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Sword of Destiny (2021) movie poster

Timeline

Sword of Destiny (2021) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
2021 · 91 mins · Chinese
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Directed by
Li Yuxi
Starring
Yang Yi, Man Ningxi, Eric Hsiao, Chai Yuanle, Lu Shun

The renowned swordsmith Meng Yezi faced tragedy when his family was destroyed by the traitor Zhao Han, who served the court while forging the legendary Hanguang Sword. He managed to save his son, Meng Yang, entrusting him with the unfinished Chengying Sword. Twenty years later, Meng Yang seeks vengeance for his father's death, but the Chengying Sword remains uncrafted. Circumstances lead him to escort the prince Gong Zidu back to the palace amidst a dying emperor, hoping to uncover the truth behind his family’s demise and seek retribution. However, a dangerous ordeal awaits him on his journey.

Action Cast, crew & box office
On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Events in order (15)
  3. 3 Timeline questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like Sword of Destiny
  6. 6 Every angle
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15 events in order · contains spoilers

Sword of Destiny Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of Sword of Destiny (2021) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Geralt Joins the Dragon Hunt

    Geralt of Rivia meets the traveling knight Borch 'Three Jackdaws' and his Zerrikanian bodyguards, Tea and Vea, who seek a green dragon. Although he is a professional monster slayer, Geralt explains that he does not kill dragons because they do not prey on humans. The pair joins a larger hunting party that includes Geralt's friend Dandelion, dwarves led by Yarpen Zigrin, the mercenary Crinfrid Reavers, the chivalry-obsessed paladin Eyck of Denesle, the young King Niedamir, and the sorcerers Dorregaray and Yennefer, Geralt's ex-lover.

  2. A Fair Challenge from a Golden Dragon

    The party encounters a golden dragon, Villentretenmerth, who offers a fair battle to anyone who wishes to challenge him. The paladin Eyck of Denesle accepts and is defeated, weakening the party's resolve and causing King Niedamir's cadre to leave the hunt. The remaining Crinfrid Reavers and dwarves elect to attack the dragon together and split the treasure, and when Geralt, Dandelion, and Dorregaray object, Yennefer paralyzes them and ties them to a cart so she can kill the dragon herself, hoping its viscera will cure her infertility. Her gambit fails, and the bored Villentretenmerth enters the struggle, dispatches the mercenaries and dwarves, and leaves the survivors with a fledgling green dragon.

  3. Borch's True Identity

    Tea and Vea appear and assist the golden dragon, revealing that Borch was actually Villentretenmerth in human form. Reassuming his human shape, the dragon explains that the green dragon, Myrgtabrakke, called him for assistance and left her hatchling as her 'treasure' and payment. He admits that, unlike the rest of dragonkind, he likes humans, and tells Yennefer that her infertility is irreversible, though she refuses to give up on finding a cure. He then returns to his dragon form and flies away.

  4. The Zeugl of Aedd Gynvael

    Geralt hunts and kills a zeugl living in a garbage heap outside of Aedd Gynvael. Back at their inn, he complains to Yennefer that the town's atmosphere is making him confused and short-tempered, but she insists they stay because she likes the town and its history. He also learns from the alderman Herbolth that Yennefer has visited Aedd Gynvael many times before to see someone.

    Where
    Aedd Gynvael

  5. A Rival for Yennefer's Heart

    Geralt meets the sorcerer Istredd, who confides that he loves Yennefer and has proposed marriage to her, insisting that witchers cannot truly feel emotions. After Istredd smugly notes that Yennefer slept with him that very morning, the two men agree to duel for her hand. Yennefer conjures a black kestrel and asks it what the truth is, and it answers that 'the truth is a shard of ice.' The duel is prevented when Herbolth declares the town needs Istredd's services; later, after thieves beat a despondent Geralt in a dark alley, Yennefer sends Istredd a farewell note and Geralt walks away.

    Where
    Aedd Gynvael

  6. The Doppler of Novigrad

    Geralt reunites with Dandelion in the capital metropolis of Novigrad after the bard is kicked out by his enraged lover Vespula. At a nearby inn, they talk with Dandelion's friend, the halfling merchant Dainty Biberveldt, until a second, beaten Dainty arrives, revealing the first to be a mimic known as a doppler. The shapeshifter introduces himself as Dudu and admits he attacked Dainty, stole his caravan, and spent his money in his name. Geralt refuses to kill Dudu because he is an intelligent being, and the doppler escapes, continuing to make 'random' purchases with Dainty's face.

