Elder Blood
The ancient genetic key capable of unlocking the doors between worlds and time.
Elder blood is the heritage that Ciri carries as a descendant of Lara Dorren in The Witcher; it grants her the ability to access powers that allow her to cross space and time. She is called the "Child of the Elder Blood".
Quick Facts
- Primary vessel
- Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon
- Key ancestor
- Lara Dorren
- Primary pursuers
- The Wild Hunt
Lore & Background
In The Lady of the Lake, the sage Avallac'h explains that Ciri, as Lara Dorren's last descendant, carries an Elven-designed engineered gene that will make her child the most powerful magic-user in history. Emhyr intends to father a child of the Elder Blood with Ciri in spite of the fact that she is his daughter, although he changes his mind in the final book, and the sorcerer Vilgefortz works with him in an attempt to get his hands on her.
Reader's Guide
In the Netflix series, Ciri possesses the Elder Blood gene, which is capable of granting her immense magical abilities; Vesemir discovers that she has Elder blood, long thought extinct and rumored to be an ingredient in the mutagens used to create more witchers. Ithlinne's prophecy predicts that a child of the Elder blood will destroy the world. In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Ciri is the last heir to an ancient elven bloodline that allows her to manipulate space-time, for which the Wild Hunt pursues her.
More in History & Mythology
Elsewhere in The Witcher
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