The Witcher (TV series)

''The Witcher'' is a fantasy drama television series created by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich for Netflix. It is based on the book series of the same name by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. Set on a fictional, medieval-inspired landmass known as the Continent, ''The Witcher'' explores the legend of Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer of Vengerberg and Princess Ciri. It stars Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, and Freya Allan.

The first season, consisting of eight episodes, was released on Netflix on December 20, 2019. It was based on '' The Last Wish'' and ''Sword of Destiny'', which are collections of short stories that precede the main ''The Witcher'' saga. The second season, also consisting of eight episodes and based on the novel ''Blood of Elves'', released on December 17, 2021. In September 2021, Netflix renewed the series for a third season, which will be released in mid-2023. This will be followed by a fourth season, with Liam Hemsworth taking over the role of Geralt of Rivia.

An animated origin story film, '' The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf'', was released on August 23, 2021. A prequel miniseries, '' The Witcher: Blood Origin'', was released on December 25, 2022.

Synopsis

The story begins with Geralt of Rivia, Crown Princess Ciri of Cintra, and the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg at different points of time, exploring formative events that shape their characters throughout the first season, before eventually merging into a single timeline.

Geralt and Ciri are linked by destiny since before she was born when he unknowingly demanded her as a reward for his services by invoking "the Law of Surprise". After the two finally meet, Geralt becomes the princess's protector and must help her and fight against her various pursuers to prevent her Elder Blood and powerful magic from being used for malevolent purposes and keep Ciri and their world safe.

Cast and characters

Main

* Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, a magically enhanced monster hunter known as a "witcher". Cintran princess Ciri is his "destiny".
* Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg, a quarter- elf sorceress.
* Freya Allan as Ciri, Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, the crown princess of Cintra, granddaughter of Queen Calanthe and daughter of Pavetta, from whom she inherited the Elder Blood. She is linked to Geralt by destiny.
* Eamon Farren as Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach, nicknamed the “Black Knight”, a Nilfgaardian army commander who leads the invasion of Cintra and the hunt for Cirilla.
* Joey Batey as Jaskier, a travelling bard who befriends Geralt and accompanies him on his path.
* MyAnna Buring as Tissaia de Vries, mentor to Yennefer and the Rectrix of Aretuza, a training academy for female mages.
* Mimî M. Khayisa as Fringilla Vigo, a sorceress who trained alongside Yennefer. She eventually leads the Nilfgaardian invasion alongside Cahir.
* Anna Shaffer as Triss Merigold, a sorceress, the court mage of Temeria and advisor to King Foltest.
* Royce Pierreson as Istredd, an adept sorcerer and historian who befriends Yennefer at Aretuza.
* Wilson Mbomio as Dara, a refugee elf boy whom Cirilla befriends after the Slaughter of Cintra.
* Mahesh Jadu as Vilgefortz of Roggeveen, a charismatic sorcerer who rallies the northern mages to halt the invading Nilfgaardian army in Sodden.
* Tom Canton as Filavandrel (season 2; guest season 1), the last king of the Elves.
* Mecia Simson as Francesca Findabair (season 2), an elven sorceress.
* Kim Bodnia as Vesemir (season 2), the oldest living witcher and Geralt's mentor and father figure.
** Theo James has a vocal cameo in Season 1 as a young Vesemir. He reprises his role in the animated prequel film '' The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf''.

Recurring

* Jodhi May as Queen Calanthe, ruler of the Kingdom of Cintra and grandmother of Princess Cirilla.
* Adam Levy as Mousesack, the court druid of Cintra and advisor to Queen Calanthe.
* Björn Hlynur Haraldsson as King Eist Tuirseach, husband to Queen Calanthe and step-grandfather of Cirilla. (season 1)
* Lars Mikkelsen as Stregobor, resident mage in the town of Blaviken and the Rector of Ban Ard, the academy for male mages.
* Therica Wilson-Read as Sabrina Glevissig, a sorceress who trained alongside Yennefer.
* Shaun Dooley as King Foltest, the king of Temeria, whose incestuous relationship with his sister created a daughter.
* Terence Maynard as Artorius Vigo, court mage from Toussaint and uncle of Fringilla
* Judit Fekete as Vanielle of Brugge, a sorceress and one of the mages who fought during the Battle of Sodden Hill. (season 1)
* Paul Bullion as Lambert, a witcher at Kaer Morhen and friend of Geralt. (season 2)
* Yasen Atour as Coën, a witcher at Kaer Morhen and friend of Geralt. (season 2)
* Ania Marson as Voleth Meir, a demon who came to the plane with the Conjunction of the Spheres, who feeds on pain and fear. (season 2)
* Graham McTavish as Sigismund Dijkstra, head of the Redanian Intelligence and ally of Philippa Eilhart. (season 2); McTavish also voiced Deglan in the animated prequel ''Nightmare of the Wolf''.
* Ed Birch as Vizimir, the king of Redania. (season 2)
* Chris Fulton as Rience, a renegade mage set on a hunt for Ciri. (season 2)
* Aisha Fabienne Ross as Lydia van Bredevoort, Rience's liaison who gets him out of prison on her master's orders. (season 2)
* Kaine Zajaz as Gage, Francesca's brother. (season 2)