    Where
    Novigrad

  7. Dudu's Windfall and Chappelle's Secret

    Dainty's fortunes are unexpectedly restored when the seemingly worthless goods bought in his name sell for massive profits due to recent political events. Geralt, Dandelion, and Dainty find Dudu and give chase, and the doppler transforms into Geralt to fight him but loses because he is too good-natured. As Geralt captures him, Chappelle, the royal minister of security affairs, intervenes and reveals that he is also a doppler who took the form of the recently deceased official. An agreement allows Dudu to live in the city as Dainty's cousin, Dudu Biberveldt, with his 'random' purchases set to fund new altars to the Eternal Fire and make another fortune.

    Where
    Novigrad

  8. A Proposal Between Worlds

    Geralt acts as translator to help Duke Agloval propose to his lover, the mermaid Sh'eenaz. The proposal fails because neither party will transform themselves to live in the other's world, and Agloval refuses to pay Geralt for his services. Soon after, Geralt meets Dandelion's close friend Essi Daven, a female minstrel known as 'Little Eye', and shares a kiss with her that neither can explain. Agloval then hires Geralt to investigate a pearl-diving boat found floating alone at sea, its crew vanished and blood splattered across the deck.

  9. The Stairs to Ys

    Sh'eenaz warns Geralt away from the site of the boat, but Essi's nautical knowledge allows him and Dandelion to reach the location. There they discover stairs leading down into the water, which Dandelion theorizes lead to the sunken city of Ys. The pair is attacked by undersea creatures, and Geralt is dragged underwater as they escape. Sh'eenaz rescues him and warns him away from the site once again.

  10. A Pearl for Little Eye

    While Geralt dresses his wounds, Essi admits her love for him, but he feels nothing for her because of his enduring love for Yennefer, though he gives her a pearl found on the stairs to Ys, which she swears to keep. Geralt refuses to kill the intelligent undersea race, and Agloval's plan for war is averted when Sh'eenaz arrives, having become human so she can marry the duke. Geralt, Dandelion, and Essi leave and travel together before ending their affair, and the night before they part, Dandelion composes a ballad about a witcher and a bard falling in love, though he never performs it. Geralt and Essi never see each other again, and she dies in a smallpox epidemic a few years later, buried with her lute and Geralt's pearl.

  11. Into the Last Forest

    Geralt travels to Brokilon, the Last Forest, to deliver King Venzlav's message to the dryad queen Eithne, finding bodies left by the dryads and his friend Freixenet alive but wounded. The dryad Braenn agrees to escort him to the queen. Along the way, Geralt and Braenn kill a giant centipede threatening a girl named Ciri, who joins them, takes a liking to Geralt, and reveals she is a runaway princess who fled rather than marry Prince Kistrin.

    Where
    Brokilon

  12. The Child of Destiny

    At Duen Canell, the heart of Brokilon, Eithne allows Ciri to choose between staying and leaving, making her drink the water of Brokilon, which removes memories of a former life but does not affect Ciri. The water instead makes Geralt realize that Ciri is Cirilla, daughter of Pavetta and granddaughter of Queen Calanthe of Cintra, his promised Child of Destiny under the Law of Surprise. After Eithne releases them at the edge of the forest, the group fights off Verden mercenaries sent by King Ervyll to provoke war with the dryads, aided by the druid Mousesack. Despite Ciri's insistence that she is his destiny, Geralt declines to take her with him and quietly walks away while she sleeps.

    Where
    Duen Canell, Brokilon

  13. Wounded Dreams

    Geralt rescues the merchant Yurga from monsters that toppled his cart, after exacting the Law of Surprise from him, but he is severely wounded in the battle. Under the influence of Yurga's healing potion, he dreams of memories: spending Beltane with Yennefer, who says they cannot stay together, and visiting Cintra, where Queen Calanthe refuses to confirm which child is Pavetta's. He wakes to find his estranged mother, Visenna, healing him, though she refuses the reunion he asks for, saying it will not change anything.

  14. A Name on the Monument

    Yurga tells Geralt about the battle of Sodden, which drove back the Nilfgaardian forces but killed fourteen sorcerers, and Geralt visits the monument listing the dead. There he meets Death in the form of a young woman, who reads him the last name on the monument: Yennefer of Vengerberg. Heartbroken, Geralt asks Death to take him, but she refuses. Yurga later reveals that the last name on the monument is not actually Yennefer.

  15. Something More

    Geralt recalls meeting Dandelion after Nilfgaard began marching across the continent, hearing that Cintra has fallen, with Calanthe throwing herself from the castle walls and Ciri missing, presumed dead. Despondent, he muses that even two destined people need 'something more' for that destiny to mean anything. When Geralt and Yurga finally reach the merchant's home, Yurga's wife has taken in a young girl orphaned in the attacks. The child is revealed to be Ciri, who escaped the fall of Cintra, and when she asks Geralt if she is his destiny, he answers that she is 'something more.'

