The Witcher season 1 introduced some of the most notable characters from this universe, among those is Renfri, who had a brief appearance but a big impact on Geralt's life. But who is Renfri in The Witcher? The team behind Netflix's The Witcher decided to approach Andrzej Sapkowski’s stories differently by focusing on three characters, whose stories were set in different places and points in time, with their paths converging. These characters are Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer of Vengerberg, and Ciri. But before Geralt found Ciri and met Yennefer, he came across another female character who gave him a big clue about what was going to come.
Renfri's character in The Witcher appeared in the first episode of the series, where after battling a kikimora, Geralt entered the town of Blaviken. Soon, Geralt found himself in the middle of a conflict between Renfri and sorcerer Stregobor, as they wanted Geralt to help them kill the other. In an attempt to stop her from killing Stregobor, Geralt killed her men and fought Renfri, fatally wounding her. Renfri’s final words told him of a girl in the forest who would be his destiny forever, referring to Ciri. Like in the books, Renfri was a cursed princess-turned-bandit whom Stregobor had been hunting for years.
Who Renfri Was In The Witcher Books
Renfri appeared in the Witcher story “The Lesser Evil”, found in The Last Wish, and she was the daughter of Fredefalk, prince of Creyden, and stepdaughter of Aridea. Her story is a darker version of Snow White’s, as Renfri was born during the Black Sun, a prophesied eclipse that would bring the end of human civilization by the hands of 60 girls born during it. Through Nehalenia’s Mirror, Queen Aridea learned that Renfri would kill her and many others, and so she told the Council about it, who sent Stregobor to investigate.
Stregobor reportedly saw her torture and harm other beings, and after some tests concluded she was a mutant and cursed from being born during the eclipse. Aridea later hired a thug to take her into the forest, kill her, and bring back her heart and liver, but the thug instead robbed and raped her. Renfri killed him and fled, and over the next four years, she became known as “Shrike” because she used to impale her victims. Aridea hired another assassin to kill her, but Renfri survived every attempt – Aridea, on the other hand, died from poisoning, and Stregobor believed Renfri was to blame.
In The Witcher series, Renfri continued robbing, and at some point lived with a king, but she ended up leaving to go after Stregobor. Once she arrived at Blaviken, she met Geralt, who came passing through. The rest of her story happened pretty much the same as in the Netflix series, with her and Stregobor trying to get Geralt to help them kill the other. Geralt killed her after he cut one of her leg arteries, and he threatened to kill Stregobor if he touched her, as the sorcerer wanted to do an autopsy on her body.
However, the Witcher Netflix series gave Renfri a deeper connection with Geralt, aside from warning him about his Child of Surprise: Geralt took her cloak brooch and mounted it onto the hilt of his sword, as a reminder that he “shouldn’t get involved in the affairs of men” because they always lead to his own pain (in the book, Renfri used her brooch to kill the thug that raped her). Although Netflix’s The Witcher didn’t give Renfri enough time for her full story to be known, it made her an unforgettable character by having her remind Geralt of his destiny and by adding something personal to Geralt’s swords.
Why Renfri Was So Important To Geralt (According To The Witcher Showrunner)
The Renfri The Witcher character had a lasting impact on Geralt's character despite how shortlived her appearance in the series was. In the very first episode of Making the Witcher, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich enlightened audiences on not only the process of the series coming to fruition, but the importance of Renfri and exactly what she means to Geralt. Hissrich explains that killing Renfri wasn't necessarily a choice for Geralt, but her importance lies in "what she leaves him with." In this aspect, Renfri is instrumental in leading Geralt to Ciri. However, her character has other consequences as well.
Hissrich suggests that Renfri caused Geralt to question his behavior and demeanor in The Witcher. It's likely that Renfri was thus far the only character in the series to fully understand the humanity lying beneath Geralt's mutant exterior, and in her life and death, she urges him to seek that humanity in every possible situation. Hissrich says that Geralt isn't sure he made the correct decision at the end of The Witcher season 1, episode 1, and Hissrich reminds audiences that, "Geralt, throughout the rest of the season, carries Renfri’s death with him."