The Witcher as Netflix series Nerderlei

<p>Like many other fans of fantastic and mystical stories, I have repeatedly entered the world of the sorcerer Geralt von Riva, contesting numerous adventures at his side and meeting many of his friends and acquaintances and closing them to the heart. The stories about the sympathetic monster hunter The Witcher from Eastern Europe (Poland) began in 1990 as a short story, then in 1994 as a series of novels, were used in 2007 as a basis for the opening of a total of 3 ingenious RPG games and also in some graphic novels Comics processed. The short stories were even made into a film by Polish director Marek Brodzki in 2001 and released as a TV series.</p>

<p>Now Netflix, too, wants to contribute its version of the sorcerer in series format to the rich smorgasbord of the various interpretations.</p>

<h2>For newcomers: What should you know about "The Witcher"</h2>

<p>If you don't know the games or the books yet, but who want to get all the information about the world of the sorcerer in detail before the Witcher series, an excellent summary of all the books of the Pentalogy of the Witcher saga by Andrzej Sapkowski is suggested. This summary comes from the YouT<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5aGk0-P9teZ-jFvfW4iv1w" target="_blank">ube channel Modie,</a> which really knows how to tone the story in a meaningful way and to tell it exciting. Within just 2 hours, you have internalized the entire pentalogy.</p>

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<p>I can also recommend the official sorcerer wiki. Here you'll find pretty much everything you can possibly know about the books and games. Really highly recommended: h<a href="https://hexer.gamepedia.com/Hauptseite" target="_blank">ttps://hexer.gamepedia.com/Hauptseite</a></p>

<p>But if you want to have it even shorter and can do without a few details, here is the absolute short version:</p>

<h2>The Nerderlei introductory crash course for Witcher newcomers in 4 acts ...</h2>

<h3>1. What is a sorcerer anyway?</h3>

<p>A sorcerer is a human being, exclusively male, who underwent a so-called herbal sample as a boy. As a result, his body mutates and is equipped to fight monsters. Many do not survive this procedure, but if so, they are subsequently faster and stronger than ordinary people and rudimentary magically gifted, far less than a magician, but they can act so-called signs that are used more like a kind of superpower. The sorcerers are said to feel no more emotion due to the mutation and thus have shed all humanity. Geralt is the only sorcerer who can develop and show feelings. Sorcerers are also trained in witch schools after the herbal sample. In doing so, knowledge of any existing monsters is trained, but also their senses and reflexes are sharpened. One of these schools is the wolf school in the Kaer Morhen Witch Fortress in the Kingdom of Kaedwen. This school belongs to Geralt, which is why it is also called "the white wolf." Two other schools are mentioned in the books: Cat and Greif. More than their very existence, however, is not known in the books. In the comic "The Betrayal" by Maciej Parowski and Bogusław Polch, there is said to be talk of the cat school betraying wolf school and raiding Kaer Morhen. The comic is the only one in the comic series "Wiedzmin" is not based on a short story by Andrzej Sapkowski and has not yet been translated into German. Other schools are mentioned in the video games (Bear, Mantikor, Viper). The schools are recognizable by special medallions showing the head of their school's heraldic animal. In the games, each school also has a special armor designed for its capabilities. Sorcerers are usually hired to fight monsters and paid for their craft, but even so, they are shunned and their craft is considered frowned upon. They carry two swords: Silver for monsters and steel for everything else e.g. Hosty-minded people.</p>

<h3>2. What kind of world does our sorcerer live in?</h3>

<p>Set in a medieval setting, the world is set in a fictional 13. Century. The kingdoms of the people are more or less divided and wage wars against each other, depending on the time in which the series "The Witcher" will play. Among other things, The following camps are particularly important: Nilfgaard, Redanien Temeries, Cintra. This does not mean that groups of so-called Anderlings (elves, dwarves, gnomes, haltrids, dryads) rise up against humans. They are called Scoia 'tael or squirrels. The people of this world discriminate against Anderlings and see themselves as higher value creatures. Anderlings are often persecuted, discriminated against and partially burned at pyres (such as In the third part of the video game). The Scoia 'tael are, so to speak, the radicalized counter-movement. Sorcerers see themselves as neutral and do not take sides for any of the camps, so stay out of any wars as best they can.</p>

