Who is the Deathless Mother in The Witcher Season 2?

Stuck trying to figure out who the Deathless Mother is in The Witcher Season 2? The first season of the Witcher was sometimes tricky to keep up with because of the shifting timelines. Luckily, the second season is much more linear, but that doesn't mean it's without its own confusing plot elements.

In story terms, The Witcher Season 2 kicks off days after the first ends. If you haven't caught up yet, this Season 1 recap should help you out. And if you haven't finished watching the second season, beware of some major spoilers ahead. So if you're ready to make sense of the chaos, here's what we know about Voleth Meir in The Witcher Season 2. 

The Witcher Deathless Mother: Who is Voleth Meir? 

Spoilers for the ending of Season 2 ahead.

Voleth Meir, or the Deathless Mother as she's also known, doesn't appear in the games or the books. So no matter how extensive your knowledge of Witcher lore, that's not going to help you here. The character/entity was created for the show and is loosely based on versions of popular folklore that involve a witch living alone in a house in the woods—think Hansel and Gretel, but without the gingerbread. And this particular witch feeds on misery rather than children.

Voleth Meir, aka the Deathless Mother, is a demon that was pulled into the Continent with the conjunction. The first Witchers trapped her in her hut beneath an elven ruin in the north, but she's managed to reach out to others in dreams.

She sent Yen hunting for Ciri because she knew of her power to break monoliths and teleport between realms—basically, Ciri's power was the only way she knew to get home. Of course, if she'd managed to keep possessing Ciri when they teleported, she'd also have succeeded in bringing the Child of the Elder Blood to join the Wild Hunt. That or gain the means to bring the Wild Hunt through to the Continent.

The Witcher Voleth Meir: Clues and foreshadowing 

Episode 2 is where we get our first 'look' at the Deathless Mother. She comes to Yennefer, Fringilla, and the elven leader, Francesca in their dreams and offers each of them what they most desire—as long as they do something for her in return. For Yennefer, it's getting her chaos back, Fringilla wants to lead Nilfgaard to victory, and Francesca wants her unborn baby to live. This leads to an alliance between Nilfgaard and the elves, which Fringilla and Francesca jointly lead. At the same time, Yennefer seemingly refuses her offer and is instead left powerless and unable to use chaos.

Meanwhile, Eskel returns to Kaer Morhen, just as Geralt and Ciri arrive. He's been injured by a Leshy, which has somehow infected him and turned him into a monster, and so Geralt and Vesemir must take him down. It seems unrelated at first, but bear with me.

In episode 3, we see Geralt realise that Ciri is somehow pulled by the monster that killed Eskel, and he encourages her to use her power to help guide him to it. They find the Leshy, but it's immediately killed by an unknown beast, which Geralt quickly takes care of. It's here that the discovery is made that the monster contains traces of stellacite.

In episode 4, Geralt realises that Eskel—or the monster he turned into—also contains traces of stellacite, which happens to be a material found in the monoliths. Meanwhile, Vesemir discovers a rare flower growing around the training grounds—a plant only grows where elder blood has been spilt, Ciri's true significance starts to come to light.

Episode 5 gives us another glimpse at the Deathless Mother as she once again visits Yen in her dreams. This time, fed up with being powerless, she relents and travels to the hut. Voleth Meir offers Yen her powers back on the condition that she brings Ciri to the hut in exchange. She agrees.

Elsewhere, Geralt and Istredd theorise that monoliths could be conduits or gateways to other realms, hence finding the new breeds of monsters seemingly linked to them. And back at Kaer Morhen, Triss helps Ciri uncover her past. Using magic, they discover that she is a descendant of Lara Dorren, a powerful elven mage and that Ithlinne's prophecy seemingly refers to Ciri as a 'Daughter of Chaos'.

Distraught at what she's discovered and Triss' horrified reaction to it, Ciri screams for Geralt, and both he and Istredd hear her. A new monster emerges, confirming that the structures littered around the Continent really do act as gateways for those powerful enough to use them.

Geralt and Ciri are back on the road in episode 6. Ciri helps Geralt takes out the winged stellacite monster that escaped from the monolith site in episode 5 and tells the Witcher she didn't think it wanted to hurt her.

Yen catches up with Geralt and Ciri at the Temple of Melitele. A fire mage attacks, and Geralt holds him off while Ciri and Yen escape through a portal.

Things get even more tense in episode 7 when Ciri displays teleportation powers. She then discovers that Yen was going to betray her, but draws Nilfgaardians to their location. Luckily, Geralt arrives in time to save them, but they soon find that the Deathless Mother has broken free of the hut, finally drawing enough misery from the death of Francesca's baby.

Sensing Ciri's power, Voleth Meir possesses her as the party make their way back to Kaer Morhen.

In the final episode of the season, we find out what the Deathless Mother was after the whole time. But not before she—as Ciri—wreaks havoc inside Kaer Morhen. She breaks open the medallion tree, revealing the monolith inside, and shatters it to create a portal where she brings monsters from another realm to take care of the remaining Witchers.

Ciri tries to fight the possession, but the Deathless Mother needs a vessel to inhabit. Yennefer steps up to the challenge in what is possibly her most selfless act. Once Ciri's free, Geralt instructs her to send Voleth Meir back through the monolith to trap her. She opens a portal, and all three are pulled through to a strange land. The Deathless Mother then leaves Yen's body and joins the Wild Hunt, which all three can see riding towards them. The riders begin calling to Ciri to join them as the 'Starry-eyed Daughter of Chaos'. Ciri saves them by teleporting them back to the Continent.