Why The Witcher Keeps Killing Fan-Favorite Characters, According To The Showrunner

It's never been easy to walk in the footsteps of Geralt of Rivia (Liam Hemsworth), and plenty of characters have lost their lives trying to do so during "The Witcher." But one of the series' showrunners says there's a reason for all of that bloodshed — they want to tell impactful stories that bring change for the narrative's central figures. 

"I don't think anyone is sitting around going, 'Let's just kill that person. Let's have that shock value.' One of the things that our characters have to deal with is the trauma of losing someone and how that changes who you are and how you view the world," series showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich told GamesRadar. It's all about the characters and their evolution for Schmidt Hissrich, even though these choices might upset fans who are so fed up with the show that they think "The Witcher" should have ended with Season 3.

Not only did fans have to contend with a major cast change as Henry Cavill exited the series and was replaced by Hemsworth for Season 4, but no less than four beloved characters pass in an untimely manner over the course of eight episodes. Vesemir (Peter Mullan), Geralt's mentor, is stabbed to death by Vilgefortz of Roggeveen (Mahesh Jadu) during a duel; Keira Metz (Safiyya Ingar) is also stabbed, in her case by a stranger in a rioting mob of villagers; Margarita (Rochelle Rose) dies during the Battle of Montecalvo; and Istredd (Royce Pierreson) uses a spell from the Book of Monoliths to destroy Vilgefortz' portal system at Styygga Castle, dying himself as a result. 

While Season 4 might feel like a failure to "The Witcher" fans, the show's got one more run of episodes left before it's over. Presumably even more characters will die during Season 5, as the plot dictates who survives and who is eliminated. But Lauren Schmidt Hissrich explained to GamesRadar that all these losses also remind the audience how dark and dangerous Geralt's world really is. "It feels like a very sort of human experience that we wanted to reflect on the show," she said. "Throughout the last two seasons, there's a lot of death. 'The Witcher' is not always a happy place."

Indeed, things have never been sunshine and roses in the Four Kingdoms: it's a place laden with violence and evil. But Schmidt Hissrich's comment on a November 9 Instagram post indicates that other factors can also change someone's fate. "Not every actor is available to us exclusively, so sometimes, they're already committed to another project when we need them," she said in part, adding, "Sometimes, we end up killing (or writing off) a character simply because they're tied up in something else." 

Whether it's a practical measure or an attempt at pushing the story forward, one thing's clear; no one on Geralt's team is safe as "The Witcher" approaches the end of its run.