<h3>3. What kind of monsters do sorcerers usually face?</h3>

<p>In the world of "The Witcher" there are many different monsters at home, mostly based on Eastern European myths and legends. But there are also classical creatures represented such as werewolves, vampires, zombies, Wyvern, griffles, dragons. Geralt has developed a code that says that he only kills monsters that kill others, for example. Want to harm people and there is no alternative way to dissuade them from doing so. Peaceful monsters (yes, they also exist) he spared, including, for example, Dragon. Because dragons in this world are actually peace-loving, intelligent, magical beings who are hunted down and slaughtered by humans simply because they satisfy their hunger for goats, sheep or cows. Trolls are also often depicted peacefully. They live sealed off and are rather simply in spirit and basically peaceful, but they tend to cook human soup when the opportunity presents itself to them, that is, people invade their territory. At least in the games, Geralt prefers to give himself a battle of words than a fight with these mentally poor beings and try to dissuade them from their project in words. Often sorcerers are also confused with mercenaries or even contract slillers, and so it may be that a sorcerer gets to an order that says to eliminate an unpleasant person or Anderling. Such a thing, of course, also violates Geralt's code, but also the sorcerer code in general. In this way, they were created in order to protect the defenceless from the monsters and not to give an advantage to an individual. In addition, monsters can also arise in this world through curses, i.e. They are actually human or normal Anderlings and can't do anything for them murdering in the current guise or doing other bad things. Or the monster is foreign-controlled by a curse, for example. From a magician. With these creatures, Geralt also chooses to break the curse rather than fight off the monster indiscriminately. He categorically rejects orders that contradict his code. No such or similar code is known of other sorcerers.</p>

<h3>4. Which characters should you know besides Geralt?</h3>

<p>I will mention only the most important ones who have also been mentioned so far in the list of performers in the upcoming series and which I think you should know:</p>

<ul>
<li><strong>Yennefer:</strong> Very powerful magician, the great love of Geralt and mother figure for Ciri. As a person, she is very feisty and therefore rather difficult, often selfish and sometimes acts morally questionable, but she is a loyal friend who would also give her life to protect her loved one. She is to a quarter elf, which is why she possesses the body of a 20-year-old and the experience of a 94-year-old. The relationship between Geralt and Yennefer frequently pauses and experiences many ups and downs. One reason for this is their strong desire to have children. She suffers greatly from being infertile, as do many other sorceresses, and at first tries to remedy this "deficiency" in various ways, which she never succeeded in doing. But she finally finds in Ciri what she was looking for so long: A daughter, though not a physical one.</li>
<li><strong>Triss Merigol</strong>d: Also very powerful magician, best friend of Yennefer and unhappy in love with Geralt. She has already been able to maintain a love affair with Geralt in the relationship breaks between Geralt and Yennefer, but winning his heart she could never really, at least not in the books. In the game, e.g. In the third part the player can choose himself and also opt for Triss, in the second part there is only Triss. She is a passionate soul who always assists others and works predominantly as a healer and counsellor to kings. She is very adept at brewing magic potions, but is allergic to it herself and can only amplify her magic through amulets.</li>
<li><strong>Ciri:</strong> With a full name, she's called Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon and is a heiress to the throne and princess of Cintra. She is believed to have died but is the only survivor of royalty after the Cintra raid, in which half the city was burned down and all the rest of royalty killed. She has been on the run ever since. Most consider them dead, the others try to find them if necessary. To marry so that they reach the coveted throne of Cintra. For the Cintrians are somewhat peculiar to accept their rulers. They do not like it when strangers ascend the throne and would not accept any foreign as king. So the surrounding monarchs hope through a marriage with Ciri that they can make sufficient claim to the Cintrians people. She is also Geralt's promised "surprise child" or "child of providence." Because Geralt redeemed Ciri's father from a curse, Geralt, according to the "law of surprise," demands what the father already owns but does not know he owns it. In this case, this was the as yet unborn Ciri, who her father was not yet aware of at the time. A common payment variant for the hexertrade, if the clients cannot pay any money, or as in this case, the sorcerer does not actually want a wage. Ciri is taken in by the sorcerers throughout the story and trained on Kaer Morhen without subjecting them to the herbal sample. So she can handle the sword from a young age. She possesses strong magical abilities that allow her to see into the future. People with this ability are called "source." It is first by Triss, then by Yennefer and others. Tauted in magic. Ciri builds a kind of mother-daughter relationship with Yennefer and a sibling relationship with Triss in the process.</li>
<li><strong>Knight spur (Jaskier)</strong>: Sayings victim, poet, world-famous bard and minstrel, womaniser, philanthropist and professor at the Academy of Oxenfurt. That's how you could describe Geralt's best friend. He is described as incomparably beautiful and often thought of as an elf. From time to time he also pretended to be a redanic secret agent.</li>
</ul>

