The Witcher season 2 will premiere on Netflix in 2021, so fans of the dark fantasy series have quite the wait ahead of them. The end of The Witcher season 1 made it quite clear what the main plot will be for the show's second season, but showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has revealed another story that will be explored in The Witcher season 2.
While responding to a fan on Reddit, Hissrich revealed that The Witcher season 2 will deal with monsters and Witchers going extinct. This is something that is a major theme in The Witcher books, but not something that's explored in the first season of The Witcher TV series. In the same Reddit thread, Hissrich also revealed why the decision was made to leave this plot thread out of The Witcher season 1.
"It's said a lot in the beginning of the books (and our series) that humans hate the Witchers, but also need them," Hissrich explained. So the idea of monsters going extinct wasn't really introduced in The Witcher season 1, as it would not give humans a reason to rely on Geralt. "That's the rub. Needing what you hate. We needed the hatred in the series, to understand why our hero was an outsider. So we made the choice to keep the monsters more present for these thirty years."
While the monster extinction plot thread is mostly absent from The Witcher season 1, it's not out of the show completely. On the contrary, The Witcher season 1 Episode 6: Rare Species deals with the idea somewhat, as it reveals that dragons are apparently going extinct. That episode is a bit later in The Witcher season 1 timeline, though, so it makes sense for the monster extinction angle to start cropping up then.
The Witcher season 1 timeline has been found to be quite confusing by critics and fans alike, though that's something that shouldn't be as much of an issue in season 2. After all, The Witcher season 2 won't necessarily have a narrative need to bounce around between three distinct time periods, as all three timelines have caught up with each other. This should lead to a more linear narrative for The Witcher season 2 that will in turn hopefully translate to a better-received show.
The Witcher season 1 has earned mixed reviews from critics, but it has been a huge success for Netflix in terms of viewership. If The Witcher season 2 is able to address complaints, then there's no reason why the show can't reach new heights when it comes back in 2021.
The Witcher is available to stream now, exclusively on Netflix.