The Witcher 4‘s TGA 2024 trailer revealed Ciri as the new protagonist. Another reveal was the revelation that Ciri is working as a witcher, and has likely completed the Trial of Grasses, due to the catlike appearance of her eyes. Ciri also has a witcher medallion but, rather than the School of the Medallion she used to carry, it’s the School of the Lynx, an entirely new witcher school in The Witcher 4, and possibly the witcher school that Ciri belongs to.
The witcher schools were all destroyed by the time of The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, with the School of the Wolf unable to create and train new witchers. After the rediscovery of the Trial of Grasses, creating new witchers became possible. While a revival of the old witcher schools in The Witcher 4 is possible, it’s also a great time for a new witcher school to emerge. As Ciri is a unique witcher, her belonging to the School of the Lynx makes perfect sense, and there are several references to the new school in the new The Witcher 4 trailer.
Ciri as a Witcher in The Witcher 4
The School of the Lynx was first revealed in the first teaser image for The Witcher 4, with a shot of the school’s medallion. This is the same lynx medallion that Ciri wears in The Witcher 4 trailer. Another reference to the School of the Lynx is the change in Ciri’s eyes after she consumes a witcher potion, where they turn a vivid blue-green and more catlike than before.
Why is Ciri a Witcher?
Witcher potions are incredibly toxic to normal people, and often result in death. That she could drink one and get the benefits from it without dying is evidence that Ciri has been through the Trial of Grasses, and has become a mutant witcher since her last appearance. While only boys are said to be put through the Trial of Grasses, under the assumption that girls are too weak to survive the process, there are many reasons why Ciri would be able to survive it and reasons why she would want to go through the Trials despite not going through them in childhood.
The School of the Lynx Characteristics
It’s unknown how much time has passed since The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, so it’s possible that Ciri has plenty of reasons to become a witcher that players just don’t know yet. With all the witcher schools destroyed in The Witcher 3, it would be wonderful to see Ciri either join or even build an entirely new witcher school. She might embrace the best of the old witcher traditions while adopting new ones that make becoming a witcher an easier process for those who undergo the Trials, increasing their survivability while also making their training less traumatic.
Witcher’s don’t usually have such a dramatic change in eye color when drinking potions, so it is possible that the formula has been modified in some way as a hallmark of the School of the Lynx. Other indicators of the new school could include Ciri’s armor set, which appears to be light or medium armor, and her fast fighting style. As a practitioner of magic, she uses more complicated magic than simple witcher signs, which may also be something all lynx witchers have in common.