    Where
    Yurga's home

Last updated: October 03, 2026 at 14:26

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Timeline questions answered

Sword of Destiny Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of Sword of Destiny (2021): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

Why does Geralt refuse to fight the golden dragon Villentretenmerth?

Geralt makes an ethical distinction between monsters and sentient creatures when he joins the dragon hunt in Sword of Destiny. As a witcher, he only kills beings that prey on humans, and he openly states that dragons do not hunt people. This principle is what draws the golden dragon Villentretenmerth to test the hunting party with a fair challenge rather than simply destroying them, separating Geralt from the greedier Reavers and dwarves who want the dragon's treasure.

  • geralt
  • villentretenmerth
  • golden dragon
  • witcher ethics
  • dragon hunt
Q2

Why does Yennefer betray Geralt and try to kill the dragon herself?

Yennefer's betrayal during the dragon hunt is driven by her desperation to cure her infertility. In Sword of Destiny, she paralyzes Geralt, Dandelion, and Dorregaray so she can claim the golden dragon's viscera, which she believes will restore her ability to bear a child. Her plan collapses when Villentretenmerth confirms her condition is irreversible, and this rejection becomes one of the emotional turning points that pushes her toward the battle of Sodden.

  • yennefer
  • infertility
  • golden dragon
  • viscera
  • betrayal
Q3

Why does Villentretenmerth disguise himself as the knight Borch?

Villentretenmerth takes human form as Borch 'Three Jackdaws' because, unlike most dragons, he is genuinely fascinated by humanity. He tells Geralt directly that he likes humans, which is why he walks among them as a traveling knight accompanied by his Zerrikanian bodyguards Tea and Vea. His disguise is also what allows him to find and protect the green dragon Myrgtabrakke's hatchling, the 'treasure' she left him as payment for his aid.

  • villentretenmerth
  • borch
  • zerrikanian
  • green dragon
  • myrgtabrakke
Q4

What does the black kestrel's answer 'the truth is a shard of ice' mean?

When Yennefer conjures a black kestrel and asks it to reveal the truth about her relationship with Geralt and Istredd, the creature answers that 'the truth is a shard of ice.' The line is a metaphor for the fragile, painful honesty cutting through her love triangle in Aedd Gynvael. It signals that Yennefer cannot give either man a clean answer because her own nature, shaped by her infertility and past, is itself fractured, leading her to send Istredd a farewell note and eventually choose to leave with Geralt.

  • yennefer
  • black kestrel
  • shard of ice
  • truth
  • istredd
Q5

Why does Geralt agree to duel Istredd for Yennefer's hand?

Geralt accepts the duel because Istredd deliberately provokes him by claiming that witchers are incapable of real emotion and are therefore inferior partners to Yennefer. The sorcerer also reveals that he slept with Yennefer the same morning she spent the night with Geralt, framing Geralt as a fool. Stung by the challenge to both his worth and his love, Geralt agrees to fight, only for the duel to be cancelled when the alderman Herbolth forbids killing Istredd because the town still needs his services.

  • geralt
  • istredd
  • duel
  • yennefer
  • aedd gynvael
Q6

Who is the real Chappelle in Novigrad?

The royal minister of security Chappelle, who polices stories about monsters and dopplers in the capital, is himself a doppler who has taken the form of the recently deceased original Chappelle. He only reveals this when he stops Geralt from killing the doppler Dudu in Sword of Destiny, exposing that the Eternal Fire's promise of protection from monsters is hollow. His real motivation is to quietly co-opt dopplers like Dudu into useful roles, mirroring how the doppler 'Dudu Biberveldt' ends up funding new Eternal Fire altars through seemingly random trades.

  • chappelle
  • doppler
  • novigrad
  • eternal fire
  • dudu
Q7

Why does the doppler Dudu make so many seemingly random purchases in Dainty's name?

Dudu's bizarre buying spree in Novigrad is not random at all. His 'worthless' goods function as a cover for legitimate trades that resell at massive profit because of shifting political events, restoring Dainty Biberveldt's ruined fortune. The real goal, revealed at the end of the storyline in Sword of Destiny, is to funnel further profits into building new Eternal Fire altars, allowing Dudu to thrive in the city under the alias Dudu Biberveldt while manipulating both the merchant guild and the religious order that claims to hunt his kind.

