The Witcher season three has an elephant in the room, and it's not an elaborate prop mimicking a beast from one of the show's exotic lands of Ofir or Zerrikania. No, we mean Henry Cavill himself.
We know the show's silver-haired stunner Geralt is dubbed "The White Wolf" rather than a 'white elephant', but the latter might make more sense, as Cavill will step away from Netflix's blockbuster magical saga after its release on June 29.
Netflix won't want to dwell on it. Not least because our set visit in the height of summer 2022 happened a few months ahead of the news about his departure breaking.
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In case you've been hiding in a cave with some ungodly Witcher monsters, from season four, Henry will be swapped out for Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth. He will likely look great in the armour, but Cavill's absence is a shadow that'll undoubtedly loom large over the rest of the show's run, no matter how well Hemsworth can do.
The switch is odd given how Cavill campaigned for the lead role from the show's very inception. The departure is also jarring when you understand how intrinsic Cavill is to the show — not just for audiences as the leading man but also on set.
It's not an understatement to say the crew was obsessed with him when Digital Spy visited The Witcher's season-three set, a baking-hot studio not a million miles from Thorpe Park.
There were stunt performers who gushed about Henry's dedication to doing his own stunts (while temporarily drilling in a warehouse with 'Geralt' written on stand-in cardboard boxes) and the hair and make-up team, who professed how kind and professional Henry is.
There was a rich lore of Henry anecdotes, and his presence was palpable during our visit — despite journalists not being allowed to y'know, actually, speak to him.
When we did catch a glimpse of The White Wolf's broad back, he was flitting between a dance scene with Anya Chalotra (Yennefer) and his pop-up tent — while we watched silently in the dark from afar, through small monitors, next to a solid snack table, like a Hollywood safari.
Whether Henry's departure was in discussion or already agreed upon by the time of our visit is unclear. But Yennefer actress Anya Chalotra has explained she didn't find out until after the season wrapped. "The news was... Yeah, it's hard to take because he's a crucial part of the show and we all adore him," she told Entertainment Weekly.
But at least the show has been saved from cancellation, showrunner Lauren Hissrich said in May. "We had the choice to have Geralt exit and to end the show. [But] that's not something that we were willing to do," she said. "There are just too many stories left to tell. If we replaced Geralt with another Witcher, we would be going fully away from the books, and I don't think that's what anyone wanted either."
For now, we have one more adventure with Henry Cavill's Witcher to enjoy — and our day on set started in Redanian banquet hall, where we met the season's other key players, including Lauren, Freya Allan (Ciri) and benevolent bard Joey Batey (Jaskier).
Lauren explained the third season faithfully adapts The Witcher's second full book, Time of Contempt, and it's been the easiest book so far to draw from.
Fans will be glad to hear there'll be a heavy reliance on practical effects (a split of around 70/30, with a sprinkling of CGI magic), and the next chapter will have more magic than ever, as well as a huge battle akin to Harry Potter's Triwizard Tournament or Game of Thrones' Red Wedding.
Does that mean we can expect a similarly heartbreaking death? We wouldn't want to spoil anything, but despite there being a huge skirmish in this story — the Battle of Aretusa — it won't close out the season, which is split into two parts, with the second landing on July 27, 2023.
Instead, we'll focus on Ciri as she battles voices in her head and real-life foes — both human and monster alike.
The gruelling shoot took actress Freya Allen to Morocco in scorching temperatures, and during our visit, it sounds like it's taken a toll, as Freya does the stunts herself, just like Cavill.
Freya explained the shoot changed her as a person and even invaded her dreams, telling Digital Spy: "Ciri goes on her journey through the desert, the Korath desert. Essentially, she is battling with her own mind, and all the voices in her head, because she's there in the desert on her own. That's all she has: these voices in her head. And it's all about her battling against that, and not letting them get into her head."
"At the start of filming, I was having dreams — this sounds crazy — but I was having dreams that I was mass-murdering monsters and shit. I was Ciri in the dreams," she said, adding with a laugh: "I was too excited that I now have a sword, that I was dreaming of killing monsters."
Freya continued: "It was such a big challenge. And I think when you get to say you've done it, it does give you a new kind of strength. We were battling with 45 degrees. It was genuinely a challenge for me, not just Ciri."
Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich added: "The books become more about Ciri. The show becomes more about Ciri. The conversations that we had ahead of this was: 'This was the first episode where it was just Freya there.' There was none of our other main cast there. You [Freya] obviously were the leader of everyone who was there. And I think it was such an incredible growth not just for the character but [also] for you.”
The production toured the globe from Croatia to Italy, Slovenia, Morocco and Wales before settling in sunny Surrey on a host of incredible sets — the largest of which has grown to the size of a rugby pitch, with plans to expand it even further in future seasons.
