54
votes
Accepted
Why is the Witcher's hair white?
It's a consequence of the mutations he underwent during the additional experiments performed upon him as part of his training/conversion into a Witcher:
I underwent the usual mutation there, through ...
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27
votes
Accepted
How do the characters' timelines interact in The Witcher TV series?
You are correct. There are three linear timelines: Yennefer's, Geralt's, and Ciri's, which start at different times but all coincide by the final two episodes.
Here is a timeline of the events ...
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23
votes
Accepted
What are the different symbols in the Witcher TV series intro?
The symbols appearing in the title card of each episode are (spoiler filled) hints towards the plot of each episode, though you will probably need to be familiar with the books to realise what they ...
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22
votes
Accepted
How does aging work in The Witcher?
Following the answer in this question we can guess that Calanthe wasn't that old in the first place - even while she is a grandmother, we are talking about times when 13-15-year-old girls are expected ...
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22
votes
Accepted
Aphorisms and idioms in The Witcher
The Polish version of 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth' is 'don't check the teeth of a horse you received as a gift' ("darowanemu koniowi w zęby się nie zagląda") (source).
Similarly, devil's ...
- 5,475
16
votes
Accepted
Why is Yennefer considered a good student?
In Episode 2 "Four Marks", Yennefer creates a portal to Aretuza without any training.
I assumed that creating a portal is more difficult than floating a stone. Furthermore, Tissaia De Vries comments ...
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15
votes
Accepted
From which book is the backstory of Yennefer taken?
Yennefer's backstory is aluded to in The Tower of Swallows:
Janka! Dear Janka!
Take this hunchbacked monstrosity from me! I don’t want to look at it!
She’s your daughter as much as she ...
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15
votes
Accepted
Why choose to fight the Battle of Marnadal in the open?
The whole battle is a horrible example of Hollywood Tactics, however, there might be two good reasons:
Cintra seems to rely on cavalry - heavy cavalry is useless in the siege but works amazingly in ...
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11
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Mousesack have to drink the water?
The only two reasons I can think of that would cause the dryads to forego this security measure, are
because Mousesack obviously has no intention of staying, as he is just there to take Ciri back ...
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9
votes
Why are they calling him Jaskier?
The showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich gives the following explanation in an interview with ComicBook.com:
We call him Jaskier... Yeah, absolutely. Jaskier is 100% in the show. It's interesting, because ...
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9
votes
Accepted
What are the effects of the black potion Geralt sometimes drinks?
The effects are not explicitly stated in the Netflix series, but to lift a few quotes from the books:
In The Witcher, he consumes two potions:
The mixture which helped the witcher gain full ...
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8
votes
Accepted
Was that Geralt's mother or just a dream?
This scene is left intentionally ambiguous (as in the book):
One my favourite moments in Sword of Destiny is Geralt dreaming about meeting his mother.
Is it a fever dream? We're actually not even ...
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8
votes
Accepted
What are the different monsters featured in The Witcher?
Featured
Djinn
Dryad
Basilisk
Hirikka (?)
Striga (shtriga)
Witcher (vedmak)
Doppler (doppelgänger)
Cursed Knight (Hans-my-Hedgehog)
Urcheon = old word for hedgehog
Kikimora
Show appearance very ...
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8
votes
Accepted
Whose life did Yennefer ruin according to Tissaia?
Yennefer's own life, because she chooses to stubbornly undervalue it.
Tissaia and Yennefer have (had) extensive dialogues about the worth of the latter's life, about her fatalism, existential ...
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8
votes
What was Geralt's third wish?
The answer was neither in the book nor in the show yet, from screenrant
In Sapkowski's written version of "The Last Wish" Yennefer addresses the wish immediately after they are spared death ...
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6
votes
Accepted
What is the significance of these colors in Witcher season 2?
There's parallels between Voleth Meir and Baba Yaga, who is a figure in Russian folklore. Among other things, Baba Yaga lives in a hut deep in the forest; a hut that can move around on chicken legs.
...
- 1,380
6
votes
Why are they calling him Jaskier?
Jaskier is the bard's original polish firstname in the books. Jaskier translates as buttercup, a yellow-petal flower that grows in the wild.
Dandelion is probably a chosen translation for Jaskier that ...
- 207
5
votes
What was Geralt's third wish?
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Even in the books it's a mystery. Andrzej Sapkowski (writer of the Netflix series) pointed out that eventually the third wish will be revealed during future episodes.
What's for sure ...
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4
votes
How do the characters' timelines interact in The Witcher TV series?
Here's a chart I made recently. It briefly covers the events and their time of occurrence in the series.
- 149
4
votes
Accepted
What are the different kingdoms and mages in the Witcher TV series?
Advisors
Yennefer of Vengerberg - Aedirn
Triss Merigold - Temeria
Mousesack - Cintra (Druid, not a mage of the Brotherhood)
Fringilla Vigo - Nilfgaard
? - Rivia
? - Creyden
? - Lyria
? - Brokilion
? ...
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4
votes
What is sacrificed to do their magic?
According to the books, magical energy is drawn from The Force, which can be accessed through one of the four classical elements:
“Why do we always draw the force from water veins? Magical energy, ...
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3
votes
Why didn't Mousesack have to drink the water?
Joachim gives two satisfying answers already. However, I would also add that Mousesack is not a mage but a druid and traditionally the druids have a lot closer relationship with nature and do ...
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3
votes
How does aging work in The Witcher?
Unnaturally youthful
Geralt: Ages slowly due to his mutations
Yennefer (and other mages): Preserve their youth with magic
Mousesack, Visenna (and other druids): Presumably also preserve their youth ...
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3
votes
What is sacrificed to do their magic?
I've only watched the Netflix series to date, but supposing Napoleon's comment is right:
I can only comment on what I know from the books, but there the mages actually draw energy from their ...
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3
votes
How do the characters' timelines interact in The Witcher TV series?
Each episode of the first season of the show covers different stories from the first books by Andrzej Sapkowski.
For example:
Episode 1 - The End's Beginning is based on the 4th story from the book ...
- 207
1
vote
What was Geralt's third wish?
In S01E06 Rare Species, Borch Three Jackdaws gives us this insight into the nature of Geralt's wish:
Borch: I can see why Geralt didn't want to lose you.
Yen: What does that mean?
Geralt: In Rinde. ...
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible