By Season 3 of The Witcher is slowly gearing up for production and casting is long underway. In fact, we already know that a group of assassins, The Professor and his men, will make an appearance according to an audition tape and are likely to be on Yennefer and Ciri’s trail. But there are many more roles to be filled in Season 3 and The Illuminderdi got ahold on a number of casting descriptions with character codenames. Some are surely book characters, but some may be original. Let’s dive in!
“Marylebone” (possibly Milva aka Maria Barring?)
Marylebone is described as a person who “possesses not only a razor sharp wit but a quick blade as well. Her age belies her experience, for she has been forced to mature quickly and learn to survive in a cruel world.” The character and the vibe itself feels a lot like Milva.
The only issue is that Milva’s weapon is a bow, not a blade. So perhaps it is not her after all? Mistle is another theory, but it’s way too early for her at this stage in the story. We shall see.
Another detail is that Netflix is hoping for an LGBTQ+ actress to play this role.
“Picadilly”
Picadilly is another series regular that will join Season 3. He’s described as “a man who is second in line to the throne but seems more prone to a player lifestyle than to a political one. Though he gives off a carefree air, underneath it all he’s rather shrewd at strategy and impassive to boot.“
For this role also Netflix is looking for an LGBTQ+ actor. While this doesn’t ring any bells book-wise, we may just know who he might interact with.
Just in December, we uncovered an audition tape for a new Season 3 role of a gay noble, who was flirting with none other than Jaskier. At the time we assumed that was a king, but king’s brother makes more sense now. So much so that in the audition tape itself he does refer to his brother.
“Angel” (Aplegatt)
This casting description is instantly recognizable as there is no one else to mistake him with. “A royal messenger, played by someone who will need to know his way around a horse. This middle-aged gentleman was tired of his life and the horrors he’d witnessed on the job until he heard something that revolutionized his outlook from that moment on.“
“Maida Vale” (Margarita Laux-Antille?)
Her description reads as following: “Plus-sized and powerful, she is a member of a particular group of women you don’t want to cross. Vivacious and self-confident, she’s sure to be a match for anyone she meets in The Witcher.“
While many sorceresses can have this description, the casting pattern of having the codename starting with the same letter as the real name, coupled with the character being a member of a powerful group of women, points to none other than Margarita Laux-Antille. But we shall see!
“Parsons” (Fake Ciri?)
This one we also have heard of months ago: “A teenage girl convinced she is someone else in order to become a political pawn.” The other description from Recapped reads: “a student that is brainwashed into believing they’re someone else“.
This reads very much like Fake Ciri, who is in reality someone else and is being used as a pawn by Emperor Emhyr var Emreis. The show already had one Fake Ciri in the first season, but perhaps it can do another.
“Greenwich”
His description reads as follows: “A brave and loyal soldier, portrayed by an actor in his 20s, who feels his fervor fade slightly when he realizes his comrades are not as committed as he is.”
This doesn’t immediately ring any bells, but perhaps this is an origin story for Giselher, the leader of The Rats? Maybe the series could portray him being an idealistic soldier at first. On the other hand, it’s too early for The Rats to make any appearances. It is more likely that this is an original character.
“Hampstead”
Hampstead is described as “a middle-aged married woman trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who is more like her child than her husband. Though she inhabits courtly life, her opinions more often than not fall on deaf ears.“
We can’t really say much about this either, but it’s possible this could be Hedwig of Malleore, King Vizimir’s wife and queen of Redania. Although this wasn’t much of a case in the books, Vizimir does appear to be immature sometimes in the series, so it would make sense that his wife Hedwig would be portrayed in that particular way as described above.
“Euston”
Euston seems to be an original addition to the cast as her description doesn’t give much away that can be immediately traced to the books: “a ladies’ maid, played by an actress in her 20s, whose shy and timid appearance is hiding a lethal wildcard ready to put the hurt on those who stand in her way.”
“Victoria”
Victoria’s character description is even more minimal: “a gorgeous free spirit who is hot-blooded but kind-hearted.”
“Richmond”
And lastly there is Richmond, who is described as “a musician who sells instruments for a living and is done with customers thinking they can walk all over her.” Again, not much at all to go on, but Jaskier is in need of a new lute again, so he just might come see her in her music shop.
Finally we have a little more to go on when it comes to the casting of Season 3. Before long, the actual cast will be announced as well. What do you think of these casting descriptions? Do let us know!
Seriously. We, the fans, should be starting a movement on social media with the “hashtag Cancel Netflix The Witcher” before is too late and this show continues for the next upcoming years till the end. If that happens, we will never see a proper adaptation in decades.
I don’t want to disappoint you, but nobody will cancel the series. She is far too popular and successful for that. This series will shake up the TV landscape very much in the next few years and tell us a great story. I’m really sorry that people like you can’t enjoy it and see how great the show is. Anyway, you’ll have to accept that this series has a great future ahead of it, and yes I’m saying that as someone who loves the books and the games.