Meanwhile, Aretusa, which will host the show's 'Red Wedding moment', has been dubbed a "super-set". It touts endless corridors to shoot in and weave between, allowing the cast and crew to truly immerse themselves in the world.
Explaining the scale of the operation, Lauren said: "We move hundreds of people and monsters and costumes and huge stunt teams. It's big. And I think what I always ask for —when we're hiring new crew people, and the conversations that we have every year — is like: 'I need you to be excited about this. We're the leaders. So we have to show up.'
"We just talked about this in Morocco. Morocco was the hottest place I've ever been, and probably the hardest shoot I've ever had. But it was like, we've got to show up every day, excited to be here, and excited for the crew to be here. And it works, you know? We have such a good family here."
There's a new "found family" dynamic that has evolved between the characters, with Geralt and Yennefer becoming surrogate parents to Ciri. Interestingly, this vibe reverberates on set, as the showrunner's own kids happily sit on a throne next to the press while she finishes her interviews.
But where does that leave balladeer Jaskier, played by Joey Batey?
"I think [he's] the fun uncle," he told us. "Jaskier's got a lot more to do this season in terms of the political machinations of the Continent."
Meanwhile, The Witcher's costume designer Lucinda Wright explained that Jaskier will have subtle love hearts emblazoned on his costume to reference his romantic interests.
There'll also be a couple more viral Jaskier jams in the pipeline. The first seasons treated us to 'Toss a Coin to your Witcher' and 'Burn Witcher, Burn', and this time, he'll have to tackle a rival bard, Valdo Marx. "There is something of John Lennon about it this season," Joey said.
He later said of shooting season three: "It's been really rewarding, because I've had scenes with the big man [Henry], and I've had scenes with Anya, and this is the first time where we've [Freya and I] got to hang out."
Speaking about season-two reveal that antagonist Emhyr is Ciri's father, Lauren said: "It was really important because Emhyr has been a sort of phantom 'big bad' throughout the entire show. And yet, what I wanted to do was really get to know him because, obviously, he becomes less interesting if he's just this guy on the side who seems evil [to] everyone.
"I don't think that Emhyr impacts Ciri's story that much this season. He's kind of still an outside force, and Geralt — who doesn't necessarily know who Emhyr is, but knows that Emhyr is after Ciri — he's really working to protect Ciri from these forces.
"I think [Ciri's] story is much more about the family that's right in front of you, and the family that you've been wanting all along."
This season will also team Yennefer and Ciri together more, as the young Witcher-in-waiting undertakes her magical training to control her powers. "There is definitely her training her magic. It's a hard one for Ciri," Freya explained.
"It doesn't come as naturally to her as the fighting side does. It brings Ciri and Yennefer together. That's something where she can really look up to Yennefer, and go: 'OK, here's a woman who has this power, and she embraces that.'"
The Witcher Season 3 - The Monster Mash
Beyond the battles in Ciri's mind, the show is trying to delve more into the morally grey area of sentient monsters, who might not be the real villains after all.
Lauren explained that episodes like season one's 'Betrayer Moon', dealing with the Striga (a monster born from a curse following an affair between a brother and sister), are more interesting when the creatures have their own backstory.
"That's what we really tried to lean into. We did it in season two, and obviously, we're doing it in season three as well," she said. "It makes them more nightmarish because you actually understand where these monsters came from and what their struggles are. It humanises them in a way."
During our visit, we also saw one beast teased — which, according to the series' Head of Franchise Design Andrew Laws, was the show's hardest monster to make and could only have happened in season three.
"We had to deal with the dynamism of it — very much between prosthetics, creature concept design and VFX — and try to figure out how to evolve this thing and make sense out of it," he explained. "Because it's not a singular entity that is… You know, does it have four legs? Does it have two legs? Does it stand up? Does it wave its arms? Does it have magic?"
Meanwhile, a less vicious monster will appear in the shape of The Witcher's famous unicorn, which will make its debut in season three — although not the stuffed version that Yennefer likes to, ahem, ride with Geralt from the books. Instead, it'll be in an episode focussed on Ciri in the Korath desert.
But the stories go even deeper than the monsters themselves. Every extra has their own mini backstory from one of the directors. Lauren explained: "[Director] Loni Peristere has little index cards that he hands out to every single background actor, and they have: 'Here's your name. Here's why you're here. Here's your special skill. You're a drunk. You like wine. You like to dance.' Whatever it is — so that they can own their own story. That's the detail that's going into this."
Although the series gained mixed reactions, fans of The Witcher spin-off Blood Origins will be rewarded with references and story beats referring to The Lark, the wandering bard, also known as Éile.
