The Witcher season 2: release date details, story, and what we know

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The Witcher season 2: release date details, story, and what we know

The Witcher season 2 has a tentative release date of 2021 on Netflix

(Image credit: Katalin Vermes/Netflix)

 

The Witcher season 2 can't come to Netflix soon enough. The fantasy drama, starring Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, drew 76 million viewers for the streaming service during season one, and was the sixth most-watched Netflix show of 2019 after less than a month. Next season, expect more monster hunting, political machinations and all-out war. 

 

It hasn't been hard to find new details about The Witcher season 2 in 2020. Every week there seems to be some extra information about what's to come, whether it's from interviews with creator Lauren Hissrich, or even social media posts. The most important thing is this, though: The Witcher season 2 is officially confirmed, and filming begins in February 2020. 

 

The writers have no shortage of source material to draw from for this second year, since season one only took inspiration from the first two short story collections. That means there are still multiple novels to mine, with each featuring exciting folklore-inspired fantasy tales. Based on that, we can predict some of season 2's story beats already. 

 

Below, we've rounded up everything we know about The Witcher season 2 so far, including the expected release date. 

The Witcher season 2 release date: 2021

(Image credit: Netflix)

Cutting to the chase, the closest actual date for release and airing we have is '2021'. This was reported by Variety but was also confirmed by writer Lauren S. Hissrich during a Reddit AMA, who said, "We don't yet have a target launch date for season 2, past 2021." It's not a great deal to go on, but it guarantees there'll be more than a year's wait between seasons. Our best guess is we'll see it in early 2021. 

 

The Witcher season 2 was announced on November 13, around six weeks before the first season aired. This usually means the network or streaming service really likes what it sees, and is keen to get moving on more episodes with the same cast and crew. 

 

Season 2 is filming beginning in February 2020, according to a Reddit post. Geralt of Rivia himself, Henry Cavill, discussed his imminent return to the role in this video from early January:

 

If you can't wait for season 2, it's rumored that an animated movie is in the works at Netflix called The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, written by Beau DeMayo (who scripted episode 3 of season one). We'll update you if it turns out to be real. So far it's only been listed on the Writers Guild of America's database. 

The Witcher season 2 story: what happens next, according to the books

Mild spoilers for The Witcher books follow, including possible details of later seasons.

 

A big talking point of season one was how it told stories in multiple places and across a non-linear timeline (though the now-released official Witcher map and Witcher timeline really help) resulting in a multi-tale anthology of sorts. However, season one's climax brought all the separate threads together nicely, priming The Witcher season 2 for a more straightforward plot. 

 

This was outlined by Hissrich in an interview with GamesRadar, where she revealed that season 2's story would be "...much more focused. There's a stronger drive in the story, because all of the relationships that we've been setting up in season one, actually start to come into fruition in season two...all of those building blocks that we set up for the world, finally start to come together into something a little more concrete." 

 

This 'more concrete' element is Ciri's story, as discussed by Hissrich in an interview with Redmania Intelligence, where she said that Ciri will be "center stage" in season 2.

 

But what is Ciri's story? In the books, Ciri's story makes up the central plot of 'the saga'. The saga covers five books, starting with Blood of Elves, and centers on Ciri, her importance as a magical royal with Elven heritage, her relationship with Geralt, her ongoing efforts to survive, and how all this shapes events on The Continent. 

(Image credit: Netflix)

The setup for this has already begun, as the very beginning of Blood of Elves is covered in season one by the siege and downfall of Cintra and Ciri's escape. Elsewhere, expect to see more of life under Nilfgaardian rule in season 2, and high tensions between humans and non-humans. 

 

The grand location of Kaer Morhen should appear prominently in The Witcher season 2 as well. This is the ancestral home and stronghold of the Witchers, and Geralt is required to take Ciri to the fortress for protection and training. Here, he takes closer guardianship of Ciri, becoming a father figure. Factor in the appearance of a mysterious, powerful wizard - also pursuing Ciri - some more war, prophecies, dark magic and, of course, monster hunting, and season 2 begins to look incredibly promising. 

 

In terms of story specifics, Redvania Intelligence claims that another short story from The Last Wish will appear, perhaps woven into the more linear main arc. This short story, A Grain of Truth, features Geralt meeting a cursed man called Nivellen who has been turned into a beast. 

The Witcher could run for seven seasons on Netflix

 

 

(Image credit: Netflix)

The Witcher could run on Netflix for a long time. Speaking to SFX, Hissrich claims to have thought out ideas for a massive seven seasons. And we're pretty certain there's enough source material left for that to be viable. 

 

We've got the entirty of Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer's stories to play out. It takes them across The Continent to a rich variety of locations, and introduces us to some of the best fantasy characters around. Ciri's development is a great basis for future tales in The Witcher universe that combine themes of family and love, and mystery and magic. 

 

She and Yennefer get separated from Geralt during the saga, and his attempts to reunite with them form a gripping part of the story. This journey takes him across the Continent and introduces him to plenty of interesting new places and characters. Then there's the important role of the Wild Hunt: a group of elven warriors who raid other worlds for slaves. Their introduction could really ramp up the peril in the pursuit of Ciri.

The Witcher feels like it's here to stay on Netflix

 

The first season of The Witcher shrugged off the idea that it was just here to replace Game of Thrones. It confidently told stories in its own way and presented a fantasy world that has already captures people's imaginations. And, while we are unlikely to see much spillover from the games - they are not really canon according to Sapkowski but rather a "free adaptation containing elements of [his] work" - we know fans will enjoy various subtle references to the series, as they did in season one. 

 

Hissrich and company aren't in the business of rushing this out. Hissrich said that the series would need time: "We don't want to rush the product. That doesn't benefit anyone." If it's as good as season one, it'll be worth the wait. 

 

If it'll help pass the time, you can finally listen to the official version of 'Toss a Coin to your Witcher' on Spotify. 

 

 

Source: The Witcher season 2: release date details, story, and what we know (TechRadar)