Leaked images from the filming the second season of Netflix's The Witcher have revealed that Geralt will be taking on the Wild Hunt in the show's upcoming storyline. The Wild Hunt is among the most intimidating and powerful forces in the franchise's universe, as well as the ultimate villain of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
The Wild Hunt has strange origins, mysterious motivations, and a fascinating role to play in the story of Geralt of Rivia and Ciri. For those who may be unfamiliar, here's what exactly the Wild Hunt is, how it has been portrayed in other media, and what fans might expect from it in The Witcher's second season.
The Origins Of The Wild Hunt
The name of the Wild Hunt comes from real-life northern European folklore. It is typically depicted as a group of spectral riders who tear across the night sky, often claiming the souls of those who see them. In some versions of this myth, they are led by Odin, the head of the Norse pantheon.
From the perspective of the average observer in the world of The Witcher, the Wild Hunt would appear to be very much like its folkloric basis. However, across the stories, the true origins and motivations of the Wild Hunt are revealed. Though the dark spiked armor worn by the huntsmen and their horses makes them appear like monsters, this is not actually the case. The Wild Hunt - also known as the Wraiths of Morhogg in Skellige - are actually a group of Elves from another dimension, something related to the Conjunction of the Spheres.
The Conjunction of the Spheres was a magical event which took place 1500 years before the main events of The Witcher books. It trapped creatures from across the multiverse on different worlds, and caused humans to appear in the world of The Witcher. During this event, some of the Elves from Geralt's world left through portals. The arrived in another reality, and became known as the Aen Elle Elves. They found their new home populated by two sentient races, humans and Unicorns. The Aen Elle eradicated the human population, and began a perpetual war with the Unicorns that continues into Geralt's time.
The Aen Elle built a civilization on their new world, but found themselves lacking viable slaves due to the eradication of the humans and the non-humanoid forms of the Unicorns. As such, their king Auberon Muircetach formed a group known as the Red Riders with the sole goal of invading other realities and taking back their inhabitants as slaves for the Aen Elle. General Eredin Breacc Glas was made the leader of the Red Riders. Using magic to make themselves look more intimidating, this group of raiders took slaves from countless worlds. They gained a new name, the Wild Hunt. Eredin himself became known as the King of the Wild Hunt.
The Wild Hunt In The Novels
The Wild Hunt preferred to raid their world of origin, finding that it had been taken over by humans in the time since the Conjunction of the Spheres. Over time some people gained knowledge of the Wild Hunt's true origins and purpose. A school of Witchers known as the School of the Viper became dedicated to studying the Wild Hunt. A few slaves even managed to find their way back through portals to their home-world, though their tales of a distant land of warring Elves and Unicorns were usually dismissed as insanity.
In the year 1267 in Geralt of Rivia's world, the Wild Hunt sensed Ciri's Elder Blood, which indicated that she was a descendent of a powerful Elven sorceress named Lara Dorren. Lara had famously fallen in love with a human mage who she met after the Conjunction of the Spheres. Anyone with Elder Blood was likely to have powerful magical abilities as Ciri did. From then on, the goal of the Wild Hunt became to hunt down Ciri.
It was later revealed why the Wild Hunt so drastically changed its priorities. It was hoped that by getting the king of the Aen Elle to impregnate Ciri, the Aen Elle Elves could see the Elder Blood gene and its powerful magic reintroduced to their race. However, when Ciri was finally made the king's prisoner, he found the concept of mating with a human disgusting. Under the guise of delivering an aphrodisiac to the king, Eredin poisoned him and usurped the throne. However, a Unicorn helped Ciri escape from the world of the Aen Elle and back to the world she'd come from. Leading the Wild Hunt once more, Eredin set out to capture Ciri once again.
The Wild Hunt In The Games And Netflix Show
In the canon of the Witcher games the Aen Elle then began to face and even greater threat than their war with the Unicorns. It is revealed over the CD Projekt Red Witcher trilogy that the Aen Elle's world is being taken over by something known as the White Frost which would destroy all life on the planet. Eredin comes to believe that gaining the power of Ciri's Elder Blood is the only way to stop the White Frost from destroying his world, which leads to the events which play out in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The White Frost, however, does not play that role the original novels and is unlikely to play the role it does in the games in season 2 of the Netflix show.
The Wild Hunt is a legendary phantasmal force which is ultimately revealed so have very earthly motivations - power and survival. The Aen Elle take on the role of the most sinister and fairy-like Elves of European folklore, in contrast to the Elves who live relatively normal albeit oppressed lives in the world of The Witcher. Witcher fans can expect the Wild Hunt to be portrayed as one of the most intimidating forces to appear in the show so far, with season 2 likely beginning to explore the larger multiverse of the Witcher series with the Wild Hunt's introduction.
The Witcher season 1 is now available on Netflix.