The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has opened up about the changes that are going to be rolled out in Season 2 of the Netflix show, particularly in regards to the controversial design of the Nilfgaardian army’s armour.
Speaking on Flickering Myth’s Writing Experience podcast, Hissrich addressed viewers’ criticism of the Nilfgaardian armour, as she admitted that the team had recognised some of the first season’s shortcomings and planned to “course-correct” them in future episodes.
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“Everything about The Witcher has been a real learning process for me,” Hissrich explained while discussing the storytelling process. “It’s the beauty of being able to do this for the first time and then get to come back and do it again.”
She later added, “Season 2 is exciting. It’s a chance to look at the mistakes we’ve made in Season 1 and do it better, tell stories better, improve some things, look at what didn’t work, get rid of it and start over. The Nilfgaard armour will be totally different. You have that opportunity [with Season 2] to go back and course-correct if you want to.”
The armour, first spotted in set photographs leaked months ahead of the show’s launch, became the subject of much online confusion and even ridicule, as many criticised its “odd shape” and “wrinkled” design while unfavourably comparing it to the armour used for the CD Projekt RED video games.
“What was important for us about the Nilfgaardian army was to bring it away from the Cintran army,” Hissrich previously revealed in an IGN interview. “[Cintra has] an incredibly well-trained army that comes from a kingdom with a lot of money. We wanted to contrast that with Nilfgaard, which obviously is a very powerful army as well, but is moving northward and has been for a while, and conscripting new people into its army.”
“[The armour had to] look like they picked it up, they did it quickly, and they put them on them. It’s not meant to have the same look as standard armour.”
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Aside from a few debatable issues, the live-action adaptation of The Witcher has proven to be a ratings hit for Netflix. In fact, the streaming giant recently reported that the Henry Cavill-led dark fantasy series is on track to become the “biggest season one TV series ever” on their platform.
In our own review of The Witcher, we concluded that the first season was “unconventional and messy”, as we felt its multiple timeline structure ultimately worked against it, but feel free to check out IGN’s staff reviews of The Witcher for expanded opinions. Also, take a look at IGN’s review of The Witcher 3.
The Witcher’s second season is set to premiere in 2021.
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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com The Witcher Season 2 Will Address S1's Biggest Criticism, Says Creator