Witcher prequel series reportedly attempts to fix production woes with fewer episodes and more Jaskier

The Witcher prequel series is reportedly attempting to fix its production woes with fewer episodes and more Jaskier. 

The Witcher TV series has proved hugely successful for Netflix, but its upcoming spin-off seems to be in major trouble. Titled The Witcher: Blood Origin, the series acts as a prequel, taking place more than a thousand years before the events of the main series. It follows the story of seven elves as they “unite in a blood quest against an unstoppable power”. The project was first announced in July 2020 and began filming in August 2021, but Netflix has been rather silent about it ever since its lukewarm reception from fans. Now it’s been revealed that the show has gone through something of a major overhaul in an attempt to get it back on track. 

As spotted by a user on The Witcher subreddit, Redanianintelligence.com has revealed that The Witcher: Blood Origin, which was initially meant to have six episodes, will now be only four episodes long. According to the site’s source, reshoots and edits were carried out “in an attempt to bring Blood Origin closer to the main series as well as polish and cut some of the material that was deemed to be weak.”

To this end, fan-favourite Jaskier will reportedly now play a much more significant role in miniseries. It’s speculated that he could act as the narrator for the tale, providing present-day interludes between scenes or episodes. That would be quite fitting, as Jaskier acts as a narrator in the The Witcher 2 and The Witcher 3 (where he's better known as Dandelion).

It’s not yet clear when The Witcher: Blood Origin will air, but a source for the same site says Netflix is planning to launch the series in October. Conversely, another source claims it will be arriving in December. So far, Netflix has only provided a launch window of “later in 2022”.

Take a look at our guide to The Witcher season 3 for everything we know about the upcoming series.