The Continent’s past promises battles, fire and blood – how festive!

With the mini-series due to land on Christmas Day, Netflix have landed a trailer for The Witcher: Blood Origin. Set 1200 years before The Witcher, it tells the story of seven outcasts uniting against an unstoppable power.

The trailer showcases the show’s central trio. Michelle Yeoh’s Scian is a fierce Elven sword master and the last of her clan. Travelling musician Éile (Sophia Brown) and the vengeful Fjall (Laurence O’Fuarain) join her deadly quest.

The four-part series will follow them on a journey which unravels the secrets of the creation of the first prototype Witcher. It also promises to reveal other elements of The Witcher’s world including the origin of the monoliths and the Conjunction of the Spheres.

“All beginnings, all endings.”

Full of action, the trailer plays against a mournful lament about burning borders and burning hearts. Set in the Golden Age of Elves, showrunner Declan de Barra tells Netflix’s Tudum:

“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.”

The cast

The mini-series’ wider cast includes Minnie Driver as Seanchaí, Mirren Mack as Merwyn, Lenny Henry as Balor, Jacob Collins Levy as Eredin, Lizzie Annis as Zacaré, Huw Novelli as Callan “Brother Death”, Francesca Mills as Meldof, Amy Murray as Fenrik, Nathaniel Curtis as Brían, Zach Wyatt as Syndril, Dylan Moran as Uthrok One-Nut, and Joey Batey as Jaskier.

The Witcher: Blood Origin comes from creator and showrunner Declan de Barra. Sarah O’Gorman and Vicky Jewson direct.

All four episodes land at Netflix on Christmas Day.