The Witcher‘s Freya Allan’s Ciri looked very different in season 2. The first season of The Witcher took viewers on a journey as Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) slew various monsters, encountered the powerful sorceress Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), and finally met Ciri (Freya Allan) after her long search for him. The bond between Geralt and Ciri through the Law of Surprise continued in season 2. However, many viewers noted that Ciri looked incredibly different from her The Witcher season 1 appearance — and speculation grew that she had been silently recast.

The Witcher season 2 mainly followed Yennefer, who eventually crossed paths with Geralt and Ciri. Ciri was still central to the plot. The season 2 villain, Voleth Meir, sought Ciri’s body to use her powers to open a portal to another dimension, unleashing monsters on Geralt. Ciri’s new look for The Witcher season 2, particularly her eyebrows, confused many viewers. The character looked different enough that people assumed Freya Allan’s character had been recast – however, Ciri has been played by the same actor throughout The Witcher.

Ciri Grew Up Between The Witcher Seasons 1 & 2 And Looks Completely Different

Young Actor Freya Allen Plays Ciri In All Seasons Of The Witcher

The Witcher season 2 featured more Ciri than season 1, but she looks noticeably different. This has sparked discussion about whether Netflix recast Ciri for the new season. However, the truth is that they didn’t. Those wondering who plays Ciri in The Witcher season 2 might be surprised to learn that, once again, Freya Allan was in the role. The Witcher‘s Ciri actress didn’t change from season 1 to 2. If so, why did she look so different (especially in the eyebrow department)?

The explanation for Ciri’s changed appearance is simple — the young star grew up considerably between her separate performances as The Witcher’s most powerful character. The first season of The Witcher started filming right after Allan turned 17, but production on season 2 lasted until she was nearly 20. This extended gap in time, during which Allan is exiting adolescence and maturing, explains why the Ciri actress from season 2 and 1 looks different, even though Freya Allan has been the only one who played Ciri.

The Ciri Actress Aged Nearly Two Years During Witcher Season 2 Delays

Freya Allen Was At A Formative Stage Of Life While Filming The Witcher

The dramatic Ciri change in appearance between seasons only became more prominent due to delays to The Witcher season 2’s production. Filming originally started in February 2020, when The Witcher‘s Ciri actress Freya Allan was 18 years old. Multiple COVID-19 shutdowns and an injury to Henry Cavill caused severe delays. More than a year after Allan returned to work, the Witcher season 2 wrapped filming in April 2021 — when she was only five months away from her 20th birthday.

Although the circumstances behind Allan’s visible onscreen age gap are pretty unique, TV and movie productions regularly deal with extended pauses between seasons. Fortunately, The Witcher season 3 hasn’t encountered this problem. Thanks to avoiding major delays, season 3 of The Witcher wrapped filming in March 2022, so Freya Allan didn’t age nearly as much between seasons.

There Have Been Major Witcher Recasts, Just Not Ciri

Freya Allen Hasn’t Been Recast In The Witcher, But Henry Cavill Has

Ciri’s season 2 actress, Freya Allan, continued to play the character in The Witcher season 3, but for Henry Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia, the third season will be his last. The Witcher season 4 is already in the cards, but instead of Cavill, it will be Liam Hemsworth in the role of the titular Witcher. The move has been largely met with criticism from viewers who’ve fallen in love with Cavill’s version of the character, though it remains to be seen whether Hemsworth can match or even top Cavill’s performance.

The Witcher season 3 also notably recast Crach an Craite — previously played by Blair Kincaid.

Moreover, these worries extend to The Witcher‘s Ciri actress, Freya Allan, who has already established a unique chemistry with Cavill. The Witcher season 3 also notably recast Crach an Craite — previously played by Blair Kincaid. Crach an Craite was the burly warrior who was in Calanthe’s banquet when Geralt triggered the Law of Surprise. In the third season, Crach an Craite was played by Game of Thrones and Vikings: Valhalla actor Johannes Haukur Johannesson.

Unlike the recast of Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia, the recast of Crach an Craite wasn’t as jarring for long-time viewers of the series, as it at least involves a side character who previously only appeared in just one episode. In any case, with other central characters like Ciri and Yennefer continuing to be played by their original actors, viewers didn’t need to worry about similarly confusing instances in The Witcher season 3. The Witcher season 4, of course, is another matter entirely.

Ciri Wasn’t Freya Allan’s First Role In The Witcher

The Actor Who Played Ciri Nearly Had A Much Less Important Part

While Freya Allan is best known today as The Witcher Ciri actress, she was originally meant to play just a minor role in the first season of the show. There was never a Ciri recast, but a Freya Allan recast on The Witcher happened before filming had even started. Indeed, Allan was initially cast as Marilka, the elderman of Blaviken’s daughter who appears in the pilot episode of The Witcher. During casting, Allan was told that she would be playing Marilka.

However, casting director Sophie Holland, showrunner Lauren Hissrich, and director Alik Sakharov later decided that she would be better as Ciri instead. “The whole audition process was very confusing, I must admit,” Freya Allan said (via The Independent).

“I never quite knew what was going on, or what was the truth, or what character I was really going up for, or what character – whether there were code names for characters.”

Despite this, with Allan having captured the hearts of audiences throughout her tenure as Ciri, the showrunners seem to have made the right call — at least with this particular main character in The Witcher.

Fan Reaction To Ciri’s New Look

Fans Were Concerned About This Changes The Books

When the trailer for The Witcher season 2 was released, many fans’ first impressions of Ciri were not positive. An entire Reddit thread popped up with fans wondering why she looked “off” in the scenes. It wasn’t that they thought she was recast, but they felt the age difference didn’t fit the story, with one Redditor writing, “I don’t mind her looking older, but I think her transformation will look very confusing to your average person. Going by her looks, it looks like it’s been at least 3-4 years since the last season, which isn’t the case.”

Once the season came out, many fans felt that it wasn’t that Freya Allan aged between seasons but that The Witcher tried to possibly cover this up with makeup effects that didn’t work either. Some fans felt the series wanted to take the focus off her age by making her look tougher. One Redditor wrote, “Freya looks much younger in many pictures out there. You can google current pictures or even watch her at their big PR event in Brazil recently. She looks older in the show because they think that looks bad a–.”

However, other fans feel this was important since The Witcher storylines were not fitting for a 12-year-old, which is the age that Ciri was written in the books. One Redditor wrote, “To me it’s clear that she’s been aged up and her behaviour, mannerisms etc are very telling of that, even if there are inconsistencies in the script that don’t make it clear.”