While we all wait for the return of the live-action series, The Witcher season 2 on Netflix on December 17, 2021, the team at Netflix gave us an animated feature to tide us over. The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf came out recently, bringing us another perspective on the world that the stories come from. Let’s dive in. Spoilers ahead!
What’s the Background?
The Witcher universe was introduced in a series of books by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski and various role-playing games. The stories take place in a medieval world where monsters, magic, and alchemy exist. Witchers are monster hunters who have been trained ruthlessly and mutated with various alchemical and magical processes to become more than human. Most of this training takes place from childhood. Upon surviving and completing their training, they go out into the world as pay-for-hire monster hunters. They regularly interact with sorcerors, warriors, nobles, commoners, and of course, monsters.
What’s it About?
Nightmare of the Wolf takes place prior to the timeline of The Witcher series from season 1. Because The Witcher series takes some liberties with time, by not running the episodes in any type of linear manner, who knows how future seasons will handle the timeline. But, we do know that Nightmare occurs before all the events we have seen in The Witcher series thus far (and based on the trailers, season 2 will follow the events of season 1).
The story revolves around a different Witcher, named Vesemir. Whare Geralt of Rivia (the main character of The Witcher series) is a bit on the dark and driven side, Vesemir is charming, funny, and has a voracious appetite for all the fine things that money can buy. We learn how Vesemir became a Witcher, giving viewers of the live-action series their first look at the horrors every Witcher goes through during their ‘training’. We also see Vesemir in the ‘present’ day, as he and his fellow monster hunters face a world where they may be hunting their prey out of existence.
The action is violent and gory (definitely a show for the adults in the crowd) and we learn a great deal about how the Witchers came to be and how they operate in the world as something of a mercenary guild. There are a couple of big twists in the film that I won’t reveal, just to leave something fun for you to discover if you watch the movie
How Does it Tie into The Witcher Series?
Vesemir is actually Geralt’s mentor and toward the end of the film, we meet a young Geralt who has only just begun his training to become a Witcher. The film also provides a lot of information about how Witchers acquire their powers and how their group is structured. This is likely to be helpful as a lead-in to season 2, as the trailer lets us know that at least a portion of the season will take place in a Witcher stronghold.
Beyond that, it simply provides a good amount of historical context that helps viewers gain a better understanding of what motivates the Witchers, why they are not exactly popular among many communities and even their disposition toward sorcerors.
Watch it or Not?
If you like the live-action series and you enjoy anime, then absolutely this should be on your watch list. If you are new to The Witcher, you may still really enjoy it and it can be a nice intro to the series. The animation and voice acting are solid, and the plot is exciting and fast-moving. Give it a watch!
