The Witcher season 4: Meet Geralt's hansa

In just over a month, filming will begin on The Witcher season 4. This marks an exciting new chapter for Netflix's monster-hunting fantasy show, both because Geralt of Rivia is being recast from Henry Cavill to Liam Hemsworth, and because the climactic events of season 3 are a major turning point of the story. Everything is different following the horrible coup on Thanedd Isle in Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher Saga books, and we're expecting that to hold true for the TV show as well.

Geralt will begin the season separated from his lover Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) and adopted daughter Ciri (Freya Allan). Readers know that this is the beginning of a long road for our beloved witcher, which will see him travel the Continent with a band of fellow heroes, known as his hansa. The hansa is The Witcher's equivalent of the Fellowship of the Ring, and feature very prominently in the back half of The Witcher Saga.

As of this writing, we know who's going to play most of the characters in Geralt's hansa. Let's take a few minutes to get to knot them. We will be getting into SPOILERS from The Witcher books.

Geralt of Rivia

Obviously, you can't have Geralt's hansa without Geralt of Rivia himself. The witcher is the heart of the group, and it is his quest to find Ciri which drives them to travel the breadth of the Continent.

Despite the fact that we've spent three whole seasons with Geralt so far, it's almost going to feel like we're meeting him anew in season 4. How will Liam Hemsworth's Geralt differ from Cavill's? Will he have the same taciturn charm? Or will Hemsworth's portrayal feel fresh in meaningful ways, perhaps even some that align with this new stage of Geralt's life?

In season 4, we're expecting to see Geralt struggle with long-term recovery following his duel with Vilgefortz. In the books, Geralt develops something akin to severe arthritis due to all the broken bones he suffered as a result of Vilgefortz's heavy staff. At times his knee will lock up, or he'll have other issues in combat. This is a huge part of his character moving forward, and thanks to comments from showrunner Lauren Hissrich, we know that we'll see Hemsworth grapple with them.

Jaskier

Jaskier was the first of Geralt's traveling companions, introduced all the way back in the second episode of the series when the two ran afoul of a group of elven refugees. Obviously, the bard is a shoe-in for the hansa. Who else would record all of their heroic exploits in song?

In the books, Jaskier's experiences with the hansa lead to him writing an autobiography, which is an in-world book that often features in epigraphs throughout the series. Of course, it contains only facts and no exaggerations whatsoever.

Geralt and Jaskier's friendship is one of the core relationships of The Witcher, no matter the medium. It was always a joy to watch Joey Batey and Henry Cavill on screen together. We can only hope that Hemsworth and Batey are able to create a similar sort of magic as they galavant across the countryside on adventures.