Tidings from Toussaint

[“Tidings from Toussaint” theme music by Bettina Campomanes]

Lars from Witcherflix

Hey, it's Lars from Witcherflix and this is “Tidings from Toussaint.”

These last two weeks were full of interesting interviews from the crew and awesome promo pictures. But let's start this episode with the best news ever.

The Witcher has already been renewed for a second season—even though the first one has not even been released yet. Showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich announced season 2 will also consist of eight episodes and the scripts are already finished. Production will start in early 2020 in London, UK. This is great and shows that Netflix is very confident when it comes to the Witcher show.

As I said, many interviews with actors and producers have been released during the last two weeks.

In an interview for Netflix Italia, Lauren Hissrich talked about several scenes from the recently released trailer. For example, she talked about the monsters on the show: "It's funny because monsters are huge in The Witcher but it's actually one of the things we were trying to hold out of the teasers and trailers as much as possible because we think there is a great element of surprise for existing fans who don't know what stories and monsters we're playing with. And also there's a couple of new monsters we've came up with, based on a lot of Polish folklore." But she also added: "I don't feel the need to shock the audience, these stories are engaging enough without pushing the shock value for the audience."

Henry Cavill said some interesting things about The Witcher during his interview with news sites wyborcza.pl, teleshop.wp, and Small Screen. First, he explained what makes Geralt and the books so special: "He’s the kind of guy who will kill you if you mess with him. If you mess with those around him, he will kill you. But at the same time, he will put his own life in grave danger to save a complete stranger from harm. And there’s something wonderful about that.”

About the books he said: “I fell in love with those stories,” Cavill said. “They’re not your typical fantasy stories, there’s something tangible about them. Many times after reading or playing the game I couldn’t get them out of my mind. When the opportunity to play Geralt appeared, I couldn’t let it go. When they announced the show, I didn’t know Lauren will be working on it. Every day, I asked my agents to find something out. And then we had a meeting. And I think it went well since I’m now here with you.”

Henry Cavill was also asked about his favorite Witcher books. He answered: “I wanted Geralt to meet the Rats, but it never happened. There are many more examples of that. And my favorite books? The Last Wish, because it hooked me, broke my heart, put it together, and then broke it again. And Lady of the Lake, because all its events are unbelievable. There is real magic in it.”

Executive producer Tomasz Baginski also talked about Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia: "In Hungary, he spent weeks sleeping in a trailer right by the set. He didn’t go back to the hotel in Budapest which saved him an hour every day, but mostly it meant that during the whole time he was in the Witcher world. That doesn’t happen very often. Henry is a working actor, he knows what to do and he delivers fantastic scenes.”

You see, he is more than dedicated to his role. And this is awesome.

Moreover, Tomasz Baginski also talked about the never-ending comparisons to Game of Thrones: “What differentiates us is the presence of magic and humor. There’s not much of it in Game of Thrones. Magic is rather subtle there, while we use it heavily. It’s intertwined with the story and we’re doing our best not to make it into a gritty medieval drama. Sometimes there is humor, there are laughs, and I think it will be very much appreciated by both the book fans and new viewers.”

In other news, many, many more promo pictures have been released during the last fourteen days. Visit breakfastinbeauclair.com to have look. To get you hyped, there were beautiful new pictures showing our main character Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri, but we also got a closer look at the mage Stregobor from the short story "The Lesser Evil", the show–only character, Sir Laszlo, in a beautiful piece of armor, and close–ups of Queen Calanthe of Cintra, and Nilfgaardian–Vicovarian knight, Cahir.

Last but not least, Mahesh Jadu, who will play the infamous mage Vilgefortz of Roggeveen, was confirmed to appear on Episode 7 and 8 of Season 1, right on time for the big battle scenes. In addition there are more interesting confirmations: visual effects supervisor Julian Parry confirmed that the djinn from "The Last Wish" will make his appearance and will say “Hello” to Geralt, Jaskier, and Yennefer. Moreover, Artorius Vigo (Fringilla Vigo's father) will also appear on the show. He will be played by English actor Terence Maynard. Gamers know Artoruis Viigo as the creator of the mystical "Land of a Thousand Fables" from the "Witcher 3" expansion "Blood and Wine.”

Guys, that's it for today. Only one more month to go until we finally have Season 1. Anyway, we'll talk again in the next episode of Breakfast in Beauclair. Until then, thanks again for listening and good luck on the path!

[“Tidings from Toussaint” theme music by Bettina Campomanes]