Executive producer Steve Gaub said: "We're trying to do that 360, so that fans of The Witcher will see things in The Lark or hear things in The Lark that people who haven't seen The Witcher probably won't get.
"We're trying to do the same thing as well: make mentions, make acknowledgments. We won't lose anyone from our storyline, but we'll have a deeper meaning for those that actually check out Blood Origin."
And there could be even more to look forward to, as Gaub teases even more spin-off Blood Origin series.
"We like the concept of what we're doing with Blood Origin, where it's a limited series that has a sort of great opportunity to fill in blanks, and to enrich the depth of our storytelling," he said. "Blood Origin — I mean, it's in the name. But it's to tell origin stories within a limited series that you don't feel you have the weight of an entirely different series."
The franchise's rich detail extends right down to the weapons, which Master Armourer Nick Jeffries relished in talking us through. Geralt's warrior dwarf companion Yarpen Zagrin has two of the most interesting weapons in his arsenal, which you're unlikely to see on camera.
For starters, his knife splays into a vicious pair of shears with 'testicle tickler' written inside the blades in Elvish. Meanwhile, his club has an embossed hand flipping two fingers up at his enemies.
Two of Yarpen's dwarven companions will be armed with identical clubs made of a left and right foot, respectively. We're told they created a whopping 400 hero weapons and thousands of rubber replicas for extras and stunt people.
Gaub also reflected on the concept of The Witcher's little production family, saying: "We keep using the phrase 'mind meld' this season. There's been a lot of 'mind meld' going on, where the crew has been working together now for, you know, three or four years, and they're starting to really gel as a creative entity."
Hopefully, Liam Hemsworth can "mind meld" with the Witcher family — but the question remains: Will Cavill's exit leave its mark on the show? Only time will tell.
Lauren finished by saying: "As soon as we get back into shooting, I've got to stay focused on what we're doing. Because what I don't want to happen is for us as creators, as artists, to be chasing something that different fandoms might want. Because then we're just going to water down the show, and it's not going to be as strong as the vision that we set out with."
The Witcher seasons 1-2 are now streaming on Netflix. The Witcher season 3 volume 1 launches on 29 June, and volume 2 on 27 July 2023.
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Laurence Mozafari (he/him) is a multi-award winning journalist, editor, and presenter. A former Editor-in-Chief of Digital Spy, Laurence previously held roles as the site's Editor, Deputy Editor, and Associate Editor focusing on news, social, and video. Laurence hosted the BBC Sounds podcast Obsessed with Peaky Blinders in 2019. He also hosts his own podcast production, Time of My Life, where he interviews fascinating elders about their life lessons, including Only Fools and Horses' Sir David Jason, Star Trek’s George Takei and Bridgerton’s Adjoa Andoh.
Laurence was named Editorial Director – Youth Audience at Reach in early 2025. Prior to joining Digital Spy, he was previously at Bauer Media working as Digital Editor of Heat magazine's website Heatworld.com, and has also worked at and written for Sky, NME, Q magazine, Grazia, Closer, FHM and dedicated careers website GoThinkBig. He secured a first-class BA journalism degree at Staffordshire University, along with several NCTJ qualifications, and now has 14 years' experience in digital publishing covering TV, movies, music, gaming, tech, showbiz, and travel.
Laurence has been a broadcasting contributor on television and radio, including KISS, Heat Radio, BBC Radio London, Radio 5 Live, and BBC Breakfast.
He is also a visiting lecturer at various universities teaching journalism, including City, University of London, Nottingham Trent, Staffordshire University and London Metropolitan. Laurence has won numerous awards in his journalism career, including the BSME Talent Award’s Best Deputy Editor, the PPA's 30 Under 30, and the New Editor and Editor of the Year at the AOP and BSMEs. He led Digital Spy to win PPA's Digital Content Team of the Year twice, along with the British Media Awards’ Brand of the Year in 2021.
Laurence joined the committee for the British Society of Magazine Editors in 2022 and was named vice-chair in 2025. He has since hosted panels with CEOs of Immediate Media and the Media Trust at the PPA Festival, as well as presenting his own radio show on Green Man Radio at Green Man Festival in 2022. Laurence is also a Brits voting academy member.
Laurence has been lucky enough to interview numerous celebrities, actors, and musicians throughout his career. Arnold Schwarzenegger loved his hair, Jimmy Carr loved his coat and Antonio Banderas gave a shout-out to his mum. Laurence has covered set visits for The Witcher on Netflix and Marvel’s Inhumans, he got Daisy Ridley to do a Chewbacca impression and loves Marvel, PlayStation, Glastonbury and craft beer. Linkedin
