If you have watched The Witcher, it might have left you a bit…confused in some aspects. Now, I am by no means an expert of the lore behind the world, but I shall do my best to explain some of it, and give you the means to find out more, if you wish.
TIMELINES
In the series, there are three separate timelines that are shown: the present, the past and somewhere in between. The main story-lines take place over so many different decades, and there are many instances where characters are interacting with each other in different places. Also, I would like to make a note that Geralt, Yen and possibly Jaskier don’t age the same as everyone else.
Let’s start with the present. The most present story-line that is the easiest to focus on is Ciri. Her story-line, the fall of Cintra and the hunt for her by the Nilfgaardian army is what is considered the “present” story-line. Ciri is searching for Geralt, he for her and Yen is with the other mages getting ready to battle Nilfgaard.
The “past”, meaning the one that I would consider the oldest, is focused solely on Yennefer. She was training to be a mage. This would also be where we learn more of her background and she makes the decision to pay the price to become powerful and beautiful, taking away her reproductive organs. She would then go on to serve Kings as a powerful Mage.
Finally, we have the “between” story-line. This period of time is where Geralt is bound to Ciri through the Law of Surprise, meets Yennefer and everything else before the fall of Cintra. It takes place over numerous decades. Though, to be fair, we don’t have clarity on exactly how many. We do know the Geralt travels a great deal ,and has many interactions killing different creatures with Jaskier at his side.
I found a lovely detailed timeline break down on Twitter that was put together by TheWitcher.tv, that might help you out with understanding this:
How many times have you watched the 1st season of #TheWitcher ? It's been at least 5 for us! With that many re-watches, we deconstructed the timeline. Did you catch all the major events as they happened over the three narratives? https://t.co/YRlcSU3GtE pic.twitter.com/h69CypJO2F
— TheWitcher.tv (@witchertvsite) January 1, 2020
LORE
I have never read any of the books in The Witcher series nor have I played any of the games. My limited lore understanding comes from watching the series on Netflix, clicking around different Youtube videos and websites. If you would love to have a more in depth background knowledge of said lore, I would jump right on over to The Witcher fan wiki page. It covers things from the video games, books and the television series.
One other thing I wished I had while watching the series was a damn map of The Continent. It would make it a lot easier to understand where everything was in relation to all the travels going on.
Lastly, before I leave you. Head on over and check out my review of season one because it was a fantastic show. Also, Showrunner and Producer Lauren Hissrich announced on Twitter that they are working on a behind the scenes podcast of the show, launching next week.
For those who can't get enough of #TheWitcher — we've been working on a podcast as well, featuring a ton of cast, crew, and creatives! First full episode next week. ❤️⚔️🐺https://t.co/0pHsFHNL3P
— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) January 3, 2020
Now “toss a coin to your Witcher…”
The Witcher is now streaming on Netflix.