Notable guest stars

Introduced in season 1

* Emma Appleton as Renfri of Creyden, a princess-turned-bandit who leads a gang of brigands and has a bloody grudge against Stregobor.
* Mia McKenna-Bruce as Marilka, daughter of Blaviken's alderman.
* Tobi Bamtefa as Sir Danek, a Cintran commander of Calanthe's royal guard.
* Maciej Musiał as Sir Lazlo, a Cintran knight charged with protecting Cirilla.
* Natasha Culzac as Toruviel, an elven warrior serving Filavandrel.
* Amit Shah as Torque, a sylvan ("horned devil") who works for Filavandrel.
* Julian Rhind-Tutt as Giltine, the enchanter of Aretuza who brings adepts into their perfect physical forms after they graduate.
* Gaia Mondadori as Princess Pavetta, the daughter of Queen Calanthe and mother of Ciri.
* Bart Edwards as Duny, the "Urcheon of Erlenwald" / Emperor Emhyr var Emreis, Pavetta's lover, once afflicted by a curse that transformed him into a hedgehog man until midnight. His betrothal to Pavetta removes the curse. He is Ciri's father.
* Josette Simon as Eithne, the Queen of the Dryads of Brokilon Forest.
* Nóra Trokán as the Dryad General.
* Marcin Czarnik as Ronin Mage, an assassin sent to murder Queen Kalis and her baby daughter.
* Blair Kincaid as Crach an Craite, a member of a royal clan from the Skellige Isles, who was invited to Pavetta's wedding.
* Lucas Englander as Chireadan, a healer elf from the Redanian city of Rinde.
* Jordan Renzo as Eyck of Denesle, a virtuous knight.
* Ron Cook as Borch Three Jackdaws, a man who is actually the golden dragon Villentretenmerth.
* Jeremy Crawford as Yarpen Zigrin, the leader of a gang of dwarven mercenaries and friend of Geralt.
* Ella-Rae Smith as Fola, a young sorceress in Aretuza.
* Francis Magee as Yurga, a travelling merchant in Sodden, rescued from monsters by Geralt.
* Anna-Louise Plowman as Zola, Yurga's wife who offers Cirilla sanctuary in her rural home in Sodden.
* Frida Gustavsson as Ma/Visenna, mother of Geralt of Rivia.

Introduced in season 2

* Kristofer Hivju as Nivellen, an aristocrat who has been transformed into a beast through a curse.
* Agnes Born as Vereena, a bruxa and Nivellen's lover.
* Basil Eidenbenz as Eskel, a witcher at Kaer Morhen and close friend of Geralt.
* Jota Castellano as Gwain, a witcher at Kaer Morhen.
* Nathanial Jacobs as Everard, a witcher at Kaer Morhen.
* Chuey Okoye as Merek, a witcher at Kaer Morhen.
* Kevin Doyle as Ba'lian, an elf seeking refuge in the most unexpected places of the Continent.
* Niamh McCormack as Lara Dorren, an extremely powerful, ancient Elven sorceress who fell in love with a human mage, Ciri's ancestor.
* Adjoa Andoh as Mother Nenneke, the wise High Priestess of the Temple of Melitele in Ellander and an old friend of Geralt.
* Simon Callow as Codringher, an investigator and partner of Fenn who helps Istredd.
* Liz Carr as Fenn, an investigator and partner of Codringher who helps Istredd.
* Rebecca Hanssen as Meve, queen of Lyria.
* Richard Tirado as Demavend, king of Aedirn.
* Edward Rowe as Henselt, king of Kaedwen.
* Luke Cy as Ethain, king of Cidaris.
* Sam Hazeldine as Eredin, king of the legendary Wild Hunt.
* Cassie Clare as Philippa Eilhart, a sorceress and advisor to king Vizimir of Redania, as well as Dijkstra's favored spy.

Episodes

Season 1 (2019)

The first season is based on '' The Last Wish'' and ''Sword of Destiny''. A website with timelines for the show, along with in-depth summaries of events, was later created by Netflix.

