In The Witcher Season 3, there have been apprentices from Aretuza that went missing. One of them is named Teryn, and she believed that she was Cirilla of Cintra. So, who is Teryn the fake Ciri in The Witcher Season 3?
After obtaining information about Rience, Geralt heads to Vuilpanne castle and finds the girls that were kidnapped from Aretuza. The only survivor is Teryn, a girl who looked like Ciri and thought that she was actually Ciri.
So, who is the fake Ciri Teryn in Netflix’s The Witcher? Here’s what we know about The Witcher's False Ciri.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Witcher Season 3. Read at your own risk!
Teryn in The Witcher Season 3 Explained
In The Witcher Season 3 Part 1, the fake Ciri Teryn is a part-elven novice mage and one of the apprentices from Aretuza that went missing. After Geralt saves her, Teryn says that she knew Geralt would come for her.
Geralt asks how she knew that, and Teryn responds that he always comes for her and that they are tied by destiny. Geralt asks who she is, and Teryn tells him that she’s Ciri.
Geralt explains to Jaskier that Teryn was part of an experiment and the only survivor. She has lucid memories and that “whatever she’s rambling about, it’s stuck in her head in a nonsensical loop.”
Geralt then asks for help from his mother’s friend, Anika. Anika tells Geralt that Teryn is under a mind control enchantment and that her head’s a tangled mess. Geralt realizes that someone needs Teryn to believe she’s Ciri.
Anika explains that the spell is very powerful and that it has elements of chaos, druidic magic, and some ancient elven sorcery.
Anika then says that it would take lifetimes to acquire all those tricks and that whoever is the mage behind the spell, they have quite a variety of interests.
Anika lets Teryn drink an extraction elixir, and later on when Geralt questions the girl, she reveals that her name is Teryn.
Teryn then recalls that she was dragged from her room by a man, but she couldn’t answer if it was a man with a scar. She says that a man was there sometimes and a woman with a “funny voice.”
Teryn adds that “they all helped the man” and that the man always scared her. Geralt asks if she knew the man, and Teryn responds that she does, at Aretuza, her school.
Someone takes over Teryn’s mind and says that they are all doomed and the Destroyer of Nations is upon them. Teryn attacks everyone in the room, and Geralt and Jaskier save the day.
Geralt then asks Anika if Teryn could stay with her while he works out how to help her. Geralt leaves for Aretuza, and later on, at the end of The Witcher Season 3 Part 1, Geralt and Yennefer realize that the traitor and the one behind the experiments is Vilgefortz.
Geralt recalls Teryn saying that there was a woman with a “funny voice,” which could be Lydia. Geralt and Yennefer realize that Lydia's earrings match the bracelet Vilgefortz gave Tissaia.
They were made of scarlet ammonite, something that's only found in the mines of West Redania, which happens to be near Vuilpanne castle, the place where Geralt found the missing girls and Teryn.
So, Vilgefortz is the real threat and the one behind the experiments and the mind control enchantment on Teryn.
In The Witcher Season 3 finale, Teryn is presented to Emhyr as "Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon," who is False Ciri in The Witcher books.
RELATED: Who Dies in The Witcher Season 3?
False Ciri in The Witcher Books Explained
In The Witcher books, False Ciri’s real name isn’t revealed as she refused to state her name when asked. She was presented to Emperor Emhyr as Ciri, but the emperor knew that she wasn’t the real Ciri.
False Ciri in the books was an orphan girl that was groomed to be Ciri. She was not someone who was experimented on or under a mind control enchantment.
False Ciri knew that she was someone who just pretended to be Ciri, and she believed that she meant something as long as she was Cirilla Fiona.
In The Witcher Season 3, it's unclear whether Teryn still believes she's Ciri. After Geralt leaves Teryn with Anika, the next time we see The Witcher's False Ciri is in the finale.
It's also unclear whether Emhyr is aware that the one presented to him is not the real Ciri. However, he does give Vilgefortz a look that suggests he's aware she's a fake Ciri.
While Teryn's background may differ from False Ciri's in the books, the ending of The Witcher Season 3 places Teryn in a position that's similar to how False Ciri's story unfolds in the books.
So, how Netflix's The Witcher adapts the rest of False Ciri's story in the books is something to look forward to.
RELATED: Who is Gallatin in The Witcher? Robbie Amell's Character Explained