Breaking Down The Monsters, Politics And Bathtubs Of The Witcher’s Latest Trailer

Breaking Down The Monsters, Politics And Bathtubs Of The Witcher’s Latest Trailer

Netflix gave us another look at its take on the world of but revealed there, however, was that this battle also features a friend of Geralt’s named Duny”a prince cursed to look like a strange hedgehog. He’s actually a hugely important character to the overall narrative, for reasons that we can’t really get into without spoiling a whole bunch of ground the show will likely get around to covering in later seasons.

“Don’t judge me,” Geralt warns Roach. Like we said earlier, Geralt has few constant companions more loyal than Roach, so this is an indicator of their weary, loving relationship.

“They say Witchers can’t feel human emotion,” Yennefer says, as we cut to her watching over Geralt as he takes a bath. “What do you believe in?” she jibes. This is likely an adaptation of a scene from “A Shard of Ice” from Sword of Destiny, a short story that delves into Yennefer and Geralt’s relationship that opens with Geralt slaying an octopus-like creature called a Zeugel in some sewers…prompting Yennefer to immediately demand that Geralt clean himself up from all the stink when he returns to the Inn they’re staying the night at.

But the very specific framing of this shot is also a loving nod to fans of the games. Early on in The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, gamers are treated to a long, lingering shot of a wet and naked Geralt enjoying a nice long bath in a tub that’s slightly too small for the burly warrior, his feet sticking out as the camera is left to draw your eyes to his attractive physique. Naturally, it became a bit of a meme among fans, even being turned into a statue by Dark Horse at one point.

We asked about whether or not the infamous bathtub would be in the show back at San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year, and, well…you have your answer, don’t you?

A large caravan of travellers makes their way across a dusty road, as we cut to Nilfgaardian soldiers launching a night time attack. “Evil is evil,” Geralt says…

“Lesser…” he carries on, as we see Calanthe on her deathbed again as well as a Nilfgaardian commander drawing their sword. This is actually Cahir (Eamon Farren), or, to give him his ridiculous full name, Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach. An intelligence officer in the Nilfgaardian army, Cahir is one of the people tasked with kidnapping Ciri during the sacking of Cintra. He temporarily succeeds, before she flees (given the snowy forest setting here, that’s likely what we’re seeing here). Cahir is brutally punished for his failure, and eventually defects from Nilfgaard, joining Geralt in his mission to protect Ciri from the Empire’s clutches.

“Greater…” Geralt continues, as we see Ciri flee through an encampment that is being attacked by Nilfgaardians. Is this the ruined, Ghoul-riddle site that Geralt eventually comes across that we saw earlier?

We also get this very brief shot of Adam Levy as Mousesack, known better to fans of the game as the druid Ermion. In the books, as we’ll eventually see in this trailer, Mousesack is largely responsible for bringing Geralt back to Cintra and into the quest to save Ciri, arguing that her fate and Geralt’s own are intertwined.

“Middling…” Geralt’s speech goes on, as we see Ciri fleeing from a Nilfgaardian commander in full armour (perhaps Cahir with a helmet on?) as a massive ravine opens up between them. This might be a dream sequence”we’ve seen Ciri involved in several, in this trailer and the last one. But it could be an example of her untrained magical prowess at work: Ciri is coveted because she has Elder Blood in her veins”she and her family line are descendants of a union between two incredibly powerful mages, an elf named Lara Dorren and Cregennan of Lod shortly after the Conjunction of the Spheres.

“…it’s all the same,” Geralt concludes, as we cut from his speech to a shot of Fringilla Vigo (Mimi Ndiweni) during the sacking of Cintra. A sorceress working for Nilfgaard, we see her using her magical abilities to light a trebuchet on fire during Nilfgaard’s attack on the city.

We then cut to something completely different from everything else we’ve seen in this trailer so far: Pursued by a strange, dark robed figure (who appears to be summoning some kind of crablike creature), Yennefer races along a brightly-lit desert with a fancily dressed unknown woman.

This looks like it could be Isobel Laidler, who plays Queen Kalis of Lyria in the series. While Lyria is a region known in Witcher‘s law, Kalis is a newly created character for the show. We’ve seen her in several environments being chased alongside Yennefer like this in both the first trailer and this one; given the seemingly rapid switches in environment, is Yennefer magically teleporting them to different places in an attempt to escape their mysterious pursuer?

Back in Blavkien, Geralt crosses swords with Renfri”ultimately besting her and leaving her to bleed out after slicing through an artery in her leg.

