'The Witcher' Season 2 ditching multiple timelines for 'multiple cliffhangers' per episode

After a number of Season 1 timelines that caused audiences to scratch their heads in confusion, Netflix's small screen adaptation of The Witcher will simplify things in its sophomore outing, which debuts this December.

Recently catching up with Entertainment Weekly, the show's top-billed cast member, Henry Cavill (who plays the titular monster hunter known as Geralt of Rivia), promised that all of those complex narratives have been replaced with "multiple cliffhangers throughout a [single] episode."

Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich said something similar last month while appearing on a virtual panel for the Television Critics Association. "We won’t play with time as much, but still not tell completely linear stories,” she explained. “For example, Ciri’s story moves back and forth in her head.”

During his conversation with EW, Cavill also teased some major character growth, explaining how he wanted to take Geralt from "a bit of a grumpy, dark, mysterious hero" to "more of that intellectual, philosophical [and] wise" protagonist in the second season. "I really wanted to avoid him being too one tunnel," he continued. "Even though he may be dark and mysterious at times, I wanted him to come across as this incredible character that [Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski] wrote. Those are things that I really pushed for and tried very hard to get into the show."

Following a number of delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, The Witcher Season 2 rides onto Netflix Friday, Dec. 17. Luckily, the hiatus allowed Hissrich and her writing staff to polish up their scripts. 

“We refine the relationships between as not to be too plot-y and not too much action,” she said at the aforementioned TCA panel. “We added moments that showed emotional connections.”

The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (an anime prequel film about Geralt's mentor, Vesemir) is currently available to stream.