The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich talked about what to expect from the second season in an interview she was in.

Netflix‘s original series The Witcher was a big success for the streaming platform, even attracting a huge number of viewers that were not interested in The Witcher universe before. Based on the novels and games of the same name, the Netflix series The Witcher stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, who is a badass character portrayed accurately by Cavill. They even announced a spin-off series called The Witcher: Blood Origin, whose next cast member has recently been publicized.

After the release of the first season, the crew was already ready for a second season, as we would all probably expect. What awaits us in the second season is kind of a gray area for the fans, unfortunately. Not to worry though, because The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich gave some information about what to expect from the second season in an interview with SyFy.

“Wow, Ciri is running away a lot! It’s something Freya and I would laugh about. So looking at Season 2, how do we get this character to stand still? To fight back? Where does she find this tenacity that is so clearly inside her? We need to pay a little more attention to that.”

“I feel very strongly that you shouldn’t read criticism — even positive reinforcement — and start to twist your storytelling all over the place. No one story is going to make some 70 million people happy. Trying to achieve that is just going to water things down.

What I tried to take instead is what resonated with audiences, and what didn’t. Did they think that the show referenced its Polish origins enough? How do we make sure that the right folklore is in our storytelling? Did we honor the books in the right way? How can we step away from the books, and make sure we’re building out our show’s characters?”

“Obviously, I cannot give anything away about Season 2, but what I will say is that we’re really focusing on emotional costs. The eels were a great representation of the physical cost of magic, as were the Nilfgaard mages, who were willing to die to create fire.

This season, we’re really starting to think about how does magic impacts us as humans? What decisions do we make for power? What do we sacrifice? More importantly, how does it hurt the people around us? This is the type of storytelling I’m really excited about because it becomes less about the mystical, magical world, and more about what happens when you start caring about other people.

We have three separate characters who have been living their individual lives, refusing to admit that they need or want anyone else, and you start to see each of them grappling with how their decision-making impacts everyone else and thinking about others before themselves. That is the biggest shift in Season 2.”

“The truth is, by the time the show launched in December of 2019, we were already immersed in Season 2. But in terms of the production, the renewal gave everyone permission to take a lot more chances, bigger gambles. It just gives everyone that sense of confidence they need to find new levels. Some of the things we’re working on right now are just beyond comprehension in terms of size and scope. I could not be more excited.”

“Real-world stuff constantly impacts how we tell our stories. The best thing about fantasy is that it’s innately political. It’s about a world that reflects our own. It’s about the real issues that plague our society. We’re constantly dealing with racism, homophobia, sexism, misogyny, and classism. It just goes on and on and on. So 100 percent, what continues to happen in the real world absolutely impacts not just what we write, but how it’s directed and how the actors portray it. We’re all living in the same world, so we’re all bringing our experiences into it on a daily basis.”