‘The Witcher’ Season 2: Filming Wrapped Up & Everything We Know So Far

Netflix’s first season of The Witcher left fans ravenous for a second season, and everyone will be delighted to learn that filming has now wrapped on the second season. While filming has ended we’re continuing to keep track of all the information you need to know on the second season of The Witcher including post-production updates, what to expect, casting news, and ultimately the Netflix release date.

Subscribers were left to wait what felt like an age for the release of the first season of The Witcher. After binging the first season over the weekend, we can gladly say that it was more than worth the wait for the adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s greatest work. Henry Cavill was in fine form as Geralt of Rivia, portraying the character perfectly so that both book and video game fans could enjoy it.

For an in-depth monthly round-up of The Witcher season 2 news, Redanian Intelligence has been doing a fantastic job:

• March 2021 Round-Up 
• February 2021 Round-Up
• January 2021 Round-Up
• December 2020 Round-Up

---

When is the Netflix release date for the second season of The Witcher?

Sadly due to the number of delays to filming because of the global pandemic, release dates for The Witcher season 2 have been pushed further and further back.

The series had been scheduled to arrive in early 2021, but now it’s looking more likely that we’ll see The Witcher return in early 2022.

Expected Release Date: Early 2022

---

Who are the cast members of The Witcher season two?

The following cast members will be returning for the second season of The Witcher:

Role	Cast Member	Where Have I Seen/Heard Them Before?
Geralt of Rivia	Henry Cavill	Man of Steel | Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice | Justice League
Princess Ciri	Freya Allan	The War of the Worlds | Into the Badlands | Captain Fierce
Yennefer of Vengerberg	Anya Chalotra	Wanderlust | The ABC Murders | Sherwood
Tissaia de Vries	MyAnna Buring	Kill List | The Descent | Doomsday
Fringilla Vigo	Mimi Ndiweni	The Legend of Tarzan | Cinderella | Mr Selfridge
Jaskier	Joey Batey	The White Queen | Knightfall | Strike

With the deaths of Queen Calanthe, King Eist Tuirseach, Mousesack, and Princess Renfri in the first season, we aren’t expecting to see the respective cast members return to portray their roles. The only way they will return is if flashbacks occur that involve the characters mentioned.*SPOILER ALERT*

Casting news for The Witcher season two

There’s been plenty of developments throughout February, and plenty of new cast members have been announced to star in the second season of The Witcher:

Role	Cast Member	Where Have I Seen/Heard Them Before?
Vereena	Agnes Bjorn	Monster
Nivellen	Kristofer Hivju	Game of Thrones | Fast & Furious 8 | Beck
Eskel	Thue Ersted Rasmussen	Fast & Furious 9 | Sunday | The Way to Mandalay
Lydia	Aisha Fabienne Ross	The Danish Girl | Alleycats | Drama
Francesca	Mecia Simson	He Who Has It All | Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model

Also, cast for the second season is Kaine Zajaz, who will portray the brother of the Elven sorceress Francesa Findabair.

Seven more cast members have been confirmed to star in the next season of The Witcher, including a long-rumored casting whose casting tape was leaked in 2020.

Role	Cast Member	Where Have I Seen/Heard Them Before?
Nenneke	Adjoa Andoh	Invictus | Fractured | Bridgerton
Phillippa Eilhart	Cassie Clare	What Happened to Monday | Beauty and the Beast | Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again
Fenn	Liz Carr	Silent Witness | Les Miserables | The OA
Dijkstra	Graham McTavish	The Hobbit | Rambo | Outlander
Ba’lian	Kevin Doyle	Downton Abbey | The Libertine | Blackpool
Codringher	Simon Callow	Four Weddings and a Funeral | A Room with a View | Shakespeare in Love
Rience	Chris Fulton	Outlaw King | Clique | Our Ladies

The Witchers have been cast

Fans of the books and video games can look forward to seeing Witchers other than Geralt in the next season.

Danish actor Kim Bodnia will be reprising his role as the veteran Witcher, and Geralt’s tutor Vesemir. Bodnia has already portrayed Vesemir in the series, as his voice was heard during one of Geralt’s flashback.

A favorite amongst video-game fans, Lambert has been confirmed to appear in the second season of The Witcher.

Paul Bullion, who previously starred in Peaky Blinders will be portraying Lambert, a younger Witcher than Geralt, but extremely talented in killing monsters in his own right.

A character held dearly in the hearts of book readers, the youngest of the Witchers at Kaer Mohen, Coën will make his debut in season two. Coën is being portrayed by Yasen Atour who previously starred in Ben-Hur and Robin Hood.

The prettiest of the Witcher bunch and Geralt’s childhood friend, Eskel will also be making an appearance in season two.

Previously, Thue Ersted Rasmussen had been cast in the role, but has since been replaced by actor Basil Eidenbenz.

---

What to expect from The Witcher season two?

*Spoilers Below*

After a chaotic and climactic end to the first season, Yennefer of Vengeberg was able to hold off the armies of Nilfgaard by using fire magic but has mysteriously disappeared in the process. As for Geralt and Ciri, they have finally found each other, greeting each almost like a father would a daughter. In a mysterious turn of events, Ciri asked Geralt who Yennefer is, despite not actually meeting her.

