Warning: potential spoilers for Netflix's The Witcher season 2
Netflix. Well aware of the success of the source material and the solid fanbase it has built, Netflix renewed the series for a second season before the first one was out.
Netflix’s The Witcher approached Sapkowski’s stories differently than expected, choosing to focus on three characters whose stories were set in different places and points in time, with their paths converging towards the end of the season. These characters are Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), an enhanced monster hunter and the title witcher; sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra); and the crown princess of Cintra, Ciri (Freya Allan), who has powers of her own. The Witcher season 1 did a good job in introducing the audience to this vast universe, its most important characters, and some of its biggest events, but there’s still a lot to explore.
Luckily, it all points at season 2 expanding this universe with the arrival of new characters and the promise of a much easier-to-follow narrative. The Witcher book series is formed by two short story collections (The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny), five books as part of the main saga (Blood of Elves, Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, and The Lady of the Lake), and a standalone novel (Season of Storms), so there’s a lot for the Netflix series to cover for as long as it needs. The Witcher season 1 was based on The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, with a couple of changes here and there, so season 2 is expected to move on to the main saga – and here’s what the books reveal about The Witcher season 2, based on the characters confirmed to appear and other details.
The Introduction Of Nivellen
Very little is known about Nivellen, a man cursed to be “a monster in a monster’s skin” after raping a young priestess during a robbery. This curse turned him into a beast but allowed him to keep the ability to speak. Nivellen’s arrival will introduce a new type of curse and creature (very similar to that of The Beauty and the Beast), and with him will come another creature, much more dangerous than Nivellen could be in his beast form.
The Arrival Of The Bruxae
“A Grain of Truth” also introduces Vereena (to be played by Agnes Bjorn), a woman living with Nivellen and who turns out to be a bruxa, this universe’s version of vampires. A bruxa’s natural form is that of a large, black bat with sharp fans and claws, but to blend in with humans, she takes on the appearance of a dark-haired young woman, which is how Vereena got to Nivellen (who was already desperate for company). The Witcher’s bruxae are different from traditional vampires on many levels, and they are deadlier than all those vampires found in pop culture.
Ciri’s Training At Kaer Morhen
By Kaer Morhen to train Ciri. Geralt will count with the help of other witchers to train Ciri, as are Lambert (Paul Bullion), Eskel (Basil Eidenbenz), Coën (Yasen Atour), and Geralt’s mentor Vesemir (Kim Bodnia), and this part of their story happens in the book Blood of Elves. In it, Geralt takes Ciri to Kaer Morhen in order to keep her safe from the Nilfgaardian army, and once there, her training begins, with each witcher teaching her different things: Lambert teaches her the art of combat, Coën helps her with sword combat, and Vesemir teaches her about different monsters and herbs. However, after Ciri takes an accidental sip of White Gull (an alcoholic beverage used by witchers), she starts going into trances that worry Eskel, who decides they need to call for help, and that’s when a character from season 1 returns.
Triss Merigold’s Return
Triss Merigold (Anna Shaffer) arrives at Kaer Morhen to help the witchers with Ciri’s trances and abnormal behavior, and she finds out that the young Princess is a Source, which is a person born with a natural affinity for magical abilities which are difficult to control once they have bloomed. Unable to help Ciri, Triss encourages Geralt to put his pride aside and call Yennefer, though in the series, this part might play differently, as by the end of The Witcher season 1, Yennefer had disappeared and was presumed to be dead (but more on that later). Later on, Geralt, Triss, and Ciri leave Kaer Morhen with the intention of taking Ciri to the Temple School in Ellander where she would receive a “normal” education under Nenneke’s (Adjoa Andoh) teaching.
Rience and Jaskier’s Kidnapping
While Ciri trains at Kaer Morhen, the Nilfgaardian army keeps looking for her, but they aren’t the only ones. A mysterious wizard called Rience (Chris Fulton) and apprentice of Vilgefortz is tasked with finding Ciri, and in the process, he captures Jaskier (Joey Batey) and tortures him for information. Luckily for the writer and singer of the hit song “Toss a Coin To Your Witcher”, Yennefer arrives right on time to save him and engages in a magic combat with Rience, but he escapes through a portal opened by his master. Rience’s introduction and his connection to Vilgefortz, who viewers don’t trust at all even though he only appeared briefly in season 1, will bring a lot more conflict into the mix as no one can be fully trusted in the world of The Witcher.
Yennefer’s Return
As mentioned above, Yennefer takes part in Blood of Elves, but her return in Netflix’s The Witcher might be slightly complicated. In the series, she disappeared during the Battle of Sodden Hill, but in the books, she was blinded during the battle and was magically cured, and arrived at the Temple of Melitele after receiving a letter from Geralt – however, in the series, she’s assumed to be dead, so Geralt can’t communicate with her. Now, fans have theorized she will be captured by The Wild Hunt, a group of specters who gallop in the sky and are considered an omen of war, and who after learning of Ciri and her powers, go after her for her Elder Blood. The Wild Hunt made their proper debut in Time of Contempt, the book that follows Blood of Elves and which also sees the involvement of other new characters to be introduced in The Witcher season 2, as are Sigismund Dijkstra (Graham McTavish), Codringher (Simon Callow), sca Findabair (Mecia Simson), and Lydia Van Bredevoort (Aisha Fabienne Ross). Time of Contempt also has Yennefer and Geralt reconnecting “on a more intimate level”, so season 2 could also be taking some elements from this book and could serve as the basis to bring Yennefer back, which could be done through the Wild Hunt’s mission to get to Ciri.
Blood of Elves sees Yennefer becoming Ciri’s mentor and teacher after her time at Kaer Morhen, with Time of Contempt continuing this storyline by having Yennefer trying to take Ciri to Aretuza so she can continue her instruction in the use and mastery of magic. Although the real reason why Nilfgaard wants Ciri is a very important part of her story (and a very shocking one as well), it’s unlikely season 2 will get to that as there’s still a lot to cover in her story before that, and while this new season will introduce a bunch of new characters, it's to be seen if they will appear in more than one episode or they will be reduced to one-time-appearances as many others were in the first season, and thus only be used as plot devices.