Breaking Down the Monsters, Politics, and Bathtubs ofThe Witcher‘s Latest Trailer

Netflix make usanother lookat its take on the world ofAndrzej Sapkowski ’s Witcher novelsyesterday , and it dives late into the grotesque beings and black man that populate the Continent . It also give us a rather ill-famed bathtub . Here ’s all the cool throwback to both the account book and the Witcher games we also spotted .

https://gizmodo.com/in-the-new-trailer-for-the-witcher-foul-beasts-and-fou-1839473026

The preview opens with three speedy snapshot that really lay out the tone for the focus of this serial , all from different scenes : a bloody backwash of a battle ( the armor set these body as soldiers of the Kingdom of Cintra , an of import locating in the series ) ; the violet eye of Yennefer of Vengerberg ( Anya Chalotra ) ; and Geralt ( Henry Cavill ) retrieve his sword from what is presumptively the clay of something rather unpleasant . All of these matter will become of import later on .

So much going on here. And then there’s that bathtub.

So much going on here. And then there’s that bathtub.Gif: Netflix

“ I ’ve heard tales of your kind , Witcher ” Yennefer says in voiceover , as we see Geralt wander through town streets clutching a golden pendant . This is something we finally see in the preview attached to the hilt of one of Geralt ’s swords , and is bind to an event we ’ll see explored a bit later on in this trailer that inform a major part of his backstory in the books .

We then cut to what seems to be more of that battle from the opening of the dawdler in a serial publication of shot as Geralt slices through some soldiers . It ’s concentrated to differentiate , but they seem to be wearing the wrinkled , nigrify armour of the Nilfgaardian Empire , the tyrannical violence that invades the Continent , sparking the event that work Geralt into the living of young Ciri ( Freya Allen ) .

We cut back to a shot already seen inthe first trailer , although this prison term it ’s at a stormy night rather than a raw day . This is the Isle of Thanedd , and more specifically , it ’s Aretuza : the school of magic that Yennefer , many other sorcerers , and eventually Ciri herself attend to hone their magical ability . Humans with the capacity to regurgitate actual conjuration in the earth of The Witcher are a rarity , a endowment first taught to the species by imp in the wake of a cosmic event known as the Conjunction of the Spheres , which take supernatural beings to the world in the process .

Here ’s a very fancy shot of Yennefer in an as fancy gown and dissemble . While this is the variant we ’ll see Yennefer in for most of the serial , it ’s not in reality what she looks like . As an extremely powerful magician — she ’s known as a “ beginning , ” a very rare man born with the raw content to cast magic — Yennefer eventually see how to cast a powerful glamour that blot out her true , disfigured appearance ( she was born with a spinal curve exasperate by abuse at the custody of her father ) and presents herself to the world as a perpetually youthful cleaning lady .

https://gizmodo.com/a-new-legend-begins-in-the-first-trailer-for-netflixs-t-1836391093

“ You ’re a mutant , ” Yennefer continues , “ make by legerdemain … ” as we cut back to Geralt cloaked and riding into the same Ithiel Town we regard him bloodied in earlier . Yenn ’s right : While she is a natural - born source of her enhance power , Geralt and Witchers like him are not .

After stringent training at various schools and academy , Witcher campaigner are exposed to series of poisons and potion forebode mutagens that , if they do n’t flat out kill them in the mental process , transform them , chip in them enhanced durability and enduringness , the ability to canalize runic signs into minor supplication , and a sort of sixth sense that let them discover supernatural creatures . We ostensibly get to see a little bit of that process here too , with all the sharp cutting off around bottles of murkily colored mixture .

“ … roaming the Continent , ” Yennefer adds , as we cut to Geralt doing precisely that : He ’s atop his beloved steed , Roach the horse cavalry , one of the Witcher ’s most imperishable companions ( and , as lover of the game are mindful , once in a while slightly buggy to distribute with ) . We also get to see Geralt traveling with someone else — give we only see their back and what is presumptively a lute slung over their shoulder , there ’s a luck that this is Julian Alfred Pankratz , better roll in the hay as Jaskier the Minstrel ( Joey Batey ) .

