Everything to know about the Korath Desert in The Witcher season 3

The Witcher season 3 features some of the show’s most breathtaking sequences yet, including Ciri’s journey across the Korath Desert. During the season’s penultimate episode, “Out of the Fire, Into the Frying Pan,” Ciri finds herself stranded in the middle of the desert after accidentally opening a portal in the elven tower of Tor Lara. Ciri’s time in the desert takes up a whole chapter of Andrzej Sapkowski’s novel The Time of Contempt, and The Witcher pulled out all the stops to adapt it for the screen.

If you’ve just watched season 3 and you want to know more about Korath, or how this extended 37-minute sequence was filmed, you’re in the right place.

Where is Korath on the Continent? Does anything live there?

Korath is a vast desert which lies to the southeast of the Northern Kingdoms, and directly east of Nilfgaard. As Vesemir once told Ciri, this desert is nicknamed “the Frying Pan,” due to its extreme conditions that make it utterly inhospitable to humans and most animals. Only those which have specifically adapted to the heat and lack of water can survive there. For humans, this means that only the odd bandit makes their way into Korath, since no government holds sway over this unforgiving land.

There are several creatures which make their home in Korath, however, most notable are the monsters which dwell beneath the sand and emerge, ant-lion like, to snap up any prey that draws close enough. Desert lizards and other small creatures also live there.

While in the desert, Ciri also encounters a unicorn which she nicknames Little Horse. Though this beast is able to survive there, unicorns are not natural inhabitants of Korath. We won’t reveal spoilers, but Little Horse — known as Ihuarraquax in the language of unicorns — is just as much a stranger in a strange land in the Korath Desert as Ciri.

Where did The Witcher film the scenes in the Korath Desert?

The scenes in the Korath Desert were filmed on location in Morocco. Freya Allan (Ciri) described it as both the most difficult shoot she’s ever done for the series as well as the most fulfilling. Filming took place in the middle of the summer, when daily temperatures were often as high as 46° Celsius (114°F).

Some of the many challenges to this shoot that Allan described include filming in high heat while wearing heavy costumes, and making sure there were no extra footprints visible in shots since the dunes were so pristine. The end result speaks for itself, as the episode features some of the most stunning outdoor shots to yet appear on The Witcher.

All eight episodes of The Witcher season 3 are streaming now on Netflix.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels

h/t Collider