The Witcher Season 3 has commenced filming, but we otherwise have little information about its timeline - so, what can we expect from the next chapter of the Netflix tv series? What is The Witcher Season 3 all about?
The Witcher Season 3: What We Know So Far
When filming began for The Witcher Season 3, Netflix released the following official synopsis:
"As monarchs, mages, and beasts of the Continent compete to capture her, Geralt takes Ciri of Cintra into hiding, determined to protect his newly reunited family against those who threaten to destroy it.
Entrusted with Ciri’s magical training, Yennefer leads them to the protected fortress of Aretuza, where she hopes to discover more about the girl’s untapped powers; instead, they discover they’ve landed in a battlefield of political corruption, dark magic, and treachery. They must fight back, put everything on the line – or risk losing each other forever.”
But what exactly does this mean? What can we hope to see in Season 3? Let's break this down a bit:
What Is The Witcher Season 3 About?
Book-wise, we expect The Witcher Season 3 to be based on Andrzej Sapkowski's Time of Contempt.
As Season 1 of the Netflix show adapted short stories from The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny with elements from Blood of Elves, with Season 2 focusing on A Grain of Truth - a story from The Last Wish - then moving on to Blood of Elves, it would make sense chronologically for Season 3 to adapt Time of Contempt.
In the second full-length book of The Witcher, the political upheavals become even more heated, with the secret conclave's machinations and the emperor, Ciri's father, concocting plans of his own.
Time of Contempt also features Yennefer's attempts to enroll Ciri in Aretuza, where she also studied. We won't tell you if she succeeds, but it's no secret that Ciri's powers will, once again, feature prominently.
The ending of The Witcher Season 2 was rather confusing however, provided a great set-up for future events. Geralt and Yennefer have decided to stick together and take Ciri somewhere safe.
We expect the found-family dynamic between Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer - which has sadly been rather underexplored in the Netflix tv series so far - to finally become something worth rooting for, as they meet new characters and embark on new quests.
Of course, the Netflix show has taken some liberties from the books and games that preceded it, with fans wondering, for instance, why Eskel died in Season 2 when this was not the case in the source material.
As the show departs from the originals in some significant ways, we can't be entirely sure about its content and we do expect a surprise or two.
Related: Which Witcher 3 DLC to Play First?
For instance, the wild hunt doesn't feature prominently in the book we expect the third Witcher Season to adapt. It has, however, already been teased in the show and it is an important aspect of The Witcher 3 game so we expect to find out more in the new season.
When an official trailer or other additional information becomes available, we'll update this space for more information.