What It Means For The Franchise


The Witcher‘s latest spin-off, which was initially thought to be canceled, has just quietly dropped on Netflix. The Witcher season 4’s ending brought a close to the controversial installment of the Netflix show. This controversy was driven primarily by Liam Hemsworth’s role as Geralt, replacing Henry Cavill. The Witcher season 5 will end the show, but not before more Netflix spin-offs.

After The Witcher: Blood Origin, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, and The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, Netflix has secretly dropped the latest spin-off on the streaming service – The Rats: A Witcher Tale. This was evident on Netflix and confirmed by Tudumrevealing that the feature-length special is available to view after watching all eight episodes of The Witcher season 4.

What The Rats Spinoff Means For The Witcher

Liam Hemsworth first look as Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher season 4
Liam Hemsworth first look as Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher season 4

The Rats: A Witcher Tale was initially intended as a limited series spin-off akin to Blood Originbefore production issues saw it condensed into an 80-minute special. The short movie tells the origin story of The Rats, the group that befriends Ciri throughout The Witcher season 4. Regarding what this means for The Witcher, the situation foretells the end of the Netflix franchise.

The Witcher: Blood Origin was not well-received as a spin-off, and the main show itself has dwindled in popularity. Not only was this due to the controversy surrounding Cavill’s exit, but the overall direction in which The Witcher was heading after season 2. If the opposite were true, The Rats: A Witcher Tale likely would have come to fruition as a limited series, as originally planned.

However, the decreasing clamor for more stories in the franchise saw it drop quietly alongside The Witcher season 4 with little marketing. This proves that the special is only intended for the diehard fans who will notice its release. This doesn’t bode well for any future Witcher spin-offs that were plannedespecially with the show heading for its fifth and final season.

Our Take On The Witcher’s Surprise Spinoff Release

Custom image of Ciri and the "Rats" together in The Witcher season 4
Custom image of Ciri and the “Rats” together in The Witcher season 4
Custom Image by Joe O’Shea

The Witcher‘s surprise release does, ironically, not surprise me all that much. My own excitement for the franchise has been slowly declining since The Witcher season 3’s release, primarily due to how the character of Geralt has been handled. I am not one to disregard Hemsworth, and actually think he was good in the role The Witcher season 4.

Moving beyond casting changes, though, The Witcher seems more content to focus on things other than, well, the Witcher. Its political subplots involving other characters beyond Geralt, Yennefer, Ciri, and Jaskier rarely seem to work, and I have long struggled to find them compelling.

Therefore, I am not overly surprised that Netflix quietly dropped another spin-off without much noise. It is clear that fans of The Witcher simply want an engaging story surrounding its titular character. The Rats: A Witcher Taleno matter how much it ties into Ciri’s story, strays from that desire, making Netflix’s ever-so-quiet release of the spin-off easy to understand.

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Release Date
December 20, 2019

NETWORKS
Netflix

Showrunner
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich

Directors
Stephen Surjik, Charlotte Brändström, Edward Bazalgette, Loni Peristere, Louise Hooper, Bola Ogun, Alex Garcia Lopez, Gandja Monteiro, Sarah O’Gorman

Writers
Haily Hall, Clare Higgins, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Jenny Klein, Tania Lotia

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    Anya Chalotra

    Yennefer of Wengerberg


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