The Witcher season 3: plot, character list and everything else we know

Desperate for Netflix's The Witcher season 3 news? I don't blame you. Ever since the end of season 2, fans have been clamouring for information about season 3. Fansite Redanian Intelligence claims to have photos of the cast and crew filming at a church in Slovenia and the official The Witcher Twitter account confirmed that filming is underway.  Given that scriptwriting ended at the turn of the year and showrunner Lauren Hissrich posted photos of some woods when scouting for locations earlier this year, we could be getting a new season sooner rather than later.

Details are still a little thin on the ground about what—and who—we can expect to see in The Witcher season 3, so let's take a look at everything we know so far. 

Everything we know about The Witcher season 3 

The Witcher season 3 release date

Filming for season 3 has started, and with many Covid restrictions now lifted worldwide, it could be possible that we could see the new season by the end of the year. However, given the amount of uncertainty in the world, Henry Cavill's leg injury and the usual problems encountered when filming shows of this nature, it's more than likely that the next season will come in 2023.

Both seasons 1 and 2 were released in the month of December, so I'll be holding out hope that we'll be seeing a new season this December, too.

The Witcher season 3 plot

In series 3, the story will be based on the plot of Time of Contempt, as told exclusively by Hissrich to TechRadar. Collider was also told that another big story from Blood of Elves is likely to be told in season 3, which separates the idea that Hissrich wants to do a book per season. Many of the novels feature short stories involving Geralt and co. at different times in their lives, so it makes sense to chop and change things to fit the series.

This major Blood of Elves plot could be the formation of the Scoia'tael—a coalition of sorts between the dwarves and elves—or who Rience's master is. We could also meet Shani, a medical student introduced in the books and The Witcher 3 DLC Hearts of Stone. What's certain is that we'll be hearing more from Philippa Eilhart and Dijkstra in Redania and Vilgefortz's real ambitions are likely to be revealed in Aretuza. 

The official The Witcher Twitter account revealed that once again, Geralt will be shuttling Ciri off for her protection and Yen thinks Aretuza is just the place. Unfortunately, another dangerous plot is afoot upon their arrival, with political corruption, betrayals and death everywhere. It wouldn't be The Witcher if there was a happy ending, would it?

If Hissrich remains true to Time of Content's plot, the story is about to get even more dark and violent than in previous seasons. As ever, Geralt will be faced with difficult choices to make and sides to choose, with remaining morally grey no longer an option. Ciri's powers continue to grow—both in impressiveness and danger—and more friends and foes than ever before will be hot on her tail, particularly now that her father was revealed to be Emperor Emhyr of Nilfgaard.

Fans of the show who found season 1's fluid timeline confusing will be glad to hear that season three will follow the lead of the second, with the show taking place across a shorter timescale and following a chronological order. Many of the cast, such as Cavill and Anya Chalotra, who plays Yennefer, want to stay as loyal to the books as possible so that their characters are represented properly.

How many seasons of The Witcher will there be?

Speaking with Collider, Hissrich confirmed that there's a plan to produce seven seasons of the show, though that depends on The Witcher being renewed after each season. This is your one warning not to cancel it, Netflix, or I'm going to be very upset.

Sadly, we don't have any trailers or official season 3 images yet but when we do, we'll be posting them here. In the meantime, there's The Witcher prequel Blood Origins to look forward to which should drop this year, as well as a Witcher cookbook. The cookbook comes on October 25 and you bet I've pre-ordered it. 

Season 1 and 2 recap

If you've forgotten the plot of the last two seasons, you can find the recaps of each episode below. 

Season 1 recap

1. The End's Beginning
2. Four Marks
3. Betrayer Moon
4. Of Banquets, Bastards, and Burials
5. Bottled Appetites
6. Rare Species
7. Before a Fall
8. Much More

Season 2 recap

• A grain of truth
• Kaer Morhen
• What is lost
• Redanian Intelligence
• Turn your back
• Dear friend
• Voleth Meir
• Family

Season 3 cast list

It's unlikely that we'll see Vesemir and the other Witchers in season 3 as Geralt, Ciri and Yen leave Kaer Morhen, but we are likely to see some now-familiar characters like Eilhart, Rience and Francesca in the upcoming season. This list hasn't been confirmed yet but given the central characters in Time of Contempt, it's a good educated guess.

• Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia  
• Freya Allen as Princess Cirilla of Cintra 
• Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg  
• Anna Shaffer as Triss Merigold  
• Joey Batey as Jaskier  
• Eamon Farren as Cahir 
• Mimî M. Khayisa as Fringilla Vigo  
• MyAnna Buring as Tissaia de Vries  
• Mahesh Jadu as Vilgefortz  
• Chris Fulton as Rience  
• Aisha Fabienne Ross as Lydia van Bredevoort  
• Tom Canton as Filavandrel  
• Mecia Simson as Francesca Findabair
• Royce Pierreson as Istredd  
• Cassie Clare as Philippa Eilhart  
• Graham McTavish as Sigismund Dijkstra  
• Ed Birch as King Vizimir of Redania  
• Lars Mikkelsen as Stregobor  
• Terence Maynard as Artorius Vigo  
• Wilson Mbomio as Dara  
• Bart Edwards as Duny/ Emperor Emhyr/ The White Flame of Nilfgaard 
• Adjoa Andoh as Nenneke 
• Simon Callow as Codringher 
• Liz Carr as Fenn  
• Kaine Zajaz as Gage  
• Sam Hazeldine as Eredin, the King of the Wild Hunt 
• Jim Sturgeon as Aplegatt 

Redanian Intelligence also thinks it's likely that Netflix has cast Milva aka Maria Barring and another villain named The Professor, but this hasn't been confirmed yet, either, so watch this space.

Filming is taking place in Longcross Studios in the UK and in locations in Italy, Slovenia and Croatia, which suggests that we'll be visiting several areas in the world of the Witcher, making this cast list even more likely. 

And that's it! If you need more Witcher content in your life, The Witcher 3 next-gen update should be coming soon, seemingly complete with new quests from the show, as well as updates for both DLCs.