The new witchers start filming their scenes for season 2

Netflix scored big last year with The Witcher, and they’re already trying to give us more of what we want with a second season. The new episodes will adapt Blood of Elves, the second book in Andrzej Sapkowski’s novel series. And it looks like some of those early scenes are already getting shot. (Minor SPOILERS follow.)

The last thing that happened on The Witcher was Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) meeting up with Princess Cirilla (Freya Allan), something we’d be waiting at least half the season to see. If the show follows the books, Geralt will take Ciri back to Kaer Morhen, the witchers’ keep, where he’ll train her to be a professional monster hunter like him.

But he won’t do it alone. There are several witchers at Kaer Morhen, and all of them have a hand in getting Ciri up on her witching game. We already know that Netflix cast a lot of them. Now, it looks like work has begun:

Image: Thue Rasmussen’s Instagram

This is an image from actor Thue Rasmussen’s Instagram Stories account. He’s playing the witcher Eskel, an old friend of Geralt’s. With a trailer on set, clearly things are getting real.

Rasmussen also posted some pictures of himself working with Game of Thrones prosthetics genius Barrie Gower, who made a full-body cast of the actor. Why does Eskel need a full-body cast? We don’t know, but it sure does make for some interesting visuals:

Rasmussen’s colleagues aren’t being quite as explicit about their involvement in the shoot as he is, but they’re still teasing what they can. Paul Bullion, who plays the witcher Lambert, has been posting videos showing off his sword-fighting skills:

Lambert is the youngest of the witchers. He’s got a bit of an attitude and come off as rude, which should be fun for Bullion to play.

Then there’s Yasen Atour, who’s playing the witcher Coën:

And finally, Killing Eve veteran Kim Bodnia is playing Vesemir, the oldest witcher at Kaer Morhen and Geralt’s mentor.

The lot of them will help train Ciri. The only question is when we’ll get to see them do it. Showrunner Lauren Hissrich doesn’t think it’ll drop until 2021, but filming is getting underway pretty early in the year. I know the show involves a lot of special effects and such, but we can dare to hope?

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 09: Natalie Dormer attends the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images)

It’s possible the show isn’t done with casting, at least not if you stop by the rumor mill, which we do. According to fansite Redanian Intelligence, The Witcher may be making room for Game of Thrones veteran Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell). A couple of weeks back, a crew member posted a picture of her riding a horse in Surrey, near a season 2 filming location.

Netflix has already announced the names of several actors joining the cast for season 2, including fellow Thrones vet Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane) coming on board as Nivellen, a man-beast who will figure prominently in the season premiere. But Dormer’s name was not on that list, and it’s hard to think of a role big enough for her to play that hasn’t already been filled. As Redanian Intelligence points out, she could be a good fit for the sorceress Philippa Eilhart, but it’s not clear if that character will be introduced in season 2, or if she’s been cut entirely. She could also play Queen Meve of Lyria and Rivia.

Or perhaps, like Hivju, she could play a standalone part important to one episode but not to the series as a whole. Or she’s not part of the cast at all and we’re letting our imaginations run away with us. Whatever works.

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h/t Redanian Intelligence