Ep. 80 — Chapter 4 from "Time of Contempt"
Nicola from Italy and Ruark from the US join Alyssa for our discussion of Andrzej Sapkowski’s Time of Contempt, Chapter 4. Very important bits include: using action to tell a story, the reasons behind an act of mercy, the role of prophecy in the Witcher, and Geralt’s Himbo Origin Story.
This episode is available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.
In this Episode
[0:00] Cold Open
[1:00] Introduction
[2:11] Guest Introduction
[5:09] Chapter 4 Recap
[7:16] Overall Thoughts
[15:28] Cahir v. Ciri
[23:31] Geralt’s Act of Mercy
[27:42] The Role of Prophecy
[34:57] Sapkowski’s Writing Choices
[52:36] Cahir, Himbos, and the Lone Brain Cell
[57:03] Wrap-up
[1:05:19] Outro
[1:08:00] End Credits
Relevant Links
Transcript
Cold Open
Transcript to come.
[Breakfast in Beauclair theme music by Alex Berner]
Introduction
ALYSSA: Welcome to Breakfast in Beauclair, a global Witcher Podcast. My name is Alyssa from GoodMorhen, and I’ll be your host as you, I, and our international hanza accompany Geralt of Rivia and his destiny, Cirilla of Cintra, across the Continent.
[Announcements]
Vienna 2023 is happening soon!
[Patron Announcements]
Thanks as always to our podcast patrons over on Patreon and our producer-level patrons: Katie (The Redhead of Toussaint), Jacob B., Bee Haven of the Edge of the World, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, The Original Roach, Codringher’s Cat, Libby, John of Ryblia, Tom from Australia, Jill Cate, The Tabby Witch, James Carson III, Miriam of Temeria, and Softie.
[Episode Details]
As for this episode, Nicola from Italy and Ruark from the US call in for Andrzej Sapkowski’s Time of Contempt, Chapter 4. Join us as we discuss using action to tell a story, the reasons behind an act of mercy, the role of prophecy in the Witcher, and Geralt’s Himbo Origin Story.
Without further ado, let’s get to our discussion of Time of Contempt, Chapter 4.
Discussion
[Breakfast in Beauclair stinger by Alex Berner]
Transcript to come.
ALYSSA: Today, we’ll continue our discussion of Andrzej Sapkowski’s Time of Contempt Chapter 4, in which politics and deceit wreak havoc on the mages’ conclave, spelling disaster for the Continent. Meanwhile, Schirru kills Codringher and Fenn.
ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): In Chapter 4, Ciri wakes in a chamber in Loxia palace after a string of prophetic dreams: Codringer and Fenn piece together that someone is looking for Ciri due to prophecies about her child. Codringer, as it turns out, thinks little of Geralt and—with his newfound knowledge of the Child of the Elder Blood—wants to capture the girl for his own gain. A tall half-elf kills Codringher and this trio of thugs burn Fenn and their office after finding information about Ciri. Finally, Ciri dreams about Yennefer guiding her through a series of doors…
Geralt wakes the morning after the mage’s banquet and finds himself in the middle of a coup: Redania and the Northern sorcerers are rounding up traitors to Nilfgaard. Dijkstra takes Geralt as a temporary prisoner, but on the Redanians’ way to Loxia, Geralt brawls with them and escapes. Dijkstra asks Geralt to hand Ciri over to Redania.
Geralt searches for the way to Garstang, continually searching for Yennefer. Along the way, the sorcerers tell him that the war has already begun: Yennefer had brought Ciri before the mages and, in a trance, she announced the start of the war: the King of Redania was assassinated and Aedirn prematurely launched an attack on Nilfgaard due to Aplegatt’s failure to deliver his final message. Tissaia neutralized the magical protections in Garstang, causing a battle to rage amongst the sorcerers, made even more chaotic by the unexpected arrival of Scoia’tael supporting Nilfgaard.
Ciri wakes from her trance in the midst of the chaos. Yennefer and Geralt send her to safety alone, but she quickly encounters Scoia’tael, dangerous sorcerers, the black knight from Cintra. She battles the elves and injures the knight, but ultimately chooses not to kill him. Geralt follows her to the Tower of Gulls, but is intercepted by Vilgefortz. Geralt is defeated by the mage and severely wounded. Vilgefortz follows the girl into the tower, but Ciri escapes through the unstable magic portal.
Triss recovers the injured witcher, begging Tissaia for help to teleport him to safety. The chapter ends with her promising that she will.
Transcript to come.
Outro & Credits
[Breakfast in Beauclair theme music by Alex Berner]
ALYSSA: Thanks for joining us at the breakfast table! For show notes, transcripts of each episode, and a complete list of our social platforms and listening services, head over to breakfastinbeauclair.com.
Breakfast in Beauclair is created by Alyssa from GoodMorhen. It’s hosted by Alyssa with the “Tidings from Toussaint” News Segment by Lars from WitcherFlix. The show is edited by Alyssa with music by Alex Berner.
Breakfast in Beauclair is produced by Alyssa in New York City with Katie (The Redhead of Toussaint), Jacob B., Bee Haven of the Edge of the World, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, The Original Roach, Codringher’s Cat, Libby, John of Ryblia, Tom from Australia, Jill Cate, The Tabby Witch, James Carson III, Miriam of Temeria, and Softie.
Special thanks to Nicola and Ruark for joining us for this episode and our international hanza for their support.
Transcriptionist: Charlie Lim
Editor: John Matthew Sarong, Krizia Marrie Casil