Netflix’s monster-hunting fantasy show The Witcher has developed something of a reputation for spurning fans of the source material it’s based on. Screen adaptations of written works often have to make changes, but The Witcher seems especially at odds with the spirit of the novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. The show has redeeming qualities all its own, but this has remained a consistent talking point throughout its run.
That reached a peak following the release of The Witcher season 2, which featured so much new material that it might as well have been an entirely different story. Now, The Witcher executive producers Steve Gaub and Tomasz ‘Tomek’ Bagiński have gone on the record as saying that season 3 will be “closer to the books.”
The Witcher executive producers say season 3 will be more faithful to the books
“We are going closer and closer to the books because there is also a lot more events which are happening in the books, but also the story becomes a little bit more a story of Ciri and less a story of other characters,” Tomek told Metro.co.uk, calling season 3 “the biggest season so far.”
While The Witcher books do develop a much finer focus on Ciri’s story as they go on, obviously there are lots of other characters at play. Tomek emphasized that while Ciri (Freya Allen) will be moving more into the forefront as the show moves forward, the production won’t forget about the rest of the ensemble either.
"Of course, we will serve all those characters. We won’t abandon anyone. But it’s extremely, extremely interesting and fun to see how the series is growing this season and how Freya as an actress is evolving in the season. It was an incredible season for her.So I think this will be one of the things which will make the season special and different from previous seasons. We had a little bit more material from the books to work with, than it was in season two, which made some of our choices easier, and I think this was also a huge relief for us."
Steve Gaub held up the Redanian spymaster Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) and the sorceress Phillipa Eilheart (Cassie Clare) as examples of characters the production is looking forward to exploring more in season 3. Dijkstra and Phillipa have a complicated relationship explored fairly extensively in Sapkowski’s books as well as the video games by CD Projekt Red. Gaub teased more of them, as well as more locations ahead:
"Now we get the opportunity to really expand the continent for our fans, visit kingdoms that have been mentioned before but not seen or ones that you just got a glimpse of and now we can really live within that kingdom.The same thing happens with characters. We have so many exciting new characters or expansion of characters. We got a glimpse of who Philippa is and now you’re really gonna see who Philippa is because that’s such a great dynamic in the books, the Philippa Dijkstra.There’s so many supporting characters that have now grown into the plotline, the intricate plotline, so their storylines expand, our worlds expands and the fan experience expands as well, so that’s all very exciting."
Season 3 of The Witcher may stick closer to the books…but the jury’s out on season 4
This isn’t the first time someone attached to The Witcher has claimed that season 3 will stick closer to the books; Jaskier actor Joey Batey said something similar last month during Netflix’s Tudum event, while showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich previously called season 3 “the closest thing that we’ve done as a one-to-one adaptation of the books.”
So that should lay the fears of diehard book fans to rest, right? Maybe. It’s hard to be confident until we actually get eyes on the season, given the show’s propensity for doing its own thing.
That brings us to season 4. When Gaub and Tamek were asked whether season 4 would also stick close to the books, Tamek hedged. “I don’t think we can say much about season 4,” he said. “Obviously it’s not a secret that the scripts are ready and very, very interesting and very exciting. This was the plan from the get-go.”
"I don’t want it to be dissected into sections. There will be always differences. There will be always things we have to include in the show, either to follow the previous storylines or things which were set only in the TV show, or to expand some of the storylines which are just mentioned in the books, but we thought they are important for the future stories."
He then backtracked a little bit even on season 3, emphasizing that while it will be “the closest to the books,” it will still have plenty of new stuff. “Overall yes, I think this season will be the closest to the books but again it’s not exactly the same in some ways. It’s our own version and our own vision of the story.”
This leaves us in pretty much the same place where we started. The Witcher season 3 will cover some major events from Time of Contempt, the second novel in Sapkowski’s Witcher saga. As such, the need for deviations is smaller. But with the Netflix series, it’s best to assume there will be plenty of changes, some of which will likely bother people. That’s been the case with literally every season and spinoff of the series so far, so we’ll just have to judge when we actually watch.
The first five episodes of The Witcher season 3 drop on Netflix on June 29. The final three episodes will follow on July 27.
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