Netflix over the weekend announced a Christmas launch date for “The Witcher: Blood Origin,” the upcoming four-episode prequel series set 1200 years before the events surrounding Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer of Vengerberg and Ciri in the main “The Witcher” series adaptation.
The big event the show will explore is the Conjunction of Spheres, which fused the realms of monsters, elves, and humans together. Though barely touched upon in Andrzej Sapkowski’s books, showrunner Declan De Barra came up with ideas of what the pre-Conjunction world looked like and how the event happened.
Speaking with Netflix’s Tudum site in the wake of the date announcement over the weekend, De Barra spoke about what fans can expect from the mini-series:
“Viewers will be surprised because they’re going to see a story told about a period of elven history that was buried by the humans after their arrival and eventual conquest of the continent. We get to tell a tale about the elves when they were at their height, like all great societies before their fall.”
This means we’ll see a world that starts off “way more advanced” than the world of The Witcher before colonization by humans leads to the elves becoming an underclass. Unlike the first season of “The Witcher,” this will be straightforward and linear in structure.
Like the main series though, this will follow the world through the eyes of three key figures who’ve teamed up – Michelle Yeoh as Scian, Sophia Brown as Éile, and Laurence O’Fuarain as Fjall. Yeoh is a warrior elf who doesn’t swear, whilst Minnie Driver also stars as shapeshifting storyteller Seanchai who can travel between worlds and times.
The mini-series will show us the origin of the monoliths, a prophecy that becomes very important in the world of Sapkowski’s books, and sets up certain core characters and fan favorites that will pay off in later seasons of the flagship show.
“The Witcher: Blood Origin” debuts on Netflix on December 25th.
