If you haven't seen The Witcher by now, this will help as a handy guide. If you have, this may clear up a few things. The Netflix series isn't based on the popular video game, but rather the novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, with the first season drawing from his short stories based on Eastern European folklore. It focuses mainly on three characters; Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill, aka The Witcher), Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra) and Princess Cirilla (Frey Allan).
The timeline presented in each episode can seem fragmented and unusually complicated, especially when both Geralt and Yennefer don't appear to age (unlike the characters around them). Yennefer's story takes about 70 years to tell, Geralt's story spans about 20, and Ciri's is about two weeks. If you think of Ciri's storyline as the "present", then you can think of Yennefer and Geralt's as the "past" until they intersect with hers. And as a rule of thumb, listen for the kingdom of Cilantra mentioned - the better things are going for it, the earlier the timeline is.
YENNEFER'S STORY BEGINS (EPISODES 2-3)
In Episode 2 we're introduced to Yennefer, a hunchback girl who is treated abysmally by her stepfather and subsequently sold to the witch Tissaia de Vries who sees potential in her. She's taken to the witches school Aretuza, where she struggles to learn magic over a period of time but soon becomes attuned to her powers.
Yennefer is able to undergo a brutal enchantment that erases her deformity but takes away her ability to have children (magic has its price). She earns a coveted court position as the mage to the king of Aedirn and finally begins the adventurous life she always dreamed of for herself.
GERALT'S ORIGIN (EPISODE 8)
Throughout the series, we learn bits and pieces of Geralt's history, but his reserved personality and defensive nature don't give us many clues until the series finale. Only when the Witcher is in a delirious haze after suffering a nekker bite do we learn about his origins.
For reasons that may be revealed in Season 2, we learn that his mother Visenna -a sorceress- abandoned him, leaving him in the care of a Witcher named Vesemir. Vesemir not only raises Geralt, he trains him to undergo the Witcher trials which, like Yennefer's transformation, require great sacrifice and pain.
THE ADVENTURES OF THE WITCHER (EPISODES 1-3)
Because the series was based on short stories, the format of each episode is as follows; villagers on the Continent have a monster problem, Geralt rides into town, villagers offer coin for the Witcher to kill it. From strigas to Sylvans, he encounters many supernatural creatures, and his exploits are greatly exaggerated by his bard friend Jaskier.
Meanwhile, Yennefer has decided that a life at court isn't all it's cracked up to be. Despite not looking any older than she was when she moved to Aedirn, she's been the king's mage for 30 years. After being nearly killed by an assassin, she decides to find a means to reverse some of the damage of the enchantment she used to look beautiful and bear a child.
GERALT AND THE LAW OF SURPRISE (EPISODE 4)
Episode 4 is one of the most important episodes for explaining the timeline of events in the prior three episodes and setting the stage for the next half of the series. Geralt attends a royal ball at Cintra, where Queen Calanthe is at the height of her power and looking to marry off her daughter, Pavetta. She also publicly insults the kingdom of Nilfgaard, which sews the seed for Cintra's collapse in Episode 1.
Pavetta is in love with a cursed knight named Duny, whom Geralt saves from the Queen's wrath. In gratitude, Duny gives Geralt the "Law of Surprise", a favor that is unknown to both the giver and receiver until it presents itself. The boon turns out to be Duny and Pavetta's unborn child, who will be Princess Ciri.
GERALT AND YENNEFER MEET (EPISODES 5)
Geralt and Yennefer's timelines eventually intersect after the White Wolf reunites with Jaskier, his old bard friend who finds him dredging a lake for a genie bottle. When it's opened the djinn escapes, but not before Jaskier succumbs to some sort of hex.
The Witcher is forced to bring Jaskier to the local village mage to heal him, who happens to be Yennefer, long since having left her life at court. She agrees to heal Jaskier in the hopes of using his wishes to make the djinn give her a baby, but instead of that outcome, she gets Geralt. The two have explosive chemistry that carries over into many of their subsequent meetings.
GERALT SEEKS THE GOLD DRAGON AND RIDES TO CINTRA (EPISODE 6)
After meeting Yennefer, Geralt can't help but be drawn to the mage but knows their destinies cannot lie together. Little does he know that she will be recruited (as he and Jaskier are) to search for an elusive golden dragon. Their paths cross again just as Nilfgaard takes Nazair and the mage Fringilla is destroying Skelligan ships.
Following his adventure with the dragon, Geralt leaves Yennefer again, though he has admitted to strong feelings for her. He rides for Cintra, knowing that Ciri is in peril from the approaching Nilfgaardians. He is held prisoner in Cintra, and Queen Calanthe is defeated in battle, forcing Ciri to have to flee before they can meet.
THE SACKING OF CINTRA (EPISODES 1 AND 7)
We watch much of the fall of Cintra, one of the Continent's great citadels, in Episode 1. Queen Calanthe and King Eist attempt to take on the hordes of Nilfgaard on the battlefield, but Eist is killed in action and the Queen dies later by leaping to her death from a castle window.
Princess Ciri, now twelve, flees the castle while it's being sacked by Nilfgaardian soldiers, only to become lost as she wanders the countryside. Geralt, true to his bond involving the Law of Surprise, comes looking for Ciri, their destiny's having been forever intertwined.
CIRI WANDERS AND LEARNS HER GIFTS (EPISODES 1-8)
In Episode 4, Queen Calanthe explained to her daughter Pavetta that she had a magical gift passed down from her grandmother. This gift is passed to Ciri, who only discovers her supernatural powers by accident when she's pursued by a relentless Nilfgaardian knight named Cahir.
She encounters an Elven boy in the forest, who helps her survive off the fruit of the land, as well as desperate evacuees from Cintra. She also learns about the terrible warmongering of her family from Dara and the Dryads, who nevertheless help her learn a little more about her abilities before she moves onto Brokilon.
THE BATTLE OF SODDEN HILL (EPISODE 8)
Cahir and the Nilfgaardian horde make their way to Sodden Hill, where a group of brave mages, led by Tissaia de Vries and others from Aretuza stand against them. Triss and Yennefer join the fight, but are unable to prevent a dozen mages from getting killed.
Geralt has pursued Ciri (who wasn't aware he had been held captive in her own castle) from Cintra towards Sodden Hill, but an encounter with nekkers resulted in a fever dream that immobilized him. Yurga, a man whose life he saved takes him to his cabin in the woods to heal.
GERALT AND CIRI FINALLY MEET (EPISODE 8)
While the Battle of Sodden Hill rages, Ciri leaves the woodland cottage where a kind woman named Zola and her family have taken her in. She flees into the woods just before Geralt arrives to the same cottage on a cart driven by the woman's husband. When he learns a young girl was there, he runs off into the woods to find her.
It's there that the two finally meet after both suffering perilous journeys. Destiny has brought them together at last, and Ciri asks who Yennefer is, having heard her name in a prophetic dream. This sets the stage for Season 2, which no doubt will include Geralt and Ciri having to face Cahir and the Nilfgaardian hordes together.