The Witcher show on Netflix is a hit. While the series is based on the books, there are lots of iconic moments and characters we’d love to see onscreen:
When it comes to mega fantasy franchises that have spanned multiple mediums, there really isn’t anything quite like The Witcher. When Andrzej Sapkowski began publishing the tales of professional monster hunter Geralt of Rivia in the Polish science fiction and fantasy magazine Fantastyka in 1986, the titular Witcher quickly took the country’s fantasy scene by storm. The short stories, which have since been gathered together into two volumes, garnered such a strong following that Sapkowski went on to write five full length novels that told the complete tale of Geralt, his on-again-off-again sorceress lover Yennefer of Vengerberg, and their adoptive child Ciri.
The final novel of the original saga, The Lady of the Lake, was published in 1999. It marked the end of an era. The Witcher has been hailed as Poland’s A Song of Ice and Fire, and the moniker is well-earned.
But the end of the books wasn’t the end for Geralt and company. Two years earlier, Polish video game company CD Projekt Red acquired the rights to make video games based on the Witcher’s adventures. It was a risky proposition: video game adaptations from other mediums are rarely successful. But in 2007, CD Projekt finally released its reimagining of Geralt’s story. While the first game had a cult following, by the time The Witcher III: Wild Hunt was released in 2015, Geralt and his companions had overtaken the gaming world in much the same way they had the Polish literary world almost three decades earlier.
One of the most interesting things about the Witcher games is that, rather than directly adapt the plot of the books, they serve as both a reimagining and a sequel set five years later. They do take some plot elements from the books and recreate them as a way to honor the source material, but the majority of the games consist of new stories, with new arcs for the characters. There are new monsters, new morally gray situations, and lots of new character development.
And on top of that, they’re just incredibly well-created games. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the third Witcher game did for the Western role-playing games what A Game of Thrones did for television. It was a massive hit unlike almost anything that had come before it, earning more than 800 awards and spawning several “clones” that tried to follow in its footsteps.
Now, with Netflix already having put out one season of a Witcher TV show, Geralt of Rivia is poised to take over the television world as well. And while the series is more of a direct adaptation of the books, it’s also doing some interesting things — like its multiple timelines and it showing us what happened at the Battle of Sodden — to set itself apart.
Wouldn’t it be cool to see it pull in elements from the games as well? There are some moments and characters from the video games that are every bit as iconic as anything in the books, and we know exactly which ones we want to see onscreen:
1. More Witchers
For the most part, Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels strictly follow the tale of Geralt as the story’s sole Witcher. While we do get to spend a little time with Vesemir, Eskel, Lamert and Coen — the other Witchers of the Wolf School, which Geralt belongs to — by and large we only get passing references to other witchers throughout the series.
The games are a totally different story.
Sapkowski’s books had three “schools” — Wolf, Cat and Griffin. The games took things a step farther and added more, like the School of the Viper and the School of the Bear. Over the course of the three games, Geralt has run-ins with more than a few other Witchers of different stripes. Usually they’re part of short side stories that highlight injustices in the world, or how the abuse of power can drive warriors of an otherwise honorable caste to do some less than honorable things.
In one instance, Geralt meets a Witcher who, after a stint murdering people as part of a criminal gang, retires to the city of Novigrad and adopts a human family…and uses them as a moral shield to try and avoid justice for his past violence. In another, Geralt comes across a village that has been massacred by a Witcher. While the case seems cut and dry, in the end it turns out that the villagers tried to stab that Witcher in the back rather than pay him, and he lost control.
The games are absolutely fantastic at portraying the ambiguity that suffuses the books, with the other Witchers providing plenty of it. Seeing how others have walked — or gone astray of — the same path as Geralt encourages us to reexamine his choices.
As Geralt tells the Cat School Witcher in the video above, “They call me the Butcher of Blaviken, for good reason. Sometimes…sometimes heads just roll.”
