Biggest Unanswered Questions In The Witcher: Nightmare Of The Wolf
Contains spoilers for "The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf"
If you just finished watching Netflix's new animated film "The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf," you might be a little confused. Based on Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski's beloved fantasy series, "The Witcher" has become an entertainment empire that clearly aspires to be recognized as an equal to franchises such as "The Lord of the Rings" or "Game of Thrones."
Unfortunately, this means understanding each new character, historical event, and mythical creature can feel like doing homework. To make matters even more difficult, the old-fashioned language choices can make the film feel like a Shakespearean play. Fortunately for you, we're doing some of the homework so you don't have to. Let us take a look at a few of the unanswered questions from "The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf," and hopefully we can help shed some light on possible answers.
Take heed of two big disclaimers: First, we will be spoiling all of "The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf," along with a number of other "Witcher" franchise installments, although we will try to not spoil anything that doesn't need to be spoiled. Second, "The Witcher" is a dense, complicated franchise that dates back to 1986, so there will necessarily be a few gaps in this analysis, though hopefully none that really undermine its value as fan tool.
Here are the biggest unanswered questions of "The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf."
What will happen to Vesemir after becoming the teacher he doesn't want to be?
If all of "The Witcher" you've consumed has been its most popular entries, "The Witcher III: The Wild Hunt" and the 2019 Netflix show, you're likely to have some questions about a name often alluded to but seldom expanded upon: Vesemir (voiced by David Errigo Jr. as a child and Theo James as an adult). Geralt's old teacher in "The Witcher" video games (which, we should note, are technically not canon, according to some sources), Vesemir has his own tragic origin story, which is the main focus of "The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf."
Vesemir spent his childhood as a common "street rat," stealing food and coin in order to get by, while also serving a rich master as a servant. When a witcher named Deglan (voiced by Graham McTavish) comes to exorcise a monster possessing a woman, Vesemir gets a taste of the action and thirsts for more, offering himself as payment as part of the Law of Surprise, another complicated aspect of lore from "The Witcher."
Skipping way ahead to the end of this particular adventure, Vesemir is saddled with the care of the remaining witchers-to-be, with most of the remaining witchers missing or dead. There are so many questions related to this cataclysmic event, but the biggest ones are: What will happen to Vesemir as fate forces him to become the teacher he doesn't want to be, and how will that affect the boys in his care?
How did Lady Zerbst rise to power, and will she finally be at peace?
There's a lot of mystery and intrigue surrounding all of these characters, Lady Zerbst (voiced by Mary McDonnell) perhaps most of all. She was a childhood friend of Vesemir's until he decided to undergo the brutal and deadly training of becoming a witcher, leaving her behind. She did not, however, share Vesemir's humble status. She's of noble blood, and rose through the ranks due to careful political ploys and "lucky" coincidences to eventually become an esteemed advisor to King Dagread (voiced by Adam Croasdell).
After the events of "Nightmare of the Wolf," however, Tetra (voiced by Lara Pulver) uses a powerful illusion to trick Vesemir into fatally wounding Lady Zerbst, who is now a 70-year-old woman. Vesemir, who is of a similar age but much younger-looking due to the expanded lifespan gifted to witchers, tearfully says goodbye to Lady Zerbst next to the lake they dreamed of sharing together, as she dies in his arms, at peace.
This might seem to be a definite end to Lady Zerbst's story, but then again, she may appear as a ghost, wraith, or other creature of the underworld. Or we may get to go back in time and see more of her story. Just who exactly is Lady Zerbst, and how innocent is she really? We may never fully know, but we sure hope some piece of "Witcher" media expands on this woman's background.
How was Kitsu created, and where will she go?
Apparently named after the traditional Japanese onomatopoeia for a fox's cry, Kitsu is an unnatural mutation of many mysterious beings, but often appears as a deceptively cute fox. She also, however, appears as a leshen (a tree spirit), a basilisk (big snake creature, you probably saw one in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," although there is of course no relation) and perhaps even an elf (Think "Lord of the Rings," not Santa Claus).
Like a fox, Kitsu is one sly creature known for playing tricks, so it's impossible to fully know what she is or isn't capable of. However, we do believe she was created by Deglan in a series of unnatural, unholy and unethical experiments on various creatures, most of which died in the process, but a small number of whom survived and escaped. Kitsu appears to be one such creature, who lashes out at humanity with a power she struggles to control. Despite all that, she is a fundamentally well-meaning creature who earns Vesemir's sympathy and mercy.
Where is she now? We can only guess, but we wouldn't be surprised to see more of Kitsu in the future, perhaps even in Netflix's second season of "The Witcher." It would be quite the showdown if she got on Geralt's bad side.
What horrific events and people shaped Deglan to become such a demented witcher?
Deglan grew up in the Skellige Isles, where he was taught the worst lessons from a young age: Never show fear or mercy; rule with an iron fist; think of your cause first, yourself second, and everyone else dead last. He's the franchise's walking totem of toxic masculinity.
Like most characters in the universe of "The Witcher," however, he's still relatable, even if he is the closest thing to a villain in the movie. As a witcher himself, he inspired Vesemir to take up the life he chooses, and trained him to become one of the strongest witchers ever — even if the process nearly killed him. He is the morally gray father figure to Vesemir as Vesemir will become the morally gray father figure to Geralt.
However, he crosses the line when he creates the demented, tortured, monstrous mutants, including Kitsu. He intends to sic these tortured creations on the unsuspecting humans, who would then have no choice but to provide more coin to the witchers in order to eradicate them. It's an ingenious, evil plan, until Vesemir puts a stop to it, killing Deglan in the process.
Barring any spiritual hauntings or miraculous recoveries, this appears to be the end of the tale of Deglan, but we still have much to learn about his own origins. Will we ever learn the exact chilling details of what made Deglan become such a twisted person? We aren't holding our breath, but one can dream.
What will become of Geralt and his fellow witchers-in-training?
After everything, however, "Nightmare of the Wolf" has one last ace up its sleeve. The seemingly inconsequential bald kid, who runs away from Kaer Morhen along with the other boys too young to fight, is actually none other than Geralt (here voiced by Harry Hissrich), the famous witcher who acts as the main character of both the Netflix series and the video games!
Alongside Geralt appear to be Remus (voiced by David Errigo Jr.), Tomas (voiced by Michaela Dietz) and Luka (voiced by Jennie Kwan). It's a lot of names to keep track of, but we can at least guess where some of his friends end up.
Remus appears in the Netflix live-action series as a freelance witcher, so you can find out what happens to him there. We couldn't find much on Tomas, suggesting that he may have died as a common casualty of the witcher-creating process. As for Luka, we found a small Netflix page about him as a mostly retired witcher, although now we're really in the weeds.
Of course, Geralt's story is always being shaped and twisted by whoever gets the privilege to tell it. The next big chapter, however, will be the second season of Netflix's series "The Witcher," which debuts exclusively on the streaming platform December 17.