New The Witcher season 2 teaser confirms which story the premiere will adapt

Geralt in The Witcher season 2
(Image credit: Netflix)

A new The Witcher season 2 teaser has confirmed the second series' premiere will adapt Andrzej Sapkowski's short story A Grain of Truth.

Showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich revealed the news in the video. "I am so excited that in season 2 we get to bring one of my favorite short stories to life," she said. "It's been the worst kept secret that we've had, but we are adapting A Grain of Truth for the opening of our season 2 of The Witcher."

She added: "It's a story of a father and daughter coming together in a place that doesn't quite feel safe for them. And of course, we really get into Nivellen, who's played by the incomparable Kristofer Hivju. And we get to explore his character and his backstory with Geralt as well. It's really the perfect kickoff for season 2 because it's about family, it's about the secrets we keep from each other, and it's about the monsters that we are inside sometimes."

A Grain of Truth features Nivellen, a man turned into a beast by a curse. In the short story, Geralt meets Nivellen while looking into the deaths of two people, and ends up in the cursed man's manor. We already know Netflix's version will differ from the original story, though, because Ciri will be involved – in the source material, it's just Geralt.

Last year, a script page from season 2 was unearthed as part of Witchmas, which immediately sparked speculation of an adaptation of A Grain of Truth. With this new confirmation, it certainly seems that the script page, which sees Henry Cavill's Geralt speaking in voiceover while a merchant and his wife are brutally killed, is indeed a scene between the Witcher and Nivellen. Hivju, who is playing the character, is probably best known for portraying Tormund Giantsbane in Game of Thrones.

The Witcher season 2 arrives to Netflix this December 17. Until then, check out our roundup of the best Netflix shows to fill out your watchlist.

Molly Edwards
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.