Season 2 (2021)

The second season is based on "A Grain of Truth" from ''The Last Wish'', ''Blood of Elves'', and the beginning of ''Time of Contempt''.

Production

Development

Andrzej Sapkowski's ''The Witcher'' book series was initially scheduled to be adapted into a standalone Netflix film, but Kelly Luegenbiehl, Vice President of International Originals at Netflix, dissuaded the producers. She recalled asking them, "How can you take eight novels and just turn it into a film? There's so much material here. Through a number of conversations, the producers got really excited about the idea of using the source material for a longer-running series." In May 2017, Netflix announced the start of production on an English-language drama TV series based on the books.

In December 2017, it was reported that Lauren Schmidt Hissrich would serve as showrunner on the show. In April 2018, Schmidt Hissrich revealed that the script for the pilot episode was finished, and the first season would be eight episodes long. In 2017, it was reported that Andrzej Sapkowski would serve as a creative consultant on the show, but in January 2018, Sapkowski denied any direct involvement. However, he met with Schmidt Hissrich in April 2018 and in May 2018 she stated that Sapkowski was on the creative team of the project. In August, Andrew Laws was revealed as production designer. In December, ''Radio Times'' reported directors Alik Sakharov and Charlotte Brändström had joined the project.

Netflix announced a second season on November 13, 2019, under the working title "Mysterious Monsters", with production set to begin in London in early 2020, for a planned release in 2021. In April 2021, Netflix's co-chief executive officer and chief content officer Ted Sarandos confirmed that the second season is expected to premiere in Q4 2021. In July 2021, it was announced that the second season would premiere on December 17, 2021. On September 25, 2021, Netflix announced that the series had been renewed for a third season.

Writing

The first season was told in a non-linear manner, spanning different time periods. Hissrich said this was inspired by Christopher Nolan's 2017 film ''Dunkirk'', was more negative towards the show by criticizing it for relying too much on the gameplays, and how they didn't know how to properly adapt it into a TV show. Critic William Hughes from ''The A.V. Club'' commented in a positive review: "''The Witcher'' is by no means perfect; even ignoring the earlier structural flaws, its efforts at comedy often come off sounding a bit too modern for the rest of its setting, and the characters’ tendency to monologue to any unspeaking object or person they can find—horses, mute companions, literal dead babies—verges on comedic. But when the worst thing you can say about a series is that every episode ends up being better than the one that preceded it, that leaves an exciting amount of room to grow."

''The Witcher'' author Andrzej Sapkowski commented favorably on the show, stating, "I was more than happy with Henry Cavill's appearance as The Witcher. He's a real professional. Just as Viggo Mortensen gave his face to Aragorn (in ''The Lord of the Rings''), so Henry gave his to Geralt — and it shall be forever so." Sapkowski added, "I shall be happy if the viewers — and readers — take anything away, anything that shall enrich them in some way. Also, I sincerely hope to leave the viewers — and readers — hot. In every sense. Not tepid, not lukewarm." Craig Mathieson from ''The Age'' compared the series unfavorably to ''Game of Thrones'' and criticized the plot and fantasy tropes. Author Tom Long from ''The Detroit News'' praised the series for its action sequences an performances, and gave the show a grade of B rating. Matthew Aguilar from ComicBook.com gave a positive response by rating the show with 4 out of 5: "The Witcher brings the world's rich characters, sharp wit, and stylish action to life in a truly delightful way, and whether you're a fan of the novels or the games, you're going to find something to love." Critic Daniel D'Addario was more negative with the show and commented: "This is a show with moments of drama and of gruesome violence cut through with a glancing humor that too often feels tossed-off and out-of-place in the world the show has created."

Season 2

The second season received positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reports a 95% approval rating with an average rating of 7.9/10, based on 62 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads: "''The Witcher''s second season expands on its first in all the best ways—and most importantly, it remains a whole lot of fun." Metacritic calculated a weighted average score of 69 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Critic Sheena Scott from ''Forbes'' favorably commented: "Throughout the episodes, characters repeatedly point out their resemblance—a similar attitude, the same hairstyle—to keep on reminding the viewers of their daughter-father bond. But as the ending of Season 2 indicates, it looks like it is this very bond that may be put into jeopardy in the next season." Angie Han from ''The Hollywood Reporter'', praised the series for being an improvement over its previous season, although it may not be perfect. She commented the series: "In its second outing, ''The Witcher'' feels confident enough to open itself up to that whole array of feelings." In a more negative review, Roxana Hadadi from ''Vulture'', stated "In its second season, ''The Witcher'' is most engaging when exploring the alliances and allegiances between Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri and when using those three to consider Nivellen’s insistence that “Monsters are born of deeds alone. Unforgivable ones.” But in its attempt to build a bigger world, the series falls prey to more fantasy tropes than it masters." Author Leigh Butler deemed the second season as an improvement over its previous season, praising its deeper themes, better storyline, performances, and finally approaching its potential, and stated: "Season 2 (so far) is better, and working its way toward potentially great. When it comes down to it, there is really only one thing any story needs to accomplish, and ''The Witcher'' has accomplished it."

