Summary
- Geralt's potion in Netflix's The Witcher is most similar to the Blizzard potion from the games, enhancing his reflexes and reaction time during fights.
- The extreme pupil dilation when Geralt drinks a potion in the show is not actually a Blizzard effect, but likely a representation of the potion taking effect, bearing little resemblance to the Cat potion's actual use in the games.
- The Netflix series simplifies the portrayal of potions, combining elements of Blizzard and Cat to create visual and practical effects for fight scenes, without delving into the specifics of potion creation and differentiation from the games and books.
In Netflix's The Witcher, Geralt is often shown downing a potion right before he fights, but it's unclear exactly what does the Witcher drink. Geralt, like all Witchers, has some supernatural augmentations and limited magical abilities, but the show doesn't take much time to explain them. Thus, further answers to the nature of Geralt's potions mainly come from other Witcher content, like books and video games. Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher novel series came first in the 90s and has been adapted into several standalone and spinoff video games from CD Projekt over the last decade or so.
While it's not necessary to have read the books or played the games in order to understand Netflix's The Witcher series, having this context does offer a more holistic picture of some of the show's less-developed details. Things like Triss's hair change in The Witcher season 2 may seem random but have reasons rooted in the games or the books, with which many avid audiences are familiar. This is also a good way to understand the answer to what does Geralt drink, which differs slightly from the source material.
What Exactly Is Geralt's Potion
In the Witcher Netflix show, Geralt often drinks a potion right before facing off with one of The Witcher's many monsters. His eyes turn black, and he appears to gain enhanced fighting abilities until it wears off, which is usually, and conveniently, right when the fight ends. Based on these factors, the game's potion, Blizzard, closely fits the description. Unlike many of the games' potions, which last for up to eight hours, Blizzard lasts for just 20 minutes, and its effects are increased reflexes and reaction time, which makes dodging and parrying attacks easier, just as Geralt experiences in the show.
However, the extreme pupil dilation that always accompanies a swig of potion in The Witcher drinks is actually not a Blizzard effect, but rather that of another short-term potion, Cat. In the case of the Netflix series, this is likely just a way to show the potion taking effect, which had little to do with Cat's actual use in the games. The Witcher's potions serve more as indicators for when Geralt anticipates an intense fight, and as a general way to represent his mutagenic, pseudo-magical abilities. Considering all the other ground the Netflix series is attempting to cover, this simplification may be for the best.
How The Witcher Potion Differs In TV, Games, & Books
While potions don't get much attention in the books or in the series, they make up a huge part of the games, as players can create a variety of elixirs with different powers to use in battle or for other purposes. The Witcher on Netflix doesn't delve into the specifics of these effects, and in fact, never specifies which potion it is that Geralt is often drinking throughout the show. Based on Geralt's potion-induced appearance and abilities, however, it can be deduced that the Witcher drinks a slightly modified version of the Blizzard potion. This not only increases reflexes and reaction time, but it slows down time for the Witcher after he drinks it.
Ultimately, the one type of potion used by Geralt and other new Witchers introduced in season 2 most closely resembles Blizzard combined with some effects of Cat. However, the show isn't very concerned with rendering a game-accurate portrayal of how potions are made, differentiated, and used. The Cat potion offers the user vision in total darkness, which is a helpful ability when hunting monsters in crypts, caves, and dark lairs. However, that has little to do with what Geralt drinks in The Witcher, other than the eye's going black. Instead, the Netflix series just uses a mix of the two to create the visual and practical effects for the fight scenes.