In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, The Witcher star Henry Cavill has revealed some more details about his character Geralt of Rivia’s role in the upcoming season. Cavill has never shied away from sharing his thoughts on the book series and game franchise, both of which had captivated him prior to getting his role in the Netflix series — and it turns out he had plenty to share in regards to Geralt’s motivations, relationships with the other characters, and psychology.
“He’s got this deep down White Knight Syndrome,” Cavil said in regards to Geralt’s attitude in the series, “even though every time he acts upon it, it gets him into some serious trouble – and puts him and everyone else in a worse position than initially intended. But with Ciri, she’s definitely bringing out the paternal side of Geralt. While he hasn’t necessarily been someone who craved children, he does take quite naturally to being a protector.”
In the first season of The Witcher, told through anachronistic timelines and perspectives, Geralt is stuck with a reward he has unintentionally won when saving a knight named Duny in the kingdom of Cintra. He claimed the Law of Surprise, which states that the person saved must offer to their savior that which is unknown to both. The reward ended up being an unborn princess Ciri, who had been in her mother’s womb at the time of the pact. An unidentifiable span of time later, the Nilfgaard Empire launches a siege of the city of Cintra, which results in the death of the Queen. Ciri is forced against her will to go on the run. Geralt and Ciri’s paths become definitively intertwined as he searches and ends up successfully managing to locate her, and Season 1 ends with them meeting face-to-face in the forest.
Cavill says that Season 2 will not have the same timeline intricacies that made Season 1 so puzzling. Instead, he warned fans there may be “multiple cliffhangers throughout a [single] episode.”
Cavill also made mention of new cast member Kim Bodnia, who will debut in the next season of The Witcher as Geralt’s fellow Witcher and father figure Vesemir:
“Kim and I were discussing the emotionality of these characters, and Kim brings some powerful emotion to [the role] and a real sense of soul and heart and connection to the wild and connection to nature. It’s beautiful to watch and beautiful to be a part of. Some of my favorite scenes I got to perform with Kim. He does bring something really special to the character, and I think people are really going to enjoy it.”
In addition to Cavill, returning cast members Anya Chalotra (Yennefer of Vengerberg), Freya Allan (Ciri), and Joey Batey (Jaskier) are joined by Bodnia as well as Paul Bullion as Lambert, a witcher who has a personal involvement in Ciri’s training at Kaer Morhen. The Season 2 cast includes Bridgerton‘s Adjoa Andoh as Nenneke, Outlander‘s Graham McTavish as Dijkstra, Simon Callow and Liz Carr as Codringher and Fenn, Chris Fulton as Rience, Cassie Clare as Philippa Eilhart, and Kevin Doyle as Ba’lian.
The second season of The Witcher is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on December 17, where Season 1 is currently available to stream. Watch the first trailer for Season 2 below: