Breathless, bloody, and nearly beaten, The Butcher of Blaviken treads carefully as he impales a deadly Striga, nearly avoiding death. Pushing the disgusting beast of his chest, he eventually hauls his prize to a local settlement to claim his prize of gold crowns. This is the Witcher, The Geralt of Rivia. Feared, and hated by humans. Out to hunt monsters.

Our main protagonist Geralt is played by Henry Cavill. Season one of the Witcher dropped on December 20, 2019, just in time for Christmas. You may be wondering: what is a Witcher? Witcher’s are taken from their families as young boys and are put under a series of trials and mutations. These trials and mutations alter the young boys, turning them into mutants. Night vision, infertility, and changes to the immune system are some of the effects of the mutations. However, if the young boys survive these harsh trials and mutations they become Witchers. Killing machines trained to kill monsters. The interesting thing about Geralt is that he is no typical Witcher. He gets intertwined in a complex story besides killing monsters, making fans scream “what’s next!”

The setting of The Witcher takes place in what is known as the Northern Realms. The five most powerful kingdoms in the Witcher consist of Kaedwen, Temeria, Redania, Aedirn, and Nilfgaard. The most powerful kingdom by far is Nilfgaard, originating in the Southernmost part of the Northern Realms. Nilfgaard is a war-mongering nation that leaves no prisoners. They march their way north conquering their nearby kingdoms with unmatched strength. Nilfgaard is the antagonist viewed with utter contempt by the free peoples of the Northern Realms.
The Witcher is an adaptation of the book series and video games. The books are written by Andrej Sapkowski, and OG Witcher fans recommend reading “The Last Wish” first, even though it is not the first witcher book published. The Witcher books have been published in a non-chronological order; consisting of short stories and actual novels. The plotline of “The Last Wish” is side by side with the first season of the Witcher.
Season one of The binge-worthy drama has truly exceeded results. Fans are scrambling to get their hands on any Witcher content they can, with Witcher books, and video games aplenty. Fans will not be bored due to the immense amount of lore at their hands. The upcoming second season coming out sometime in 2021. Hissrich and Company, the producers of the Witcher, are in no rush to publish season 2. “We don’t want to rush the product, that doesn’t benefit anyone.” Conspiracy theories will be concocted on what could happen next in season two, and if it’s as good as season one, it’ll be worth the wait.