By Perhaps the most controversial storyline in Andrzej Sapkowksi’s Witcher Saga involves the young princess Ciri and a band of outlaws who call themselves the Rats. These are a group of teenagers, each of whom has been a victim of Nilfgaard’s campaign to conquer the Continent. Being confronted with the horrors of war at such a young age, the Rats have suffered severe psychological trauma and lost their moral compass.
When Ciri runs into the Rats, she becomes part of their twisted little family and steers very far from her usual good-natured self. A lot of book readers did not like this particular twist and the events that followed it, which makes this next piece of news that much more interesting.
Earlier this year, it had already been confirmed the Rats will be featured in the Netflix series when the show’s official Twitter account revealed that Christelle Elwin has been cast as Mistle, the most notable member of the Rats due to her romantic yet toxic relationship with Ciri.
Seeing as the other Rats were not revealed back then, we were still unsure of whether Netflix will be tackling this particular storyline in a similar manner to the books or changing it entirely, as some book readers may have hoped. Now that we’ve uncovered two new confirmed castings, with several more suspected, we know that, for better or worse, the Netflix series will likely be staying true to the novels when it comes to the Rats.
Confirmed Cast Members
First off is a member of the Rats called Reef, who will be portrayed by Juliette Alexandra (EastEnders). In the novels, Reef was a Nilfgaardian who served the Usurper before Emperor Emhyr rose to the throne.
During one siege, Reef was wounded and abandoned on enemy territory by his fellow soldiers. Reef was then found and saved by another member of the Rats.
The second confirmed casting we have uncovered is not for a member of the Rats, but for one of the Trappers, a group who eventually leads Ciri to the Rats, after a bloody fight ensues. We can confirm that Nicholas Karimi will portray the Trapper Skomlik.
Cast With Unconfirmed Roles
What of the remaining Rats? Well, actress Aggy K. Adams, who was on set during filming, could be the show’s Iskra.
Iskra was an elf who was exiled from elven territories. Her chances of survival were slim until she joined the Rats.
At first, we thought Andrew Lee Potts could be the Rat leader Giselher, but seeing as he is years older then the rest and is sporting a grey-ish beard nowadays, it’s far more likely that he was cast as a Trapper.
The actor was on location with the crew during filming of one of the last two episodes of season three and is quite likely either Sweers or Remiz.
More Possible Cast
Another actor we suspect was cast is Ash Rizi, who may well be the show’s Giselher. Giselher was effectively the leader of the Rats, who was a drunken soldier who deserted his army during the war.
If not Gisleher, Rizi may end up portraying one of two other Rats, Asse or Kayleigh.
Next up is Ben Radcliffe, who we believe was involved in the filming of these scenes. Radcliffe fits the type and as such is most likely one of the Rats.
Since Reef has been cast, this leaves either Kayleigh, Asse, or Giselher as his possible role.
So it seems Netflix are casting all or most of the Rats, and they’ll be making their debut at the very end of the scene just as they did at the very end of Time of Contempt after a confrontation with the Trappers. All that will remain unchanged from the novels, but there may yet be some alterations to this controversial storyline. Let us know how you think Netflix will handle this hot potato of a storyline in the comments below.
Season 3 of The Witcher is in production until mid-September 2022 for a 2023 release. The live-action prequel The Witcher: Blood Origin is in post-production after two weeks of reshoots and is currently eyed for a Christmas 2022 release. Stay tuned to Redanian Intelligence and do pop into our Discord server to join in on The Witcher conversation.
