The Witcher EP Explains Why Season 1 Is Only Eight Episodes

Netflix has undoubtedly struck gold with The Witcher, but could its adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy novels have benefited from being longer?

At only eight episodes overall, fans have quickly devoured the hit series’ first season and are already eager to see where Geralt of Rivia’s adventure goes next. In fact, many viewers have begun replaying CD Projekt RED’s acclaimed Witcher 3 – or even taken up reading the source material – to get their fix, but even those lengthy distractions are unlikely to keep idle thumbs occupied until season 2’s release in 2021.

The same problem would have eventually arisen even if The Witcher‘s initial run had been longer, of course, but with so much content to draw from (Sapkowski’s works span more than seven books, after all), the truncated nature of season 1 certainly wasn’t due to a lack of source material. And to explain things a bit further, showrunner Lauren Hissrich has now provided some clarity on the situation.

Responding to one fan’s comment, Hissrich explains how a number of variables are ultimately responsible for dictating the length of an episodic TV series:

“The number of episodes is based on the story we’re telling,” she says, adding “When you’re starting a show, and don’t know if it will be a success, more episodes generally means that you get to spend less money on every episode. So we knew we didn’t want to do that. Eight felt like the magic number.”

Furthermore, Hissrich confirms that season 2 will follow a similar format, with the show’s creators first needing to decide which parts of Sapkowski’s works not only translate to the small screen, but are entertaining to watch.

“For instance — no one wants to see Triss have diarrhoea for three episodes. So what are we trying to glean from that in the books, and how do we present that onscreen?”

I’m absolutely sure that somebody, somewhere on the internet would love to see what Hissrich describes, but the message is loud and clear. With so much inconsequential world and character-building present in the books, The Witcher‘s writers must pick and choose the most important aspects, or else risk needless bloat.

Sounds good to us, and we can’t wait to see how Hissrich’s approach translates to screen when season 2 rolls around next year.