The Witcher showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich has recently confirmed that the Henry Cavill led Netflix show was shortened significantly in the editing room, with some episodes originally clocking at ninety minutes. If you’re as eager to see these deleted scenes as we are, you should find this next bit of news quite interesting. The Witcher season one’s concept artist Ferenc Nothof has shared the storyboards of a fight scene which appeared in the original script but was never actually filmed.
In the scene, which would have appeared early in the show’s seventh episode, Geralt and Mousesack fend off and kill assassins sent by Queen Calanthe. Check out the scenes storyboards below (credited to Nothof and director Alik Sakharov).
A very different version of this sequence was filmed for the show. For one, Calanthe’s assassins ended up being ordinary Cintran knights (rather than what looks like street thugs in the storyboard), and in the show Geralt does not actually cross sword with them (or kill them) as was originally intended. The storyboard also featured an intense moment where Geralt threatens to kill Mousesack.
Nothof has recently unveiled two other storyboards. The first covers Yennefer’s lengthy teleportation sequence from episode four. This is the scene where Yennefer must protect a queen and her baby from the Ronin Mage and his monster. Though certain elements were changed, the final version of the scene is remarkably similar. Take a look at these storyboards below.
This sequence was shot across two countries (in Budapest, Hungary and in the Spanish Canary Islands). Watch Yennefer actress Anya Chalotra break down the scene in the video below.
Another storyboard penned by Nothof is that of the confrontation between Geralt, Jaskier and the sylvan Torque in the “Valley of Plenty”. This sequence appears to have been significantly shortened.
The Witcher season two begins production this February. As ever, Redanian Intelligence will keep you updated on all Witcher-related developments.