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Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for The Witcher season 3 and references to suicide
Ciri entered a new chapter of her journey during the season 3 conclusion in Netflix’s The Witcher, laying the foundation for the events that will transpire in season 4—without Henry Cavill’s portrayal of Geralt.
It’s been four years since we witnessed the first season of the adaptation go out. Therefore, some returning cast members are drawing blanks in viewers' memory. Here’s everything you need to know about Calanthe.
Who Is Calanthe In The Witcher Season 3?
Representing the House of Raven, Calanthe Fiona Riannon (Jodhi May) was known as the former queen of Cintra, mother to Pavetta (Gaia Mondadori), grandmother to Ciri (Freya Allan), and the wife of her first husband Roegner of Ebbing and her second husband Eist Tuirseach (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson). Also known as the "Lioness of Cintra," Calanthe appeared in six episodes of The Witcher adaptation after her debut in season 1, episode 1, titled The End’s Beginning.
We first check in with Calanthe and King Eist, with Ciri in attendance during Nilfgaard’s invasion of Cintra. After King Eist is killed in battle, the Cintran army is bested, and a wounded Calanthe retreats from the battlefront to the castle and reminds Ciri that she will rule Cintra one day. The Nilfgaardian army then storms the castle gates, and Calanthe orders its inhabitants to take their own lives by poison, as opposed to being taken by the encroaching forces. After Ciri is sent away safely with Lazlo (Maciej Musial) and Mousesack (Adam Levy) in order to fulfill her destiny to find Geralt (Henry Cavill), Calanthe proceeds to take her own life before the castle is overrun.
In flashbacks, we see her daughter Pavetta’s betrothal party, where Calanthe has prearranged her to marry Crach an Craite (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) to form an alliance. However, Duny (Bart Edwards), the future father of Ciri disguised as Lord Urcheon of Erlenwald, also attends the party to seek Pavetta’s hand in marriage, as the pair had been courting in secret for a while. Duny is a cursed knight with the head of a hedgehog, and after his curse is revealed, Calanthe orders Geralt to kill him. Refusing to kill a cursed man, Calanthe then orders Geralt and Duny to be killed which forces a battle. Pavetta retaliates with a magical energy burst that surprises Calanthe since she believes her mother’s gift has skipped her line and Pavetta’s, but she admits she is wrong. Since Duny previously saved Pavetta’s father, Calanthe is persuaded to honor the Law of Surprise and let them wed.
In season 3, Ciri enters the Korath desert via a portal at Tor Lara and proceeds to have visions of her late mother Pavetta, and grandmother Calanthe. These visions turn out to be the work of Falka (Hiftu Quasem)—a deceased descendant of Ciri's —who's hellbent on persuading the princess to use the full brunt of her power for revenge against those who chase her and those who have pursued the rest of her family.
Does Queen Calanthe Die In The Books?
Yes, Netflix’s The Witcher adaptation is rather faithful to Calanthe’s origin in Andrzej Sapkowski’s source material. Appearing in books The Last Wish, Sword of Destiny, Blood Elves, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, The Lady of the Lake, and a mention in Time of Contempt—the book on which season 3 is based—Calanthe is widely known to be a proud warrior who doesn't flee from battles, and therefore, she meets the same end.
Existing as the only child of King Dagorad and Queen Adalia, Calanthe met a near-identical fate on the night the Nilfgaardian Empire invaded the Northern Kingdoms, including Cintra. Known to start the First Northern War, the invasion saw Calanthe and Eist lead the Cintran Army against Nilfgaard before Eist was shot in the eye with an arrow. After his death, Calanthe made sure Ciri escaped with some knights before asking one of the civilians to help end her life before the army arrived. With none having the courage to take the queen’s life, she was forced to take her own by jumping out of the tower window.
Since her body was never recovered, Calanthe had two cenotaphs—an empty tomb—erected in Skellige beside her husband Eist’s resting place and another beneath Cintra’s castle a year later organized by Emperor Emhyr.
Meet Jodhi May, Calanthe’s Actor
British actor Jodhi May began her acting career as a child in the 1988 film A World Apart and proceeded to become the youngest recipient of the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her role as Molly Roth.
During the 90s, May starred in the 1992 hit The Last of the Mohicans as Alice Munro, The Scarlet Letter as Pearl, and the television miniseries Aristocrats as Lady Sarah. The actor later went on to perform in a number of roles within the 2000s, including 2003’s The Other Boleyn Girl playing Anne Boleyn, the 2009 miniseries Emma playing Anne Weston, and the 2010 series Strike Black playing Layla Thompson. May’s more popular roles of late include her performance as Maggy in one episode of Game of Thrones, Gentleman Jack, where she played Vere Cameron, and Transatlantic playing Peggy Guggenheim.
In the pipeline, May also has an upcoming role-playing Natalya in the series Dune: The Sisterhood and an undisclosed role in the film Magpie. IMDB notes that the actor also has an upcoming gig as the director of the film Mooring, which is in pre-production after directing an episode of 2019’s Moving On and the series Clink released in the same year.