Well , actually , no , not “ better bang . ” Jaskier is the name this character is given in the original Polish interlingual rendition of the novels ( it imply “ Buttercup ” ) , the seed material the show is based on . Fans of The Witcher , especially through CD Projekt Red ’s trilogy of video biz RPGs , will know Jaskier by a unlike flowery name : Dandelion . Dandelion is one of Geralt ’s closest champion , or the tight he can consider a protagonist to be , traveling with him on many risky venture . His lute , seen here , was gifted to him by an elven warrior key Toruviel after she destroyed his old one during one of these aforementioned adventures he had with Geralt .

mouth of the game , we ’re back in that town again , as we get to see a sight that Witcher players will be intimately intimate with : Geralt , thrusting his hand out and performing an conjury that see a group of foes agitate back . Unlike witching wielders like Yennefer , Witchers couch pocket-size spells called signs , channel runic gestures like the three - fingered point Geralt makes here . This sign in fussy is a coarse one called Aard , which make a modest telekinetic clap that knocks back and stuns Geralt ’s foes in armed combat .

There ’s a reason Geralt ’s cloak up here , hiding his whitened pilus — and why these tavern frequenter do n’t need “ his form ” hang up around . By the sentence the Witcher novels take place , Witchers are a expire breed , largely untrusted by commoners even if they ’re still the one of the few force that can combat the supernatural creatures that roam the Continent . No longer supported by nations sending candidates to their academy , the Witchers are now mainly wandering mercenaries like Geralt , willing to take any job they can for some coin .

“ Hunting monsters … ” Yennefer ’s narration continues , as we see Geralt doing exactly that . The brute we see here is a Ghoul : they ’re often discover in the aftermath of ferocity , because they run on decaying , rotting corpses . So the camp Geralt is wandering through has likely been ransacked , leading to the arrival of a few Ghouls by the time Geralt ’s on the scenery .

“ … for a terms , ” Yennefer add , as we ’re back in that town with Geralt carve his way through a few armed thugs . bounty for bolt down supernatural creature are n’t the only contracts Geralt will take , so this is n’t an uncommon tantrum for him . But it all add up that this fighting and this town is actually a place called Blaviken . In the short account “ The Lesser Evil , ” gather up in the anthology The Last Wish , readers learn why Geralt also has a rather notorious reputation and a forbidding nickname : The Butcher of Blaviken .

Tasked with defending a mage named Stregobor from a new princess named Renfri in a morally - gray war of words over who ’s ripe or wrong , or who is , as the write up is titled , the lesser iniquity , Geralt finally is force to confront Renfri and her men in Blaviken ’s street in front of the town ’s shocked citizens , down them all . Geralt gets chased out of Ithiel Town , earning him the infamous sobriquet in the process .

“ I ’d thought you ’d have fangs , or horns , or something , ” Yennefer concludes , as we cut back to her in her masquerade party , revealing that she has indeed been babble to Geralt in someone all this time . This appear to be taking place at Belleteyn , a May Night festival of fertility rate that is , well … about people come up together to celebrate fertility . Practically . I ’ll get out you to think how .

“ I had them filed down ” is how Geralt counters Yenn ’s barb , wee this seem like this is their first encounter . While a view of Geralt and Yennefer attending Belleteyn is see in the anthology Sword of Destiny , they in reality meet in an other unforesightful story name “ The Last Wish , ” collected in the anthology of the same name .

Geralt count on as a wagon train of traveller trek toward a unusual , mystic reckon sway . It ’s voiceless to really point out here , but it would seem that at least some of the traveller at the back of the caravan are gnome , given their peak .

“ People call you a lusus naturae too , ” an unidentified woman says , as we see the aftermath of Geralt ’s mass murder in Blaviken : the disgusted townspeople jeering and hurling rocks at the bloodied soldier of fortune .

“ Why not kill them ? ” the womanhood asks , as we cut to her speaking to Geralt , who merely reply with “ Because then I am what they say I am . ” Now that we see the charwoman , it ’s clear that this is the aforesaid Renfri ( Emma Appleton ) , before Geralt is regrettably forced to kill her alongside her men in Blaviken . But , note Renfri ’s costume here — specifically the broach on her cloak . It ’s the same pendant Geralt was seen carrying through Blaviken earlier , that we sleep together gets attached to his sword at some stage . Presumably for remember Renfri after their inauspicious battle , he takes it and attaches it to his brand as a monitor of the notorious outcome .

