The final episodes of The Witcher season 3 introduced new characters, among them Falka, a mysterious woman who appeared to Ciri when she was at her most vulnerable, but who is she and why did Ciri take her name in the season finale? Season 3 of Netflix’s The Witcher was treated as an event as it’s Henry Cavill’s final season as Geralt of Rivia and also due to the many events covered in it. With half the Continent on the hunt for Ciri for different reasons, The Witcher season 3 saw Geralt, Yennefer of Vengerberg, and Ciri doing their best to stay together and safe, but the finale of Part 1 forced them to part ways again.

The Thanedd Coup was a major shakeup for all the characters of The Witcher, and after Vilgefortz defeated Geralt, Ciri unintentionally transported herself through a portal in Tor Lara to the desert of Korath. There, the Lion Cub of Cintra had visions and hallucinations of some of her loved ones before she finally met a mysterious presence that had been following her: Falka. Ciri ended up using her name to protect her identity at the end of The Witcher season 3 when she met the Rats, but who is Falka and why is she important to Ciri?

Falka’s Backstory In The Witcher Explained

Unlike other characters in Netflix’s The Witcher, Falka is a character taken from Andrzej Sapkowski’s books. Falka is a quarter-elf woman and the oldest daughter of Redania’s King Vridank and his first wife, Beatrix of Kovir. When King Vridank met Cerro, he quickly divorced Queen Beatrix and sent her and then-one-year-old Falka back to Kovir. Years later, Falka was determined to take back what was rightfully hers as the King’s eldest child, and so she started a rebellion. Falka killed her father, her two half-brothers (Heltmult and Denhard), and Queen Cerro, while the then-pregnant Riannon (Cerro’s adopted daughter and the 4th great-grandmother of Ciri) was imprisoned in Houtborg Castle.

Riannon gave birth to twins and went mad, and around the same time, Falka also gave birth to a girl and left her in the hands of a now-insane Riannon. Some time later, the rebellion was quelled and Falka was tried and condemned to die by burning on a stake. The legends say that Falka cursed all the people present and promised that they and their progeny would suffer in the hands of a child that would bear her blood.

Who Plays Falka In The Witcher Season 3

Falka is played by Hiftu Quasem in The Witcher season 3 Part 2. Quasem’s acting career began in 2015 with appearances in the short films Last Night in Edinburgh and Tehzeeb, and in the following years, she had minor roles in the TV series Traces, Deadwater Fell, Casualty, Endeavour, The Nest, and Killing Eve. In 2022, Quasem played Misha Virani in the TV series Ten Percent and Sandy Hepburn in Granite Harbour. Quasem had already joined the universe of The Witcher prior to her appearance in season 3 Part 2, as she had a voice cameo in the prequel miniseries The Witcher: Blood Origin as the “voice of light”, an unknown being that the druid Balor interacts with in another world. It’s unknown if Hiftu Quasem will appear again as Falka in future seasons of The Witcher, but for now, she already left her mark on Ciri’s story.

Why Ciri Calls Herself Falka In The Witcher Season 3’s Ending

Ciri taking Falka’s name at the end of The Witcher season 3 is also taken from the books. In the source material, Falka appeared to Ciri during a pyromantic vision triggered by her use of fire magic, but in the Netflix series, she appears to the Princess of Cintra during her most vulnerable moments in the Korath desert. Falka tells her she’s the past, and that they have in common that they’re insane princesses abandoned by those supposed to protect them. Falka showed Ciri the place where she would be taken as a prisoner later on, and Ciri recognized her when Falka told her her story.

At the end of The Witcher season 3, when the Rats, who had just rescued her and Kayleigh, asked for her name, Ciri introduced herself as Falka, showing that she took her advice of feeling her rage and burning everything to the ground to change the system as she so wanted. Ciri is now embracing a dark side of her that had to come out as she found herself in extreme and dangerous circumstances, and calling herself “Falka” marks a division between her past as the Lion Cub of Cintra and a witcher, and her present as a potential killer.