Another quick cut sends us back to Cintra, as the royal court watches some dancing during a feast. This doesn’t appear to be the flashback scene as we don’t see Geralt in attendance”we can see Ciri and Calanthe though, so it perhaps takes place just before the sacking of Cintra.

“Princess of Cirilla is your destiny,” Mousesack tells Geralt, as we see the two in some dankly-lit corridors and more shots of the Nilfgaardians sacking Cintra.

Elsewhere, we’re treated to the reverse of a shot we saw in the first trailer: Yennefer entering an elaborate ball and dancing with nobility. This is likely taking place at Aretuza, given the mystical looking accoutrements.

“I can’t protect her,” Geralt counters, as we get more shots of him fighting men in what looks like a cave. The lighting here suggests that this is unrelated to any part of the Cintra battle we’ve seen throughout this trailer, so perhaps this is another isolated adventure he goes on.

A few more unconnected shots here”Ciri running through the forest, Mousesack chasing after Geralt in that same corridor we just saw, and Ciri once again, this time with a horse in a swamp.

We also get one very quick shot of MyAnna Buring as the sorceror Tissaia de Vries. We see way more of Tissaia in the first trailer as a crucial character in Yennefer’s backstory”she’s the mage that takes Yenn in at Aretuza, teaching her to hone her magical skills.

It’s hard to tell where Tissaia is here, but the foggy and moody environs tease that this could be the battle of Sodden Hill, a major battle in the first Nilfgaard war that saw Niflgaard routed, but at the cost of many mages. In the books, Tissaia isn’t among them however”but Yennefer does fight in the battle.

“If you dismiss her,” Mousesack continues to warn Geralt, “you will unleash a true calamity upon us all.” Under that narration, we see a few more unconnected shots: Ciri in a hazy red-soaked environment is likely another dream sequence or vision she experiences, and another extended shot of Nilfgaard and Cintran forces clashing at Marnadal Valley.

A blood spattered Yenn and Queen Kalis look on in horror. Kalis is, underneath her wintry cloak, wearing the same gown we saw her in in the desert, lending credence to the idea that Yennefer magically transports herself and the Queen away from whoever their attacker is here.

A few more sharply cut shots: Geralt looking moody, Ciri in tears, another explosion at an unknown battle (not one we’ve seen elsewhere, given the sunlight), and Geralt crossing swords with Renfri at Blaziken.

In even more unconnected shots, we get to glimpse Yennefer collapsing in a grove, Ciri again (this time hiding behind an unknown figure), and then another shot of Yennefer of her overlooking a castle wall”the foggy atmosphere makes it seem like this could be the same Battle of Sodden Hill sequence we speculated about earlier”and then Geralt planting his sword at that same Ghoul-ridden camp from previously in this trailer.

The first Yennefer shot is the most interesting here, given it seems to be part of the teleportation sequence we’ve seen her in with Queen Kalis, given the yellow-flowered grove is unlike any other environment we’ve seen. But note that Kalis isn’t in the grove with her. Does Yennefer lose her to their mysterious pursuer?

The trailer ends with Geralt simply refuting Mousesack’s warning: “I’ll take that chance,” he says, as we cut to him in a swamp drawing his sword out of the body of a creature, with jet black eyes.

This is part of a sequence that actually ended the first trailer, too”it’s Geralt battling a giant, spider-like creature called a Kikimore, an adaptation of the opening of “The Lesser Evil,” presumably, as Geralt looking to cash in on a trophy from the Kikimore is what first brings him to Blaviken. The reason Geralt’s eyes are blackened here is another callout for fans of the games.

Witchers prepare for particularly gruelling battles”like, say, battling giant nasty looking insectoid creatures in fetid swamps”by mediating and preparing potions to chug just before combat, enhancing their abilities and regenerative properties.

The problem is that those potions are, kind of like the mutagens that they’re imbued with to become Witchers in the first place, essentially just poison. In the Witcher games, to restrict the amount of potions you can swig before a fight, this idea is represented by a toxicity metre”take on too much, and you start draining health and eventually keel over. High levels of toxicity are represented by, yup, you guessed it: jet black eyes.


While not as explicitly reveal-heavy as our first look at the series, this latest trailer provides some important context for people not quite as already versed in the world of either the Witcher games or the original novels, while still delivering some very fun little moments of fanservice for those who are.

If our first look at The Witcher established the world and the powerful women that inhabit it, from Yennefer to Ciri, this trailer realigns itself back to Geralt himself”shining a light on just what earns his titular line of work its infamous reputation while also setting him on a collision course with quite a few of those aforementioned women.

We’ll find out just how calamitous those collisions are for the Continent when The Witcher rides onto Netflix on December 20.


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