“ All of our choices tie our destinies nearer , ” Yennefer returns to the yarn , as we get a twosome of short and penetrative guesswork . The first is a flashback , to a scene we look a bit more of in the first trailer : Queen Calanthe ( Jodhi May ) , the Lion of Cintra , on the field . Calanthe is Ciri ’s gran , and the warrior queen who earns her title fighting back against the invasion of the Nilfgaardian Empire . This massive battle is likely the Battle for Marnadal Valley , where Calanthe ’s forces were route by the overpowering numbers game of the Empire ’s US Army .

The second shot sees Yennefer and Geralt trading stares in a much less “ Why hello , I would care to fete birth rate with you ” manner than their early showdown . The environs and Geralt ’s armor here seem to set this conniption as the same one we saw Geralt respect those travelers from afar in originally . Was Yennefer one of those human body ?

https://gizmodo.com/henry-cavill-looks-sad-at-a-sword-at-a-bar-and-on-a-h-1839338035

Meanwhile , we ’re back at another intimate scene from the first trailer : Calanthe , now on her deathbed during the sacking of Cintra ’s capital — also named Cintra — warning Ciri to find Geralt at all cost . give that he ’s seemingly there during the sacking , if that shot of him fight earlier was of him kill Nilfgaard troops , it seems like Ciri will be spend much of her time on the show playing missed connections with our titular submarine .

Geralt gets into a showdown and draws his sword with some soldier — they look like they could be Cintrans , given we get to a flashback later on that sees him crossing swords with a few Cintran soldiers . But there ’s always a hypothesis this is take topographic point in another area : Temeria , a northerly state in the Continent that plays an important role in the wars against Nilfgaard .

Ciri flees through a forest , presumptively from the sacking of Cintra , before encountering the Dryads of Brokilon , breathlessly telling one of them that she has to find Geralt . Ciri is being hunted by a variety of forces at this spot , not just the infest Nilfgaardians — because she ’s in reality a very powerful witching user as well , intend to play a troubled role in the fate of the existence .

We saw a bit more of the wood nymph in the first poke , but they ’re basically a warrior race of cleaning woman that call Brokilon their kingdom . They ’re very apprehensive of outsiders trench on their territory , but Brokilon is also home to toxic waters the wood nymph apply to metamorphose captive into new dryad … a fate they might be trying to reenact on Ciri as she finds herself take flight through its woods .

We saw a much longsighted version of this scene play out in the first trailer , implying that the battle unwrap out with a bunch of Cintran commoners ramp the spread . Unseen herebut revealed there , however , was that this conflict also features a friend of Geralt ’s named Duny — a prince cursed to look like a strange hedgehog . He ’s really a hugely important fictional character to the overall tale , for reason that we ca n’t really get into without spoiling a whole lot of ground the show will in all probability get around to cover up in late season .

“ Do n’t judge me , ” Geralt admonish Roach . Like we said earlier , Geralt has few constant companions more loyal than Roach , so this is an index of their weary , loving relationship .

“ They say Witchers ca n’t sense human emotion , ” Yennefer say , as we cut to her watching over Geralt as he takes a bath . “ What do you trust in ? ” she jibe . This is likely an version of a shot from “ A Shard of Ice ” from Sword of Destiny , a short storey that delves into Yennefer and Geralt ’s relationship that give with Geralt slaying an devilfish - like beast call a Zeugel in some sewers … motivate Yennefer to right away demand that Geralt clean himself up from all the stink when he returns to the Inn they ’re appease the night at .

But the very specific frame of this shot is also a get laid nod to rooter of the game . Early on in The Witcher 3 : The Wild Hunt , gamers are process to along , lingering shotof a wet and naked Geralt enjoying a dainty long bathing tub in a tub that ’s slightly too small for the burly warrior , his animal foot perplex out as the tv camera is left to get out your eye to his attractive anatomy . Naturally , it became a chip of a meme among fans , even beingturned into a statueby Dark Horse at one point .

https://gizmodo.com/yes-there-is-a-bathtub-in-netflixs-the-witcher-1836547479

We involve about whether or not the infamous bathtub would be in the show back at San Diego Comic - Conearlier this year , and , well … you have your answer , do n’t you ?

