“A Little Sacrifice”: Everything You Need To Know About The Witcher Story That’s Inspired The New Spinoff

A new The Witcher spinoff based on Andzrej Sapkowski’s short story A Little Sacrifice is coming, and this is everything audiences should know.

Netflix’s high fantasy series The Witcher is coming out with a new spinoff based on “A Little Sacrifice,” a short story by The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski, and this latest story will be one of both romance and heartbreak, featuring Geralt himself. Before it was Netflix’s top fantasy series, The Witcher began as a set of high fantasy novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, and later, was adapted into video games. The story follows monster hunter Geralt as he meets his destiny. Thus far, The Witcher franchise has been somewhat hit or miss, but hopefully, this new project will be a win for the fantasy story.

While most audiences recognize The Witcher via Henry Cavill’s portrayal of the white-haired witcher, Geralt of Rivia, the story actually begins with Andrzej Sapkowski. The Polish author’s career began in 1986 when his short story “The Witcher” won third prize in a writing contest and was subsequently published in the magazine Fantastyka. Following this success, Sapkowski expanded the world of his short story, writing eight novels and three collections of short stories. Ultimately, “A Little Sacrifice” is one of these short stories. Though not part of the main The Witcher novels, the story features Geralt and Jaskier, otherwise known as Dandelion, as they take on a new adventure.

“A Little Sacrifice” Is A Love Story That Almost Goes Wrong

“A Little Sacrifice” tells the story of a starcrossed love between a mermaid named Sh’eenaz and a human prince named Agloval. The story begins when Agloval hires Geralt to act as a translator between himself and Sh’eenaz. Agloval wants Sh’eenaz to give up her fins for legs, so they can live on land together. Meanwhile, Sh’eenaz feels that Agloval should live in the ocean with her, depsite being unable to breathe underwater. Though Geralt tries to help the pair, they can’t come to a compromise. Because of this, Agloval refuses to pay Geralt, leaving him and Dandelion (Jaskier) stuck in Bremervoord, hoping to eventually receive his payment.

Luckily, Geralt’s services are needed once again when Agloval discovers that a handful of pearl divers have been mysteriously killed. Geralt promptly investigates, and finds that there is a race of underwater dwellers, just like Sh’eeznaz, that are behind the killings. As a result, the humans and merpeople are on the verge of war, but the tensions are stopped before any blood can be spilled because Sh’eenaz intervenes. In the face of this conflict between their species, Sh’eenaz realizes that she would like to spend her life with Agloval. Therefore, she trades in her tail for human legs and lives happily ever after with her beloved. Geralt receives his payment.

Though Sh’eenaz and Agloval’s ends there, Geralt and Dandelion’s does not. While in Bremervoord, they come across Essi Daven, a bard and Dandelion’s biggest rival. Essi quickly falls in love with Geralt, and though he doesn’t reciprocate her feelings, he kisses her anyway to relieve any awkwardness. Later, Essi tells Geralt how he feels, and he realizes that he must come clean with her. His love for Yennefer ultimately outweighs any feelings he might have grown for Essi. In the end, Geralt tells Essi how he feels and the two part as friends. Dandelion gives Essi a shell and there is a blue pearl inside.

The Underwater Kingdom Explained

While the Underwater City is a consistent theme throughout both Sapkowski’s The Witcher writings and The Witcher video games, the particular kingdom being referenced in “A Little Sacrifice” is the city of Ys. It is located underwater, just off the western coast of Bremervoord, within the Great Sea. Ys is populated by merpeople, including Sh’eenaz and the warriors who killed Bremervoord’s pearl divers, and they are typically referred to as Ysians. The most significant myth surrounding the underwater city of Ys is that it once was a city that existed on dry land, but ultimately, was swallowed by the ocean.

Another aspect of Ys, which is the clue that led Geralt to figure out about the city, is the staircase that leads to it. In the Great Sea, there are two massive reefs called the Dragon Fangs, due to their resemblance to actual dragon teeth. These reefs form a shelf on which Ys is located, and furthermore, these reefs hold the staircase to Ys. When Geralt is looking into the deaths of the pearl divers, he finds these steps, which then lead him to Ys. Ultimately, this part of the Great Sea is a particularly interesting region of Temeria, and one that is unique to The Witcher as a whole.

Unfortunately, the underwater city of Ys only appears in “A Little Sacrifice.” Arguably, it is quite a shame that Sapkowski did not further explore Ys and other possibilities of underwater civilizations in his fantasy world. It is also somewhat disappointing that Sh’eenaz is the one who must make “the little sacrifice” in the story. Perhaps, it would have been more interesting (and romantic) if Agloval had left his humanity and his kingdom behind to join Sh’eenaz in hers. This would have broken expectations, and furthermore, could have given Geralt a reason to return to Ys. The pearls of Ys and Bremervord are also worthy of being explored further.

Geralt Has Another Love Interest – Essi Daven

The love between Sh’eenaz and Agloval isn’t the only romance to appear in “A Little Sacrifice.” The bard Essi Daven becomes Geralt’s temporary love interest in the story, though Geralt is not interested in her advances. Despite this, from an on-screen television perspective, it could be interesting to see Geralt with a new love interest. The relationship between Geralt and Yennefer in Netflix’s The Witcher has not always been the easiest road, and perhaps Essi could be a reprieve from the drama. Additionally, because Geralt will now be played by Liam Hemsworth, building chemistry with new characters in a standlone story could be vital in bringing him into the franchise.

Ultimately, “A Little Sacrifice” should be a very exciting venture for The Witcher franchise. The Witcher season 3 was not well-received by audiences, and so “A Little Sacrifice” could be a chance to turn the tides and reel viewers back in. Also, as previously mentioned, “A Little Sacrifice” could help Liam Hemsworth’s Geralt win audiences over. All in all, “A Little Sacrifice” has the opportunity to make up for the mistakes The Witcher has made and bring in some optimism for The Witcher season 4.