The Witcher season 3: plot, character list and everything else we know

Seeking the Witcher season 3 info? No surprise there. It's been a long, complicated road since season 2, with the show's production caught up in Covid delays and casting changes, like Henry Cavill leaving his role as Geralt to be filled by Liam Hemsworth. But we've finally got our dates for the third season's split release, arriving in halves four weeks apart this summer.

While official details about what—and who—we can expect to see in The Witcher season 3 have been thin during its production, rumors abound as always. Let's take a look at everything we know so far about season 3 of The Witcher. 

The Witcher season 3 release date

When is The Witcher season 3 release date?

As announced by Netflix, The Witcher season 3 will release as a split season: volume 1 will release on June 29, 2023, while volume 2 will release on July 27, 2023. The season will comprise eight episodes, with four releasing in each volume.

Filming for Season 3 finished in September 2022, and with many Covid restrictions now lifted worldwide, we held hopes that we'd see a new season by the end of 2022. However, at Netflix's Tudum live stream, the company revealed that The Witcher season 3 would release in summer 2023. Showrunner Lauren Hissrich shared that assessment, saying in a December 2022 interview with Collider that the next season would release in "eightish months or so."

The season's release timeline was surrounded by uncertainty, thanks to Covid-19 delays. Previously, Netflix confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that the season's production was paused by a coronavirus outbreak, supposedly with Henry Cavill himself testing positive. It's the third time that Covid-19 halted the show's filming since 2020. 

Here's the official Witcher season 3 teaser

Ah, I remember that guy! He's the Witcher! Our first glimpse of season 3 starts with Geralt quaffing a potion for some monster-slaying performance enhancement. Soon, swords are drawn, horses are galloped, and many troubled faces are shown by our primary cast. Danger! Drama! Hedge mazes?

Finally, we get our reveal of season 3's airdates, with the season split between two releases on Netflix.

The Witcher season 3 plot

What do we know about The Witcher season 3 plot?

In series 3, the story will be based on the plot of Time of Contempt, as told exclusively by Hissrich to TechRadar. Collider was also told that another big story from Blood of Elves is likely to be told in season 3, which separates the idea that Hissrich wants to do a book per season. Many of the novels feature short stories involving Geralt and co. at different times in their lives, so it makes sense to chop and change things to fit the series.

This major Blood of Elves plot could be the formation of the Scoia'tael—a coalition of sorts between the dwarves and elves—or who Rience's master is. We could also meet Shani, a medical student introduced in the books and The Witcher 3 DLC Hearts of Stone. What's certain is that we'll be hearing more from Philippa Eilhart and Dijkstra in Redania and Vilgefortz's real ambitions are likely to be revealed in Aretuza. 

The official The Witcher Twitter account revealed that once again, Geralt will be shuttling Ciri off for her protection and Yen thinks Aretuza is just the place. Unfortunately, another dangerous plot is afoot upon their arrival, with political corruption, betrayals and death everywhere. It wouldn't be The Witcher if there was a happy ending, would it?

If Hissrich remains true to Time of Content's plot, the story is about to get even more dark and violent than in previous seasons. As ever, Geralt will be faced with difficult choices to make and sides to choose, with remaining morally grey no longer an option. Ciri's powers continue to grow—both in impressiveness and danger—and more friends and foes than ever before will be hot on her tail, particularly now that her father was revealed to be Emperor Emhyr of Nilfgaard.

Fans of the show who found season 1's fluid timeline confusing will be glad to hear that season three will follow the lead of the second, with the show taking place across a shorter timescale and following a chronological order. Many of the cast, such as Cavill and Anya Chalotra, who plays Yennefer, want to stay as loyal to the books as possible so that their characters are represented properly.

Season 3 will be Henry Cavill's "heroic sendoff"

In November, we learned from Henry Cavill himself that he was departing the show after its third season, to be replaced by Thor sibling Liam Hemsworth. Despite the sad occasion for Cavill fans, there's still hope that his final episodes won't be a complete bummer. Showrunner Lauren Hissrich told Entertainment Weekly that season 3 would be a fittingly "heroic sendoff" for Cavill's Geralt era, saying that "Henry has given so much to the show and so we want to honor that appropriately."

It's difficult to know how much of season 3 was finished by the time it was clear that Cavill was outbound, and how much space that left for adjusting the plot to fit in any farewell moments. So while it might be safe to temper expectations, don't dismay: Cavill will be back on our screens to indulge in his fanboy passions in the future. We recently learned he'll be producing and starring in Warhammer 40,000 programming for Amazon Studios.

Future seasons of The Witcher

What do we know about future seasons of The Witcher?

Speaking with Collider, Hissrich confirmed that there's a plan to produce seven seasons of the show, though that depends on The Witcher being renewed after each season. This is your one warning not to cancel it, Netflix, or I'm going to be very upset.

We recently learned that Liam Hemsworth will be picking up the Witcher helm for season 4, so season 3 will be our last time seeing Cavill as Geralt. It's an odd switch up so late into the series, but hopefully it lands smoothly.

"As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam's take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men." Cavill said in a post shared to Instagram"Liam, good sir, this character has such a wonderful depth to him, enjoy diving in and seeing what you can find." 

Sadly, we don't have any trailers or official season 3 images yet but when we do, we'll be posting them here. In the meantime, there's The Witcher prequel Blood Origins to look forward to which should drop this year, as well as a Witcher cookbookwhich came out in October.

Season 1 and 2 recap

If you've forgotten the plot of the last two seasons, you can find the recaps of each episode below. 

Season 1 recap

1. The End's Beginning
2. Four Marks
3. Betrayer Moon
4. Of Banquets, Bastards, and Burials
5. Bottled Appetites
6. Rare Species
7. Before a Fall
8. Much More

Season 2 recap

• A grain of truth
• Kaer Morhen
• What is lost
• Redanian Intelligence
• Turn your back
• Dear friend
• Voleth Meir
• Family

Season 3 cast list

Four new characters join The Witcher season 3

Netflix recently announced four new characters that will be appearing in The Witcher season 3 alongside their respective actors.

• Robbie Amell as Gallatin
• Meng-er Zhang as Milva
• Hugh Skinner as Prince Radovid
• Christelle Elwin as Mistle

Milva in-particular is an exciting piece of casting, since fans of the books will know that this straight-speaking archer is one of the most important characters who didn't end up making her way into the games. Though the series has strayed from the books a fair bit, it's still likely that she'll play a big role. Though less important in the novels, Radovid also becomes a pretty big character in the games, particularly in Wild Hunt, so it'll be interesting to see what role he plays.

Rumored Witcher Season 3 cast additions and changes

Witcher fansite Redanian Intelligence has compiled a list of rumored new castmembers, but until these are verified by Netflix, it's probably safe to take them with a grain of salt. Highlights among these are Hiftu Quasem as Falka, the leader of a historic rebellion against the Redanian crown, and Safiyya Ingar as Keira Metz, a sorceress who appears in both the novels and in-game in The Witcher 3.

Plenty of recastings are on the rumor list as well, with Icelandic actor Johannes Haukur Johannesson supposedly stepping in as Crach an Craite, and The Crown's Sam Woolf replacing Chris Fulton as Rience, among others.

And that's it! If you need more Witcher content in your life, The Witcher 3 next-gen update is out now to tide you over, complete with new quests from the show and updates for both DLCs.