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Each sun sets on fewer elves. Our land is stained, our elders dead. Even our caves at the edge of the world have fallen to monsters. But we mustn't lose faith in a bright elven future. What has been need not always be. |  | |
| - Francesa to Filavandrel aén Fidháil, "Kaer Morhen" | |||
Francesca Findabair is an elven sorceress who at one point took over as the ruler of the elves from her husband Filavandrel aén Fidháil after he failed to defeat Calanthe. She later had a dream of Ithlinne visiting her in a white robe, claiming that she'd lead the elves to Dol Blathanna, a kingdom just for the elves to rule over.
Quick Answers
Who did Francesca Findabair take over as the ruler of the elves from in the Netflix series?
What is the significance of Francesca Findabair's dream of Ithlinne in the Witcher series?
Why didn't Francesca Findabair see value in holding Yennefer and Fringilla captive in The Witcher?
Who is the actress who played Francesca Findabair in the Witcher Netflix series?
What's the relation between Francesca Findabair & Filavandrel aén Fidháil in the Witcher?
Biography[]
Early Life[]
As a child, Francesca liked to pick flowers with her mother. When she deceased, she kept one of her flowers to remember her. When the flower withered, Francesca used a spell to make it bloom until her father caught it and turned the villagers against her. She and her brother Gage managed to defend themselves from their hateful father by having Gage hold him down and Francesca slit his throat.
Dreaming of Ithlinne[]
Francesca saw no gain in keeping Yennefer and Fringilla hostage. Filavandrel believed they could be of use, but Francesca wasn't convinced, nor was she moved when Yennefer revealed she was an elf despite never having sung a song or honored their elders. Francesca reminded Filavandrel that she took command of their people and how she was often visited in her dreams by the "White Robed One." Once they found what they were looking for, she wanted Filavandrel to ship Yennefer and Fringilla's heads back to Aretuza as a reminder of elven glory.
After finding a temple with runes of the Conjunction of the Spheres inscribed along the walls, Francesca had Yennefer and Fringilla escorted to her, as they too were dreaming of robed figures, though Francesca's guide in her dream was Ithlinne while the others had different figures. Yennefer then brushed away the dust on the altar to uncover Elder speech that read: "Behold the mother of forests, the deathless mother, nesting in dreams." What remained was an incantation about a hut with no doors. And then the altar slid open and revealed a passageway, which Francesca, Fringilla, and Yennefer followed.
The trio found the doorless hut in the woods and recited the incantation, causing the hut to turn in their direction and summon them inside, where Francesca was approached by the Deathless Mother disguised as Ithlinne, who offered her a chance to rebuild the elven community through the birth of a pure elf, by forging an alliance with Fringilla and Nilfgaard.[1]
Forging an alliance with Fringilla[]
Through her alliance with Fringilla, Francesca had turned Cintra into a place of refuge for elves. However, Filavandrel warned her that their immigration had inflamed tensions. While there was a cost for partnering with Nilfgaard, it was a cost Francesca was willing to pay.
Francesca met with Fringilla to discuss the terms of their alliance. The elves were comfortable, but Francesca wanted to know what it would cost her, almost immediately realizing that Nilfgaard needed a new army. Despite popular belief, Fringilla explained that Nilfgaard had no intentions of destroying the world, rather they intended to feed, house, and liberate those in need, and the elves just so happened to know the Continent better than any man. Before agreeing, Francesca wanted a place for her people's future to begin and needed Fringilla to promise her that.[2]
Francesca joined Fringilla as she searched for an alternative after receiving word that guards had been boarding ships. She was making Francesca privy to this so that they could be instep together. This was a new experience for both of them, as neither had ever had a partner before. The next ship was due soon, and Francesca wanted her people to meet their liberator.[3]
Birth of a pure blood[]
Francesca and Fringilla went for a walk through the garden, where Francesca brought a dead flower back to life. Her favorite thing to do as a girl was flower picking with her mother. After she died, Francesca kept one to remember her by. One day, it started to wilt, and when she held that flower, she began to feel warm inside and the flower bloomed again. She did that spell over and over for years, until her father caught her and tried to lead the village in a crusade against her, but he failed. Her brother held their father down as she slit his throat. The village then built a statue in her honor. At Aretuza, they were taught the art of politics and persuasion, to trick others into thinking they're in control, Fringilla explained. Francesca suspected this of Fringilla's relationship with Cahir, as she was different when he came around. Moreover, Francesca told Fringilla that the time for her to put Cahir in his place had come, as he was no longer in power.