Ja.ja.ja Yeah. Its a “great” show. Sure. ¿How can some “fans” defend this piece of garbage? Seriously. You must be a Fanboy.
Unfortunately networks don’t care about social media, petitions or fans complains, only for money. We’d had a better chance if no one was watching Blood Origin or any other spin off so they would flop and s3 ratings would dropped to the point that changes should be made (change showrunner, better writing, start listening to the fans) or canceled it.
Don’t watch it,some like it.
Don’t think so mate.
Here where I live (Greece) 90% of the fan base is consisted of non – readers and only half of them (maybe) were RPG game Players (Wither 3 etc).
So most of us haven’t even heard about the books until we saw the fisrt episode (and now many of us are buying the books) and most of us haven’t played the game (and now some friends are dowloading it).
In discussions among us in FB Greek fan groups the most popular opinion are those:
a) The series is not bad when compared to the original source material (the books). In terms of popularity the adaptation is more popular than the books and in the same level as the game.
b) most of the fans who are annoyed with the development and the adaptation are regular series audience who have been watching also other series like GoT, WoT etc and they are paying attention to details and story boards and production etc. When they are complaining they do so because the level of production made them feel that it could use some “upgrade”.
That been told, as far as I am concern, The Witcher is still one of the more effective series out there.
So, in Greece, Withcer has an approval rate about 83-87 %
Sweet comment.
I am not sure how you come to the conclusion that the series “is not bad compared to the source material” after you mentioned that the overwhelming majority of the audience in your circle don’t know the books. It seems in line with the logic of the series’ scriptwriters though, who write that the series is a true adaptation of the books, to then present something in the show which is completely different from the books.
And I mean really, completely. Not just regarding some details. My advice to you and your friends is: Read the books. Then you might get a feeling what so many of the people contributing to this forum claim is missing.
Jaskier is a womanizer not gay people will stop watching if you try to be “woke”.
OMG, this sounds like a nightmare. They learned nothing from s2 and the fans reaction? 10 new characters just for a start and I bet no screen time and bonding between our main three. I hope Henry will quit soon or Lauren will be replaced. As if the characters we had weren’t already enough, as if expanding characters from the books with no reason wasn’t enough! This series is doomed.
Lord please save us from Lauren’s fanfiction. She was so pleased with Voleth meir reception that she decided to expand on her fanfiction? I can only laugh with the news. She’s beyond redemption at this point.
Oh good, again no time for the relationships between the main trio. As if Yen’s betrayal didn’t have their hands full. Or they think a “sacrifice” and “I understand how special she is” was enough to solve the betrayal storyline. It will need a lot of screen time between the three and deep conversations, and understanding to have them become a family ffs. How incompetent a showrunner can be to not understand that? She was at social media, she saw the fans hate for s2 and she continues her bs. I’m done.
Milva? She’s my favorite but isn’t it too soon? They keep rushing the storyline and leave no room for character development. S3 has to fix everything s2 screwed up. Yen has to spend time with Ciri to resolve the whole betrayal arc and have them bond as a mother and daughter (I still wonder how that can happen after what they did in s2), they have to give screen time to Geralt and Yen and show us their love and their relationship, they have the Jaskier, Geralt, Philippa searching for Rience from BoE and the banquet (again how can that happen with Geralt, Yen and Ciri on the run from the kings and the council?) and they’ll also include Milva and the rats? Too much and again no real screentime to the main characters and their relationships to be convincing.
I hope that will crush to Netflix’s face. They had everything to create a masterpiece and they hand it to the most useless showrunner.
Margarita Plus-sized? This contradicts the exact description of her figure in the book “Time of Contempt”
What sucks more than s2 is Lauren’s interviews. She had to create voleth meir because BoE has so much character development and character moments? She had Yen betraying Geralt and Ciri because she found one of the best mother – daughter relationships in fantasy too boring? I don’t know what to say.
The books have so many brilliant characters and they did most of them dirty on the show or reduced their roles and instead they invented original characters or gave to pointless characters like stregobor or istredd – who appeared once in the books – more screen time and stories that should be given to book characters. The only redeeming quality of s2 was Geralt and him being a father to Ciri.
I sincerely hope Jaskier remains straight. Netflix has already taken enough liberties. Changing a major characteristic of an established major character is a terrible move. As a book reader, I did enjoy season two because of my optimism. As an optimistic individual, I am telling you that this sort of change is a valid criticism of the show.
As a side note, there is no point in looking specifically for LGBT actors: Actors are supposed to portray characters who are different to themselves. That is the very essence of acting.
Hope and pray everyday Henry has had enough with Lauren’s bs fanfiction and threatens to quit or brings his own writers to fix the mess she created. He is very vocal that he wants to honor the source material and stay true to the books and Yennefer betraying Geralt and Ciri violates the books to its core (among all the other bs Lauren wrote, eskel, vesemir, tissaia, does anyone care about istredd and his rocks? etc). No to mention she’s unable to understand the deeper themes of the books and transfer them to the screen.