James Whitbrook from ''io9'' said: "The new focus on character-building might mean less focus on specific short stories from Sapkowski’s collection of ''Witcher'' tales, but it makes the show’s world feel more expansive and nuanced in ways it didn’t until late in the show’s first season, while still keeping things centered on the characters as the sense of scale expands." Nick Schager in a negative review stated: "Even by typical fantasy-genre standards, the show indulges in so much make-believe terminology, and at such an incessant clip, that it quickly proves easier to give up trying to make heads or tails of every detail and instead just go with the wonky narrative flow.", while Allison Keene from '' Paste'' commented in a positive review: "More than anything though, ''The Witcher''’s excellent Season 2 is a deeper dive into a rich world that shines in its focus on Ciri and Geralt’s relationship, and how that connection influences everything around them. Though there are plenty of things to quibble over from book to screen (or from videogame screen, although the show is expressly pulled from the page), ''The Witcher'' is perhaps best viewed and accepted as a fresh translation of an old fable." Critic Carly Lane from ''Collider'' gave a positive feedback: "By comparison, Season 2 is finally settling into its stride and has an even better sense of what works while discarding more of what didn't — although there are still the occasional unannounced time-jumps forward, or surprise character introductions, that demand attentiveness rather than any distracted background viewing."

Audience viewership

According to Parrot Analytics, ''The Witcher'', in its US debut, was the third most "in demand" original streaming series, behind ''Stranger Things'' and ''The Mandalorian''. Parrot's process measures "demand expressions", which is "its globally standardized TV-demand measurement unit that reflects the desire, engagement, and viewership of a series weighted by importance." On December 31, 2019, Parrot Analytics reported that ''The Witcher'' became the most-in-demand TV series in the world, across all platforms.

On December 30, 2019, Netflix issued a number of official lists, including the Most Popular TV Shows of 2019. The series was among the most viewed in the U.S. market, where ''The Witcher'' was ranked second among series. On January 21, 2020, Netflix announced that the first season had been viewed by over 76 million viewers on its service within its first month of release. Netflix had recently changed its viewership metric, from 70% of an episode under the previous metric, down to two minutes under the new metric. The new metric gives viewing figures 35% higher on average than the previous one. The 76million views in its first month based on the new metric (at least two minutes or more) is the largest for a Netflix series launch since the introduction of the new viewership metric.

The Witcher was, until the release of ''Bridgerton'' and ''Squid Game'', Netflix's most watched original series launch at the time, with 541 million hours viewed in the first 28 days of release, and season two achieved 484 million hours watched.

Sales of '' The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' in December 2019 were 554% greater than those from December 2018, attributed to renewed interest in the series due to the show.

Accolades

Spin-offs

In January 2020, Netflix announced an animated spin-off film titled '' The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf'', focusing on the origin story of Geralt's mentor and fellow witcher Vesemir. Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and Beau DeMayo worked on the film, with production by Studio Mir. It was released on August 23, 2021.

On September 25, 2021, a second animated feature film was announced.

A live-action prequel limited series, '' The Witcher: Blood Origin'', was announced by Netflix in July 2020. Set 1200 years before Geralt's time, it shows the origin of the Witchers. Hissrich developed the prequel as executive producer, and Declan de Barra served as showrunner. In January 2021, Jodie Turner-Smith was set to star in the series. In March 2021, Laurence O'Fuarain joined the cast as a lead role. In April 2021, Turner-Smith left the series due to scheduling issue. In July 2021, Michelle Yeoh and Sophia Brown joined the cast. Filming was scheduled to begin in August 2021 in the United Kingdom, with Lenny Henry, Mirren Mack, Nathaniel Curtis, Dylan Moran, Jacob Collins-Levy, Lizzie Annis, Huw Novelli, Francesca Mills, Amy Murray and Zach Wyatt joined the cast. The series premiered on December 25, 2022, and consists of four episodes.

On September 25, 2021, a family-friendly animated series was announced.

References

External links

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2010s American drama television series
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American action adventure television series
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English-language Netflix original programming
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Polish drama television series
Polish fantasy television series
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Nonlinear narrative television series
Witchcraft in television
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