The Witcher Showrunner Says Season 2 Will Change Yennefer and Ciri Forever

It’s common to see a show shift its characters into new arcs from one season to the next. And the Witcher season 2 is going

By Ishita Chatterjee
August 27,2021
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It’s common to see a show shift its characters into new arcs from one season to the next. And the Witcher season 2 is going to do just that. It’s all set to change the lives of the characters on screen. But the most impacted are going to be two important characters.

Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich said in an interview that Anya Chalotra and Freya Allan’s characters, Yennefer and Ciri will change massively in the next chapter. This is especially when compared to Geralt, who seems to be an unchangeable titular character.

Yennefer’s Character And Journey Will Grow And Change

Yennefer And Ciri

Now, many viewers might think that the powerful sorceress died at the end of the first season. After all, she sacrificed all to defeat the Nilfgaardian army. In the same interview, Anya Chalotra revealed that:

“After her victory at the Battle of Sodden, she’s captured. Her whereabouts are unknown, and she has to survive being a prisoner of war… She goes back to Aretuza, and she has to navigate that situation thereafter everyone thought she had died. And we just get a lot deeper into Yennefer’s mind.”

In season 1, we saw Yennefer pursue her desire to have a child. As such, her season 2 journey is bound to be completely different but a continuation of her season 1 arc for sure. Chalotra says:

“We know that she meets Ciri in this season which is exciting. What’s lovely is that we established her background in season 1, and now I think the choices she makes in season 2 will resonate with people a lot more, and hopefully, they’ll be able to empathize with those choices this season.”

Yennefer and Ciri
Yennefer and Ciri

Charlotra was also eager to share Yennefer’s journey this season in greater detail. But as always, she just hinted at what’s to come. She said:

“She makes some unlikely alliances, and those alliances really change her way of thinking. All the experiences that she has in season 2 really change her, and you see those changes this season. I’m sorry I can’t speak more about Yennefer’s journey but from the get-go, it would be a spoiler to speak of anything that happens with her.”

Ciri Grows Stronger This New Season

Witcher And Ciri In Season 2
Witcher And Ciri In Season 2

Next up is Ciri, the exiled Cintran princess. She has to undergo a transformation as per the season 2 trailer of The Witcher. The princess is starting to fulfill her destiny with Geralt that was just alluded to in the previous seasons. Allan too has expertly changed to portray this growing character.

Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich said that she was amazed by how naturally Allan adapted to the changes. She said:

“Part of the journey between Ciri and Geralt this season is also one that involves training to be a Witcher. Freya would send me videos of herself learning to swordfight before we started production in season 2 and the stunt team was amazed because she’s just a natural.”

Hissrich, in some ways, did feel bad that Ciri had to wait this long to finally undergo the transformation in season 2 of The Witcher. She says:

“I’ve joked a lot that in season 1, one of my regrets is that the Ciri story ended up being reduced to her kind of running from things all the time. And my favorite thing in this season is that Ciri plants her feet and starts fighting back. It was amazing to see Freya in that role.”

Allan agreed with this and recalled sharing ideas for a stronger Ciri for season 2 with the writers. She said:

“It was exciting getting to do that because it did feel like in season 1 I was just running, running, running, and I was thinking, ‘I want a scene!’. We had plenty of chats, didn’t we, Lauren, about scenes? My goodness. Sometimes chats that last a whole day.”

The Witcher season 2 returns to Netflix on December 17, 2021, and fans will get to see just how Yennefer and Ciri have changed. They will meet and establish their own unique relationship.

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