tradition called the Law of Surprise, which promises him Princess Pavetta’s (Gaia Mondadori) first-born. She’s secretly pregnant, so when she dies and the kingdom is invaded by Nilfgaard years later, her daughter Ciri is sent to find Geralt for protection. Along the way, Ciri meets an elf named Dara (Wilson Mbomio) and is pursued by Nilfgaardian forces, aided by Fringilla.
Meanwhile, Geralt and Yennefer (and Geralt’s playboy bard, Jaskier) meet when Yen is in pursuit of a djinn’s wish to recover her fertility. Geralt gets the wish instead, and seemingly uses it to bond the pair together. Yenn travels with her lover before returning to Aretuza where mages vow to oppose a Nilfgaardian invasion in the north. During battle, the mage Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu) betrays the alliance. Yen disappears after a fiery display of magic.
Geralt decides to find and protect Ciri, and the fated pair finally meet in the forest.