In a new featurette for The Witcher season 3, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich reveals that the upcoming Netflix fantasy adaptation is based on one of the best novels in the series. "Season 3 is mostly based on the Time Of Contempt. Not only are the stories really fun and epic, I think it has some real fan-favorite moments."
Of course, the question on many minds is just how many Netflix subscribers will bother to tune in to season 3 of The Witcher now that it's known that Henry Cavill will not be back for season 4. Instead, Liam Hemsworth will be taking over as Geralt in season 4.
The reasons for Cavill's exit were never made official, but some sources suggest that he had conflicts with his filming schedule in addition to creative differences with the show's producers. It was also suggested that he may have wanted a more faithful adaptation of the source material and a more nuanced character development for Geralt. That last bit makes the revelation that season 3 is following a particular novel all the more interesting.
Time of Contempt is the second novel in the Witcher Saga written by Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski. It was first published in 1995 in Polish, and in 2013 in English under the title The Time of Contempt. The novel follows the witcher, Geralt of Rivia, as he becomes embroiled in the political machinations of the continent's many factions while also dealing with a looming assault from the Nilfgaardian Empire. There are eight core books in the Witcher franchise that follow Geralt of Rivia so if the show wants to continue well-past Cavill's departure, there's plenty of source material left to cover.
As monarchs, mages, and beasts of the Continent compete to capture her, Geralt takes Ciri of Cintra into hiding, determined to protect his newly-reunited family against those who threaten to destroy it. Entrusted with Ciri’s magical training, Yennefer leads them to the protected fortress of Aretuza, where she hopes to discover more about the girl’s untapped powers; instead, they discover they’ve landed in a battlefield of political corruption, dark magic, and treachery. They must fight back, put everything on the line – or risk losing each other forever.