Hoping to be Netflix’s answer to Game of Thrones, The Witcher’s showunner has revealed she has plans for seven seasons of the TV show.

Ambitious. We know.

The Netflix fantasy series – starring Henry Cavill as the titular character – will turn Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s collection of eight books into seven seasons; news that’s eminently refreshing in an age where Hollywood famously drags-out their literature adaptions much further than the source permits. (Eg. ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy. Have you SEEN the 310-page book IRL? How did they manage to squeeze a trilogy out of that?!)

“I’ve [mapped out stories] for seven seasons. Right now it’s just about, ‘How do you set up stories that really capture audiences for years at a time?’ The worst thing we could do is put all of our energies just into season one, and not be thinking about where these characters can grow to.” – The Witcher Showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich in conversation with SFX [ad-a]


Hissrich’s comments display her confidence in the TV she has created alongside Netflix as well as the source material which she’s heavily relying on. What’s best is that this confirmation of an extended plan has seen fantasy fans throw shade as it continues to be compared with HBO’s eight-season-long Game of Thrones series. Our favourite dig comes from Reddit user M_ME_UR_LOVE_ST0RY who says “Can’t have (an) 8th bad season if you only make 7 seasons”.

I KNEW it would be at least seven seasons. Taking into account that there are seven books (technically 8). And it seems that the first two seasons will be a mix of the first two books. Season 3 will be when the REAL story starts.#TheWitcher https://t.co/LGW8VBFz8d — Ace Bande needs The Witcher (@ace_bande) November 1, 2019 Advertisement

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What are The Witcher books?

The Witcher series is comprised of six novels and two short stories written by Polish author Andrej Sapkowski (between 1986-2013). Surprisingly, Sapkowski is yet to see a single episode of the TV adaptation of his books:

“I didn’t even see the pilot episode because I like being surprised. But I can say one thing: if the series will be as beautiful as the trailer, we will have a masterpiece.” – The Witcher Saga Author Andrej Sapkowski in conversation with Wired

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The Witcher Book Series:

The Last Wish (1986)

Sword of Destiny (1992)

Blood of Elves (1994)

The Time of Contempt (1995)

Baptism of Fire (1996)

The Tower of the Swallow (1997)

The Lady of the Lake (1999)

Season of Storms (2013)

The fact that The Witcher was first a book series may come as a shock to many gamers who will exclusively recognise Geralt of Rivia’s story as a trilogy of video games. Uncultured swines.

What is The Witcher about?


“The Witcher Geralt, a mutated monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts.” – Netflix

The Witcher Release Date

The Witcher Season One will stream exclusively on Netflix from 20th December.