<h2>The Witcher as Netflix series: The facts so far</h2>

<ul>
<li>Lauren Schmidt Hissrich (Daredevil, The Defenders) has written the script for the first season and will serve as showrunner.</li>
<li>The season will include a total of 8 one-hour episodes.</li>
<li>The film will be directed by Alik Sakharov (Game of Thrones) and Tomasz Baginski (among others). Cinematics for "The Witcher 3 – Wild Hunt," Oscar-nominated short film "The Cathedral").</li>
<li>However, the series will be based exclusively on the book template and will set the game series outside.</li>
<li>Series launch is believed to be late 20<a href="https://www.moviepilot.de/news/the-witcher-der-veroffentlichungszeitrau…; target="_blank">19 (https://www.moviepilot.de/news/the-witcher-der-veroffentlichungszeitrau…)</li>
<li>The filming location <a href="https://www.moviepilot.de/news/netflix-serie-the-witcher-wird-woanders-…; target="_blank">is Hungary (https://www.moviepilot.de/news/netflix-serie-the-witcher-wird-woanders-…)</li>
<li>Henry Cavill will portray the role of the charismatic monster hunter and sorcerer Geralt von Riva. First official test footage has already been released by Netflix in person.</li>
</ul>

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<ul>
<li>The rest of the cast with a total of 28 other performers is already known (most of them will only tell the connoisseurs among Witcher fans, but I still list them all):
<ul>
<li>Ciri: Freya Allan</li>
<li>Yennefer: Anya Chalotra</li>
<li>Jaskier (respectively Knight Spur or Dandelion): Joey Batey</li>
<li>Triss Merigold: Anna Shaffer</li>
<li>Fringilla Vigo: Mimi Ndiweni</li>
<li>Sabrina Glevissig: Therica Wilson-Read</li>
<li>Istredd: Royce Pierreson</li>
<li>Sir Lazlo: Maciej Musiał</li>
<li>Dara: Wilson Radjou-Pujalte</li>
<li>Danek: Tobi Bamtefa</li>
<li>Martin: Sonny Serkis</li>
<li>Fletcher: Roderick Hill</li>
<li>Tiffania: Charlotte O 'Leary</li>
<li>Stregobor: Lars Mikkelsen</li>
<li>Marilka: Rebecca Benson</li>
<li>Nohorn: Shane Attwooll</li>
<li>Vyr: Luke Neal</li>
<li>Nimir: Matthew Neal</li>
<li>Aridea: Inge Beckmann</li>
<li>Princess Renfri: Millie Brady</li>
<li>Eist Tuirseach: Björn Hlynur Haraldsson</li>
<li>Queen Calanthe (Ciri's grandmother): Jodhi May</li>
<li>Druid meutack: Adam Levy</li>
<li>Toruviel: Natasha Culzac</li>
<li>Filavandrel: Tom Canton</li>
<li>Torque: Amit Shah</li>
<li>Cahir: Eamon Farren</li>
<li>Tissaia de Vries: MyAnna Buring</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>So far, the cast list lacks other important characters who hold partly supporting roles in the books, but also in the games, or are important to the story. Connoisseurs of the template, will know who I mean. Whether some of these characters will emerge as temporary supporting actors is unlikely to clear until we have seen the series.</li>
<li>Since the 13.12.2018, two test footage videos have been used to go public, as Games<a href="https://www.gamestar.de/artikel/witcher-serie-erste-clips-aufgetaucht-w… reports</a>. The videos are from effect studio Torpedo Pictures, which was also responsible for the effects of the hit science fiction series The Expanse. They show, on the one hand, the fortress Kaer Morhen and, on the other hand, an attack on a village. Whether the videos are really scenes from the upcoming Witcher series or just very well made fakes, however, is still unclear. Neither Netflix nor Lauren Schmidt Hissrich have commented on the leaks so far.</li>
</ul>

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<p>That's actually quite a lot of info and details, but they still leave a lot of room for speculation. For example, the aforementioned character eatroll allows conclusions to be drawn about the underlying books and short stories. </p>

<h2>My speculation: How could the cast be distributed on the book template?</h2>

<p>13 of the 28 confirmed characters (besides Geralt) can be distributed at least to 3 short stories in the c<a href="https://hexer.gamepedia.com/Der_letzte_Wunsch" target="_blank">ollection "The L</a>ast Wish": "The lesser evil," "A Question of Price," "The Edge of the World."</p>

<p>That's why I think it's very likely that these stories will be theme in season one. In my opinion, it would also make perfect sense to orient oneself to this short story volume at the first season, because here, for example, here. It tells how Geralt and Ciri came together, how Ciri's parents met, how Geralt got to his unflattering epithet "the Butcher of Blaviken," etc. So the perfect prelude to the hunter saga. If so, of course, the locations would already be defined. However, some important roles would be missing, for example. Ciri's parents, Pavetta and Duny, which in turn would be against it, at least as far as the short story "A Question of Price" is concerned, which is primarily about Ciri's parents.</p>

