7 ‘Witcher’ Plotlines the Netflix Show Could Cover (PHOTOS)
“The Witcher”
In the first flashback story of The Last Wish, Geralt recounts how a king enlisted him to battle the king’s cursed daughter, who has turned into a “striga” monster—and to kill her if Geralt can’t turn her back into a human. A rival leader, however, tries to bribe Geralt into abandoning his quest so the king can be deposed.
“A Grain of Truth”
Speaking of cursed humans, Geralt encounters a man named Nivellen, whom a vengeful priestess had turned into a beast. Even more dangerous than Nivellen, though, is the company he keeps in his haunted manor…
“The Lesser Evil”
Geralt is torn between the conflicting stories of Stregobor, a mage from his past, and Renfri, Stregobor’s would-be assassin, who contends that the mage once tried to kill her for superstitious reasons. This storyline seems to be a lock for the TV series: Lars Mikkelsen has been cast as Stregobor, and Emma Appleton will play Renfri (above).
“A Question of Price”
After an unlikely suitor arrives at the Cintra castle and declares his intention to marry the crown-princess—and then unmasks his true nature—a fight breaks out, the princess proves she’s a force to be reckoned with, and Geralt wins an important prize.
“The Edge of the World”
An elder enlists Geralt and his poet friend, Dandelion, are enlisted to combat a “deovel” irritating local villagers with its mischief. But the deovel, named Torque, turns out to be more friend than foe in a battle against a greater force. Amit Shah plays Torque in the Netflix series.
“The Last Wish”
The tempestuous relationship between Geralt and the sorceress Yennefer — played in the TV series by Anya Chalotra (above) — gets its origin story in this tale, in which a genies’ fulfillment of three wishes brings the duo together.
“The Voice of Reason”
Geralt, wounded by the striga, recounts the stories above as he recovers in a temple. A priestess at the temple has Geralt partake in a trance which shows him a vision of his future.
[Warning: The following contains potential spoilers for Season 1 of The Witcher, based on the book.]
Andrzej Sapkowski’s book series The Witcher, which has already inspired a hit succession of video games, is getting the small-screen treatment.
The eight-episode first season of The Witcher, which Netflix calls an “epic tale of fate and family,” debuts on December 20, and the streaming giant has already renewed the series for a second season.
In the show, Justice League’s Henry Cavill plays Geralt of Rivia, “a solitary monster hunter” who “struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts.”
“But when destiny hurtles him toward a powerful sorceress, and a young princess with a dangerous secret, the three must learn to navigate the increasingly volatile Continent together,” Netflix teases.
In an interview with ComicBook.com, executive producer Tomek Bagiński revealed the first season will cover some—but not all—of the first book in the series, The Last Wish. That book features six short stories connected by an intertwined frame story— all of which are described, without major spoilers, in the gallery above.
The Witcher, Series Premiere, Friday, December 20, Netflix
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