The following article contains spoilers for The Witcher season two.
The Witcher’s second season fulfilled most fans' expectations, though as always when adapting massive novels or video games, there were a few changes compared to the source material. One of those is the unexpected death of a character loved by many fans which didn’t happen for no reason according to showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich.
So far Hissrich not only has acted as lead writer for the main The Witcher series starring Henry Cavill, she’s also had executive producer roles in the show’s spinoffs, the animated Nightmare of the Wolf, and the upcoming The Witcher: Blood Origin prequel. Her work has usually been well received, as even The Witcher’s author Andrzej Sapkowski gave season two his seal of approval.
Despite all that, many were displeased to see the fan-favorite Eskel meet his demise so early in season two, though according to Hissrich, the Witcher’s death was not without purpose. During Netflix’s spoiler-packed extended panel on season two, Hissrich explained the event, taking place in episode two, “propels Geralt’s need to figure out what’s going on with Ciri, and to do it fast, because he knows he’s going to risk losing her and his brothers if he doesn’t.”
According to Hissrich, after the audience finally meets Vesemir, Lambert, Coen, and Eskel, “We knew we had to kill someone in that episode”, resulting in the character played by Basil Eidenbenz taking the fall. While the moment does indeed lead Geralt to kickstart Ciri’s training, many fans’ gripe with it came with the way it happened and not the why.
In both the books and games, Eskel is depicted as one of Geralt’s closest allies, the one witcher with whom he had a more brotherly relationship, and one who’s ironically supposed to stand out among other Witchers due to his proficiency in magic. Regardless of whether he was destined to die or not, Eskel deserved more than one half a night’s worth of partying and a single hug from Geralt before succumbing to the Leshy’s corruption.
The fact that somehow one of the most noted Kaer Morhen alumni in the magic department forgot that he should have used Igni to defeat the Leshy is even mocked by the rest of the Witchers. Although Eskel’s behavior when viewers meet him might be caused by the Leshy’s infection, Hissrich’s explanation might still fail to convince many that it was the right call for a character that could have brought so much more to the show after The Witcher fixed season one's weak points.
Source: The Witcher Netflix|YouTube