2. Letho of Gulet
Of all the Witchers Geralt encounters throughout his journey in the video games, few leave as big a mark as Letho of Gulet. One of the main antagonists of The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings, Letho was hired by the Emperor of Nilfgaard to murder the rulers of the Northern Kingdoms, thus softening them up for a second invasion. In typical Witcher fashion, Geralt ends up framed for one of Letho’s assassinations, and then has to clear his name and hunt down the other Witcher to stop the killings.
This Witcher of the Viper School is built like a ton of bricks, has a bleak attitude and a southern drawl. He pretty much oozes personality whenever he’s onscreen.
Over the course of the second Witcher game, you find out that Letho isn’t really evil — he was hired on the promise that after he’d carried out the required assassinations, the Nilfgaardian Empire would help him reestablish the obscure School of the Viper and begin training new Witchers again. Alas, any deal done with Nilfgaard in this series is one not to be counted on. The southern empire aids in the hunt to kill him, hoping to tie up loose ends before its treachery is discovered.
Letho could work well in the Netflix show. While everything with the assassinations happens during a second conflict with Nilfgaard (an invention of the games), there’s no reason the show couldn’t take Letho and just insert him into the first war. The idea of assassinating northern kings to pave the way for Nilfgaard’s army is very much in line with the book series. In fact, in the novels, Nilfgaard’s invasion of the north is made easier by the assassination of a few rulers, so the show could bring Letho into that plotline relatively seamlessly.
3. The Dangerous Political Climate of Novigrad
The Witcher novels are known for illustrating the dark roads that prejudice and fear can bring people down, and the games do a tremendous job of honoring that theme. Nowhere is this clearer than in the free city of Novigrad, where by the events of third game a group of religious fanatics have taken over and started burning anyone who can use magic at the stake.
But it doesn’t stop there. Depending on the player’s choices, the political climate of Novigrad worsens to the point that by the end of the game, the zealots are burning non-humans like elves, dwarves, and halflings as well. Walking into Novigrad, there are lines of people held up at the gates, being interrogated by soldiers before they’re allowed into the city. It is…dark.
We don’t see a whole lot of Novigrad in the books, but it’s incredibly iconic to the games. It sits at the mouth of the Pontar River, making it an invaluable port of trade for basically the entirety of the known world. Its canals, packed thoroughfares and bustling marketplaces remind us of King’s Landing, and it’s plagued by some of the same issues.
When it comes to bringing Novigrad’s worsening political climate into the show, Netflix would have plenty of options. Maybe it could extend the few times we do see it in the books, or add in stories where our characters visit. However it’s done, the writers could use what’s happening in Novigrad to get at some difficult issues, and add a lot of depth to the show’s world.
4. The Reign and Ruin of King Radovid
You can’t talk about the political situation of Novigrad without also talking about King Radovid V. Radovid is the ruler of the Northern Kingdom of Redania, and he is one sadistic customer. Paranoia, ruthlessness, oppression…all the qualities you would typically associate with an awful ruler, Radovid has in spades.
Unfortunately, he’s also a brilliant tactician. He constantly outmaneuvers the Nilfgaardian invaders, to the point that Redania ends up being one of the last Northern Kingdoms to resist being conquered. He also stokes fires of unrest in Redania and Novigrad and is largely responsible for the purging of mages in those places.
Radovid has a huge role in the games, all the way up to near the end of The Witcher III where Geralt has the option to help several other characters assassinate him in order to put a stop to the bloodshed. Of all the memorable antagonists introduced in the video games, Radovid is near the top of the list.
In the novels, the King of Redania is Vizimir, Radovid’s father. Vizimir is assassinated while Radovid is still too young to rule, so after his death a regency council headed by the spy Dijkstra takes up the day-to-day ministrations of the country. The games continue that plotline, with Radovid eventually coming to rule Redania and sowing all sorts of discord.
The way I see it, there are two ways the show could incorporate Radovid. One would be to replace Vizimir with him — he is a much more memorable antagonist, and they do meet a relatively similar fate. The other (and better, in my biased opinion) way to go about it would be to age up Radovid so that after his father dies there’s more of a power struggle between him and Dijkstra, which leads into his dark reign.
5. Rock Trolls
It doesn’t need to be all doom and gloom all the time, right? In a story that revolves around a mutant monster hunter fighting injustices and creatures that prey on the weak, sometimes you just need to break for laughs. And few creatures provide comic relief like Rock Trolls.
Created specifically for the games, Rock Trolls are exactly what they sound like: big, heavy trolls with slabs of stone literally growing out of their skin. Geralt encounters them all over the world, and it’s pretty much a given that once one shambles on screen, shenanigans are about to ensue.
It helps that Geralt, sticking to his code of not killing creatures that aren’t actually a threat to humans, usually errs on the side of talking his way out of situations with Rock Trolls. The stony creatures have a very particular way of speaking and often don’t understand higher concepts (like, “Do you have a minute to talk”), so the misunderstandings and absurdity are always pretty funny to watch.
Of all the things on this list, I think Rock Trolls might be the one I’d root hardest for. There’s just something charming and ridiculous about them, and since they’re not really tied to any big plot points, they could easily be inserted as a flavor scene just about anywhere in the show’s plot. Geralt spends on awful lot of time traveling throughout the books. Who’s to say that one of those caves or mountains he has to traverse might not have a friendly rock troll living in it?
6. The Love Triangle
Like George R.R. Martin with A Song of Ice and Fire, Andrzej Sapkowski devotes a lot of attention to interpersonal relationships. Love, sex, and partnership are an integral part of the human experience, and they’re also a big part of The Witcher.
Yennefer has always been Geralt’s main love interest. While the novels only hint at the idea that Triss Merigold and Geralt had a romance at some distant point in the past, the games take a very different tack. When Geralt encounters Triss in the games, he’s essentially an amnesiac and doesn’t remember Yennefer at all. They begin a passionate relationship…before his memories come back to him, and Triss reveals the painful truth that he used to be madly in love with Yennefer.
By the end of the series, Geralt is torn between the two women. Since it’s a video game, the player can choose which one to romance. It’s easy to imagine how that love triangle could be played up for TV. After all, TV shows loves their complicated romances, right?
I’d even go so far as to say that the show has planted some seeds for this love triangle already, with Triss hinting that she was attracted to Geralt and getting shot down by Yennefer. Since Geralt and Triss will have plenty more scenes together in the coming seasons, I’d be willing to bet that we’ll see at least some of the elements of this complicated romantic situation surface.
7. Revoking the Last Wish
If Geralt ends up romancing Yennefer in the Witcher games, he receives a request from her that ties into the short story “The Last Wish” from the first book in Sapkowski’s series, adapted on the Netflix show in the episode “Bottled Appetites,” aka The One With The Genie. Unsure whether she and Geralt are attracted to one another solely because of the wish he once made to save her life, Yen decides to hunt out another djinn and make it remove the bond. Enlisting Geralt’s aid, the two set out on a sailing voyage around the Skellige Isles that allows them to reminisce about their past while searching out the magical creature.
Ultimately, they do find a djinn, and it does reverse the wish Geralt made so long ago to bond his fate to Yennefer’s. It’s a truly touching moment that is directly linked to the books. Considering that the Netflix series played up Yennefer getting mad at Geralt about using the wish to bind them together (in the books, she’s aware of it from the get-go and it’s actually part of what attracts her to Geralt), revisiting the wish makes a lot of sense.
The only catch to this one is that Geralt and Yen spend much of the book series separated. If Netflix were to adapt this story, the timing would be one of the trickier aspects to figure out.
8. Vesemir’s Death
Vesemir, the leader of the Wolf School Witchers, plays a much bigger role in the games than he does in the books. He has the air of a lovable old grandpa, the sort of guy who’s been at the Witchering trade longer than most characters of the series have been alive. He’s also Geralt’s mentor and occasional traveling companion, and he teaches Ciri the ways of Witchering when she comes to the castle of Kaer Morhen, the Witchers’ Keep, early in the book series. All of that is enough reason for the show take a closer look at him; it’d be a shame to underutilize have such a wonderful character.
And in the games, Vesemir has a heartbreaking death scene. It’s an event that never happens in the books (Vesemir is barely in them after Blood of Elves), but it stands out as one of the most epic moments of the video game series.
The old Witcher dies during a siege on Kaer Morhen that’s just about on par with “The Long Night” from Game of Thrones. Geralt and company make a stand here against the Wild Hunt — a group of powerful, bloodthirsty elven warriors — who have been chasing Ciri across the land. Vesemir’s death is the high point of the sequence. He’s the last man standing, defending Ciri until he’s brutally killed by one of the Hunt’s lieutenants. His death serves as the catalyst that causes Ciri’s Elder Blood powers to explode out of control, which forces the elves to retreat.
There’s also a pretty exciting vengeance plot that follows. It’s hard to imagine how the show would be able to execute a huge event like this — it would have to be near the end of the show, since that’s when the Wild Hunt will likely become relevant — but if showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich and her crew could pull it off? It would be one of the best moments of television since Arya shanked the Night King.
9. The Witcher Drinking Party
There’s a sweet moment in the middle of The Witcher III where Geralt finally arrives at Kaer Morhen and is reunited with his old buddies and fellow Witchers Eskel and Lambert, who have been cast in the show. In one of the game’s most surprising, feel-good sequences, the three Witchers and Yennefer decide to stay up and drink rounds together, catching up about all their adventures.
The real shenanigans, however, start once Yen heads up to bed and leaves the boys to their own devices. The more rounds are poured, the more hilarious the dialogue becomes. We get a new look at these hardened warriors as they let their walls down during a night of revelry. Cards are played. Lambert throws on an old hat and drunkenly proclaims himself “Papa Vesemir.” Eskel goes to get more drinks and ends up passing out face down on the lawn.
It all culminates with the three Witchers deciding it’s a great idea to go up to Yen’s tower workshop, dress in her clothes, and try to prank call the Sorceress’ Lodge with her megascope.
You seriously can’t make this stuff up. It’s one of the most heartwarming and fun moments in the entire game series. Luckily for us, it’s also the type of character-building scene that could be easily inserted into the show, since all the Witchers do spend a period of time at Kaer Morhen together early in the series.
Fingers crossed for this one!
10. Geralt and Yen’s Retirement
The final novel of Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher Saga, The Lady of the Lake, ends on a somewhat ambiguous note, leaving it up to the reader whether Geralt and Yennefer survive the climactic events of the series. It’s a beautiful, powerful ending, and it would be a great way to close out Netflix’s series.
But on the other hand…
CD Projekt Red’s video games depend on the idea that Geralt and Yen did survive the events of The Lady of the Lake; otherwise they couldn’t go on to have new adventures. The games give these characters an ending that’s less ambiguous, and much happier.
Enter Toussaint, the fairy tale duchy where knights errant roam the land in pursuit of glory and winemakers compete for the best batch of grapes. Both the final chapter of the video games (the Blood and Wine expansion) and Sapkowski’s last novel feature Toussaint pretty heavily. It’s a location beloved among fans, largely because, unlike so many other places in the world of The Witcher, it’s bright and lively and fun. The people of Toussaint love Geralt and his Witchering ways. He’s lauded as a hero, and given no shortage of work clearing out caverns beneath vineyards and performing other tasks that put him in the good graces of the mercurial Duchess Anna Henrietta.
In the games, Geralt is even gifted with his very own vineyard. After several lifetimes of fighting monsters and protecting the innocent, Geralt finally gets to settle down in the beautiful country of Toussaint. And in the happiest version of the game’s ending, Yennefer actually moves in with him, and the two share a quiet, happy retirement.
It’s a long shot that the show would go this route..but .we can still hope, can’t we?
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