Before Netflix’s The Witcher adapted Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy saga, there was the gigantic RPG The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. The Threequel, developed by CD Projekt Red, is the most iconic repetition of Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy world over the entire lifespan of the IP and experienced a revival in popularity after the double hit of the TV series and the Nintendo Switch connection.
However, if you’ve recently finished the series, there are a few things you should know before diving into The Witcher 3, whether you’re playing for the first time or for the eighth time.
(Ed. Note: This post contains spoilers for the first season of The Witcher on Netflix, potential spoilers for the future of the TV show, and minor spoilers related to the events of The Witcher 3.)
First of all, it should be noted that the games are not necessarily a canon (although this is sometimes discussed between fans). Geralt’s story in the books ends in 1268, while the first CD game, Red Game, The Witcher, begins two years later in 1270 – although what Geralt does in between varies a lot from book to game. Still, there are a lot of things about The Witcher 3 that are directly related to events from season one of Netflix’s hit show, which is mainly based on the short story collection The Last Wish.
Duny the Hedgehog becomes a very important player
In episode 4 of the Netflix series, Geralt Duny – also known as the Urcheon von Erlenwald and the guy who looks like a hedgehog – saves him from certain death in Calanthe’s yard. Duny comes to claim Princess Pavetta’s hand in the marriage, which he owes under the law of surprise. However, his helmet is chipped, revealing the fact that he has an illness that causes him to take on the appearance of a humanoid hedgehog.
After Geralt saved him, the law of surprise is applied again, which connects Geralt forever with the then unborn Ciri and sets their common destiny in motion. Years later, Duny’s true identity emerged: Emhyr var Emreis, rightful emperor of Nilfgaard. In The Witcher 3, he is voiced by Charles Dance and, like Tywin Lannister, is an absolutely terrible person you can’t help but want more.
Duny in the Witcher episode 4Image: Netflix
The magician mousesack is very lively in The Witcher 3
On the show, Mousesack, the magician, dies in the hands of a Doppler who then takes his place. But he still lives in The Witcher 3, just with a different name: Ermion. Mousesack’s story in the Netflix series differs from how it is presented in the text, probably because Netflix had to adjust the schedules so that Geralt and Ciri could meet towards the end. In the books, Geralt actually meets Ciri in Brokilon Forest, where she is intercepted by the Doppler who pretends to be a mouse sack on the show. Show Mousesack had to die for this plan to work and the Doppler to take its place.
Meanwhile, Ermion is a pretty important character in The Witcher 3 and has plenty of time for his old buddy Geralt from Rivia. Although in this case, Ermion swaps Mousesack’s Queen’s English for an Irish twang.
Another important face at the Cintran banquet
In episode 4, Queen Calanthe of Cintra hosts a banquet to examine suitors for her daughter Pavetta. Calanthe arrives late, drunk and covered in blood, and invites Geralt to her table to ease her boredom on a matter she doesn’t care about.
Interestingly, one of the applicants is a young Crach at Craite who later becomes a close friend of Geralt. In The Witcher 3, Crach hosts a similar junket to decide who should become the new Hochkönig or the new Queen of Skellige. Before the festival, he notes that an event of this kind would be considered boring if nobody died – probably in relation to the day in Cintra a few years earlier. Fortunately, Skelligan berserkers – men who turned into bears after drinking mushroom cocktails – come to crash the party, and he gets his fair share of alcohol and bloodshed.
Yennefer works with Nilfgaard?
An important point in The Witcher is that Yennefer decides to reject her post in Nilfgaard. As a result, Fringilla Vigo became a court adviser and Nilfgaard incited the conquest of the north. However, Fringilla later becomes a prisoner of Emperor Emhyr, who uses Yennefer’s help in The Witcher 3 to recruit Geralt from Rivia and find Ciri – Emhyr’s daughter through blood.
Obviously, Yennefer is not on Nilfgaard’s side in The Witcher 3. She only uses it to get to Ciri. “Who is Yennefer?” Asks Ciri Geralt at the end of season one. “Your new adoptive mother,” Geralt would say if he could see the future.
Image: CD Projekt Red
Picture: Netflix
The last wish and the jinn
The Last Wish is Sapkowski’s first (chronologically speaking) short story collection, and the title wish is described in the events of episode 5, in which Geralt and Yennefer fight over a Djinn. In this story, Geralt makes a wish, but refuses to tell Yennefer what it is.
It soon turned out that he wished they were together forever, which less than impresses Yen. However, in The Witcher 3, you have the option of eliminating this desire by hunting a djinn in Skellige. Then you can sit next to Yennefer and tell her if you’re still the same or if it’s different now. Only a heartless heath would choose the latter.
Who is Vesemir?
Towards the end of the first season, Geralt mentions someone named “Vesemir”, although this is the first time that name has appeared. Veteran Witcher 3 players know who Vesemir is – he is Geralt’s master and father figure, the man who raised him in Kaer Morhen and trained him to become a sorcerer.
Vesemir also appears in the first Witcher game, although he really shines in the last episode of the trilogy. If you want to get a feel for the kind of person he has before his likely introduction to season 2, The Witcher 3 is the place to be. However, be warned: you will get extremely close to this narcoleptic grandfather.
Why is everyone after Ciri?
It was never explicitly clear why Cahir – the knight in black who hires the Doppler – is after Ciri in season 1. However, if The Witcher 3 rolls by, you will know that everyone and their grandmother want Ciri. Why? Because she is a descendant of Lara Dorren, which means that Elder Blood flows through her veins.
Ciri can manipulate space and time at will and has access to a magical power that ultimately makes her the most important person in the entire Witcher series. You can even appear more than once in The Witcher 3 as she does to get a feel for how much natural force she is. Then you will understand why it is in such demand. It doesn’t hurt that she is the rightful heir to Cintra and Nilfgaard.
What’s up with The Lodge of Sorceresses?
The wizarding lodge is essentially a community of magicians who provide the rulers with an adviser at the court who is knowledgeable about magic arts. Our main contact with them in Season 1 is Yennefer’s story, while she studies with Tissaia in Aretuza and later returns before fighting in the Battle of Sodden.
The lodge disintegrates at the end of The Witcher 2, which means most of its members are hiding. Many of them actually die. However, certain key members – Fringilla, Yennefer, and Triss from Season 1 – meet in The Witcher 3 before confronting the Wild Hunt in Ragh nar Roog. Fortunately, some of the more shameful guys, like Stregobor and Vilgefortz, are long gone when the third game begins.
That bathtub
Of course they had to enter that. It wouldn’t be The Witcher without Bathtub Geralt ™.