The Witcher’s second season dropped just in time for Christmas in 2022 and now it’s been over a year you’re probably wondering when we can expect Season 3.
Things on the new season of The Witcher are moving right along we have a few hints about Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer’s next adventure.
Here’s what we know so far about Henry Cavill’s return as Geralt in Season 3 (which also happens to be his last).
What story will Season 3 cover?
Netflix’s The Witcher has stuck fairly closely to its book counterparts. The first season of the show covered the events of The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny while Season 2 took us through the first book in the main saga, Blood of Elves.
Season 3 will be tackling Andrzej Sapkowski’s next novel Time of Contempt. When we spoke to The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich last year she said that the show would be “sticking very closely to the books” in season 3.
“[Time of Contempt] has such fan-favourite moments. You’ve got the Thanedd coup, you’ve got Ciri in the Korath desert, you have Codringher and Fenn and Geralt, you get to know the kingdom of Nilfgaard a bit better, you meet the Scoia’tael,” Hissrich said.
@lifehackerau Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich says The Witcher season 3 is a close adaptation of the books. #thewitcher #netflix #tvshows
Those who have read Sapkowski’s Witcher novels likely know what is coming but Netflix’s show has been known to change things up a little bit.
Netflix revealed a little bit more about season 3 of The Witcher with the first synopsis, which reads:
As monarchs, mages and beasts of the Continent compete to capture her, Geralt takes Ciri of Cintra into hiding, determined to protect his newly reunited family against those who threaten to destroy it. Entrusted with Ciri’s magical training, Yennefer leads them to the protected fortress of Aretuza, where she hopes to discover more about the girl’s untapped powers; instead, they discover they’ve landed in a battlefield of political corruption, dark magic and treachery. They must fight back, put everything on the line — or risk losing each other forever.
As expected, it seems Season 3 will dive even more into Ciri’s destiny and her attempts to understand and control her powers.
The end of Season 2 (spoiler alert) also revealed that Ciri’s father is alive and is in fact Emhyr, aka the White Flame and the Emperor of Nilfgaard.
Another big bad who wants their hands on Ciri is the infamous Wild Hunt who made their first on-screen appearance at the end of Season 2. Expect to learn more about them as we head into the next season.
you know them. you love them. you finally saw the Wild Hunt in THE WITCHER Season 2
here’s how The Witcher team brought them to life (and how they’ll connect to THE WITCHER: BLOOD ORIGIN) pic.twitter.com/zZ9XG4STYS
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) December 30, 2021
As for Geralt and Yennefer, they have some work to do after Yen’s betrayal in Season 2.
The sorceress essentially sold Ciri out to Voleth Meir to get her powers back which resulted in a lot of bloodshed at Kaer Morhen. Season 2 may have seen the trio united as a happy family but it doesn’t look like that’s going to last in Season 3.
Henry Cavill and Anya Chalotra spoke more about Yen and Geralt’s relationship moving forward in Netflix Geeked’s The Witcher: Unlocked, with Cavill saying “it’s a fairly extreme set of circumstances to come back from.”
Season 3 Trailers
You can get a preview of the new season of The Witcher in the first teaser trailer. It’s all pretty blink-and-you’ll-miss-it but we do see Ciri being chased by the spectral Wild Hunt, Jaskier being threatened by the sorceress Philippa, and we catch a glimpse of the return of fire mage Rience.
Geralt can also be heard saying “Now, for the first time, I understand real fear.” That can’t be good.
The Witcher Season 3: Cast
As for cast, major leads like Henry Cavill, Freya Allan and Anya Chalotra are set to return as the trio of Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer. Joey Batey’s Jaskier is also likely to sing his way onto the screen again.
The door is open for the surviving witchers like Kim Bodnia’s Vesmir, Paul Bullion’s Lambert and Yasen Atour’s Coen to return and other series regulars like Mimi Ndiweni’s Fringilla, Eamon Farren’s Cahir and Anna Shaffer’s Triss are all likely to come back. Rience is also back this season but will not be played by Sam Woolf.
Some last-minute reveals in Season 2 also promise a few new and returning faces in season 3. Most notable is Bart Edwards‘ return as Duny/Emhyr. Cassie Clare also appeared towards the end of the series as the sorceress Philippa Eilhart, who will no doubt have a larger role in Season 3.
Favourites Codringher (Simon Callow) and Fenn (Liz Carr) showed up briefly in Season 2 but we’ll see more of them next season.
As for new cast members there will be a few of them in the next season.
Netflix announced that Robbie Amell (Upload) would be joining the show as Gallatin, an elven fighter who leads an army of the Scoia’tael to fight for Nilfgaard. Meng’er Zhang (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) is also joining season 3 as Milva, a fierce human huntress adopted by the dryads of Brokilon Forest.
Hugh Skinner (Fleabag) is another newcomer to the show playing Prince Radovid – the younger brother of King Vizimir – and Christelle Elwin (Bloods) will play Mistle, a member of the misfit teenage gang known as The Rats.
Redanian Intelligence reported the addition of six new cast members, including Ryan Hayes as the mage Artaud Terranova and Michalina Olszanska as another unnamed mage. Kate Winter has been cast as Putney and Martyn Ellis as Barker along with Harvey Quinn and Poppy Almond in unknown roles.
Netflix also confirmed that the episodes in Season 3 would be directed by Stephen Surjik, Gandja Monteiro, Loni Peristere and Bola Ogun.
The Witcher Season 3: Release Date
On April 5, 2022, Netflix confirmed that filming on season 3 of The Witcher had begun. They even proved it with this behind-the-scenes picture of our three leads on a very snowy set.
Our family is back together again. #TheWitcher Season 3 is officially in production! pic.twitter.com/rlBl0j3lT1
— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) April 4, 2022
It’s been quite a gap between season at this point, but we did get The Witcher prequel Blood Origin on Netflix last Christmas.
Now finally we know when new episodes of The Witcher will arrive with Netflix confirming Season 3 will be split into two parts, with both releasing this winter. Volume 1 of Season 3 will release on June 29 and Vol. 2 will release a few weeks later on July 27.
While you wait you can pass the time with this list of shows that are similar to The Witcher.
Will this be the last season of The Witcher?
The Witcher has been one of Netflix’s most successful shows to date, and with plenty more books in the series still to cover, it would be surprising if another season wasn’t planned.
Netflix delivered us a double-edged sword in October, revealing that The Witcher has indeed been renewed for season 4, but it comes at a cost.
It’s official: The Witcher is returning for Season 4, and Henry Cavill will be handing his swords to Liam Hemsworth as the new Geralt of Rivia after Season 3. Welcome to the Witcher family, @LiamHemsworth!
Read more: https://t.co/ABQMdqkzXX pic.twitter.com/xyIaRBbiRT
— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) October 29, 2022
Lead actor Henry Cavill is departing the show after season 3, with Aussie actor Liam Hemsworth set to take over the role of Geralt.
Cavill is basically made for the role of Geralt, so this is a tough pill to swallow. It just means we’ll have to appreciate his performance even more in season 3 of The Witcher, because it will be the last time.
This article has been updated with additional information.
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