By Anand Venkitachalam
New Delhi, Dec 20 : Netflix’s “The Witcher” show based on the Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski’s dark fantasy novel series ‘The Witcher’ saw its second season released on December 17.
The first season was based on the first book ‘The Last Wish’ and the second book ‘The Sword of Destiny’, while the second season is based mostly on the third book ‘The Blood of Elves’ and the beginning of the fourth book ‘The Time of Contempt’, with a few bits borrowed from ‘The Last Wish’ as suggested by the trailers and teaser looks of the second season.
The first season received positive reviews, though it was not devoid of criticism as some called it confusing, some as far too different from the book whilst others claimed that the show lacked direction.
The second season comprises eight episodes, like the first season.
Among the star cast are: Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia; Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg; Freya Allan as Ciri, the Lion Cub of Cintra; Joey Batey as Jaskier and Kim Bodnia as Vesemir.
Andrzej Sapkowski’s book series was a big hit in the fantasy circles and received great traction when the Polish gaming company CD Projekt Red made the action RPG ‘The Witcher’ in 2008 which story-wise continued after the events from the last book, ‘The Lady Of The Lake’ (not counting ‘The Season of Storms’).
Following the first game’s success, CD Red released ‘The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings’ in 2011 with the game being both a critical and commercial success.
However, in recent years what has drawn so many to the universe of the famed monster hunter Geralt of Rivia was undoubtedly the third game in the franchise, ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’ and its two expansions, ‘Hearts of Stone’ and ‘Blood and Wine’.
Released in 2015, the game received critical and commercial acclaim and today is loved by gamers all over the world. The Witcher 3 was CD Red Projekt’s masterpiece and the designs of their game have also apparently been used by the producers of the series to create the set pieces of the show in the second season, as is evident in the design of the Witcher fortress Kaer Morhen.
The second season of Witcher 2 with its apparently higher budget shall introduce additional story lines and characters as well as remodelled sets and costumes as showcased by the trailer, and will focus on Ciri’s journey with Geralt as Nilfgaard is pursuing her for her royal blood and additional powers.
In addition to a second season, Netflix also released a spin off in August 23, with the animated movie ‘The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf’ which focuses on the origins of a young Vessemir, the mentor of Geralt, and the rest of the witchers from the school of the wolf.
In September 2021, Netflix renewed the show for a third season.(UNI)
