The Witcher introduced viewers to Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), but that was just a preparation for the real start of his story, which will happen in season 2. Based on the book series by Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher debuted on Netflix in December 2019 and was well-received by audiences and critics, who praised its action sequences, Cavill’s performance, and the production values, though they weren’t big fans of the pacing and lack of world-building. Still, The Witcher might be Netflix’s biggest first TV season ever, and the streaming giant renewed it for a second season before the first one came out.
In addition to Geralt’s story, season 1 of The Witcher followed those of Yennefer of Vengerberg, a powerful sorceress, and Ciri, the crown Princess of Cintra. The series had a peculiar narrative style, as the stories of these characters were set in different places and points in time, and their paths crossed towards the end of the season. The Witcher has been such a success with the audience that Netflix is working on an animated spin-off film titled The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, and a live-action prequel limited series called The Witcher: Blood Origin. However, these won’t be focused on Geralt, instead telling the origin story of his mentor, Vesemir, and the story of the first Witcher, respectively.
Viewers will then have to wait for season 2 of The Witcher to reunite with Geralt and continue his story, which will actually have its proper beginning in this season. The new episodes reportedly won’t have a non-linear narrative, which will make it easier for the audience to follow, and it will be time for them to truly get to know Geralt’s story. Here’s how season 2 of The Witcher will be the proper beginning of Geralt’s arc.
The Witcher Season 1 Was More Like A Prologue
The world of The Witcher is very rich, full of creatures, monsters, mages, healers, and more. One season was never going to be enough to fully build that world, but it did a good job in giving the audience a taste of what it has to offer. In just eight episodes, Geralt came across with different monsters and gained a couple of allies and enemies on the way, but not enough as to consider season 1 the starting point of his story – if anything, season 1 was more like a prologue to what The Witcher is planning to share with the audience.
The addition of Yennefer and Ciri’s stories parallel to Geralt’s and in a non-linear manner, jumping from present-day to past with no warning, also gives season 1 the feeling of being a primer rather the beginning of Geralt’s story. Furthermore, each episode was based on a short story, either from The Last Wish or Sword of Destiny, so there wasn’t much to actually build the first parts of Geralt’s arc, though it did establish why Ciri is going to be an important character in the series and his life.
The Witcher Season 2 Begins Geralt’s Story With Ciri
At the end of The Witcher season 1, Geralt and Ciri finally found each other in the woods, leaving viewers wondering what will happen next. Thanks to the casting of the characters Lambert (Paul Bullion), Eskel (Thue Ersted Rasmussen), and Coën (Yasen Atour), it’s known that season 2 will see Ciri training at Kaer Morhen, an old keep where witchers of the School of the Wolf, like Geralt, were trained. The aforementioned witchers actually have a role in Ciri’s training – Lambert trained her in fencing, Coën in sword combat, and Eskel kept an eye on her after she started having trances after accidentally sipping of White Gull.
Geralt’s story, then, will begin alongside Ciri, with whom he’s bound to by destiny through the Law of Surprise. Ciri is still a target of the Nilfgaardian army, especially Cahir, who was fooled by her and a doppler who took her place so she could escape, so Geralt will surely choose to take her to a safer place where she can also train and thus be able to defend herself – and what better place than Kaer Morhen. This also gives the series the chance to explore Geralt’s beginnings, especially with the introduction of his mentor, Vesemir (Kim Bodnia), while also establishing what his arc will truly be about in future seasons.
Book & Game Stories Witcher Season 2 Could Adapt
As mentioned above, season 1 took short stories from the books The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, but the world of The Witcher goes beyond the books, as it has been famously adapted to video games as well. Though the book series is the basis for the TV show, it has also borrowed some things from the games, so it wouldn’t be surprising if season 2 continues to do that. The Witcher series is divided into the aforementioned short story collections, five entries of the saga (Blood of Elves, Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, and The Lady of the Lake), and the standalone novel Seasons of Storms. Given that the new witchers (except Vesemir) were all introduced in Blood of Elves or had a bigger presence in it (Eskel’s first appearance was in The Last Wish but he met Ciri in Blood of Elves), it all points at that book being the basis for the second season. Blood of Elves follows Geralt and Ciri’s time in Kaer Morhen as well as the complications of Ciri’s powers and more, with Geralt also dealing with a new enemy who is looking for Ciri and who also kidnaps Dandelion, a.k.a. Jaskier. This, then, would not only properly kickstart Geralt’s story, but it would also set Ciri’s into motion.
As for the games, it’s unlikely the team behind Netflix’s The Witcher will take stories from them and add them to the series, but that doesn’t mean it can’t keep having various references to them. Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich told TV Guide that, while they love the games, what they want to do is go straight to the source material instead of making an adaptation of an adaptation, so instead of bringing stories from the games, they want to pay homage to them. With that in mind, and with the new witchers joining the series, their stories could future a couple of references to their arcs in the games, as they have all appeared in them in some capacity (except for Coën), mostly in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Although season 1 of The Witcher failed to explore most of this world, this is actually a good thing as it gives future seasons more chances to introduce new monsters, creatures, and human characters. Most importantly, the way season 1 was approached makes way for Geralt’s story to be properly built now, without having to spend a good part introducing him and what he does, so it can now fully focus on his arc and how it’s linked to those of Ciri and Yennefer.