The Witcher showrunner explains why she expanded the parts of Ciri and Yennefer

It’s the season of the witcher. Netflix’s adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy novels finally has a release date — December 20 — plus a shiny new trailer, debuted at the Lucca Comics & Games convention in Italy. Check it out:

Also present at the convention are showrunner Lauren Hissrich, and stars Freya Allan (Ciri) and Anya Chalotra (Yennefer). The three of them sat down for a panel discussion duly reported by Redanian Intelligence. Hissrich kicked things off by explaining why she decided to beef up the roles for Ciri and Yennefer, who in the books don’t become vital parts of the story until later on. “Adapting the books was daunting,” Hissrich said. “I wanted the audience to meet Yennefer and Ciri much earlier than season 2 or 3.”

Yennefer, for those just joining us, is a powerful sorceress and the love of main character Geralt of Rivia’s (Henry Cavill) life. Sapkowski’s series is a little unorthodox in that the first two books in the series — The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny — are better descried as collections of short stories than novels. All of the stories follow Geralt, with the perspective only broadening to characters like Ciri and Yennefer when the saga proper gets underway in Blood of Elves. So far as I can tell, the first season of the show will adapt Wish and Sword, but with Ciri and Yen given more equal footing with Geralt. “We wanted the audience to experience Yennefer’s childhood with her,” Hissrich said. “We focus on her backstory and look at how she discovers her powers. She is in a constant battle with herself. We watch her become one of the most powerful sorceresses on the Continent.”

"It’s a surprise for fantasy that there are so many strong female characters. But for me it wasn’t about creating strong women, it was about creating strong characters. There are different kinds of strengths: Geralt wields two swords, while Yennefer’s strength comes from a place of pain."

For her part, Chalotra is fully on board with giving Yennefer a meatier role early on. “There are many strong characters in Andrzej’s books. Yen is one of them. She is unafraid and unapologetic. Independent and empowered and confident in her body.” If you’ve read the books, you know what a force of nature Yen is, and I’m very much looking forward to how Chalotra interprets her onscreen.

While Yen comes into the book series already a badass, we watch Ciri goes from precocious orphaned princess to confident witcher-in-training over the course of the series. The show will take us further back into her past than the books did. “Ciri has always lived inside of a bubble,” Allan said. “She has always been naive towards this world. But when she is sent into this world she learns how hard and cruel it is.”

For the show, Hissrich and company invented a new character named Dara, someone for Ciri to talk to after her life is violently upended. “When Ciri meets Dara, he becomes a massive part of her journey,” said Allan. “He offers her a perspective on life, what she missed out on as she grew up in her bubble in Cintra. They connect and become a good team and help each other a huge amount.”

Image: Netflix/The Witcher

Hissrich wrapped things up by talking about the themes of the show, which she hopes will reflect the themes of the novel. “The show has something for everyone,” she said. “It is all about the characters. We were interested in exploring [the theme] that humans are their own worst enemies. You can find connections to our own world in the show. There is no good or evil. The audience can maybe learn a little empathy [after watching the show].”

Overall, I’m pretty happy about what I’m hearing, and with Allan and Chalotra. There was some controversy at the start of the casting process, but both of them look up to the job. “Casting was difficult because the world already knows and loves these characters,” Hissrich said. “During casting, I was looking for soul and spirit – not for the same hair colors.”

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Anyway, by expanding the parts for Ciri and Yennefer, it sounds like Hissrich has successfully brought the first two books more in line with the next batch, so the show will be more of a whole. Of course, we’ll have to wait until December 20 to see if it all works in practice as well as it does in theory.

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