After two seasons of speculation (and criticism), Netflix’s The Witcher finally rewarded its fans with an on-screen kiss from fan-favorite character Jaskier, played by Joey Batey. A kiss, mind you, that many have been demanding for years. No, not with Henry Cavill’s Geralt, but the next best thing.
In the show’s third season, which premiered the first of two volumes this weekend, Jaskier meets Prince Radovid (Fleabag‘s Hugh Skinner), the bored, carefree, and hedonistic playboy who happens to be the brother of King Vizimir of Redania. When the pair lock eyes and share dialogue, their chemistry practically knocks the breath out of you. According to Batey, the kiss they eventually share was part of a plot he had begged the writers to include for nearly five years.
“I was very insistent that it was done in a way that was sensitive,” said Batey in an interview with Pink News. “That was not in any way kind of representative of bisexual erasure, and done in as romantically as any of the other romantic stories in the cannon [sic].”
Moreover, the electrifying scene when Jaskier and Prince Radovid exchange words for the first time was the very scene Batey acted out for his audition nearly five years earlier. Portaling back five years to the familiar scene was an “odd” experience for Batey, but he commended the show’s writer, Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich, on creating a chemistry that flew off the page.
That means while the rest of the fandom raged and berated the show’s creators and writers for queerbaiting its audience (let’s not forget that bath scene with Geralt in season one), it was known all along that Jaskier was bisexual. Moreover, Batey managed to keep from spilling the tea for nearly half a decade. If he didn’t already deserve an award for being a fan-favorite character on the show, he deserves one for having the tightest lips in the industry.
Unfortunately, while a good portion of fans are overjoyed with Jaskier’s new development, not everyone believes it’s warranted. Should you wish to form an opinion for yourself, you can stream volume one of season three on Netflix now and catch volume two when it premieres on July 27.