  • dudu
  • dainty biberveldt
  • doppler
  • eternal fire
  • novigrad
Q8

What happened to the crew of the pearl-diving boat?

The empty, blood-splattered boat is the work of an intelligent undersea race living in the sunken city of Ys, not a mindless sea monster. Geralt and Dandelion descend the underwater stairs and are attacked by these creatures, and Sh'eenaz, the mermaid lover of Duke Agloval, twice rescues Geralt while warning him away. Because the undersea people are sentient, Geralt refuses Agloval's contract to exterminate them, and war is only averted when Sh'eenaz voluntarily becomes human to marry the duke.

  • pearl diving
  • sunken city ys
  • sh'eenaz
  • agloval
  • undersea creatures
Q9

Why does the water of Brokilon reveal Ciri as Geralt's Child of Destiny?

In Sword of Destiny, Queen Eithne makes Ciri drink the water of Brokilon, which is meant to strip away a person's past life and bind them to the dryads. Because Ciri is the daughter of Pavetta and granddaughter of Calanthe, tied to Geralt through the Law of Surprise he invoked years earlier in 'A Question of Price,' the ritual fails on her and instead triggers Geralt's own latent recognition. The experience forces him to finally accept that destiny is real and that the runaway princess is the child promised to him long ago.

Foreshadowing: Geralt's earlier refusal to claim Pavetta's child during his visit to Cintra is what leaves the Law of Surprise unfulfilled until Brokilon.

  • ciri
  • brokilon
  • law of surprise
  • eithne
  • child of destiny
Q10

Why does Geralt refuse to take Ciri with him after learning she is his destiny?

Even after recognizing Ciri as his Child of Destiny, Geralt walks away from her at the edge of Brokilon because he still does not believe destiny alone is enough to justify claiming her. Having been abandoned by his own sorceress mother Visenna, he refuses to repeat that cycle by binding Ciri to a dangerous life as a witcher's apprentice. His decision is what allows the druid Mousesack to take her toward Cintra, setting up her eventual escape when the Nilfgaardian invasion destroys the kingdom.

Foreshadowing: His dream-memory of Calanthe warning him about the dangers of witcher training foreshadows this exact refusal.

  • geralt
  • ciri
  • destiny
  • brokilon
  • law of surprise
Q11

Who is Visenna and why does she refuse to speak with Geralt?

Visenna is Geralt's birth mother, a sorceress who abandoned him as a child to be taken in by the witchers of Kaer Morhen. She appears in Sword of Destiny only briefly, healing Geralt after the fight with the monsters that attacked Yurga's cart, but she refuses his plea to look at her and acknowledge their bond. Her refusal is rooted in the same theme of destiny versus free will that runs through the story: she believes that reuniting emotionally will not undo the consequences of the choice she made long ago.

  • visenna
  • geralt's mother
  • kaer morhen
  • sorceress
  • abandonment
Q12

Why does Geralt believe Yennefer died at the battle of Sodden?

After Yurga tells Geralt about the battle of Sodden, which repelled the Nilfgaardian invasion but killed fourteen sorcerers, Geralt goes to the monument and reads the names of the fallen. Death appears as a young woman and reads him the final name on the list: Yennefer of Vengerberg. Heartbroken, Geralt begs her to take his life too, but Yennefer later turns out to have survived and Yurga reveals the last name is wrong. The moment functions as the emotional climax of Sword of Destiny, showing how close Geralt comes to giving up on destiny entirely.

  • yennefer
  • battle of sodden
  • death
  • monument
  • nilfgaard
Q13

What does Geralt mean when he tells Ciri she is 'something more'?

Throughout Sword of Destiny, Geralt wrestles with the idea that destiny is a 'double-edged sword' imposed on people without their consent. When Ciri asks if she is his destiny, he answers 'something more' to say that their bond cannot be reduced to prophecy or the Law of Surprise. He is choosing her freely, having learned through Yennefer, Essi, and his mother that destiny only matters when it is paired with active love and choice, a lesson reinforced by his reunion with the child who escaped the fall of Cintra.

Foreshadowing: His earlier line to Dandelion that even destined people need 'something more' directly sets up his answer to Ciri.

  • geralt
  • ciri
  • destiny
  • something more
  • child of destiny
Q14

Why does Geralt feel nothing for Essi Daven despite her love for him?

Geralt allows himself a brief kiss and an evening with the minstrel Essi Daven, but he cannot return her feelings because his heart is still bound to Yennefer, even after their painful parting in Aedd Gynvael. In Sword of Destiny, this emotional asymmetry leads to a quiet tragedy: Dandelion composes a ballad about a witcher and a bard falling in love but never performs it, and Essi dies in a smallpox epidemic a few years later. Geralt's gift of a pearl from the stairs to Ys is the only tangible proof that the connection mattered, even if it was not romantic love.

