As season 3 (volume 1) of The Witcher approaches, we take a look at the destinies of four heroes

It’s fair to say season 2 of The Witcher picked up the pace (a lot) and gave each of our major characters some significant moments. They were all changed by events, and our four heroes have all grown as people. What can we expect for them in season 3? Who’s got a coin for our bard…

Jasper the Bard

Unlike season 2, Jasper (played by Joey Batey) seems set to appear in most of the season’s eight episodes, and according to Games Radar, there’s (at least one) love interest for the bard. Batey says:

“For me when I first read the scripts, they were the best scripts that I think we’ve done so far. There are some things from the books that I think fans are going to really, really enjoy. And some really lovely key moments that are very epic…”

As to the books, the season focuses on Andrzej Sapkowski’s book Time of Contempt, as well as including some key storylines from Blood of Elves. You’ve time for (another) re-read before June 29.

Let’s also not forget the season 2 ending where it seems there’s a connection to Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) — just what games are being played? Only one way to find out!

Yennefer of Vengerberg

If season 1 gave Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) a chance to explore the depth of her magical talents, and for her and Geralt to form a relationship, season 2 turned a lot of that on its head. forcing her to betray everyone and almost bringing total disaster on Geralt and Ciri. While she is still in fold, there’s a lot of ground to make up, and will her and Geralt find their way back to each other romantically? She also needs to determine who she actually is now various layers of her identity have been stripped away.

From the trailers she spends time helping Ciri explore her own powers, but we expect a lot more besides.

Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon (Ciri)

Ciri (Freya Allan) has had her own identity problems, not least being the slaughter of her family, being the target of numerous parties hunting her down and wielding powers seemingly capable of changing the world (and possibly tied to the Conjunction of the Spheres). She even thought about becoming a witcher herself. Then there’s the surprise reveal at the end of season 2 (rewatch if you don’t remember) of the identity of the main villain.

She’s also going through adolescence, and it seems this includes her sexual identity. Series creator Lauren Schmidt Hissrich spoke to Digital Spy and dropped some serious hints:

…something that I would say is hinted at in the books, but you never really get into what is her sexuality, and we start to delve into that more as well.

There’s a lot more in the linked article, including thoughts from Allan.

Geralt of Rivia

Last of our four heroes, but by no means the least, is the Witcher himself. Geralt of Rivia (played by Henry Cavill for now) has a lot to do, including protecting Ciri and dealing with the idea of emotions (witchers don’t have them). Talking to Netflix, Hissrich had this to say:

“For years, Geralt has claimed neutrality, shunned politics and publicly asserted that witchers don’t have emotions — all to make his life as a killer easier to navigate. We’ve seen him battle monsters and monstrous humans; we’ve watched as he’s hardened himself in order to survive. This season, he can no longer do that.”

As fans, it’s difficult to separate excitement for the new season and the news there will be (at least) two more, from wondering how the change of actor from Cavill to Liam Hemsworth will work.

Four heroes, four destinies… or one?

There’s a lot to look forward to on June 29 (when the first five episodes drop, the final three coming July 27) and with two more seasons (more, please) coming, plenty of character development left.

We suspect there will be plenty of twists, and while goals are mostly aligned, we don’t imagine season 3 will have an entirely happy ending for our four heroes. We’ll start finding out in under two weeks!