A large caravan of traveler makes their way across a dusty road , as we cut to Nilfgaardian soldiers launching a dark time attack . “ iniquity is evil , ” Geralt state …

“ Lesser … ” he carries on , as we see Calanthe on her deathbed again as well as a Nilfgaardian commanding officer drawing their sword . This is in reality Cahir ( Eamon Farren ) , or , to give him his derisory full name , Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach . An intelligence officer in the Nilfgaardian army , Cahir is one of the people tax with kidnapping Ciri during the sacking of Cintra . He temporarily succeeds , before she flees ( grant the snowy woods setting here , that ’s likely what we ’re seeing here ) . Cahir is viciously punished for his failure , and eventually defect from Nilfgaard , join Geralt in his mission to protect Ciri from the Empire ’s clutches .

“ great … ” Geralt continues , as we see Ciri flee through an encampment that is being attack by Nilfgaardians . Is this the ruined , Ghoul - brain-teaser site that Geralt finally fare across that we saw sooner ?

We also get this very brief blastoff of Adam Levy as Mousesack , known considerably to fans of the game as the druid Ermion . In the books , as we ’ll finally see in this trailer , Mousesack is mostly responsible for convey Geralt back to Cintra and into the quest to save Ciri , arguing that her destiny and Geralt ’s own are intertwined .

“ Middling … ” Geralt ’s speech goes on , as we see Ciri fleeing from a Nilfgaardian commandant in full armour ( perhaps Cahir with a helmet on ? ) as a monolithic ravine opens up between them . This might be a dream chronological succession — we’ve see Ciri involve in several , in this trailer and the last one . But it could be an object lesson of her untrained magical prowess at work : Ciri is coveted because she has Elder Blood in her veins — she and her family line are descendants of a union between two fabulously brawny mages , an pixy advert Lara Dorren and Cregennan of Lod short after the Conjunction of the Spheres .

“ … it ’s all the same , ” Geralt close , as we edit out from his speech to a shooter of Fringilla Vigo ( Mimi Ndiweni ) during the sacking of Cintra . A sorceress working for Nilfgaard , we see her using her magical abilities to light a trebuchet on fire during Nilfgaard ’s attack on the city .

We then edit out to something completely unlike from everything else we ’ve seen in this lagger so far : Pursued by a foreign , dark dressed figure ( who appear to be summoning some kind of crablike tool ) , Yennefer wash along a brightly - alight desert with a fancily raiment unidentified charwoman .

This looks like it could be Isobel Laidler , who plays Queen Kalis of Lyria in the series . While Lyria is a realm known in Witcher ’s legal philosophy , Kalis is a new produce type for the show . We ’ve construe her in several environment being chased alongside Yennefer like this in both the first lagger and this one ; given the seemingly rapid switches in environment , is Yennefer magically teleporting them to different places in an effort to escape their mysterious pursuer ?

Back in Blavkien , Geralt crosses swords with Renfri — in the end besting her and leaving her to hemorrhage out after slicing through an arterial blood vessel in her branch .

Another nimble cut sends us back to Cintra , as the royal court watches some dance during a feast . This does n’t appear to be the flashback view as we do n’t see Geralt in attending — we can see Ciri and Calanthe though , so it perhaps take place just before the firing of Cintra .

“ Princess of Cirilla is your destiny , ” Mousesack tells Geralt , as we see the two in some dankly - lit corridors and more shot of the Nilfgaardians sacking Cintra .

Elsewhere , we ’re treat to the reverse of a shot we see in the first trailer : Yennefer entering an elaborate globe and dance with nobility . This is likely taking piazza at Aretuza , given the mystic looking accoutrements .

“ I ca n’t protect her , ” Geralt tabulator , as we get more guesswork of him fighting man in what looks like a cave . The lighting here suggests that this is unrelated to any part of the Cintra battle we ’ve seen throughout this trailer , so perhaps this is another isolated risky venture he goes on .

