A new YouTube video shows never-before-seen concept art of The Witcher season 2's Wild Hunt. Netflix's hit show has been absent from the platform since season 1 came out at the end of 2019 but released its eagerly-anticipated season 2 on December 17. It continues the storyline from season 1, with Geralt of Rivia mentoring his adopted daughter Ciri while both characters confront troubling personal issues and dangerous enemies.
Season 2 of the fantasy series garnered 142 million hours of viewing on Netflix in just three days since its release. Led by Justice League star Henry Cavill as Geralt, Freya Allan as Ciri, and Anya Chalotra as Yennefer, the show primarily adapts Andrzej Sapkowski's novels of the same name. The Witcher season 2 also introduces several new cast members, including Kim Bodnia as Vesemir, Basil Eidenbernz as Eskel, and Graham McTavish as Dijkstra.
Also showing their faces in season 2 are the mythological Wild Hunt, and The Witcher Netflix YouTube channel unveils their concept art in a new video titled The Wild Hunt Explained. Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich explains how production approached crafting the skeletal riders, wanting them to "feel like folklore," similar to how Sapkowski's books describe them. Hissrich says that they relied on the word "spectre" to flesh out the concept of all seven riders and that production designer Andrew Laws created a unique look for each one, which is noticeable in the art. They also used hints from books that are not yet adapted and brought the Wild Hunt in early to build their mythology. Check out The Witcher season 2's Wild Hunt concept art images, below:
Hissrich expands on the idea that each Wild Hunt member has a different look because of the "idea, that they all have different backstories, they're all individual characters." The video highlights Eredin Bréacc Glas, the King of the Wild Hunt, who the concept art reveals dons a skeletal helmet and bone-plated armor. Another member wields a sword and has a skull-faced helmet with a visage on three sides, while yet another wields a flail. The Wild Hunt will be fleshed out in upcoming seasons as real characters as the show explores their relationship with Ciri and her newfound powers.
The concept art is a fascinating look at the Wild Hunt, which we only see briefly at the end of The Witcher season 2, mostly silhouetted against the blood-orange sky of a strange new world. Lauren Hissrich's declaration that The Witcher series will examine these individual characters more intimately is no doubt exciting for fans of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, where the harbingers of doom act as the game's primary antagonists, in stark contrast to Sapkowski's novels. It offers a chance to create vivid mythology surrounding these otherwise elusive specters, which could please both book and game fans alike. However, until The Witcher season 3 (which Freya Allan calls "exciting") continues the main story, Hissrich mentions that the Wild Hunt's relationship with Ciri will gain ground in the next project, The Witcher: Blood Origin.
Source: The Witcher Netflix