In the fifth installment of The Witcher's third season, the Brotherhood orchestrates a vibrant gala ahead of the Conclave of Mages, aiming to foster camaraderie and alleviate tensions among the mage community. This strategic move indeed lifts the spirits of the mages, preparing them for the impending deliberations on pressing matters. The ball also serves as a prime opportunity for Geralt and Yennefer to mingle with various mages, seeking clues and evidence to dismantle Stregobor's schemes.
Their quest for proof against Stregobor intensifies as they realize the urgency of the matter. Shortly after teaming up, Triss and Istredd uncover the texts of Monoliths hidden within Stregobor's secure sanctuary. Triss divulges this crucial information to Geralt and Yennefer, highlighting how a skilled mage could harness the texts to traverse space and time. The prospect of Stregobor harnessing Ciri's untamed magical prowess is ominous, leaving Geralt and Yennefer with little time to devise a countermeasure.
Istredd and Geralt engage in a calculated altercation, with Istredd playing the role of a distraction. Meanwhile, Yennefer stealthily infiltrates Stregobor's chambers and breaches his vault. Inside, she uncovers a registry of half-Elf students who attended Aretuza and artifacts once belonging to the girls who vanished without a trace. Leveraging her magical prowess, Yennefer reconstructs the precise moments Stregobor targeted each girl, piecing together the incriminating evidence.
However, Stregobor's vault is equipped with a security mechanism that alerts him to any intrusions. Alerted, Stregobor rushes to confront Yennefer within his quarters. Not far behind, Geralt, Triss, and Istredd follow suit, setting the stage for an imminent confrontation.
Upon realizing that the others had vanished from the gathering, Tissaia, Vilgefortz, and Artorius swiftly joined the squad. Stregobor acknowledged his mission to liberate the elven school, yet vehemently denied stalking Ciri or utilizing the missing girls for experiments. His confusion deepened as Istredd withdrew a perplexing text from his vault. Despite being apprehended in anticipation of the Mages' Conclave, Stregobor's genuine surprise hinted that he might not be the primary perpetrator.
During their stay in Aretuza and the ball on Thanedd Island, Geralt and Yennefer uncovered vital clues about the true identity behind the conspiracy against Ciri. Initially, they dismissed Stregobor's capture as insignificant. However, after a long, intimate night together, they realized their oversight.
Dijkstra alerted Geralt to the presence of Nilfgaardian spies within the Brotherhood, emphasizing that only Redania could safeguard Ciri. Similarly, Philippa cautioned Yennefer against serving the Brotherhood, urging cooperation instead. She also revealed that Lydia, a telepath blinded by love and obedient to her lover's every whim, possessed striking similarities to Tissaia.
With his witcher senses, Geralt detected that Lydia wore earrings crafted from a rare stone identical to the one adorning Tissaia's bracelet, which had been lost during Stregobor's capture and later recovered by Yennefer. This precious stone, found only in West Redania, where the White Wolf uncovered Rience's master's gruesome experiments, added a new layer of intrigue to the already complex situation.
Geralt shrewdly deduced that Lydia utilized telepathy to commune with her beloved villain, aided by the revelation from Teryn, the lone survivor of those experiments. Teryn had disclosed that Rience collaborated with a familiar face from Aretuza and a woman with an amusing voice, leaving little room for doubt that Lydia was indeed the woman. Given that Vilgefortz had bestowed Tissaia with her bracelet, it seemed logical to assume he had offered Lydia a pair of earrings as well.
However, Geralt and Yennefer desired more concrete evidence to piece together the puzzle. During the ball, Vilgefortz sought to undermine Geralt's objectivity, recruiting the White Wolf to aid him despite his claims that the impending conflict was inevitable, regardless of the Conclave of Mages' efforts to unite the Continent. He even showed Geralt his cherished painting, depicting the coast where the Brotherhood had originated.
It transpired that Yennefer was inexorably drawn towards that same coast when her portal began to falter in the previous episode, a manipulation orchestrated by Vilgefortz, the mage who had constructed it. He had been the one they had been searching for all this time, despite Stregobor's undoubted malevolence.
In her chamber, Yennefer cast a locator spell to find Tissaia, whom she perceived as being in peril. Meanwhile, Geralt trailed Vilgefortz, only to be greeted by the sounds of a clash echoing through the hallways as soon as he ventured outside. Dijkstra materialized from the shadows, surprising the Witcher with a blade at his throat, admonishing him for not choosing a side as the White Wolf struggled to comprehend the unfolding situation.
