the witcher pitch

Netflix’s The Witcher Showrunner Originally Pitched the Series With Ciri as Lead

Netflix’s adaption of The Witcher books did not initially have Geralt of Rivia front and center. Instead, Ciri served as the television series’ lead protagonist in its original pitch. Showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich explained that plans changed in this regard once she realized Geralt wasn’t receiving enough of the show’s focus.

During an interview with Netflix UK and Ireland, Hissrich briefly outlined the story of her original The Witcher pitch. This “completely different version” started with the franchise’s second to last novel, The Lady of the Lake. In it, Ciri, while sitting at a lake, recounts her story to Sir Galahad. (Yes, King Arthur’s Sir Galahad.) According to Hissrich, this idea was to inform the framing of the TV show’s narrative.

I actually started with that narrative structure, which is to have Ciri be our focal character and be kind of our narrator. The problem was I realized as I started writing that version that I wasn’t getting enough of Geralt and his perspective, because it was all being told through Ciri.

Apparently, Hissrich worked through “several versions” of the story before her full vision came into focus. All three main characters, Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer, will have their tales told at the same time. This allows Ciri’s and Yen’s backstories to flesh out their introductions on the TV series. Instead of meeting these two characters through Geralt as readers do in the books, viewers will meet Ciri and Yen independent of the White Wolf.

See the full interview in the video down below. Hissrich speaks about her original pitch to Netflix at the 1:45 mark:

The Witcher will begin streaming on Netflix next week on December 20th. A second season has already received the green light from Netflix. When filming will begin for the sophomore effort is currently unknown.

[Source: Netflix UK and Ireland via PC Gamer]

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