Season 3 has taken a lot of creative liberties with the way it unfurls the core events — the reasons behind the Thanedd ball have changed, Imposter Ciri’s origins are more sinister, and Jaskier has a romance with Radovid, the future mad king of Redania. Despite making such drastic changes, the new season is perhaps closest to the source material when compared to its previous installments. One such book-accurate inclusion is the scene between Jaskier and his on-and-off fling Vespula, where she throws his things off the balcony after getting into a fight with him. Batey told GamesRadar+ how this scene came about:
“I insisted on putting a book character in. I said, ‘Can we please have Vespula in there please.’ We have this scene from the book, and it was just nice to be able to return to that and the scene with Vespula is the scene that I auditioned with five years ago. So it just felt really full circle and I felt very settled in the character.”
This scene in question between Jaskier and Vespula might seem trivial when compared to everything that happens in this season, but this moment cements Jaskier’s character as a hopeless romantic. In the books and the games, Dandelion is known for having tempestuous, short-lived affairs, which often land him in trouble with the women involved, as they’re not too happy with his sudden disappearance. While Jaskier and Vespula’s relationship might be flighty and inconsistent in the show, they do share a genuine bond where they can confide in one another freely. This sentiment is reflected in the scene in which Jaskier gushes about Radovid, and Vespula teases him playfully instead of getting jealous over his new crush. This is truly Jaskier’s hot girl summer.