By During the production of The Witcher‘s first season, the show filmed in five different countries. In the next few entries of Redanian Archives, we’ll explore the show’s filming in the Canary Islands, where tourists and local news sites were able to give us our first proper look at the show’s filming on location. Read on for some exciting leaks featuring Yennefer in costume and flashback scenes with Stregobor.
Week 17: Gran Canaria
With production moving to the Canaries the previous week, the cast and crew regrouped in the island of Gran Canaria, where they would film for the duration of Week 17. The first few days yielded some incredible pictures from the crew. Soon after, we were treated to a series of incredible leaks – including our first looks at Anya Chalotra in costume as Yennefer of Vengerberg and Lars Mikkelsen as the mage Stregobor. We’ll elaborate on each leak separately, of course, but first, pictures from the crew. Showrunner Lauren Hissrich was kind enough to deliver a picture from the beautiful sets almost every day of the week.
Next up is a landscape full of rocks, shrubs and cacti. With Henry Cavill‘s “key costumer” on location, we know that this scene involves Geralt of Rivia. More importantly, we think one shot from the trailer might have been filmed on location.
Soon after, Cavill shared a video of his morning run around the forest near The Witcher‘s base camp.
Afterward, production took to a plateau in Cuevas Blancas to film a flashback scene for the pilot episode’s adaption of the short story The Lesser Evil. Here, we see Lars Mikkelsen in costume as the mage Stregobor alongside Inge Beckmann‘s heartless queen Aridea. The two are presumably conspiring against the young Princess Renfri. The younger Renfri will be played by Lila Prideaux and, though she was not spotted, it is likely she was on hand for filming. The grown-up Renfri, Millie Brady, was also in Gran Canaria at the time (and was later replaced by Emma Appleton). Also present is the young actress Elle McGhie, who plays a childhood friend of Renfri’s (the girl crying in the footage below).
Next is the site of one of the season’s most famous leaks: the peak of Roque Nublo. Here, the crew gathered to film an important Yennefer scene which featured in the show’s first teaser. Before we address the present cast, let’s enjoy the scenery.
Filming at Roque Nublo lasted a couple of days. The scene filmed there was directed by Alex Garcia Lopez for the show’s fourth episode, as one of the show’s clapperboards later revealed. This being one of Gran Canaria’s primary tourist locations, the production was unable to prevent the leaks.
Now that we’re familiar with the location, let’s dive into one of the season’s juiciest leaks. At the peak of Roque Nublo, a scene was filmed involving Anya Chalotra (Yennefer), Isobel Laidler (Queen Kalis of Lyria), a baby (the daughter of the queen) and Marcin Czarnik (a mage intent on killing or capturing that baby). Yennefer attempts to protect the queen and her child from Czarnik’s mage, but it appears that she is the only one to survive this struggle. Below are the first leaked pictures of cast members in costume, and the relevant images from the trailer.
Below are two videos of the rehearsals for the scene at Roque Nublo involving the above-mentioned actors. Take a look at the exciting footage shared by a tourist on Reddit. The third video, via Instagram, shows Czarnik’s stunt double falling backwards while Czarnik himself watches from behind the camera.
An exciting leak, indeed. This scene does not appear in Andrzej Sapkowski‘s novels, but is part of an original storyline developed for Yennefer. This sequence happens in the episode following her transformation from hunchback and will see Yennefer fail to protect the Lyrian queen and her baby. Below are the relevant shots from the show’s first teaser.
RELATED ARTICLE: Here’s How The Witcher Will Adapt Yennefer’s Story in Season One
Following the wrap at Roque Nublo, filming took to another location familiar from the trailer: the dunes of Maspalomas Beach. Here, the crew resumed filming of the teleportation sequence that ends in Roque Nublo, plus a key moment in Ciri‘s storyline. Below, we take a look at images shared by local news website La Provincia.
Also at Gran Canaria the same week is the show’s young star Freya Allan, who plays the princess-on-the-run Ciri. One shot from the teaser shows Ciri in a desert which can only be Maspalomas Beach. Why is Ciri in a desert? Likely for a dream sequence or vision.
RELATED ARTICLE: Here’s How We Think The Witcher is Adapting Ciri’s Story
Towards the end of the week, the show filmed additional scenes in some of Gran Canaria’s beautiful forests. One forest of pines appears to be the location of another scene from the pilot episode featuring Millie Brady, Shane Attwooll, Matthew Neal and Luke Neal (Renfri and her crew of outlaws). It’s important to note that The Witcher‘s pilot underwent significant reshoots; all these actors were recast.
RELATED ARTICLE: The Witcher’s Pilot Reshoots: Renfri’s Band Identified, and Everything We Know
And that’s it for this part of Redanian Archives. Next up we have the cast and crew moving to the island of La Palma to film in lava fields and hunt a golden dragon.