A few more illogical pellet here — Ciri running through the forest , Mousesack chase after Geralt in that same corridor we just pick up , and Ciri once again , this time with a horse in a swamp .

We also get one very speedy shot of MyAnna Buring as the sorceror Tissaia de Vries . We see right smart more of Tissaia in the first laggard as a crucial character in Yennefer ’s backstory — she ’s the mage that takes Yenn in at Aretuza , teaching her to hone her magic skill .

https://gizmodo.com/breaking-down-the-magic-monsters-and-burly-men-of-the-1836668851

It ’s concentrated to tell where Tissaia is here , but the foggy and moody environs vamp that this could be the battle of Sodden Hill , a major conflict in the first Nilfgaard war that date Niflgaard route , but at the cost of many mages . In the books , Tissaia is n’t among them however — but Yennefer does fight in the battle .

“ If you dismiss her , ” Mousesack continues to admonish Geralt , “ you will unleash a straight disaster upon us all . ” Under that narration , we see a few more disjointed shot : Ciri in a misty red-faced - douse environment is likely another dream sequence or vision she experiences , and another extended injection of Nilfgaard and Cintran force clashing at Marnadal Valley .

A blood plash Yenn and Queen Kalis look on in horror . Kalis is , underneath her wintry cloak , wearing the same robe we see her in in the desert , lending acceptance to the melodic theme that Yennefer magically transports herself and the pansy away from whoever their assailant is here .

A few more sharp cut stab : Geralt looking saturnine , Ciri in crying , another explosion at an unknown battle ( not one we ’ve reckon elsewhere , given the sun ) , and Geralt interbreed blade with Renfri at Blaziken .

In even more unconnected shots , we get to glimpse Yennefer collapsing in a plantation , Ciri again ( this time hiding behind an unknown trope ) , and then another shot of Yennefer of her omit a castle wall — the foggy atmosphere pass water it seem like this could be the same Battle of Sodden Hill chronological succession we speculated about earlier — and then Geralt plant his blade at that same Ghoul - ridden encampment from previously in this drone .

The first Yennefer shot is the most interesting here , given it seems to be part of the teleportation sequence we ’ve seen her in with Queen Kalis , give the yellow - flowered grove is unlike any other environs we ’ve see . But remark that Kalis is n’t in the grove with her . Does Yennefer turn a loss her to their mysterious pursuer ?

The laggard ends with Geralt simply refuting Mousesack ’s warning : “ I ’ll take that probability , ” he read , as we cut back to him in a swamp drawing his sword out of the body of a creature , with jet plane black eyes .

This is part of a episode that actually ended the first trailer , too — it ’s Geralt battling a giant , wanderer - like creature call up a Kikimore , an adaptation of the opening of “ The Lesser Evil , ” presumptively , as Geralt looking to cash in on a trophy from the Kikimore is what first wreak him to Blaviken . The reason Geralt ’s heart are black here is another callout for fans of the games . Witchers prepare for particularly grueling fight — like , say , battling giant filthy see insectoid creatures in foul-smelling swamps — by mediating and preparing potions to chug just before fight , enhancing their ability and regenerative properties .

The job is that those potions are , kind of like the mutagens that they ’re riddle with to become Witchers in the first place , basically just poisonous substance . In the Witcher games , to qualify the amount of potions you may swig before a fight , this idea is stand for by a toxicity meter — take on too much , and you set off draining wellness and eventually keel over . High levels of perniciousness are represent by , yup , you guessed it : jet black eyes .

While not as explicitly reveal - heavy as our first look at the series , this late trailer provides some crucial context for people not quite as already versed in the world of either the Witcher games or the original novels , while still deport some very fun little consequence of fanservice for those who are . If our first look at The Witcher ground the world and the brawny women that inhabit it , from Yennefer to Ciri , this trailer realigns itself back to Geralt himself — shining a sparkle on just what earns his titular line of work its notorious repute while also setting him on a collision course with quite a few of those said cleaning woman .

We ’ll get out just how calamitous those collisions are for the Continent when The Witcher ride onto Netflix on December 20 .

For more , make certain you ’re following us on our Instagram @io9dotcom .