Soon we’ll back on the Continent. The latest entry in Netflix monster-hunting fantasy franchise The Witcher is due out next month. The Witcher: Blood Origin is a limited series prequel set roughly 1,200 years before the adventures of Geralt of Rivia, when the Continent was still ruled by an elven empire. The show is set against the backdrop of an event called the Conjunction of the Spheres, when a celestial alignment merged several worlds and stranded humans and monsters on the Continent along with elves, dwarves, and halflings.
The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski wrote relatively little about the conjunction. Despite this, it’s a pivotally important moment in the history of The Witcher saga. Netflix has a lot of options when it come to interpreting these events.
Let’s break down everything we know about the prequel series so that you can go into it ready to watch when it hits the streaming service.
The Witcher: Blood Origin synopsis
The Witcher: Blood Origin will depict the events surrounding the Conjunction of the Spheres, a celestial event that occurred 1,200 years before the original series where worlds merged and created the Continent we know. It will also depict the creation of the first prototype witcher.
Here’s the official synopsis from Netflix:
"Every story has a beginning. Witness the untold history of the Continent with The Witcher: Blood Origin, a new prequel series set in an elven world 1200 years before the events of The Witcher. Blood Origin will tell a story lost to time – exploring the creation of the first prototype Witcher, and the events that lead to the pivotal “Conjunction of the Spheres,” when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one."
The Witcher: Blood Origin release date
Netflix is dropping The Witcher: Blood Origin on December 25. Ring in the Christmas holiday with blood, monsters, and mayhem.
How many episodes is The Witcher: Blood Origin?
The Witcher: Blood Origin is a limited series coming to Netflix. It consists of four episodes total.
Originally, Blood Origin was planned as a six-episode limited series. However, the show reportedly went through production difficulties and received a rework which cut the episode count down to four.
The Witcher: Blood Origin trailer
Netflix has released a few trailers for its upcoming Witcher prequel series. Here’s the most recent:
The Witcher: Blood Origin cast
Since Blood Origin is set over a millennia before The Witcher, don’t expect to see many familiar faces from the mothership series. The prequel will feature an almost entirely fresh cast of new characters, though there will be a couple of figures important to the overall Witcher mythos who we should expect to see.
The three main characters of Blood Origin are Éile (Sophia Brown), a wandering warrior bard seeking truth in her music…
…Fjall (Laurence O’Fuarain), a warrior who must carve his own path after he’s forced to part ways with his clan…
…and Scian (Michelle Yeoh), the last remaining member of a proud elven clan who is determined to reclaim a lost ancestral sword:
Scian, Éile, and Fjall form the core of The Witcher: Blood Origin cast, but there are quite a few other notable characters and actors involved. Here’s a full role call of everyone else we know will be appearing as of this writing:
- Seanchai – Minnie Driver
- Jaskier – Joey Batey (Rumored)
- Meldof – Francesca Mills
- Callan / Brother Death – Huw Novelli
- Zacaré – Lizzie Annis
- Syndril – Zach Wyatt
- Balor – Lenny Henry
- Eredin – Jacob Collins-Levy
- Princess Merwyn – Mirren Mack
- Fenrick – Amy Murray
- Brían – Nathaniel Curtis
- Prince Alvitirin – Mark Rowley
- Uthrok One-Nut – Dylan Moran
- Ket – Kim Adis
- Catrin – Hebe Beardsall
Of the characters above, the big ones that jump out are Joey Batey’s Jaskier, who may be narrating this story; as well as Eredin. Gamers will recognize the latter as the leader of the Wild Hunt, the primary antagonists of the third Witcher video game from CD Projekt Red. Perhaps Blood Origin will be exploring Eredin’s origins as well?
We’ll find out when we return to The Witcher universe in a few short weeks. The Witcher: Blood Origin premieres on Netflix on December 25.
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