The third season of The Witcher premieres later this month. This one is being closely watched, and not just because The Witcher is a popular fantasy show with a passionate fanbase; this will be the final season where Henry Cavill plays title character Geralt of Rivia; starting in season 4, Geralt will be played by Liam Hemsworth.
Cavill is a big part of why The Witcher became a hit, so his exit is a major — possibly existential — move for the show. It’s also rough on his castmates who have undertaken this project with him. “I was really sad,” star Anya Chalotra told SFX Magazine. “I may have shed a tear. It’s a journey we have been on together for a long time, all of us. Especially in my career, The Witcher has been the biggest thing I have done. It’s the project that started me off. Henry was a huge part of that. He’s a crucial member of the show and I will miss him dearly.”
Chalotra plays Yennefer, Geralt’s on-again, off-again sorceress paramour. In the third season, she and Geralt will close ranks around the young Ciri (Freya Allen), a deposed princess and child of destiny who a lot of people want to capture or kill, for a variety of reasons. Not on Henry Cavill’s watch.
Geralt won’t remain neutral in The Witcher season 3
Geralt has become something of a surrogate father to Ciri, and the threats against her will have him rethinking his stance of remaining neutral regarding the politics of the Continent. “He is very clear that he doesn’t want to get into politics. He exists for one reason – to kill monsters,” said showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich. “This season, with all the parties that are after Ciri, his neutrality really comes into question. When Geralt loses the two people he loves so deeply, it causes him to give up on his neutrality because he will do anything to get them back. From this point on, he actually has an agenda. He is not reacting to the world. He is proactively seeking to change something.”
The Witcher season 3 premieres on Netflix on June 29. Another batch of episodes will follow on July 27.
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