Showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich reveals story details for The Witcher season 2 episode 1. Netflix's wildly popular fantasy series, The Witcher, is based on the work of Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. Its story follows Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), a mutated monster hunter whose path converges with the witch, Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), and his Child of Surprise, Ciri (Freya Allan). Much of what is seen in its first season is taken directly from Sapkowski’s The Last Wish. For example, the pilot episode adapted the short story “The Lesser Evil,” featuring Renfri, a darker version of Snow White.
Another short story fans of the franchise hoped to see in season one was “A Grain of Truth,” which is essentially a twisted retelling of Beauty and the Beast featuring a character named Nivellen, a leader of a gang of cutthroat highwaymen who, during a temple robbery, rapes a young priestess. The priestess then curses Nivellen to become a “monster in a monster’s skin” as he was already a “monster in a man’s skin.” In The Last Wish, Geralt runs into Nivellen while investigating the deaths of a merchant and a female companion near his manor. Following the season 2 casting confirmation of Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones) as Nivellen and Netflix sharing a script page for The Witcher season 2’s premiere episode outlining the story of a merchant, his wife, and daughter, it’s become apparent that season 2 will adapt “A Grain of Truth.”
Now, the official Twitter account of Netflix Geeked has shared a video of The Witcher showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich revealing story details for the first episode of season 2. Hissrich confirms that they are adapting Sapkowski’s “A Grain of Truth,” which is one of her favorite short stories. Read what she had to say below:
“It’s been the worst-kept secret that we’ve had but we are adapting ‘A Grain of Truth’ for the opening of our season two of The Witcher. After season one I thought our chance to finish the short stories, that we lost that. And instead, we were able to adapt this story and to bring Ciri into it. It’s a story of a father and daughter coming together in a place that doesn’t quite feel safe for them. And, of course, we really get into Nivellen who’s played by the incomparable Kristofer Hivju. And we get to explore his character and his backstory as well with Geralt. It’s really the perfect kickoff for season two because it’s about family. It’s about the secrets that we keep from each other and it’s about the monsters that we are inside sometimes.”
At the end of the first season, Geralt finally finds Ciri. A fair chunk of season 2 looks to adapt Sapkowski’s Blood of Elves, which takes the pair to Kaer Morhen, the old fortress where Ciri is trained by the School of the Wolf. In addition to Hivju, the biggest casting announcements have been that of Vesemir (Kim Bodnia) and a slew of Geralt’s fellow monster-hunting witchers. That said, Kaer Morhen can only be reached by “The Witchers Trail,” aka “The Killer”, as it’s an extremely dangerous road plagued by mages and priests who view witchers as abominations. It’s likely Geralt and Ciri will run into Nivellen while setting off for Kaer Morhen in episode 1.
The concrete confirmation of “A Grain of Truth” in The Witcher also means that Vereena (Anges Bjorn), will appear in episode 1 of season 2. Vereena is a very powerful vampire who takes on the appearance of a young woman and falls in love with Nivellen (among other things). It’s interesting that Hissrich talks about “family” and “the monsters that we are inside sometimes” as Geralt and Ciri’s father/daughter relationship should be at the forefront of season 2 alongside the series’ reoccurring, precarious definition of monster. In the case of Nivellen, viewers will be left to judge whether or not his appearance reflects his character.
Source: Netflix Geeked/Twitter