Even before we see Liam Hemsworth for the first time in the 4th season of The Witcher as Henry Cavill’s replacement and new Geralt of Rivia, his days on the Netflix series are already numbered: the fantasy epic will end after 5 seasons.
Geralt’s new appearance is not the only change that will be seen in The Witcher Season 4. Because with a view to Andrzej Sapkowski’s novel, the Netflix series is heading towards a problem. Now the authors have to rethink their approach to the adaptation.
The Witcher ends with season 5: Now something has to change
What is the problem? So far, each of the first three seasons of The Witcher has been dedicated to a book or two short story volumes in the first season. It wasn’t until the second season that the Netflix series began adapting the actual main series. The breakdown looks like this:
The main series of Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher saga consists of five volumes. If the Netflix series continued to follow the current cycle, it would actually need six seasons to film the entire series. However, we now know that there will only be two more seasons. And three books are still unfilmed: Baptism of fire (Volume 3), The Swallow Tower (Volume 4) and The Lady of the Lake (Volume 5).
Netflix
The Witcher cast at Table Read for season 4
In the future, The Witcher will have to hurry up in order to reach the big finale of the fantasy saga within two seasons. In another text we explain in detail why it is necessary for season 4 to film two books at once.
The solution: The Witcher season 4 has to film 2 books at once
The books in the Witcher saga do not have a classic narrative structure, where each volume has a clear beginning and end for the main characters. For The Witcher this specifically means: If season 4 only adapted the volume Baptism of Fire, characters like Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) and Ciri (Freya Allan) would hardly be seen.
Especially in view of Ciri’s story, which is only really continued in volume 5 or The Swallow Tower, it makes sense to include her experiences from the next two books summarized within one season. Since the series only has two seasons left, this is actually necessary.
As a result, season 5 would have to implement the plot of the fifth and final novel as the big series finale. At first glance, this also turns out to be a challenge. Because at around 640 pages, The Lady of the Lake is the longest book in the witcher saga and lets through its wealth of plot no more room for filler episodes.
You can hear more about The Witcher in the podcast:
At this point you will find external content that complements the article. You can display it and hide it again with one click.
The authors of the Netflix adaptation therefore have to find a way to form a series plot from the three remaining books that can be split into two seasons in a dramaturgically sensible manner.
However, a basic problem has not yet been solved: Because in the original, the stories of Yennefer, Ciri and Geralt are strictly separated from each other after the events on Thanedd. In Season 4, the series will split into three completely different narrative strands without any intersections – even if it adapts two books at once.
Warning, spoilers: Only in the last book does the witcher family come together again for the first time. Whether we have to wait until season 5 of the Netflix series to see the trio reunited is pure speculation at this point. In the past, the adaptation has made a number of changes to the story of the original.
When does The Witcher season 4 start on Netflix?
The Witcher fans will have to wait a while longer. Because filming for season 4 didn’t start until April 2024. The first episodes with Liam Hemsworth’s Geralt 2.0 will probably only be released no earlier than summer 2025 start on Netflix.