The Witcher season 3 has been released on Netflix and there are various huge events happening in the show this year. Of course, with Henry Cavill moving on and Liam Hemsworth taking over as Geralt, massive changes are to come within the show itself. However, there have already been changes made to the show from the source material.
Many fans have already seen some of the events of The Witcher season 3 through both the gaming franchise and the book source material, so they will be well-versed in how The Witcher show is setting itself apart in the story and character terms from either of those previous versions of the Continent and Geralt of Rivia, before changing their version of Geralt over to Liam Hemsworth.
WARNING! Spoilers ahead for The Witcher season 3, part 1!
6 The Family Dynamic
Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer spend months at the beginning of season three in constant flux as they move around together across the Continent, attempting to stay happy and safe together while Yennefer begins training Ciri in magic as she becomes more the protagonist. While this is a fairly sensible transition from some of the events of the book series, there are significant changes.
In the Witcher book series, these three characters are almost never together. They each dream individually of being able to find such joy as a true family but are never able to accomplish it, leaving that as something which spurs all of them on. Geralt also isn’t present for Ciri’s magical training with Yennefer, which mostly happens at Aretuza.
5 The Battle of Shaerrawedd
Shaerrawedd is the location of the fallen Elven Palace which is seen during the first episode of season three. While Geralt and Ciri are traveling undercover among the dwarves of Yarpen’s caravan, they are set upon by the Scoi’tael who are searching for Ciri. The dwarves eventually win the battle, and cheer the victory, including screaming in rage as they murder their non-human brothers.
This, unsurprisingly, happens quite differently in the books. In the books, the dwarves were greatly saddened by the need to kill the elves and dwarves of the Scoi’tael, as killing other non-humans seemed a senseless act of violence to them. Additionally, the Scoi’tael weren’t searching for Ciri among the caravan in the books, they were merely attempting to steal the supplies from the dwarves for their own needs.
4 Radovid
Prince Radovid was one of the new characters introduced in season three of The Witcher. While he has had a fairly significant role thus far as a layabout prince of King Vizimir who is much more capable than he lets on, the most fascinating aspect of his role in the series thus far has been his burgeoning relationship with Jaskier.
However, his role in The Witcher book series is quite a lot different. While the book character of Radovid is quietly cunning, he is actually the son of King Vizimir who becomes King later. He also has a great hatred for mages in the books, prompting him to hunt them down as opposed to the way he has worked alongside them so far in the Netflix series, making him a much darker character in other versions of the story.
3 The Elves Subplot
Francesca and her elves have their own story in The Witcher season 3, as Gallatin tries to find a way to stop her from dragging the elves too deeply into the search for Ciri. While the story is an interesting subplot in the Netflix series, it is quite far apart from anything that Francesca and her elves were doing at that point in the books.
Firstly, in the part of the books which The Witcher season 3 draws from, there is barely anybody looking for Ciri. Secondly, Francesca and her elves are never hunting for her and aren’t doing anything even remotely involved with Geralt and his loved ones. The entire subplot has been invented by Netflix separate from anything that has ever happened in the books.
2 The Thanedd Ball
In the concluding episode of The Witcher season 3 part 1, Yennefer organizes The Thanedd Ball for the mages and various other guests at Aretuza. It takes place before the Conclave and ends with the major reveal that Vilgefortz is behind everything that’s been going on and working against Ciri. However, all of this is handled in quite a different fashion in the book series.
The Thanedd Ball takes place in the books, but it happens at the behest of Emhyr, who wanted vengeance on the Brotherhood of Mages due to their involvement in the Battle of Sodden Hill. This led to a bloodbath and the destruction of the Brotherhood as it is known, while this may yet happen it hasn’t taken place yet in The Witcher Netflix series as Geralt continues attempting to avoid war.
1 The Fake Ciri
One of the most shocking moments in The Witcher season 3 is when Geralt finds a young girl who has been experimented on and made to believe she is Ciri. This is a hugely complicated matter that shocked Geralt and later Ciri to their cores, as it likely involved horrible kinds of torture. However, while there is a “Fake Ciri” in the Witcher books, her origin is much different.
In the books, Vilgefortz was not involved at all and there were no girls being kidnapped from Aretuza, which is one of the major plot points throughout The Witcher season 3. Instead, Rience kidnaps an orphan girl and made her pose as Ciri to give to the White Flame. Either method probably ends with similar results, but The Witcher season 3 concocted a much larger plot behind this aspect of the story than the books.
The Witcher Season 3 Part 1 was released on Netflix on June 29th, 2023, The Witcher Season 3 Part 2 will be released on July 27th, 2023.