The Witcher - A Netflix Series

Then yeah, no, the battle we see in the finale is what is known as the Second Battle of Sodden Hill in the novels, the one where fourteen mages die, and ends in a victory for the North, since they managed to repel Nilfgaard for the most part, as well as signalling the end of the First War. Virtually nothing is known about the First Battle of Sodden Hill, other than it most likely happening after the sacking of Cintra and actually resulting in a loss for the North.

It's possible that the writers may just write off the First Battle and just call the finale The Battle of Sodden Hill, since nothing of true import really happened in the first one.

That's a possibility, yeah. Would explain why the two seem to be melded a little bit for the reasons I previously said.

Allegedly, Mark Hamill has been offered the role of Vesemir.

Please be true, please be true, please be true...

I'm not saying that Netflix might get him, I'm saying that "We Got This Covered" is a newsite that regularly gives out false information based on rumors and nothing else.

Looks like Kristofer Hivju may have been cast a Nivellen[1]

Regarding Vesemir, I remember Geralt being rather bitter about him being send to Vesemir in the series, which I hope does not translate into a grudge towards Vesemir. But how is Geralts' opinion about him becoming a witcher in the books? In Witcher 3, Geralt is at one pointed asked if he regrets becoming a witcher, and neither option sounds particulary hostile.

By that time in the games, Geralt has fully reconciled himself to his life. Apparently he hasn't quite yet at this point. To be clear, Geralt loves and respects Vesemir; it is his mother he resents for giving him up to the trials.

Edited by Fighteer on Feb 18th 2020 at 12:46:44 PM

Yeah, he specifically tells her (or his hallucination of her?) not to call him Geralt because that's the name Vesemir gave him. Definitely doesn't sound like he resents Vesemir.

Ok great, I was a bit worried there. Is Geralt Vesemir's only "child", or did he adopt one in the centuries before he met Geralt?

And how does aging affect witchers? By that I mean do they get slower, or was it never stated that aging had affected Vesemir?

Edited by Zarastro on Feb 18th 2020 at 8:01:07 PM

Vesemir, like all Witchers, has no natural children. As a renowned teacher, he has raised and trained quite a few of them. I don't know exactly how many, nor if the books discuss that. Geralt is certainly not his only student.

There are multiple Witcher schools across the Continent, and each has its own teachers, teaching methods, etc. I'm not sure if they are based in different areas or if they were all once at Kaer Morhen; my lore knowledge doesn't go that far.

Witchers age very slowly. As they get older, they do get slower, and it is said that no Witcher has ever died in his bed. In The Witcher 3, Vesemir is portrayed as significantly creakier than he used to be. He's definitely past whatever prime he once enjoyed.

Edited by Fighteer on Feb 18th 2020 at 2:12:47 PM

Are all witcher pupils "children of surprise"? And are all of them adopted and raised by a specific witcher, or is Kaer Morhen more like a boarding school?

Edit: Or more specifically, is the bond between Vesemir and Geralt similar to that of Geralt and Ciri, in that he views him as his "father", or is he just one his teachers?

And I take it ageing for witchers is like ageing for Space Marines in Warhammer 40k? They get slower, and are suspect to eventually die, but no one has so far been able to confirm this theory by living long enough?

Edited by Zarastro on Feb 18th 2020 at 8:21:10 PM

Witchers may acquire students in a variety of ways. They are not all Children of Surprise by any means. Geralt, as we see in the show, was voluntarily surrendered by his mother. Witchers don't seem to take on apprentices per se; rather, all of the trainees become the property of the school as a whole, so it's more of the "boarding school" concept. Geralt doesn't seem to have had a father figure, so Vesemir occupies that role for him as he does for the other Wolf school Witchers.

As I said before, I'm not quite clear if Kaer Morhen acts (or acted) as a central point for all Witcher training or just Geralt's School of the Wolf. There are other schools, like Bear, Cat, and Griffin, with their own rules and traditions.

I suppose it's analogous to Space Marines in the sense you are talking about. They fight monsters until they die. In one ending of The Witcher 3, Geralt retires for real, becoming quite possibly the only Witcher to ever (potentially) die in bed.

Edited by Fighteer on Feb 18th 2020 at 2:26:19 PM

Not all of them are but it's not uncommon. After all, the "Surprise" is not always your wife is pregnant after all.

Witchers born of this just have a peculiar destiny.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Feb 18th 2020 at 11:25:59 AM

Excellent, very interesting, thank you for your detailed responses.

I really want to see Mark Hamill as Vesemir now.

I would like it in some ways and hate it in others. With Cavill, I see Geralt, not Clark Kent. With Hamill, I'm afraid I'd be unable to get past Luke Skywalker.

Edited by Fighteer on Feb 18th 2020 at 3:14:15 PM

Well, who knows. If MH does audition for the role, maybe he does come up with a good interpretation of the role that convinces them.

The show is now arguably famous enough that they wouldn't just cast him for PR purposes.

From what I've seen, the reason why a lot of people have been suggesting him as Vesemir is because of his performance in the series Knightfall.

Yeah he was really no Luke Skywalker in that one. And I mean that as a compliment.

Yeah, I would say that even if Geralt has accepted his lot as a Witcher by this point that he's still held on to resenting his mother for literally abandoning him for no reason that he knows of. He could have died and she never would have known or, apparently, cared.

I thought the show was great. Seeing more of Yen was a really good decision.

Although I thought a few of the changes weren't for the better like having Geralt not meet Ciri earlier, having him at the Fall of Cintra and making his claiming of the Law of Surprise less of his decision.

But only really when you compare them directly to the books.

Thomas Hacikoglu will be the new fight coordinator[1]

Edited by ComicFan on Feb 26th 2020 at 9:31:02 AM

I'm sad they couldn't get Wolfgang Stegemann as Season 2's fight coordinator. You could really tell the difference in quality of the more intimate fights between Blaviken and the rest of the series. Fingers crossed Hacikoglu does well. If I'm not mistaken this is his first gig as a show's lead fight coordinator.

Vesemir has been cast, and it’s someone named Kim Bodina.

Dunno who he is, but looks good to me from the face dept.