<p>On the other hand, in the short story "The lesser Evil," which is set in Blaviken, I am very sure that it will be addressed because too many actors are mentioned here, who otherwise do not appear and otherwise have no meaning for the course of action. This short story is about Princess Renfri, who was born during or after an eclipse and is so reportedly under the curse of the black sun. This curse holds that the so cursed girls would herald the return of Lilith, a mythical being meant to doom the world, by mutating into bloodthirsty monsters. That's why Aridea, Princess Renfri's stepmother, decided to have her killed before something like this could happen. For this, she allied herself with the magician Stregobor, who also believed that Renfri was under this curse. But Renfri escaped her assassination attempts and smashed her way through the streets on her own as a little girl. Of course, she is desecrated and mistreated in the process, but grows, among other things. As a result, it becomes a serious warrior. Since then, she has been dying in revenge and gradually all members of her family are mysteriously dying, only the magician Stregobor survived. Renfri meanwhile commands the famously infamous Würger gang, some of whom appear in the cast list (Nohorn, Vyr, Nimir) and hunts down the magician with them. Under a false name, he holed up in Blaviken in a magician tower. But that, too, does not protect him. The gang has long since located him and besieged the tower. Geralt rather accidentally stumbles into this story as he is a monster – a sog. Kikimora – has been in the swamps off the city and now wants a reward for it. Unfortunately, the mayor of the city of Blaviken has to turn off the reward, but Geralt refers to the magician in his tower, the possibly. Use for the dead monster might have. But the sorcerer only tries to assert his own interests and convince the sorcerer to kill the gang of choes, which of course he does not, since he is not a contract killer. He tries to resolve the conflict peacefully, to talk to the individual parties and to convince them to refrain from revenge. At first he seems to succeed, but unfortunately it was only a feint and in the end everything ends in a terrible bloodbath, as a result Geralt had to kill all the members of the band of choirs and henceforth is considered the butcher of Blaviken.</p>

<p>Whether this story will be filmed either way, however, remains to be seen. Even though some cast members suggest this, ultimately these are just speculation and until the series kicks on to Netflix, we don't know anything about the story at all yet. So it's time to wait and stay tense.</p>

<h2>My fears: What could break the genius of the series "The Witcher"?</h2>

<p>The first concern, frankly, is less about the series per itself than much more militant fans who have a totally stalled idea of the characters and their world. These could ensure the series doesn't go ahead because the headwind might be too massive, although objectively the series would actually be good. I hate it when actually good series stop in the middle of a started action and let an then unfinished things hang just because the quota wasn't right. The series caused constant controversy from the very beginning, partly justified, in some cases hair was not only split, but also anointted. I'm just saying: Beard or not beard – that's actually not a question here, but often becomes a heated discussion.</p>

<p>What I do about it. The series itself would not be as apt if the series did not have a cohesive, overarching and atmospherically dense story, but that the heroes would have to succumbed one monster per episode, as with other monster hunter series. That wouldn't be timely, in my opinion, since Game of Thrones. But since they will presumably try to create a Game of Thrones successor, that concern will (hopefully) be unfounded.</p>

<p>Where we would be at my next concern: Everyone now desperately wants to get out on devil like the reference series badly. That could also make it look well-intentioned but poorly done. If it honks too much of the GOT concept of success, its own style could be lost. That would be a great pity indeed.</p>

<p>What I would also dislike would be a fantasy softporn where from time to time a monster is chased between numerous brothel visits ... This is to be feared because Geralt often likes to do bed sports in the book and in the game – with changing partners or sometimes in brothels. Since Game of Thrones attaches similar importance to carnal pleasure, I think that the first season of the series was also a little too much aligned with it. Ostensibly, broadcaster HBO also enjoys a more horizontal reputation. If this is counted as a concept of success and therefore copied, it is to be feared that a lot of skin will be seen this time as well. I just hope that this does not shift the focus unfavourably and hope that it stays with history itself.</p>

<p>Also misfired, I find a fantasy soap in which the triangular relationship between Geralt, Yennefer and Triss and the upbringing of Ciri as a quasi-family drama would be in the foreground – and occasionally a monster of his head would be released in passing if not Just knight spur would have to be saved from a spurned love. That would be pretty much the worst thing I can think of – right after the fantasy soft-porn.</p>

<p>Personally, however, I very much hope that they will not misuse it and create a series that will also do justice to the template. I hope that the actors, even if some may not fit the role at first glance, can still convincingly embody the characters. Sometimes a good spectacle can make up for the lack of external agreement. In any case, I am very much looking forward to the series and I am very excited to see what awaits us.</p>

<p>What do you mean? What could be the theme of the series? Are you looking forward to the series? Or are you afraid Netflix won't present our favorite witch in the best light? Write your hopes, fears and speculations to me in the comments.</p>

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