It is no secret that The Witcher franchise will see a major change in its fourth installment. Geralt’s transition from Henry Cavill to Liam Hemsworth has been a point of anticipation for the fandom, with no certainty about how it will pan out. Replacing actors midway through a series is not something that has never been seen before. From Dumbledore’s recasting in Harry Potter to Rience’s casting switch from Sam Woolf to Chris Fulton in The Witcher Season 3, fantasy franchises are familiar with such occurrences.

Even so, for the shift in Geralt’s character, The Witcher makers feel they must provide an explanation. Whether it is necessary or not is a point of debate, but the question remains- how are they going to do it?

The Witcher’s time jump and flashback theories could come in handy

For those who are not aware of Andrzej Sapkowski’s books, understanding the timeline of The Witcher could be a challenge. The story takes place over 40 years where characters age at different rates. There are three timelines to keep track of: Yennefer’s timeline starts things off, then comes Geralt’s, and lastly, Ciri’s. Ciri’s adventures take about four years between seasons 1 and 3, while Geralt’s stretch over 36 years, and Yennefer’s cover 61, leaving casual viewers completely lost trying to make sense of it all.

While the makers could be simplifying this confusion in the upcoming seasons, this convoluted timeline could provide an opportune moment for the handover from Henry Cavill to Liam Hemsworth on the show. Given The Witcher‘s deep-rooted narrative in history, integrating flashbacks from the previous seasons would be best fitting for the opening of season 4. However, this leap in time will not mimic the approach of Marvel Cinematic Universe, as confirmed by the producer of the show Tomek Baginski in an interview with Wyborcza.

In the same interview, Baginski denied popular fan speculation that suggested the presence of a multiverse in The Witcher universe

How The Witcher makers plan to pull the transition off 

Tomek Baginski opened up about the exact way the show will execute the transition. He accepted that there is only one “reality” in Andrzej Sapkowski’s world. And the rest of the universes that are present in The Witcher follow a completely different timeline that will certainly not clash with the Lauren Hissrich show. However, due to its historical nature, the tale has been interpreted by a myriad of voices, including several authors, historians, and writers.

The producer suggested that the transition might come through Jaskier’s perspective or that of another character. It is also possible that Ciri’s eyes were a different color, she was a completely different character, and the elves saw things in their own way. Baginski shared that although the perspectives could differ from the original sources, The Witcher season 4 will stick closely to the key themes from the books, especially those in book five, The Lady of the Lake. 

The Witcher season 4 will pull from The Lady of the Lake

Baginski remembered how it took everyone aback when the fifth volume of The Witcher book hit the shelves. He reflected on how the experience felt like watching some postmodern theater piece that started as fantasy but became a “philosophical discourse on the nature of reality”. However, this flexibility in the storyline allowed different interpretations to form about the franchise, as it “allows for a lot of freedom”. This “loophole” also makes it possible to weave multiple versions of the story, with all of them being true.

The Witcher producer hinted that while they are steering clear of deep philosophical waters to define The Witcher’s world, the show will make use of countless angles. As for the “lore-accurate” portrayal, the story could adopt the same plot as the book, with slight changes. Seanchai, Nimue, Condwiramurs, or any combination of them can come together to chat about the legend of Geralt of Rivia and Cirilla of Cintra, as they do in the books. However, they might shift the conversation towards portraits of Geralt instead of Ciri, making way for Liam Hemsworth’s portrayal of Geralt.

How do you think The Witcher will execute this transition from Henry Cavill’s Geralt to Liam Hemsworth’s? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!