Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, showrunner and executive producer of The Witcher franchise, breaks down The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf’s ending and explains why it works better animation. Nightmare of the Wolf follows mutated monster hunter Vesemir and his escapades throughout the Continent before the events of Netflix’s hit fantasy series The Witcher based on books written by Andrzej Sapkowski.
In the upcoming witcher sequel, Geralt will return to Kaer Morhen, the Witcher fortress where he spent his boyhood, with his Child of Surprise, Ciri. There, they’ll meet Vesemir, the White Wolf’s erstwhile tutor and father figure.
Nightmare of the Wolf serves as a precursor to Season 2 by introducing viewers to a young Vesemir and his genesis story. The anime film, tells the story of Vesemir’s existence as a servant through flashbacks. Vesemir goes for Kaer Morhen after meeting the witcher Deglan and matures into a notorious, swashbuckling monster hunter.
When one of the Continent’s kingdoms is overrun by bizarre new monsters, Kaer Morhen’s and the witchers’ futures are imperilled. The mage Tetra leads hundreds of monsters and thousands of humanity against a dozen witchers at Kaer Morhen in the film’s conclusion.
NetflixGeeked on Twitter recently shared a video of Hissrich dissecting the finale of Nightmare of the Wolf and explaining how it fits into the second season of the flagship series. She discusses how the Fall of Kaer Morhen could never have been presented in live-action or, at the very least, could not have been done justice due to budgetary constraints (among other things).
As she puts it, stories are sometimes best portrayed through animation since it allows people’s imaginations to run wild.
When Geralt and Ciri arrive as Kaer Morhen in Season 2, the stronghold will be ruined, overflowing with monster and human bones, as Hissrich said. Viewers will understand why this is the case thanks to Nightmare of the Wolf.
The anime does a fantastic job with The Fall of Kaer Morhen and the other action moments, making them feel huge and visceral. Thus understanding why an animated approach served the franchise better.
now that you’ve seen THE WITCHER: NIGHTMARE OF THE WOLF, here’s showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich (@LHissrich) to break down the ending and explain how it fits into THE WITCHER SEASON 2 pic.twitter.com/1mgLmPSsxE
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) August 27, 2021