Henry Cavill’s (Man of Steel, The Witcher) Monday reveal of Geralt of Rivia’s look for season two The Witcher was joined by similar glimpses into the characters Ciri of Cintra and Yennefer of Vengerberg in the days that followed, making this great week for those starved for new Witcher content. After Cavill’s post on Monday, The Witcher Twitter account left fans eager for more by tweeting “and what will destiny bring tomorrow?”
Ciri of Cintra was destiny’s first delivery for The Witcher zealots, with a photo of her season 2 transformation dropping Tuesday, accompanied by a close-up of a wooden training sword. The image of Ciri, played by Freya Allan (The Witcher, The Third Day), sparing in the snow denotes a notable shift in her character’s demeanor from season one. The first season of The Witcher saw Ciri fleeing her kingdom’s demise and searching for Geralt of Rivia, a pursuit that took her all season. Now that Ciri and Geralt have finally teamed up, and she’s no longer on the run, she has the opportunity to learn from the best fighters in the kingdom at Kaer Morhen, training ground of the witchers.
The witcher home of Kaer Morhen is to feature heavily in Ciri and Geralt’s storyline together, as the official synopsis of the season dictates: “Geralt of Rivia brings Princess Cirilla to the safest place he knows, his childhood home of Kaer Morhen” (The Wrap). While Kaer Morhen will play pivotal role in Ciri’s future as she trains to become a witcher and harness her powers, the location will also serve as a link to Geralt’s past. In February, Kim Bodnia (Killing Eve) was cast as Vesemir, Geralt of Rivia’s mentor and a major character in both the book and video games series from which the show draws its inspiration. Screen Rant expects that Vesemir will play role in Ciri’s training when Geralt reunites with him in Kaer Morhen. An introduction to Vesemir in season two will help prime audiences for the prequel spin-off Witcher: Blood Origin, centered around his character.
On Instagram, Cavill has alluded to Kaer Morhen while seated in the hair and make-up trailer and it’s likely Allan has spent much of her time back on set in similar position as The Witcher team has completely revamped Ciri’s look for season two. “They’ve given Ciri a different look, no longer going for the “ghostly elf child” vibe of season one, darkening her brows and giving her different eye make-up,” Forbes notes on the change in Ciri’s appearance. While the hair and make-up department have contributed heavily to Ciri’s more mature look, Tuesday’s photo showed that the character’s wardrobe has been upgrade from refugee princess to battle-ready witcher. As Ciri gets older, it brings fans closer to where they started with her character in The Witcher video game franchise, Screen Rant remarks that Allan’s season 2 wardrobe brings audiences “a look similar to what she wears in the video games.”
The excitement over Ciri’s team-up with Geralt and the witchers of Kaer Morhen was followed with a glimpse at fan-favorite character Yennefer of Vengerberg on Wednesday. When the Ciri photos were once more foot-noted with the tweet: “what will destiny bring tomorrow?” many fans expected Yennefer would be next. According to The Wrap, the photos of Yennefer will be the last of this week’s Witcher character reveals.
Wednesday’s photo showed Yennefer, played by Anya Chalotra (The Witcher, Wanderlust), battered and chained after her explosive finale at the Battle of Sodden Hill. According to the synopsis provided by The Wrap, Geralt presumes Yennefer dead in the wake of season one’s climatic battle. Unbeknownst to Geralt, the powerful sorceress has survived, though she looks a little worse for wear and under the custody of an unknown party.
Season one of The Witcher engaged viewers with it’s disjointed timelines, a storytelling device that showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich (The Witcher, The Umbrella Academy) reports will be done-away-with in the show’s second season, via The Wrap. A shared timeline between these three protagonists helps shape clear arc for season two when piecing together this week’s photos with the provided synopsis details. Geralt, presuming Yennefer’s dead, will take Ciri under-his-wing as a witcher-in-training at Kaer Moher. “Just how long the new episodes will be based in Kaer Morhen is unclear,” Screen Rant predicts that, as the season runs its course, Geralt will find out the truth about Yennefer’s plight and “that Geralt and Ciri will set out to find Yennefer.”
In spring of 2019, The Witcher’s UK production became one of the many causalities of COVID-19 imposed shutdowns and it’s yet to be determined whether those delays will impact the show’s predicted 2021 release.
Image Credit: Raymond Flotat