Netflix’s The Witcher roared out of the gate in late 2019 to become a fan favorite and a ratings smash. The company was overjoyed at the success and immediately made plans for six more seasons (and a couple of spinoffs). Had everything gone as they’d hoped, season two would have aired a year ago. Unfortunately, multiple COVID-induced delays and an injury to star Henry Cavill pushed things back further and further.
Now that long wait is finally over, with the second season hitting Netflix on Dec. 17. We’ve seen several awesome trailers showing Geralt bonding with Ciri, what Yennefer did after the Battle of Sodden Hill, and peeks at the new characters joining them this season.
One of them⏤Sigismund Dijkstra⏤will be very familiar to fans of Andrzej Sapkowski’s books and CD Projekt Red’s video games. Dijkstra is the Redanian Spymaster and is renowned as one of the most cunning and dangerous characters in the franchise. He’s played by The Hobbit and Outlander star Graham McTavish and we now have our first look at him:
Episode four of the second season is titled “Redanian Intelligence,” so Dijkstra will almost certainly play a key part in that story. While the first season featured a split timeline and episodic structure, season two will be much more linear. This should mean we see court intrigue and shady deals play out across the entire season, and there’s no character better positioned to move pieces on this political chessboard than Dijkstra.
Advance reviews of season two are extremely positive, with the general consensus that the sharper focus on character relationships and more straightforward storytelling results in a “resounding success” (as per Digital Spy). I’m excited to find out for myself what that means and I’ll be setting aside a day next weekend to immerse myself back into The Witcher.
