The Witcher season 2 begins filming ahead of schedule!

Rejoice, Witcher fans: Netflix has officially begun filming on the show’s second season! Per a report from fansite Redanian Intelligence, the show was originally set to begin filming next Monday, but shooting kicked off yesterday almost a week ahead of schedule, which happened with season 1 as well.

When last we left our heroes — Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), and Ciri (Freya Allan) — they had narrowly avoided living through armies from the Nilfgaardian Empire taking over the whole of the Continent. But Nilfgaard isn’t done. In fact, Redanian Intelligence snagged this shot of an extra in a Nilfgaardian uniform from a season 2 costume fitting:

Apparently, the first scenes shot for the new seasons will involve Nilfgaard and will be part of Yennefer’s storyline. Producers have promised that the Nilfgaardian armor will look different in season 2, but for now, it appears to be the same texture/pattern we saw in season 1. Maybe we’ll see a few soldiers who survived the Battle of Sodden at the top of the season, and then see Nilfgaard come back with a new look later on?

Anyway, Redanian Intelligence has also learned that actor/singer Mike Wood has been cast as a Nilfgaardian soldier, although the tweet from AB Castings & Management has since been deleted, which we’ve decided to take as proof that it’s true and shared too soon.

Woods is not the only confirmed casting. Carmel Laniado has been confirmed to join the cast as the mysterious Violet, and rumors continue to swirl that Game of Thrones veteran Kristofer Hivju will come on board as well. Plot wise, we know season 2 will adapt author Andrzej Sapkowski’s novel Blood of Elves, which means that Ciri will likely train to be a witcher at Kaer Morhen, the witcher’s keep. That’s certainly the feeling we’re getting from Freya Allan’s Instagram anyway:

"training at Kaer Morhen feat. CIRI from netflixwitcher"

Filming is set to take roughly five months, which theoretically means we could be watching season 2 by the end of the year, although showrunner Lauren Hissrich doesn’t think we’ll see it until 2021.

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