  • essi daven
  • little eye
  • geralt
  • yennefer
  • pearl
Q15

Why does Sh'eenaz give up her life as a mermaid to marry Duke Agloval?

Sh'eenaz's original rejection of Agloval's proposal in Sword of Destiny is rooted in the biological impossibility of either of them surviving in the other's world, which is why Geralt's translation of the proposal fails. When Geralt refuses to kill the intelligent undersea people of Ys and Agloval prepares for war, Sh'eenaz intervenes by undergoing a magical transformation into a human. She chooses to give up her undersea existence entirely to prevent the bloodshed and to finally be with Agloval on land, resolving the conflict without violence.

  • sh'eenaz
  • agloval
  • mermaid
  • sunken city ys
  • transformation

Movie threads

More Movies Like Sword of Destiny, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Sword of Destiny tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Dark fantasy monster hunts like Sword of Destiny

Fantasy quests where every victory is shadowed by quiet grief and looming war. Looking for more movies like Sword of Destiny? This thread gathers brooding medieval fantasy stories built around monster hunting, war-torn kingdoms, and bittersweet character arcs. Expect high intensity, variable pacing, and heavy emotional weight as heroes face creatures, conspiracies, and the slow accumulation of loss. If you loved the episodic chapters of Sword of Destiny, these similar action fantasy films will scratch the same itch.

  • monster hunting
  • medieval
  • melancholic
  • somber
  • mystical
  • war-torn
  • Tone: bittersweet, melancholic, somber
  • Pacing: variable, episodic, rising and falling
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Stories in this thread follow a wandering protagonist through an episodic series of dangers in a secondary-world setting. Each segment introduces a new creature, location, or moral test, with brief respites of warmth or humor quickly replaced by violence, sacrifice, or tragedy. The cumulative effect is one of mounting grief layered over competence and resolve, with an ending that typically feels earned but unresolved.

Why they belong together: Films group here because they share a brooding medieval or secondary-world atmosphere, a willingness to sit with melancholy, and a pattern of pairing physical danger with emotional cost. Pacing rises and falls, but the overall feeling is heavy, and conclusions tend toward the bittersweet. The worlds feel lived-in, dangerous, and quietly grieving.

Sword of Destiny movie poster

Sword of Destiny

2021
The Dog Stars movie poster

The Dog Stars

2026
Your Monster movie poster

Your Monster

2024
Brave Story movie poster

Brave Story

2006
Beasts of the Southern Wild movie poster

Beasts of the Southern Wild

2012
Imaginaerum movie poster

Imaginaerum

2012
Only The Brave movie poster

Only The Brave

2006
Hadestown: The Musical movie poster

Hadestown: The Musical

2026

Bonds, found family, and loss like Sword of Destiny

Stories where love and loyalty bloom even as war and destiny tear them apart. If you connected with Sword of Destiny's themes of found family, unrequited love, and sacrifice, this thread is for you. These movies like Sword of Destiny foreground the human (and not-quite-human) connections that form in the shadow of war and destiny, where loyalty and love persist even when characters are forced apart. Expect complex narratives, heavy emotional weight, and bittersweet endings that linger long after the credits roll.

  • found family
  • unrequited love
  • sacrifice
  • separation
  • loyalty
  • longing
  • Tone: bittersweet, reflective, somber
  • Pacing: steady, character-driven, with emotional peaks
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The arc here is not about victory or defeat but about the relationships that grow between them. Protagonists meet companions, mentors, or lovers, build trust and affection, and are then separated by duty, mortality, betrayal, or moral choice. The emotional payoff is distributed across the journey, in every quiet glance and impossible promise, rather than concentrated in the final scene.

Why they belong together: Films share a focus on the bonds formed under pressure — found family, doomed romances, friendships tested by exile and war. The tone stays bittersweet rather than tragic, and the viewer feels every separation as an earned loss. Themes of sacrifice, identity, and what we owe to the people we love dominate, often within epic or fantasy trappings.

Sword of Destiny movie poster

Sword of Destiny

2021
Giant movie poster

Giant

1956
Irandam Ulagam movie poster

Irandam Ulagam

2013
Jaffa movie poster

Jaffa

2009
What If... movie poster

What If...

2010
Arn: The Knight Templar movie poster

Arn: The Knight Templar

2007
The Crossing movie poster

The Crossing

2015
Imaginaerum movie poster

Imaginaerum

2012

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Sword of Destiny (2021) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

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