‘The Witcher’ Season 2: Who Is the Ominous and Mysterious Owl in the Netflix Series and Its Role?
The Witcher Season 2 brought in a lot of new characters into play. Fans were left wondering who or what the allusive owl was throughout the season. The owl was often in the presence of Sigismund Dijkstra. He spoke to the owl as if it were a real person. In The Witcher Season 2, fans also see from the owl’s perspective, indicating it is not a simple pet for Dijkstra to keep around.
The season finale revealed who the owl is and her role in the grander scheme of the complex story between the kingdoms and Ciri’s destiny.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for The Witcher Season 2.]
Who is Dijkstra and his connection to Redania in ‘The Witcher’ Season 2?
Fans must better understand Dijkstra’s role to understand better the relation and connection to the owl in the Netflix series. In the series, he is a Redanian spymaster who helps King Vizimir try and take over Cintra from within. Dijkstra is considered clever, a sleuth, and not fully trusted.
He knows much more than he lets on and has a few tricks up his sleeve. He convinces King Vizimir not to get involved with Nilfgaard and focus on taking over Cintra, which elf refugees currently inhabit. Dijkstra also plans to find Ciri to marry her off to his king.
While everyone else is focused on Nilfgaard, Dijkstra has a bigger plan in mind. In The Witcher Season 2, he plans and talks to an owl. While the owl seems like an ordinary animal, fans see Dijkstra from the owl’s perspective. Is the owl a shapeshifter?
The owl is a sorceress named Philippa Eilhart
The mysterious animal was first introduced in episode 4 of the series. But fans finally learn her real identity during the finale. The owl is none other than Philippa Eilhart, a sorceress who can shapeshift. Far and few mages have the power to turn into other creatures. Not even Yennefer has mastered the skill.
When Istredd tells Francesca the truth about Ciri, you hear an owl. She shows her true form when she informs Dijkstra that everyone has become aware that Ciri is alive and her Elven blood lineage. Dijkstra tells her to bring him the bard he has become a benefactor for.
In The Witcher Season 2, the owl/Philippa also acts as an intermediary between Dijkstra and the elf refugee-turned-Redanian spy Dara.
Philippa’s ability to go undetected will come in handy when sleuthing for information to help Redania gain power. According to Looper, “In Season 2, as audiences learn more and more about how illusion, lore, and biased historical accounts operate on The Continent, Philippa’s reveal acts as a reminder that nothing is ever really as it seems.”
As the main characters, the Brotherhood and others focus on Nilgaard, Philippa and Dijkstra have their own agenda.
Philippa Eilhart plays a key role in the original books and video games
Philippa/owl in The Witcher Season 2 will be familiar to fans who have read the book series and played the video games. Much like the Netflix series, she is a spy for Redania and adviser to King Vizimir. She is 300-years-old and seen as an antagonist in the books and games.
Fans will have to wait and see if the show will follow the same storyline of Philippa and Dijkstra being lovers like in the books and games. Philippa’s storyline also includes her possibly having a hand in King Vizimir’s death and founding the Lodge of Sorceresses, a secret organization of all-female mages.
For now, Philippa remains a mysterious character that will be fleshed out in The Witcher Season 3.