This all comes across as being very terrible prospects. Should fans of the books and games have entertained the faint hope that it can’t get much worse after S2, their power of imagination obviously has failed them. The only possible reaction will be to drop the Netflix account.
All the codenames are names of London Underground stations!
Marylebone very likely is Mistle. The L orientation and competence with the blade fit exactly. As has been remarked, Milva would be associated with bow and arrows rather than a blade. Whereas Maida Vale could be Keira Metz. She isn’t full size exactly, I think, she isn’t described like that in the books. Yet in TW3 she appears like being a bit heavier than Yennefer or Triss. The description of the character resembles Keira more than Rita. But Keira has not very much of a role in books, in contrast to TW3 game.
Netflix has already taken quite a bit of creative liberty with the second season. So don’t be surprised if the characters are different to how they are portrayed, i.e. Marylebone might be Milva, except they decided to give her a sword instead of a bow etc.
Oh goodness, nothing here to encourage those disappointed with the direction things are going. But at least we’ll get our LGBTQ+ tokens in, because that’s what matters.
Most fans of the books and the games (almost all tbh) wait impatiently for Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri to become a real family. For Geralt’s & Yennefer’s love to flourish, for Yennefer and Ciri to become a mother and daughter. The books have many characters already but they keep creating new ones, taking screen time from the main three and their character development and then Lauren complains that 8 episodes aren’t enough to develop everything organically hence the ride from Cintra to Kaer Morhen in minutes. How amazing it would be if they took that traveling time to give the characters some meaningful conversations that would create a real bonding? But they had to include the voleth meir, jaskier in kaer Morhen making lame jokes, tissaia’s and vilgefortz’s romance, eskel’s mutation, stregobor, istredd, yennefer’s betrayal, francesca’s pregnancy and idk what else! As if the books didn’t tell a complete and amazing story with great characters and enough motivations for them. As if vesemir’s search to create more witchers adds anything to the overall story. Or yennefer’s betrayal. Are the fans crazy for wanting their favorite story and characters to be treated with respect? I sincerely hope s3 is better but I have no faith in that.
Don’t reduce the story too much to that “family” theme. Such a theme is more present in the Witcher 3 game but it is not the exclusive main thing in the books, the story is far more multi-layered. Otherwise, I fully agree that the TV show strays too far from the books to the extent that the source material is unrecognizable. Including the family theme which unfortunately has been very much distorted.
Hear, hear!!! That is excellent summary of the problems with this show!!! Season 2 in nearly 80% I would say is basically the writer’s fanfiction and is NOT adapting story at hand, and it will only get worse with season 3.
With some of the characters I’m thrilled with others (most of them) not at all. But what I wonder is how the hell they’re gonna do the banquet after the events of s2? My hope is that s3, somehow, will leave things where time of contempt leaves them and then s4 will give us the Hansa and Ciri’ s adventures without any further changes from the books and without destroying the characters, the Hansa especially (although they already ruined Cahir). But I’m sure they’ll continue with their bad fanfiction as long as Lauren is in charge.
Sweet comment, I always say you don’t like certain TV shows, games or movies DONT watch’em or play them.
I have a different point of view here. If producers, showrunners and scriptwriters set out to adapt book material into movies, but completely change and overwrite the original story because they think it has to fit their view of the world better according to their liking, then they should instead write their own story and not distort the original material. They are now doing that with Blood Origin, perhaps they should have done that right from the start and not call the show “The Witcher”, because it is something different. You don’t want to be given a cone of crushed ice when you ordered some nice ice cream which you were promised to get.
Good point, still, I will stick with what I said before, and you are not wrong.I don’t think they ever will, maybe but I not sure, the authors of the books won’t let them??¿
Funny that only just ‘now’ they are going for ‘plus size’ actress when they could have had such from the start!!!! Nenneke is corpulent woman from her description and yet…..she is thin in the season 2 (not to mention completely unlike Nenneke of the books). Nenneke could have been in the show since the first season, with the Voice of Reason adaptation! But nope. This just shows what laughable are the casting choices of netflix adaptations and how it’s all box checking but only when it suits them (and also showing lack of artistic vision and overall direction). Considering how many side and minor characters there are in books adding new ones misses the point COMPLETELY, I’ve had enough of the netflix inventions already…like the ‘fierce sex workers’ in Kaer Morhen 😉 for the total of one episode ‘you can’t barge into lady’s room with a sword, like that’ ughh.
With Nennek casting choice…oh boy, it was so awful, hell even Hexer, the old polish series managed to cast a great actress for role of Nenneke that both suited in terms of appearance AND in characters portrayal! Anna Dymna was great Nenneke (of course Hexer had a lot of it’s own problems). Can’t say I like much any news of the witcher season 3, after disappointment with the first season and complete butcher of season 2, I’m not expecting anything and still am certain they will do even worse in terms of story quality and reliance on their own fanfiction.