Turns Out The Witcher Season 1 Plot Hole Wasn't a Plot Hole At All

In the recently released Season 3 of Netflix's The Witcher, the major revelation was the true identity of Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu), who was previously seen as a defender of sorcerers against Nilfgaard and wise leader of the Brotherhood of Mages. Well, the plot twist came as a surprise for those viewers who weren't familiar with Andrzej Sapkowski's book series, but those who read the saga, particularly Time of Contempt, weren't shocked at all.

However, there was one moment back in the series' first season that surprised both fans of Sapkowski's novels and new audiences. In Episode 8 of Season 1, Cahir (Eamon Farren) — a highly experienced Nilfgaardian knight with great fighting skills but still an ordinary human — managed to defeat powerful mage Vilgefortz in a one-on-one duel.

Many saw this as a frustrating and totally unrealistic plot hole, and it looks like The Witcher creator Lauren Hissrich is well aware of fans' sentiment.

'One of the things we got questioned the most about in Season 1 is in Episode 8 when Vilgefortz and Cahir are fighting, and we actually see Cahir very handily defeat Vilgefortz, and fans were in uproar. "Vilgefortz is the most powerful mage, there is no way, he could kill Cahir by just looking at him,"' the showrunner said in the documentary Making The Witcher: Season 3, released on Netflix along with Volume 2.

Some of the fans speculated that the Kovirian mage was defeated because he was trying to hide his true abilities in the fight with Cahir — and this theory turns out to be true, according to Hissrich.

'There's a great moment, Vilgefortz explains this season that the hardest thing for him about this long game is that he had to hide his skills,' Hissrich explained. 'When we see his power demonstrated for the first time, it is against Geralt.'

The showrunner is referring to the scene during the Thanedd coup when Geralt (Henry Cavill) confronts Vilgefortz in battle. The latter, ecstatic that he can finally reveal his true nature, tells the Witcher that hiding his abilities all this time had been his greatest challenge.

Unfortunately, Hissrich's words don't answer all the questions the fans might have. Why would Vilgefortz hide his abilities from Cahir when he could have just killed him? Could it be that after talking to Emhyr, he knew full well that Cahir was a Nilfgaard scout who should not have been killed?

Well, there's still hope that these questions will be addressed in The Witcher Season 4, which has been confirmed but no release date has been announced by Netflix yet.

Source: Making The Witcher: Season 3.