Francesca hoped that training was going well with the elves. Death was a part of life, and perhaps that was the cost of them getting their land back, Francesca concluded. Filavandrel wasn't so sure it would still happen given Cahir's return, but Francesca insisted that she was taking care of it. Filavandrel then explained that he didn't come to tell her what to do. He came to ask what she needed of him, as he'd do what whatever she asked. Francesca simply sought for him to stay by her and their child's side.
Francesca went into labor, and with Fringilla, Filavandrel, and a midwife at her side coaching her through, she gave birth to a baby girl.[4]
Francesca and Filavandrel were discussing baby names when Fringilla confronted them about their fighters not showing up for training. However, Filavandrel and his men had a change of heart. They never intended to fight for Nilfgaard. Francesca convinced him, but she'd given him a far better reason not to fight with the birth of their child. It was time for them to rebuild and grow strong again. While they were grateful for the home Nilfgaard provided in Xin'trea, they had no intentions of dying in someone else's war. Fringilla reminded Francesca of the bargain they struck in the hut and how it was working. It could remain that way so long as their bond remained strong. While she and Fringilla were friends, Francesca cherished the bond of family more.
Francesca awakened from her sleep to discover that her baby had been murdered. The expression of pain that Francesca felt made the Deathless Mother stronger to escape from her prison.[5]
While mourning the death of her child, Francesca was overwhelmed with sadness, but also anger, which she took out on the citizens of Redania, who she suspected was responsible for the death of her baby, by slaughtering all the Redanian babies in her path.
After the massacre, the elves retreated to the woods, where Francesca explained that this attack wasn't about revenge. She sought justice, recalling how when the humans first arrived, the elves welcomed them as peers, which led to a mass grave they dug themselves. From Istredd, who was captured while spying on them, they learned that Cirilla of Cintra was alive and of Elder blood, like the one Ithlinne, prophesied, that she would be the savior of the elves.[6] So now Francesca and the elves joined the other groups seeking to capture her.
Princess' search[]
Francesca is obsessed with finding Cirilla. Upon learning from the mage that the princess of Cintra is the daughter of the Elder Blood, Francesca sees in her a new hope of salvation for the elves. Some elves considered the search of the young girl a pipe dream. Here, she faced opposition from Gallatin, who holds the position of leader of the Scoia'tael group. They located Ciri in the ruins of Shaerrawedd, sparking a fight among Yarpen's dwarves. Francesca made a failed attempt to take the girl from Geralt, but her brother died in the process at the witcher's hands.
Days later, Cahir found Francesca and the elves, informing them that the White Flame wants to support them in the search for Cirilla, in exchange for promising them Dol Blathanna, when Gallatin incited a rebellion and abandoned his post. Despite Dara's warnings not to trust them, Francesca decided to join forces with Nilfgaard again.
Orchestrating the Thanedd Coup[]
Nilfgaardian elves and soldiers led by Francesca and Cahir, reached the coast of Thanedd Island and entered Aretuza by the mage Vilgefortz, to claim Aretuza as their own and take the princess of the Elder Blood. The Brotherhood arrived to fight and defend their home. Using arrows with dimeritium, they pierce the shield killing a dozen mages. Francesca ordered Cahir to find the young woman and the conclave breaks out.
