The Witcher Season 4 introduced audiences to the confusing "What I Love, I Do Not Carry" riddle, and while it may seem like a real head-scratcher for now, the answer to this perplexing quandary is actually hiding right under our noses. The hit fantasy Netflix series, based on Andrzej Sapkowski's series of novels of the same name, is back on the streamer, once again telling the tale of monster-hunter Geralt of Rivia and his spell-slinging ward, Ciri.
Thus far this season, fans have been on quite a journey. Not only have audiences had to contend with the newly recast Liam Hemsworth stepping into the lead role, but they have had to do it as the show's story really ramps up, laying the foundation for what will be its fifth and final season.
The show's latest episode (Season 4, Episode 7) introduced audiences to a new monstrous threat for Hemsworth's Geralt to face in the swamp-dwelling Rusalka. These terrifying creatures are essentially the sirens of the wetland, taking the form of young women, luring in weary travellers, and then swallowing them whole.
Geralt and his band of fellow warriors (which has come to be known as the Hanza) become the victims of these ghastly beasts, with one of them presenting the titular monster hunter with a riddle. Trapped in their clutches, Geralt is forced to solve the riddle, knowing that if he does, the Rusalka will have to let him go.
The Rusalka presents him with the following puzzle:
"What I love I do not carry. What I nurture, I do not feed. What I live and die for is not mine alone. What am I?"
The answer to this "What I love I do not carry" puzzle is not immediately apparent to Geralt, even if he does eventually get it, but fans should have picked up on the solution right from the get-go.
All eight episodes of The Witcher Season 4 are now streaming on Netflix. The hit fantasy franchise returns for its penultimate batch of episodes, following Liam Hemsworth's Geralt as he searches the far reaches of The Continent for his protege Ciri (played by Freya Allen).
Explaining the Answer to The Witcher Season 4 Riddle
The answer to the Rusalka riddle is ultimately "a father." Geralt comes to this solution on his own, but it takes seeing some particularly vivid (and terrifying) visions for him to get there.
If one thinks about it, the "father" answer makes a lot of sense to what was asked. "What I love I do not carry" refers to the contrasting relationship fathers have to their young compared to mothers. A mother carries a child for nine months before it is born. A mother feeds the baby (as referenced in the riddle as well).
And that last line, "What I live and die for is not mine alone," is calling out the fact that both a mother and father will do anything for their offspring, including putting their life on the line to ensure their safety.
Whether the Rusalka, this particular riddle, is a near-perfect metaphor for Geralt's relationship with the young Ciri. Yes, he is not her biological father, but over the past four seasons, the silver-haired mother-hunter has grown to be a father figure to his young ward.
He did not carry her, he did not feed her, yet she is what he lives and dies for.
Throughout this season of the Netflix series so far, much of Geralt's story has been centered on the quest to find Ciri. He does not know where she is, yet the bond the pair shares is what drives him, putting himself in mortal danger against spine-chilling threats (like the Rusalka) just so that he may reunite with the girl he has taken in as his adoptive daughter.
While the Witcher narrative has evolved into a massive, interweaving fantasy story of politicking, ancient magic users, and monstrous terrors, it ultimately always returns to that central father-daughter relationship between Geralt and Ciri.
