The last time the two were together, as Jaskier mentions in “Voleth Meir,” was when teams of fortune-seeking warriors traveled into the mountains to slay a dragon in the first season’s sixth episode, “Rare Species.” Jaskier spent much of the journey to the dragon’s lair trying to persuade Geralt to leave the quest and head with him to the coast, but the witcher was reluctant to do so, mostly because of Yennefer’s participation in the hunt but also because the bard was the source of much of Geralt’s problems.
“After everything we did, we saw / You turned your back on me,” says the song, and the pair certainly had their share of adventures. Earlier in The Witcher’s first season, Geralt and Jaskier had been captured by elves, and the bard had carelessly released a djinn that nearly killed them both as well as Yennefer. Jaskier was also responsible for Geralt being present at Princess Pavetta’s betrothal, during which the witcher claimed the Law of Surprise and ended up with a child of destiny.
In short, Geralt blamed his friend for everything that caused him angst in his life and thus left him in the camp before the dragon encounter ever unfolded. After that particular adventure was over and the witcher was still feeling stung by Yennefer’s rejection, he exclaimed that if life could give him one blessing, it would be to take Jaskier off his hands. Clearly hurt, the bard resigned himself to getting the story of the dragon from the other adventurers.
Perhaps Geralt should have remembered that if not for the encounter with the djinn, he might never have met Yennefer and joined his fate to hers. And although he initially rejected the idea of a child of destiny, he eventually formed a bond with Ciri crucial to her survival and his own fulfillment. Those all-important relationships would never have blossomed if not for Jaskier and the unfortunate circumstances that brought together the witcher, the princess, and the sorceress.
Nevertheless, the song continues:
At the end of my days when I’m through
No word that I’ve written will ring quite as true as
Burn! Burn, Butcher, burn!
Burn, Butcher, burn, burn, burn, burn, burn, burn…
Watch me burn all the memories of you.
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