Netflix’s The Witcher is an adaptation of The Witcher book series by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. So, what book is The Witcher Season 3 based on?
The first season follows The Last Wish, while the second season is based on A Grain of Truth and Blood of Elves.
Showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich revealed that The Witcher Season 3 is based on the book “Time of Contempt”, the second book in The Witcher Saga.
She shared with TechRadar: “I’m really thrilled with how the season is shaping up because it’s based on my favorite book in the saga, which is The Time of Contempt.”
Thus, events that happened in Time of Contempt will likely occur in The Witcher Season 3. This article discusses the story in Time of Contempt, the book The Witcher Season 3 is based on.
Warning: This article contains book spoilers for The Witcher. Read at your own risk!
What Happens in Time of Contempt?
In the second book of The Witcher Saga, Yennefer, Ciri, and Geralt are reunited. But a coup takes place, and this causes the three of them to separate again.
Time of Contempt begins where Blood of Elves left off. Ciri and Yennefer journey together, with Yennefer intending to enroll Ciri at Aretuza so that she could master her magic.
They’re also being tracked by the well-known assassin Ralf Blunden/The Professor (a villain in The Witcher Season 3). Ciri refuses to be “imprisoned” at school, so she steals a horse and looks for Geralt.
Yennefer goes after her, which leads to a reunion of the three. All three then return to Thanedd Island together.
Emhyr var Emreis, Ciri’s father “Duny”, who’s also the Emperor of Nilgaard and the White Flame, plays quite a huge role in the book.
Emhyr wanted the Chapter broken apart. The Thanedd coup takes place, and several mages are ambushed.
Emhyr also publicly announced his plans of marrying Ciri to legitimize his rule of Cintra. However, a false Ciri was presented to him and he made orders to find the real Ciri.
This coup that occurs forces the trio to separate again. Ciri manages to escape, and she meets a bandit group called the Rats. Ciri finds herself belonging with them, but she calls herself “Falka”.
RELATED: Will Geralt and Yennefer Get Back Together in The Witcher Season 3?
Differences Between Netflix's The Witcher and The Witcher Books
While the story in the book Time of Contempt may give us a hint about what’s going to happen in The Witcher Season 3, it must be noted that The Witcher show does have various differences from the books.
For instance, there are changes in Yennefer’s character, as book Yennefer may not even consider trading Ciri to gain her powers back. Voleth Meir, or the Deathless Mother, also doesn’t exist in the books.
But showrunner Hissrich said on The Witcher: Unlocked that it was important to create this character because they needed a “season-long villain” that “could start to tie together Yennefer's story, Geralt's story, Ciri's story-- without them all being on-screen together yet.”
Additionally, characters like Dara and Gallatin are not in the books, and there are changes in the show's False Ciri.
But while the Netflix show may not follow everything that happens in the books, at least the book Time of Contempt gives us an idea of what could happen in The Witcher Season 3.
RELATED: Should You Watch The Witcher: Blood Origin Before The Witcher Season 3?