Where do Geralt and Ciri go next?

After finally finding each other, Geralt and Ciri can now continue destiny’s will. Thanks to the law of surprise, and the death of her parents, Geralt is now the adoptive father of Ciri. The Nilfgaard army is still a huge threat and with spies continuously hunting Ciri, Geralt will take her to the safest place he knows, Kaer Morhen, the stronghold of the Witchers.

Thanks to her elvish blood, Ciri is incredibly gifted with magic, perfect for slaying monsters. Geralt will likely begin her training to become a Witcher, much like himself. Ciri’s training would be a grueling and difficult process, but her talents with magic combined with Witcher training would make her an incredibly strong combatant, giving her the ability to protect herself and others.

Where is Yennefer?

After witnessing the death of many mages, both Tissaia de Vries and Yennefer were some of the few left alive from the battle with Nilfgaard. Yennefer was told by Tissaia to let her “chaos explode”, taking her seriously, Yennefer unleashed hell upon the Nilfgaardians, using forbidden fire magic to annihilate anyone that came close. She successfully repelled the Nilfgaard force, but in doing so mysteriously disappeared, leaving Tissaia confused and concerned about her whereabouts.

As an incredibly powerful and talented Mage, Yennefer isn’t dead. It’s unclear where she may have disappeared too, but Yennefer would likely have portalled herself away from the battlefield.

Thanks to Geralt’s wish, we can definitely expect to see the pair reunite some point in the second season. Not to mention the fact that with Ciri’s magical potential, who better to teach her how to use actual magic than one of the most talented mages alive.

Nilfgaard and the Northern Kingdoms go to war

It’s unclear how many Nilfgaardians were killed in the Battle of Sodden, but it’s clear a significant amount of men were slain by the mages of Aretuza. Nilfgaard will still seek to conquer the Northern Kingdoms, but after significant losses will struggle to continue their campaign.

The first of the Northern Kingdoms to arrive was King Foltest of Temeria. Despite not taking part in the actual fight itself, from a distance, Foltest and his army could see the chaos ensuing from the fight between Nilfgaard and the mages. With Nilfgaard suffering huge losses, it would be the perfect time for Temeria to counter-attack the Nilfgaardian campaign.

What will happen to the mages of Aretuza?

At great sacrifice, the mages of Aretuza held the Nilfgaardian army at bay. But with the academy losing such a significant amount of powerful mages, and with Yennefer gone, there are very few remaining to stop a potential Nilfgaard attack on Aretuza.

With some mages already defecting to Nilfgaard, there’s potential for a coup to happen that could result in the destruction of Aretuza or at the very least, susceptible mages joining Nilfgaard.

Where is Jaskier?

The loveable bard Jaskier was always getting himself into trouble, especially around Geralt. Throughout the years the pair have often traveled together only to depart ways, only then to reunite years later to travel again. Jaskier will be out there somewhere wooing the ladies of the court into his bed, and getting into trouble in the process. As the only known friend of Geralt, if any Nilfgaard’s men come looking for Geralt, then Jaskier may know his whereabouts.

What showrunner Lauren S Hissrich had to say

‘Gravemaster’ from Redanian Intelligence had the chance to interview with Lauren S Hissrich, the showrunner of The Witcher. In the interview, she was able to clarify where the story would be going for Geralt and Ciri, and even Jaskier.

When discussing Geralt and Ciri:

As expected from the saga, Ciri really takes center stage in season two. The whole world is after her, and she has to find safety and respite with Geralt (and eventually, Yennefer). Problem is, they’re complete strangers. She doesn’t know Geralt, doesn’t see why she should automatically trust him, and really doesn’t love when he starts making big decisions in her life especially when she’s still mourning the loss of her grandmother in Cintra. For his part, Geralt dutifully wants to protect Ciri, but also doesn’t know anything about being a dad, and certainly doesn’t know how to balance that with the need to continue doing his job. There’s some comedy in how these two come together and eventually bond, but that belies a deeper reflection on what it means to become a family.

Jaskier will also get his chance to shine in the second season of The Witcher:

Yes! One of my favorite moments with Jaskier is from Episode 106, when he and Geralt are sitting on the cliff’s edge, and he says “I’m just thinking about what pleases me.” You have this character who has quite literally attached himself to the coattails of our Witcher, in order to rustle up material for songs. But what happens instead is… he finds a friend. Jaskier starts to think about what he needs and wants in the world, and in season two, we’ll see him begin to discover it.

---

Which books will The Witcher series cover in season two?

By now those who watched The Witcher may have realized that the story of the first season was told across multiple timelines, showcasing the different adventures of Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri. Book readers will have also noticed that most of the episodes covered the events of the first two books (in chronological order) The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny. Both books are a fantastic read and precursors to the ‘official’ start of The Witcher Saga.

So that being said with the above, the first season of The Witcher was one long prologue to the beginning of the story.

