Netflix has officially announced the start of production for season two of The Witcher and confirmed a treasure trove of casting news. While there were no doubts that Henry Cavill would return as the stoic Geralt of Rivia alongside Anya Chalotra as the powerful sorceress Yennefer and Freya Allan as the mysterious child of destiny Ciri, the breakout streaming series has tossed a coin to the meme-makers by locking down fan-favorite Joey Batey for another round of the troubadour Jaskier.

Seven new cast members have also joined the ranks including Game of Thrones star Kristofer Hivju as Nivellen, a character from the short story “A Grain of Truth” who will test Geralt’s strict Witcher code. The other six cast members are Yasen Atour (Young Wallender) as Coen, Agnes Bjorn as Vereena, Paul Bullion (Peaky Blinders) as Lambert, Thue Ersted Rasmussen (Fast and Furious 9) as Eskel, and Aisha Fabienne Ross (The Danish Girl) as Lydia.

“The reaction to season one of The Witcher set a high bar for adding new talent for the second season,” said showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich in a statement. “Sophie Holland and her casting team have once again found the very best people to embody these characters, and in the hands of these accomplished directors, we’re excited to see these new stories come to life.”

While the first season wove together events from the short story collections The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, season two will do more of the same while also delving into the first Witcher novel Blood of Elves, which has been confirmed by reports of an elf army filming just outside of London. In Blood of Elves, Geralt and Yennefer find themselves drawn even further into Ciri’s destiny as The Continent is torn apart by war, and mysterious factions begin to reveal their own conflicting plans for the orphaned princess’ fate.

(Via Deadline, Redanian Intelligence)