Netflix Releases Interactive Timeline For The Witcher To Help Confused Fans

Netflix has released an interactive map of the world of The Witcher and its history that will hopefully alleviate any remaining confusion over the series brought about by the non-linear timeline that troubled some viewers not already familiar with the setting through the books or the games.

The network recently put out a timeline laying out major events in chronological order, but this new one, viewable here, is far more comprehensive and gives a better indication of when events happen in relation to one another. The map shows the spanning breadth of the Continent and its important areas, and beneath it four colored timelines chart the season’s events and other occurrences significant to it. The turquoise one at the top is by far the shortest, as this relates to the life of Ciri, at the show’s beginning a mere thirteen years old and whose season story arc takes place over a few weeks.

Stretching back into the past is the purple of Yennefer’s life, and beginning a few decades prior is the amber of Geralt’s existence. The grey line at the bottom charts occurrences outwith the lives of the three protagonists, beginning with the Great Conjunction 1500 years in the past, a cataclysm that saw the world inundated with unnatural monsters, as well as the first humans and the forces of magic. It also relates the birth years of supporting characters such as Jaskier and Calanthe, or major events such as the creation of the first Witcher and the 15-year-old Calanthe leading the Cintran military to victory and earning her ‘Lioness’ moniker.

When each point on the timeline is selected, a glowing colored dot marks on the map where it takes place, and if the brief description that pops up is chosen, a sidebar appears with more information and a link to the show’s Reddit page. A few extras add to the experience, such as the Slaughter of Cintra being marked with a silhouette of the city in flames and ash raining down on the map, or Geralt’s birth significantly not being marked with any location.

If you drag the timeline beyond the end point, the map burns away to reveal the words, “Va’esse deireádh aep eigean, va’esse eigh faidh’ar” which translates from Elder Speech to “Something ends, something begins,” denoting the constant flow of events and likely repurposed to foreshadow the forthcoming second season of The Witcher.