In total there are eight books in The Witcher, but only six of them take place in ‘The Witcher Saga’. Novels, The Last Wish (2007) and Sword of Destiny (2015) acted as a prequel and precedes the main story with multiple short stories. Season of Storms also has a collection of short stories that take place in between the short stories/flashbacks of the first book.

The second season will cover the events of the first official book in The Witcher Saga, Blood of Elves and will then proceed to cover the events of the third book in the series, Time of Contempt.

---

What is the production status of The Witcher?

Official Production Status: Filming Complete (Last Updated: 01/14/2021)

After numerous delays to filming since it began on February 17th, 2020. As of the time of this update, filming for the second season has officially wrapped up!

With filming now over, the series will go into an extensive post-production process.

Where is filming taking place?

The series will continue to use Budapest, Hungary as a location for filming, along with London for the production studios that can house large set pieces.

Most recently we’ve learned that the scouting team for locations for The Witcher has recently been to Scotland. More specifically the team has been to the beautiful isle of Skye, an island off the coast of mainland Scotland.

As you can see from the images above, some of the locations on the Isle of Skye are absolutely stunning. We’ll be curious to learn which region in the continent of The Witcher will use any of the locations above.

An entire town is being built at the Arborfield Studios in the UK, as reported by Redenian Intelligence.

Exclusive Season 2 report: Netflix builds an entire town for #TheWitcher at Arborfield Studios, UKhttps://t.co/I63KwHWL2W

— Redanian Intelligence: The Witcher (@RedanianIntel) January 15, 2020

---

Will season two return with eight episodes?

We now have confirmation that the second season will be returning for a further eight episodes.

We’re a long way off learning the episode titles but we do know which directors are lined up for the upcoming season:

Episode	Director	Previously Worked On
2×1	Stephen Surjik	The Umbrella Academy | The Punisher | Lost in Space
2×2	Stephen Surjik	———————————————————
2×3	Sarah O’Gorman	Cursed | Jamestown | No Offence
2×4	Sarah O’Gorman	———————————————————
2×5	Ed Bazalgette	Doctor Who | Poldark | The Last Kingdom
2×6	Geeta Patel	Meet the Patels | Dead to Me | Santa Clarita Diet
2×7	Geeta Patel	———————————————————
2×8	Ed Bazalgette	———————————————————

What are the episodes run times?

With only eight in the first, each episode had a run time of least sixty minutes. We can expect the second season to follow suit.

---

Has Netflix released a trailer for the second season of The Witcher?

We can expect to see a teaser trailer far earlier than most Originals, but we’re still a long way off from receiving a trailer for season two.

If we’re lucky, we could potentially see a trailer drop in Fall 2020.

As a placeholder, here is the delectable Henry ‘Geralt of Rivia’ Cavill reading from The Witcher books by author Andrez Sapkowski.

---

Can we expect to see further seasons of The Witcher on Netflix?

If the series showrunner, Lauren S. Hissrich, has anything to say about it, The Witcher will be on Netflix for a very long time.

In an interview with inverse.com’s Just Lunning, Lauren S. Hissrich discussed the possibility of future seasons of The Witcher;

 I love that the quote about “seven seasons” got picked up so quickly by the press. I swear in another interview, I said, “I could write this series for 20 years.” It’s not that I just don’t understand how numbers work, there is so much material, I believe that we could write forever.

When asked about the number of seasons potentially going beyond the books, Hissrich had the following to say:

It’s not my intention to go past the books. We’re doing plenty of sort of fun exploration of things that are in the books already. We’re trying to add to the lore. You know, in general, authors end things when they feel like they should be ended. We would honor that as well.

The interview was incredibly insightful and from the showrunner’s answers, you can tell that The Witcher is in the best hands.

From across all the cast and crew, there appears to be a great deal of respect for the world created by Andrez Sapkowski, and we can’t wait to see more magic and monsters The Witcher has in store for us.

---

How have subscribers and critics responded to The Witcher?

Naturally, subscribers have responded more favorably than critics.

At the time of writing this article, The Witcher has an excellent score of 8.9/10 on IMDb, with over 55,000 users submitting scores. On Rotten Tomatoes, the Original series also has a modest audience score of 92%, clearly showcasing that subscribers enjoyed the first season.

Sadly, we now have to discuss the critics. While we are 100% behind the fact that everyone is entitled to their opinion, some of the critiques for The Witcher have been outright ridiculous. Some critics have sadly not even bothered to watch the entire season, formulating an opinion on the first episode alone, which has resulted in one of the worst reviews we’ve ever read. This review itself got a response from series creator and showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich:

Many people have sweetly written me, upset about the #Witcher reviews. Know this:

Who do I care about? “Professional” critics who watched one episode and skipped ahead? Or REAL fans who watched all eight in one day, and are starting their rewatch?

I am fucking THRILLED.❤️

— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) December 22, 2019

Other critics have taken to comparing The Witcher to that of Game of Thrones, but after watching the series ourselves we would argue that The Witcher is not the next Game of Thrones and instead should be looked as the very first The Witcher.

---

There will be a lot of pressure for Netflix to deliver on the second season of The Witcher, but if it’s anything like the first then we can’t wait.

Are you excited for the second season of The Witcher? Let us know in the comments below!