"After four straight episodes on the road - and a slew of injuries that include Geralt's festering leg wound and Jaskier's busted forehead - it's time for the hansa to take a rest. Geralt, of course, resists, but when Milva warns him that the conditions of the river they need to cross are too dangerous, what choice do they have but to make a campfire and swap stories for the night?"
"Though the pacing and breadth of the episode ensure that things never get boring, not all the stories are equally compelling. Zoltan Chivay's flashback, which reveals he was wrongly and tragically framed as a traitor to the dwarves, plays out so quickly that it feels more like reading a Wikipedia entry on his background. (It also makes no sense that he and Yarpen didn't settle this the moment they crossed paths.)"
"But things really pick up when it's Jaskier's turn to share the story of his undying hatred for fellow bard Valdo Marx. "Will the whole thing be in song?" asks Zoltan. "Yes, bitch," he replies. The subsequent sequence is something that largely disappeared in the last couple of seasons of The Witcher: playfulness. In an elaborate musical number anchored by Jaskier (with Geralt occasionally popping in to grunt a word instead of singing), we learn how Jaskier took Valdo under his wing, only for"
Geralt and the hansa stop for a night due to injuries and dangerous river conditions, making a campfire and sharing formative incidents from their pasts. The episode uses a storytelling frame to deliver backstory through multiple flashbacks, an animated segment, and a cheeky musical. Pacing and variety keep the hour engaging, though some narratives feel rushed. Zoltan's flashback about being framed as a traitor moves quickly and lacks resolution. Milva's tragic history is terse, covering murder and loss. Jaskier's musical recounting of his feud with Valdo Marx restores playfulness and provides the episode's most memorable sequence.
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