This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS from The Witcher books.
Last week, Netflix dropped the fourth season of The Witcher, its epic fantasy series based on the books by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. This season was more ambitious than ever, with Geralt of Rivia (Liam Hemsworth), Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra), and Princess Ciri (Freya Allan) cast to different corners of the Continent. Each pursued their own aims, and each met with a number of threatening figures along the way. It's not an exaggeration to say The Witcher season 4 featured more villains than any previous season, including an absolute standout performance by Sharlto Copley as the eccentric mercenary Leo Bonhart.
But there was one important antagonist missing from The Witcher's rogues gallery in season 4: the Wild Hunt.
These spectral elven horsemen are some of the most iconic in the entire franchise, thanks in large part to their relentless pursuit of Ciri in CD Projekt Red's hit video game, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The games are set as a sequel to Sapkowski's books, but recycle many key plot beats from the written works. The Wild Hunt is a good example; they also appear in the books, and are similarly fixated on Ciri. However, they play a smaller role than in the video game, where they loom over the entire proceeding.
The Witcher has already introduced Eredin, leader of the Wild Hunt
Netflix has charted a course somewhat down the middle, by frontloading more material featuring the Wild Hunt than appears in the novels. The show introduced them earlier than the books, through the season 2 plotline involving Voleth Meir. Then it expanded their origins with The Witcher: Blood Origin spinoff, which reveals the backstory for the Hunt's leader, Eredin. And then of course, it included a brief scene drawn directly from the books in season 3, where the Hunt pursues Ciri on the road in Gors Velen — gamers may recognize it from the beginning of The Witcher 3, where it was repurposed to have them pursuing Yennefer and Geralt.
In the books, the Wild Hunt doesn't really come into the forefront until the final novel, The Lady of the Lake. We already know The Witcher filmed scenes with the Wild Hunt for season 5, so in all liklihood, it was holding back this major group of villains for Ciri's endgame. And in my opinion, that's very good choice.
The Witcher needed season 4 to set up a different antagonist
A running theme in The Witcher is that everyone wants Ciri for their own ends. Some want her for her political position as the lost heir Cintra; others, for her unique Elder Blood powers, which allow her control over space and time. And yet others, like Leo Bonhart, for the bounty on her head and the enjoyment of her skills as a worthy foe. We've already seen that the Wild Hunt has an interest in Ciri, but we won't find out their true aims for her until near the end of the series. That's how Sapkowski wrote it, and that's how it should be in the show.
In The Lady of the Lake, Ciri spends roughly the first half of the novel contending with the Wild Hunt, after she teleports to the elven world of Tir ná Lia and gets stranded there. This is where she meets characters like the Wild Hunt leader Eredin and the elven sage Avallac'h, along with the elven king Auberon Muircetach. She becomes embroiled in the politics of the elves, including a dangerous coup staged by Eredin.
But after that, Ciri gives the Hunt the slip and gets back to her own world just in time for the book's climax. The Wild Hunt is an incredibly important part of Ciri's story, but they're not the final enemy she must face. That distinction goes to someone we already met in season 4: Leo Bonhart.
As we already saw in season 4, Bonhart is a sadistic mercenary and incredibly skilled fighter. He brutally murders the Rats, Ciri's close friends, and takes her captive. Much of the penultimate novel of The Witcher series, The Tower of Swallows, revolves around Ciri's run-in with Bonhart and her eventual escape from his clutches. At the end of the series, the bill comes due, and Ciri must once more face this nightmarish warrior.
As crucial as the Wild Hunt is to understanding Ciri's ancestry from the elf Lara Dorren, they are only one among several villains she will contend with in the show's final season. All of their most important material is yet to come. Bonhart, on the other hand, had to be firmly established in season 4 so that he could be the pervasive, lingering threat that he needs to be in order to serve as a proper rival for Ciri. His murder of the Rats is arguably his most iconic scene in the entire series, and it was a key moment for the show to adapt properly. Wasting valuable time this season foreshadowing other villains might have diluted that moment, and so was not worth the risk.
Considering how shocking the season 4 finale was, I'd say The Witcher pulled it off. If anything, it only has me more excited to see how the series will handle the Wild Hunt once Ciri crosses paths with them in the fifth and final season.
All eight episodes of The Witcher season 4 are streaming now on Netflix. Season 5 is expected to release sometime in 2026.