In season 4 of The Witcher, Liam Hemsworth will take over the role of Geralt of Rivia from Henry Cavill. The show's third batch of episodes wrapped up on something of an open-ended note, with nothing that could explain the character's upcoming change in appearance.
Talking to Wyborcza (via Redanian Intelligence), executive producer Tomek Baginski elaborated on his previous remarks that the recasting with be lore-accurate, starting by debunking theories the Multiverse will come into play.
While that concept is present in The Witcher books - it's named the Spheres - all those different worlds are totally different, meaning there's only one Geralt and not countless alternate versions with different faces.
"Many book readers forget what Andrzej Sapkowski did in the fifth volume of the saga," Baginsk says. "For me, this is one of the most important things in the whole story. I’m not talking about specific events, but the narrative framework that was introduced in this book."
"Suddenly, at the beginning of the book, we learn that everything we’ve read so far might not have been true. And this cannot be compared with, for example, the currently popular concept of the multiverse, where out of nowhere there are many different realities."
In that fifth book, a passage set a hundred years after Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer's story has ended reveals that various historians have passed their knowledge down, meaning we can't be sure what, if anything, we've previously read is 100% accurate.
As Baginski puts it, "Maybe Ciri had a different eye color, was a different character, and these events looked different from the point of view of the elves...I see what’s happening among the fans and how rigidly they interpret what The Witcher is. But the truth is, the ways of interpretation can vary widely."
"I believe that what has been planned for Season 4 is consistent with the books. But I might interpret it differently than someone who can’t get over the fact that Geralt’s face has changed. I really like the idea for the opening of Season 4, but whether the audience will like it, we’ll see."
It sounds like we'll see someone reflecting on the events of The Witcher, only to remember Geralt's appearance differently. As a means of replacing Cavill with Hemsworth, it's a simple and effective approach, and one it's hard to imagine fans being overly bothered by.
We'll see what happens, but let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.