The Witcher Season 2’s Owl Explained

Warning: the following contains SPOILERS for The Witcher season 2.

The Witcher season 2, episode 4, “Redanian Intelligence” introduces both the Redanian spymaster Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) and his owl, whom he frequently consults regarding political matters throughout the series. The owl never makes a sound as it appears to be able to speak telepathically. Moreover, the owl serves not just as an advisor to Dijkstra, but also as a handler to elf refugee-turned-Redanian spy Dara (Wilson Mbomio). Indeed, alongside the machinations of the Deathless Mother, also known as Voleth Meir, the actions of Dijkstra and the owl greatly shift the balance of power across the continent.

The Witcher season 2, episode 8 finally reveals that the owl is actually a sorceress named Philippa (Cassie Clare). Apart from being a high-ranking Redanian agent, not much else is known about the sorceress. However, what’s notable is that Philippa can polymorph or shapeshift into an owl, which is a feat that not even powerful mages like Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) and Tissaia de Vrie (MyAnna Buring) are able to do. Throughout Netflix’s The Witcher, the only other shapeshifter is Kitsu (Kari Wahlgren), the mutated elven sorcerer from The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.

The Witcher’s Philippa is a familiar character only to those who’ve either read the books of The Witcher creator Andrzej Sapkowski or played the popular video game franchise that’s based on the books. In the novels, short stories, and games, the 300-year-old sorceress Philippa is an antagonist who served as an advisor to King Vizimir of Redania. Philippa remained as a key player in the Redanian court even after Vizimir’s death, for which the evidence suggests that Philippa was most likely responsible.

Philippa also led a coup against the Brotherhood of Sorcerers and later founded the Lodge of Sorceresses, a secret organization of all-female mages. Apart from being colleagues, Dijkstra and Philippa were lovers, and the two helped each other throughout many of these events. In Redania’s search for Ciri, Philippa follows Jaskier as an owl in order to find out Geralt’s location. While Philippa is an antagonist in the books and the games, she becomes helpful to Geralt during certain key quests.

As the first two seasons of Netflix’s The Witcher are based on short stories that happen before the events in the novels and the games, these could provide clues regarding the larger role that Philippa will play in The Witcher season 3. Thanks to Philippa and Dijkstra, Redania’s King Vizimir (Ed Birch) will likely make a play for the city of Cintra as well as Ciri (Freya Allan) in the next season. Meanwhile, as another war threatens to engulf the continent, The Wild Hunt will no doubt be going after Ciri, the Daughter of Chaos who is under the protection of Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill).

Netflix’s The Witcher, despite certain changes, is largely faithful to the source material. Combined with the finale’s big reveal that the owl is actually the conniving sorceress Philippa, she might just become the main antagonist in The Witcher season 3, which has already been written. Viewers can also look forward to the inevitable encounter between Philippa and Henry Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia.

The Witcher season 2 is streaming now on Netflix.

About The Author