Netflix's animated movie The Witcher: Blood Origin. Starring Henry Cavill as Geralt and Freya Allan as Ciri, The Witcher was a hit for Netflix. It was adapted from the series of novels and short stories by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, and it lovingly recreated his rich fantasy world. Netflix is keen to expand the lore, and the animated film The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, starring Theo James as the voice of Geralt's teacher, Vesemir, is the beginning of their expansion.
is set around 200 years before The Witcher (Witchers have unnaturally long lifespans, as a result of mutagenic experiments conducted upon them during their training) and it tells the tale of the destruction of their home, Kaer Morhen. With the Witchers declining, their master, Deglan, unwisely uses mutagenic experiments to create new monsters in order to keep them in business. When this secret is revealed, Lady Tetra is able to lead the people in an attack upon the Witchers, sacking Kaer Morhen. It is the darkest hour in the Witchers' history, with Tetra coming close to wiping out the School of the Wolf altogether.
While it works as a standalone story, the most interesting aspect of The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf is undeniably its relationship with the broader lore. Netflix is carefully constructing a shared transmedia universe, one where everything is deliberately interwoven.
Nightmare of the Wolf Reveals Kaer Morhen's Backstory
The ancient keep of Kaer Morhen is the traditional home of the Order of the Wolf, where each generation of Witchers trained the next. This involved conducting what was known as the "Trial of the Grasses," transforming a normal human being into something of a supernatural hybrid. Nightmare of the Wolf shows some parts of the Trial, with candidates subjected to a rigorous diet ahead of being exposed to dangerous monsters to see if they survived. The final stage involves the istering of special chemicals that transform Witchers physically, with the necessary alchemy performed by mages who lived at Kaer Morhen.
Nightmare of the Wolf culminates in Tetra's leading a successful attack on Kaer Morhen, sacking the Witchers' keep and leaving it in ruins. Even worse, the mages are slaughtered, and the secrets of their alchemy die with them, meaning this will be the last generation of Witchers. This serves as a deliberate setup to The Witcher season 2, with Geralt taking Ciri to the ruins of Kaer Morhen to learn from his mentor, Vesemir. Voiced by Theo James in Nightmare of the Wolf, Vesemir will be played by Kim Bodnia in The Witcher.
The Decline of the Witchers is Inevitable
The sad truth is that the end of the Witchers is inevitable. Nightmare of the Wolf confirms comments from season 1 that the Witchers, who were created as monster hunters, had been too successful; they had wiped all the monsters out until there were no potential threats left. This is why Deglan began conducting experiments in the first place, to create a new generation of monsters who could keep the Witchers in business. His methods may have been both unwise and unscrupulous, but he correctly deduced the people would turn on the Witchers themselves when they no longer feared the monsters that stalked the night. Unfortunately, his actions were inevitably exposed, leading to the sacking of Kaer Morhen. This event essentially marks the end of the Order of the Wolf, for the secret alchemy that creates new Witchers was lost. Vesemir may have survived to raise a handful of Witchers, but these will be the last to bear their formidable powers. Geralt of Rivia should be seen as one of the last of his kind, and the death of every Witcher is a step closer toward extinction for them all.
Interestingly, Deglan's story appears to be adapted from Sapkowski's novel Season of Storms, in which Geralt stumbles upon a group of dangerous mages who are creating similar abominations at Rissberg Castle under the leadership of the rogue sorcerer Grandmaster Ortolan. A number of plot elements in Nightmare of the Wolf are strikingly similar to Season of Storms, suggesting this book served as loose inspiration for the main plot.
Geralt's Origin Expanded in Nightmare of the Wolf
Nightmare of the Wolf expands upon Geralt of Rivia's origin story, revealing he was actually present at Kaer Morhen when the keep was attacked. Although this was not suggested in Sapkowski's books, it's a neat explanation for how Geralt was subjected to the Witcher alchemy: he had been experimented upon prior to the sacking of the keep. This serves to explain Geralt's suspicious nature and his desire to keep people at arm's length as much as possible – he was witness to the atrocity directed against the Witchers when he was at a formative age. There have been unconfirmed reports of flashbacks to Geralt's early years in The Witcher season 2, so this may well be further developed.
Tetra's Backstory Sets Up The Witcher: Blood Origin
The primary antagonist of Nightmare of the Wolf is Tetra Gilcrest (voiced by Laura Pulver). A prideful sorceress, she hails from the lineage of the first human mage and is tremendously powerful. Tetra was trained at Aretuza, and she evidently studied the history of the Witchers, because she is aware they were created by mages as a potential defense against the monsters that plagued the Continent after the Conjunction of the Spheres. All this dialogue is actually important setup for The Witcher: Blood Origin, an live-action prequel series that will tell the story of the very first Witcher. It is set a thousand years before the events of Nightmare of the Wolf and 1,200 years before Geralt and Ciri's adventures in The Witcher.
Tetra's Legacy Lives On In Geralt's Era
Tetra may be killed in Nightmare of the Wolf, but she has an important legacy - one that endures even into Geralt's time. She was a scholar as well as a mage, and wrote lengthy notes describing the evils of Witchers. "Verily, there is nothing so hideous as the monsters," Tetra wrote, "so contrary to nature, known as witchers for they are the offspring of foul sorcery and devilry. They are rogues without virtue, conscience or scruple, true diabolic creations, fit only for killing. There is no place amidst honest men for such as they." Attentive viewers will recognize certain lines from Tetra's writing as they are contained within a book on Witchers seen in season 1 called the Monstrum. It is unlikely Tetra wrote the entire Monstrum - it also contained detailed observations on monsters from The Witcher's world when she doesn't seem to have been especially interested in studying these creatures - but certainly her notes were incorporated into it. The Monstrum exists in Sapkowski's books, as well, and it culminates in an of the destruction of Kaer Morhen that must have been written by one of Tetra's disciples.
Kitsu Remains A Potential Threat
In a pleasing but surprising twist, Nightmare of the Wolf chooses not to kill the character who seemed to be the main villain: Kitsu, an elf mage who had been cross-bred with a creature of illusion called a Mahr. Given elves are long-lived, it's entirely possible Kitsu is still alive in the time of Geralt. Kitsu is strikingly similar to a creature called the Aguara that appeared in Season of Storms; like Kitsu, this female creature wielded vast powers of illusion, and could even take on the form of a fox. Just like Kitsu, the Aguara became noted for kidnapping elven girls and attempting to transform them into new Aguara, so it's possible Kitsu will go back to her old ways.
Meanwhile, given her interconnected Netflix's world of the Witcher seems to be, it's probably important to note that Filavandrel successfully rescued one of the children who had been experimented upon by Kitsu. Kitsu is unlikely to have perfectly replicated the mutagenic experiments that created her in The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, so when this child grows up she will probably have very different powers. This particular loose thread doesn't have any obvious connection to the broader narrative of The Witcher, so it will be interesting to see if anything comes of her or if she's part of the elven army reportedly in The Witcher season 2.