On the heels of Comic-Con, Netflix unveiled the debut teaser for The Witcher and it looks alright. Henry Cavill – who stars as Geralt of Rivia, the titular witcher – might be subject to debate regarding his merits as an actor, but there’s no doubt he looks the part and judging by comments made elsewhere, he certainly seems enthusiastic as well.
The Witcher is based on a series of fantasy novels and short stories by Andrzej Sapkowski. A hit in their native Poland, they’ve been translated into several languages and their popularity has only grown with the success of the video games from CD Projekt RED. Netflix’s series is being executive produced and written by Lauren Hissrich, and taps into the novels not the games.
Which means this television show is in a strange place – adapting characters and stories made popular by the videogames, but obligated to remain faithful to the less widely known source material. That’s potentially pretty cool, since there’s no way the series could ever satisfy a hardcore gamer fanbase while the rest of geekdom is generally more forgiving about creative differences a la Game of Thrones.
In any case, so much happens in the trailer’s meager two minutes, odds are you’ve missed some stuff. I’ve combed through the trailer and turned to the vast sea of the Internet to pull out as many intriguing details for you. Here’re eight details to watch out for in the trailer to Netflix’s The Witcher.
Striga, I Hardly Even Know Her
Image source: Netflix
One of the first things to notice in the trailer is Geralt going at it with a grisly looking monster thing, likely a Striga. Striga are women that are cursed to transform into troll-like creatures, kind of like a werewolf only nastier. In The Last Wish short story anthology, Geralt dreams of his fight with the Striga after some good sex. Because of course post-coital dreams are made of monster fights.
Becoming The Butcher
Image source: Netflix
As one Reddit thread points out, it’s here where Geralt is looking all torn up and pissed off that is likely when he earns the nickname, “The Butcher of Blaviken.” I won’t go into how that all plays out but if it should suffice to say that in classic Geralt form, he gets screwed over for trying to save everyone. Lots of people die and they pin the blame on him, making him even more feared and hated.
Tasteful Looking Dryads
Image source: Netflix
One of the first things to notice are the Dryads, the nymph-like humanoids that live in the forests. The games depict them as naked sexy green plant women, but in the books they’re actually plain wild folk with green tinted skin. The series seems to know that it will want to attract an audience broader than straight dudes with a hard-on for an all-white medieval setting with a lust-defined fantasy milieu.
Why Yennefer Looks Different
Image source: Netflix’s
Yennefer is considered one of the more iconic women of The Witcher, but people with only a passing familiarity with the games and books might be surprised to see her with a hunched back and a swollen cheek. It’s said these physical irregularities mark children with an affinity for magic, and in most cases sorceresses use their magic to physically alter their appearance.
Thanedd and the Tower of Power
Image source: Netflix
That’s the isle of Thanedd where resides the school of Aretuza, effectively the magic school for sorceresses. Ciri goes there for a short bit and it’s the setting for some major beats in the overarching Witcher story many of which are violent and full of betrayal. Also take note of the bridge that connects it to the city of Gors Velen.
The Once And Future Emperor
Image source: Netflix’s
In a blink and you miss it moment, this hedgehog faced fella takes up his sword. That’s likely Emhyr van Emreis, who before becoming the Emperor of Nilfgaard, was cursed by a sorcerer to take on the appearance of a human-hedgehog hybrid. The series will probably show us how he lifts the curse, but it won’t leave him a super chillax guy since he does become a ruthless tyrant.
Aye, That’s The Aard Of It
Image source: Netflix
Much to the dismay of sorcerers, witchers dabble in magic but their practice is seen as clumsy and contrived. But when you’re facing monsters, you improvise every little bit of advantage you can get it and if that means being a bit of a dilettante in the arcane arts, so be it. Here Geralt is probably casting Aard which unleashes a gust of telekinetic energy to knock down minor foes.
Kikimora, More Like Kikirunna
Image source: Netflix
After the trailer reaches its crescendo, we cut to title and then to a swamp where a spider-like creature rises from the bog. There’s some debate as to which creature this is but I’m betting on the Kikimora, the monster Geralt hauls into town in the opening section of The Lesser Evil. If that’s the case then it’s likely this fight will serve as the cold open to the first season’s pilot episode.
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