The newest season featuring everyone's favorite witcher premiered in December. Although a good portion of the dialogue from Netflix's The Witcher consists of Geralt muttering curse words under his breath and grunting, there's also sage advice, hilarious one-liners, and heartfelt confessions.
Season 2 was just as chock-full of amazing fight sequences as season 1, with each fan-favorite character continuing on their journey and new characters being introduced to add even more drama. And in the midst of the betrayals, murder, and magic, there were some amazing quotes.
Tissaia de Vries
"It is not in my nature to be cruel, but you have taken someone from me--someone I care about deeply."
Tissaia is the fierce Momma Bear of Aretuza and her students. She and Yennefer, especially, had a very close bond. It's easy to see that Tissaia thinks of Yennefer like a daughter.
When Cahir became a prisoner of war after the Battle of Sodden Hill, Tissaia thinks that Yennefer didn't survive her use of fire magic that turned the tides of the fight. Cahir is not winning any likability contests between the season 2 characters, is the recipient of revenge when Tissaia finally gets her hands on him.
Nivellen
"All human feelings and reactions are trained out of them. They are turned into monsters to kill other monsters."
It's a shock when Ciri states that she'll only let her elder blood be used to make more Witchers if she can be the first one. Ciri, who lost her entire family and a large part of herself, wants to belong to a collective and to have a family.
Although this quote is from the beginning of the season, before Ciri makes that choice, it's a useful foreshadowing of her desire to become a Witcher, like Geralt. This warning also mirrors the one that Geralt and Vesemir give Ciri about the life of a witcher and the risks involved.
Yennefer
"Faith is a simple medicine for desperate souls."
Yennefer and Fringilla were speaking with Filandravel and trying to warm him to them to save their skin. He shared that he lost his position as King of the Elves after failing to defeat Queen Calanthe and because the Elven people needed faith. Yen, with her ever-cynical mindset, responds with this quote, but Fringilla says that faith is important for those in dark times.
Yennefer has truly had her faith shattered in season 2 of the show. The worst thing happened to Yennefer when she lost her magic after the Battle of Sodden Hill. Because she based her entire identity around her ability to cast, without it she was lost and bitter.
Vesemir
"Kids never do what you say."
If Geralt is Ciri's paternal figure, then Vesemir is Geralt's. He is the one who trained Geralt to be a witcher and took care of him when he was younger. Geralt has never really taken care of anyone before Ciri, so naturally, he opens up about it to Vessemir before anyone else.
Vesemir is one of the strongest new characters in The Witcher season 2, and he's a font of wisdom and advice to the core cast of characters. He's respected by all the other witchers and is a fierce fighter even though he's older than they are. This line from him is frank but true, and even has a touch of much-appreciated comedy.
Geralt
"You can do anything--doesn't mean you have to."
Ciri's enthusiasm for training and witcher exercises is unmatched. She gets herself beaten bloody trying to finish the obstacle course and Geralt doesn't appreciate all the added risks Ciri is taking with her safety.
Besides this being a tender moment with Geralt being protective of Ciri, it's also valuable life advice. Just because a person can do something, it doesn't mean that they have to--or that they should. This quote is very reminiscent of quote from Ian Malcolm that states, "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
Duny
"It doesn't matter if it's true. It only matters if the people believe it. And they will."
Season 2 dealt heavily with Ciri's true identity. When it's discovered that she has elder blood, Triss decides that the best way to find out more about Ciri's past is to perform a Dol Durza and go into Ciri's subconscious. While there, things go south very quickly.
There are lots of people present in Ciri's subconscious mind, and two of them are Duny and Pavetta, Ciri's parents. This is when Triss and Ciri reveal the elven lineage that Ciri possesses and the disastrous prophecy that her existence will destroy the world. There's no telling what the truth is about Ciri's true purpose--but this quote holds true: people will believe what they want to believe.
Geralt
"We can't kill our feelings. Our best chance is to kill the hatred we hold onto and move on. "
This season has definitely featured a lot of softness on Geralt's part. He's learning how to be a guardian to Ciri and is experiencing true paternal love and protectiveness for her. Ciri, likewise, holds onto an inaccurate idea of what being a witcher is. She wants to escape painful feelings and memories and thinks being like Geralt will do that.
Besides being useful life advice for fans of the show and people in general, this is what Ciri needed to hear from Geralt. She was running away from her past because of the pain and had a lot of hatred in her heart towards herself and those responsible for what happened to her family.
Jaskier
"That's what friends do. They come back."
Jaskier has some of the best quotes in the series, and most of them perfectly sum up Jaskier's personality as a bard and friend. Fans patiently waited for Geralt and Jaskier to have their reunion in season 2 after their traumatic parting at the end of season 1.
In the first part of the quote, Jaskier tells Geralt that people make mistakes when they feel trapped and do stupid things, but they come back because they care. Between snarky comments to Yennefer and witty jokes, Jaskier actually shares some really mature thoughts about life and friendship and even though Geralt was angry, he needed to hear this.
sca
"Because we're elves. They hate us. They've always hated us. They need no other reason than the shape of our ears."
Besides Ciri's mysterious powers and identity, another central theme in season 2 was the prejudice and violence against elves as a race. Dara told Ciri in season 1 about the massacre that he survived and Istredd told Yennefer about elf history and impact being almost completely erased by humans.
This quote is said in almost catatonic anger by sca after her baby is murdered. The hope that the elves felt was crushed in a single moment. She understands how deeply the prejudice runs and doesn't blame Dara for being a spy--she merely wants justice.
Ciri
"I have to go home."
Ever since the end of season 1, Ciri has been in search of a new home and a new sense of family. Everything was taken from her and she was unsure of so much, that she didn't feel like she had a home anymore. When Ciri's possessed, she has to choose between staying there with the family she lost or fighting to return to Geralt and Yennefer.
As time went on, Ciri and Geralt got much closer, and their father-daughter bond strengthened. Ciri repeatedly tells Geralt she wants to be just like him. This line symbolizes that she has finally found her new home and new people she can call family.