Did The Witcher's Showrunner Just Spoil This Major Season 3 Storyline?
Conjuring up huge audience appeal for Netflix from the moment it debuted in 2019, "The Witcher" has become destination viewing for legions of sword-and-sorcery fans (via Rotten Tomatoes). Immersing viewers in a richly drawn realm of magic and mayhem, the action-fantasy pits its eponymous, monster-hunting Witcher Geralt (Henry Cavill) against a suitably epic array of supernatural adversaries and otherworldly creatures.
Based on Andrzej Sapkowski's 1990s "The Witcher" novels, the Netflix series faithfully reproduces the books' depiction of a complex, alternate reality layered with religious factions, deep magical traditions, and deadly political intrigue. As such, its borderline fanatical fanbase tends to zero in on the smallest hints about where the narrative of the series will go next. And that's why a recent interview conducted by The Wrap with showrunner and executive producer Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has raised more than a few eyebrows in the Witcher-verse. With her revelations about the show's upcoming third season, did "The Witcher" showrunner just spoil a major Season 3 storyline?
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich opened up about Elves in The Witcher Season 3
During her discussion with The Wrap, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich was asked about the theme of prejudicial social attitudes that humans have toward Elves in the series. In response, Hissrich elaborated on this aspect of world-building in the show, noting how the series draws on Sapkowski's novels: "The Elves, obviously their plight is a huge one in the books," she said. "We establish it in Season 1 and we made a conscious choice to bring it to the surface in Season 2 for one main reason, which is that in Season 3 in the book 'Time of Contempt,' the Scoia'tael [Elvish-lead rebels] becomes a much larger force."
While the reference above is hardly a revelation for fans of the books, Hissrich went a bit farther in detailing just how the Elves' situation will feature in the new season, saying, "They are an army of Elves... hired by Nilfgaard to kill and soften the north on Nilfgaard's behalf." She concluded by saying, "When we bring a story to the surface like that, it's because we know what's coming up, and we want to make sure that we have properly prepared the audience to care when we're leading into that story in Season 3."
Although some of the details Hissrich gave may have been common knowledge to veteran fans, it's possible that the showrunner's remarks may have been a bit spoiler-ish regarding just how central the Elves' struggles will become in Season 3 of "The Witcher."