Henry Cavill, Lauren Hissrich, and Freya Allan on what to expect from Season 2 of The Witcher

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With less than 10 weeks to the premiere of the second season of The Witcher, the excitement and enthusiasm among fans for the Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra and Freya Allan starring hit series is high, and every tiny bit of information on the series is welcomed. In an interview with the Sci-Fi and Fantasy collector’s magazine, showrunner Lauren Hissrich and lead actors Henry Cavill and Freya Allan gave us a glimpse of what we can expect from Season 2


How the second season will be different from the first

Season 2, largely based on the first Sapkowski’s Witcher novel Blood of Elves, will be on a more linear storyline compared to season one which told the origin stories of the three lead characters in different timelines. Showrunner Lauren Hissrich explains how Season 2 will be different.

“In Season 1, especially with all those short stories from Sapkowski’s The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, we embraced different tones. Going into Season 2, it had been my intention to keep doing it that way, let it go with the flow, but the stories are a bit more intense. We lean into those darker elements, and I think they perfectly suit the stories. The only thing we really tried to be consistent about was keeping [Geralt’s] sense of humor.”


On having to add new monsters to the Blood of Elves stories and expanding Yennefer’s story

To prep for the adaptation of Blood of Elves, Lauren Hissrich had all her writers reread the book and come prepared with the biggest hallmarks in their opinion of what people loved from the books and the games as well.

“For instance, Blood of Elves lacks monsters. There’s just not very many. But we know from the games that people really like to see Geralt battling monsters, so we continued adding more monsters to Season 2.”

Lauren added on expanding Yennefer’s story where we learn what she’s been up to between the Battle of Sodden and when we meet her again in Blood of Elves: “The goal is taking everything we can from the source material and then looking at where we need to bulk up the story to honor all these characters.”


Henry and Freya on Geralt and Ciri’s relationship

Geralt and Ciri’s relationship has been on a collision course for most of season one, with Geralt avoiding taking responsibility for his child of surprise. Speaking about the relationship between Geralt and Ciri in season two, Henry Cavill says, “For me, it was important that Geralt let go of his reluctance about his Child of Surprise this season. He has decided to take this particular path, so he will do it to the best of his ability.”

Freya Allan elaborates, “When she sees him. It’s just that sense of relief—here, potentially is her future—and I think there’s an idea of “hopefully, I’ve found my protector,” someone who could potentially guide her in being able to defend herself in that world.


Ciri “definitely wants to be a Witcher”

Kaer Morhen will play a very important role in Season 2, and fans are enthusiastic to meet the other witchers and Geralt’s mentor (and fan favorite) Vesemir, partly because of the interesting dynamic between the brutal emotionless witchers, and the young girl raised in luxury but who now needs their protection. Henry Cavill who plays one of the witchers Geralt says, “It took some getting used to! There are more [Witchers] than in the books, so Kaer Morhen was comparatively busy.” Laughing he adds, “It was important to us to show the male affection and softness that lives within these mutant slayers of monsters.”

About Ciri, Allan adds, “She definitely wants to be a Witcher. However, this is where Geralt and her have a bit of knocking of heads because Geralt wants to protect her—and that doesn’t involve her becoming a Witcher.”

On the topic of witchers’ emotions, Hissrich adds, “What I think is so fascinating is the debate around Witcher emotions. It’s easier to pretend they don’t care what anyone thinks about them after they kill someone. Then you introduce Ciri into this—this vulnerable teenage girl who’s lost everyone—and you get to see more range. The Witchers kill monsters, even it they care about Ciri.”


Henry and Freya on the first episode, based on A Grain of Truth

Episode one of season two adapts the story of A Grain of Truth with Kristofer Hivju playing Nivellen. But there is more to it. Allan explains, “Whatever happens in Episode 1 triggers her main fear that everything around her falls apart, from people being harmed to people dying. And that fear is important for the rest of the season.”

Cavill, being more discreet, says, “Without giving away too much, let’s say Ciri has to face some of her own demons, while Geralt faces a monster or two.”


Read more of the interview on the Sci-fi and Fantasy collector’s magazine.

We expect to have more interviews as the season two promo builds up in the coming weeks, hopefully with fan favorites Anya Chalotra, Kristofer Hivju, and Joey Batey. Stay tuned to Redanian Intelligence as we cover season two promos.

3 comments on “Henry Cavill, Lauren Hissrich, and Freya Allan on what to expect from Season 2 of The Witcher”

  1. Destined to protect…OMG. Really? Like “The Emperor protects” from Warhammer 40k? This is so out of character for Geralt. Fears are rising again that the showrunners are misinterpreting the Witcher story and the main figure completely. The least that Geralt could want is to protect anyone. He makes occasional exceptions, that is true, for characters like Ciri or Nenneke, or even Jaskier; generally he seems to assume that Yennefer can hold herself against anything and needs no protection or that he cannot provide any if the source of the threat are powerful mages. Otherwise, he is not a protector. He hunts monsters for money. It is a side effect, from his point of view, that thereby people are protected, that is why they pay for the monster removal job. What a crazy poster. Unless it is meant ironically.

    1. Witchers were literally created to protect people dude. Destined to doesn’t mean that they necessary want to, but Kaer Morhen made them what they are now. And in S2 and beyond, Ciri is the child of Surprise of Geralt and is then inevitably linked to him, letting him with no choice other than protecting the girl.

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