The Witcher EP Tomek Baginski shoots down a popular Liam Hemsworth casting switch theory and hints at another
The ending to The Witcher’s third season has elicited an immense amount of discussion, specifically around Henry Cavill’s final scenes as Geralt. Season 3 is Cavill’s final season in the role of Geralt, and it will be Liam Hemsworth stepping into the Butcher of Blaviken’s boots in season 4 and beyond. There was a popular theory regarding how the series would make the switch from Cavill to Hemsworth, which involved utilizing other Spheres (worlds). In a new interview with Wyborcza, Executive Producer Tomek Baginski seems to shoot that theory down though, highlighting the differences between what was established in the novels compared to your typical interpretation of a multiverse. Baginski also teased how the switch might happen though, alluding to the way the series opened the door for different interpretations of the famous legends in the final book.
“Many book readers forget what Andrzej Sapkowski did in the fifth volume of the saga. For me, this is one of the most important things in the whole story,” Baginski said (H/T Redanian Intelligence). 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.”
Baginski is specifically referring to passages in Lady of the Lake set a hundred years after Geralt and Ciri’s story. “There is only one reality in Sapkowski’s work, but because it is a story from the past, what we know has been filtered by various authors, historians, writers, etc. Maybe it is Jaskier’s version or someone else’s. Maybe Ciri had a different eye color, was a different character, and these events looked different from the point of view of the elves,” Baginski said.
“I’ll say this: I remember the discussions even during the release of the books. 20 years ago, when the 5th book was released, people were very frustrated. Everything was turned upside down, and suddenly it turned out to be some postmodern play with form. It was supposed to be fantasy, but it turned into a philosophical discourse on the nature of reality. In this context, the world built by Andrzej Sapkowski seems to me one of the most flexible in all of fantasy,” Baginski said.
“There are, for instance, quotes from encyclopedias or from contemporary songs at the beginning of each chapter. Suddenly, it turns out that we can jump forward and backward in this narrative, change the context of what happened, etc. 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,” Baginski said.
Baginski teased a bit of season 4, saying that he believes what they have planned is consistent with the novels, but that others may not agree. “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,” Baginski said.
Baginski also said that nothing is forbidden or off the table. “The Witcher allows for a lot of freedom and Andrzej Sapkowski gave himself a bit of a loophole to make it easier for him plot-wise in the fifth volume. But because of that, it’s hard to say “no”, e.g. that something is definitely forbidden. It’s not, because we only have one version of the story, and all other versions are equally true,” Baginski said.
