'The Witcher' premiere: A lowdown of essential plot points in Andrzej Sapkowski's books before binging out on Netflix’s series
Henry Cavill's Netflix show 'The Witcher' is all set to drop on Friday and we couldn't be more excited to see how the show based on Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski's books has shaped up. While you get ready to binge-watch 'The Witcher', the books by Sapkowski is something that you must give a read.
While the world of 'The Witcher' video game has evolved and has impressed fans with an interesting plot, the books are where it all started and definitely deserves our attention. The show is based on the saga, which focusses mainly on Geralt of Rivia (Cavill) and Ciri.
There are five books in the saga. 'Blood of Elves', 'Time fo Contempt', 'Baptism by Fire', 'The Tower of the Swallow' and 'The Lady of the Lake'. These books were published originally between 1994 and 1999.
The saga builds the world that Geralt lives in, and the attention to detail is definitely something to take note of in books. To really understand Geralt though, we must read the first two novellas titled, 'Sword of Destiny' and 'The Last Wish'.
We are introduced to Geralt of Rivia, who happens to be a witcher from the school of Wolf. As a monster slayer, Geralt has gone through special training and also mutation as a child, which helps them become really good monster slayers.
Who are Geralt's friends, who does he love and how does he feel about being a monster slayer? These are things that we can understand better through the novellas.
From the show's trailer and the official synopsis, we know that Geralt is entrusted with keeping Ciri, Cintra's princess safe. How he becomes entangled with Ciri's life goes back to the time when Geralt saved the life of Ciri's father Duny, who is really the son of Nilfgaard's then emperor.
His real name is Emhyr, and after being cursed he transforms into a hedgehog-like being. We also know that in the show, Nilfgaard attacks Cintra and conquers Ciri's country.
However, Ciri doesn't want to be used by Nilfgaard's emperor and so she leaves Cintra to find Geralt and train to become a witcher herself. Her father Duny, who had originally intended on bringing Ciri and her mother along to Nilfgaard once his curse was lifted had to leave her behind because of circumstances.
He does succeed in taking the throne of Nilfgaard, however, he wants Ciri by his side. Conquering Cintra was supposed to give him access to his daughter, but things do not go as planned.
There is a mix of prophecy, promises made in the past and political conflict that influences the choices of the central characters in the book and how their lives change directions. To understand the prophecy or even the importance of the promise Duny aka Emhyr made to Geralt in-depth, reading the book is vital. This definitely doesn't mean the show doesn't pay attention to details, but it is well established that the book is almost always better than its adaptations!