During Thanedd coup, Filavandrel ended up sacrificing himself for Francesca, destroyed into dust by a magical ball headed towards her thrown by Tissaia, absolutely drenching her in blood. Stunned by Filavandrel's terrible sacrifice, Francesca is saved by Fringilla from Artorius. She asked Francesca to recover and continue fighting. She followed her words and the elf sorceress closed all the doors and made the huge ring of fire fall, and the two protected theyselves with a magical shield. Cahir made his way across the battlefield towards Francesca. He reported that Princess Cirilla had probably already escaped, and Francesca ordered him to take a search squad, and find the girl, while she went after Tissaia. When Tissaia summoned Alzur's Thunder, Francesca once again protected herself with the magical shield, even when Stregobor appeared, who used fire magic to destroy the remains of the Nilfgaardian and Elven troops, but they barely managed to escape. On the beach she saw that Cahir has not returned with Ciri.
The real killer of her baby[]
After the Battle of Aretuza, Francesca visited Emhyr in Nilfgaard with Fringilla at her side. The elven queen hopes that Emhyr will keep his end of the bargain and allow the elves to regain their kingdom and live in peace. Emhyr, however, has other ideas. He tells Francesca that the Scoia'tael will continue to fight the war for him or the alliance will end and the elves will be forced to leave as refugees once again. Francesca rejects him, claiming that he considers his army expendable. Emhyr then threatens her with an ultimatum: save some of her people, or they will all die.
Later, while alone, Francesca and Fringilla have a conversation. According to which, they had planned to kidnap Ciri in Nilfgaard and use her powers to escape this sphere and find a home and give them Dol Blathanna. However, Francesca has changed her mind and considers staying under the emperor's protection and accepting his deal. But Fringilla, desperate to keep the elf queen on her side, ended up revealing to her that Emhyr was the one behind the murder of her baby, as Fringilla told he that it was a way to keep the elves fighting, and that she tried to gain his trust. This revelation caused a rift between the two, as Francesca could not believe that Fringilla do this to make Emhyr kill her daughter, so she blames her for her deception, for also losing her brother and her husband, and the rest of her people and stormed off.
New alliance[]
Francesca abandonment her alliance with Nilfgaard and deep in despair by her continued grief over the loss of her baby and the dissolution of her elven army, she wasted a life of squalor, reduced to a shadow of her former self, her days drinking and sleeping, no longer wanting to fight or be involved in the conflict. She was found by Yennefer in a brothel, where she magically manipulating an male elf prostitute to have sex with her. As soon as Yennefer walked in, Francesca maked the elf faint. Yennefer tried to convince her to join her and work together to fight Vilgefortz by forming a new resistance of remaining mages and protecting Ciri. Francesca refused Yennefer's offer to join, prompting Yennefer to turn her into a jade statuette until she was more amenable.
In Montecalvo, Yennefer releases Francesca from the jade statue, and she accuses her of doing so, though Philippa urges her to refresh herself after a long journey. Later, all seated around the enormous table, the sorceresses discuss what makes Ciri so special and about her powers. Francesca then says that Ciri is a Hen Icher (Elder Blood). She recounting the story of her ancestor Lara Dorren, who was meant to restore glory of the elves by marrying the sorcerer Avallac'h. But instead she fell in love with a human, and rather than unite both peoples, they killed her. Ciri's powerful lineage makes her a target for those who seek to control or exploit her. Seeing Yennefer's deep affection for Ciri, as a daughter, as her own slain daughter, Francesca finally decides to join them.
Training to develop her skills to defend the castle, Francesca possesses many skills such as with the sword, which she has trained since birth. She challenges Yennefer to a sword duel, and they fight until a draw.
Battle at Montecalvo[]
All the mages, druids, and sorceresses prepare themselves, and Vilgefortz's forces assault the castle, and Francesca and the elven mage Ida Emean aep Sivney fought against an traitors elves.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Season 2, Episode 02: Kaer Morhen
- ↑ Season 2, Episode 03: What Is Lost
- ↑ Season 2, Episode 05: Turn Your Back
- ↑ Season 2, Episode 06: Dear Friend...
- ↑ Season 2, Episode 07: Voleth Meir
- ↑ Season 2, Episode 08: Family