Had things panned out differently, Triss and Yennefer would’ve shared a little more screentime during the opening season of The Witcher.
That’s according to showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich, who admitted that the decision to remove said scene was one of her big regrets coming out of season 1. Hissrich made the omission during a deep-dive interview with Pure Fandom (h/t ComicBook.com), where the writer-producer also waxed lyrical about Freya Allen (Ciri) and Anya Chalotra (Yennefer) and the importance of female-driven storylines.
But when the conversation inevitably veered towards those scenes that didn’t make the cut for The Witcher season 1, Hissrich pinpointed the one in Aretuza, given how it showcased the ways in which Yennefer had matured since becoming a trainee sorceress.
We had a lovely scene in Episode 103 where Yennefer, Fringilla, and Sabrina all discussed how they felt about their transformations, and looking back, I wish we could have kept it. It was such a gorgeous example of female friendship, and it also would have served to ground Fringilla a bit more before she joined Nilfgaard. We also filmed a scene of Yen meeting a very young Triss, who’d just arrived at Aretuza; it served to show how far Yennefer had come in her years at Aretuza, and created a sense of mentorship between these two sorceresses. Looking ahead at some stories unfolding in season two, I wish we still had those scenes! But I’m proud of what we accomplished in the time we had.
Looks like we can expect to see plenty more of Triss Merigold when season 2 arrives in 2021, which shouldn’t be all that surprising to Witcher fans, given the storied love triangle that emerges between Triss, Geralt and Yennefer of Vengerberg.
Besides, it’s often the case that directors and showrunners will look back on their creative efforts – with the benefit of hindsight, no less – and wish they had changed this, or tweaked that. Or, in the case of Hissrich, spared a scene involving Yennefer and the young Triss. Nevertheless, with The Witcher season 2 on the way (not to mention that upcoming anime film, Nightmare of the Wolf), there is still ample story material left to explore.