Netflix's The Witcher TV series is out now and fans of the books and the video game franchise are excited to find out just how similar the adaptation is to the original material. The TV series is clearly heavily inspired by the books in terms of story, but definitely takes some visual language from The Witcher 3. Geralt's bathtub scene is a great example. But not everything in The Witcher TV show is a faithful adaption. Ciri is one such example, with dramatic differences from the Ciri in both the novels and games.
The basic story surrounding Ciri is much the same in the Netflix TV show. She's a princess, the daughter of Calanthe the queen of Cintra, and secretly is much more. The books explore Ciri's power in very measured ways, with Ciri going through a substantive amount of training as she, Geralt, Trist, and Yennefer learn of her nature. The show, clearly constrained for time in a way the books aren't, rush into giving Ciri powers of a violent nature as fast as possible.
Through the series, Ciri has several instances of losing control of her power. This is most often shown as Ciri screaming, to devastating effect. At first, her anger and scream simply shakes a table. Through the series, it grows in power, with her final scream killing those around her and impacting the earth. In the books, while there's certainly a magical nature to Ciri, she doesn't actually use magic prior to her training outside of some uncontrollable trances where a nefarious voice speaks through her.
There is one instance in The Witcher books and games where Ciri screams and unleashes vast power. It can be seen in The Witcher 3Â when Ciri is already a well-train Witcher and sorcerer. Ciri witnesses the death of a friend who was protecting her from the Wild Hunt. This causes her to unleash her Elder power as a sort of magical vortex. She screams through this release of power, causing her opponents and allies extreme distress. The Wild Hunt eventually retreats.
Given The Witcher TV show's limited screentime, it's probably safe to say that the show is using the example of Ciri's scream from her older years to develop her character in her early years. Rather than have Ciri disappear for extended periods to do training with the Witchers, Triss, or Yennefer, Ciri can just be a powerful magical being straight away. Hopefully, the show still trains Ciri as a witcher, letting her come into her full controlled strength. It's possible that the TV show has entirely different plans for Ciri, however.
The Witcher TV show is available now on Netflix.