This story definitely spoils some early viewing footage of Netflix's upcoming series. So, if you don't want to hear more about it, this is not the article for you.
Although we don’t have a due date for Witcher yet, we know the books and games are becoming a TV series over at Netflix, starring big name Henry Cavill. At Comic-Con, Netflix gave fans a real look at what to expect from the series. While we now know facts about the show like Geralt’s horse Roach will definitely be a part of the series and that Cavill did his own stunts, there was one piece of footage we saw that really stood out regarding the series.
A scene from Witcher Season 1 was shown this summer. In it, main character Yennefer was sitting on a beach and staring out at the water. She made a dark and compelling speech about how the world is a bleak place and how it might be better to have died young, particularly given women seemingly have very little value in the world Witcher will be portraying.
As the camera panned out, we saw the woman was not talking about herself but about a baby, who was dead beside her on the beach. After Yennefer talked hollowly about the world around her, she shuffled over and ultimately buried the dead baby in the sand.
Prior to this moment at Comic-Con, fans also got to see a fun and catchy sword sequence in a throne room. The ensemble piece was fun to watch, but the shocking scene with the dead baby really set the tone for what’s to come in the show.
Following the clip, showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich broke the dark moment by joking about not having scene the clip before the VFX work had been done on it. She said,
This is the first time I've seen that clip without the VFX slug across it that read ‘Make baby dead.’ For months now, it said, ‘Make baby dead.’ It’s just really nice to see it with a dead baby.
Moderator Yvette Nicole Brown mentioned Yennefer will have “a transformation” that’s physical and emotional in Witcher and actress Anya Chalotra, who plays Yennefer in the series, also sort of echoed how important the scene and episode will be to the show as a whole, noting,
I remember first of all the location we shot at, emailing Lauren at the time and saying, ‘This is the best day ever. Because I couldn’t believe where I was. This part seems so much to me and this scene is such a huge moment in Yennefer’s journey and everything about that day was epic. I mean I was freezing, but it was epic.
A third clip from the series was also shown, but it was the clip featuring the dead baby that really showed fans what they will be getting into with the series. Fans of the books and games might have already been highly anticipating the series, given we know it will have Easter eggs and nods to the various properties. (We’ve seen that bathtub in the trailer.)
But the rest of us really needed a jarring clip, something outside the action and outside Henry Cavill’s look as Geralt to really set the tone, and this shocking scene with the baby on the beach really set expectations for what is to come even more than the already-released trailer has.
If you aren’t familiar with the Witcher novels, Henry Cavill also mentioned he was super into playing the lead character in the series, a witcher named Geralt. He’s also going full LOTR-era Orlando Bloom for the gig and his hair will be white-ish blonde in the new series, making him pretty unrecognizable. It’s jarring for the superman actor, and if you haven’t seen the look yet, I totally suggest you check it out.
All in all, while Netflix released the first episode of Dark Crystal while in San Diego, work is still being done on The Witcher. It could be a little while before we actually get to binge-watch the series, but I’m more excited than ever.
See what Netflix has coming even sooner with our full schedule. Expect The Witcher to hit streaming sometime later in 2019.
