Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’ Watch Order: Spin-Off and Animated Movie Included
Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’ is one of the most popular adaptations that the streaming giant has ever created, as it has had a lot of different fans ever since its first season in 2019. The popularity of the series has turned it into a multi-season storyline that has also earned itself a few sequels that were able to tell the story of The Witcher really well.
Based on the works of author Andrzej Sapkowski and loosely similar to the video games based on the same source material, The Witcher’s dark fantasy and lore elements make it an incredibly entertaining story to follow. So, if you want to watch The Witcher, we’re here to give you the correct watch order based on the timeline of the events.
Editor’s Note: This watch order is regularly updated to bring you the latest developments regarding ‘The Witcher’ franchise.
How Many Seasons of ‘The Witcher’ are there?
‘The Witcher’ franchise currently has three seasons, one spinoff, and one animated movie. The second part of the third season was released in July 2023, and we know that season 4 is in the works since Henry Cavill is set to be replaced as Geralt of Rivia by Liam Hemsworth.
‘The Witcher’ Watch Order at a glance
The live-action franchise started with the release of the series’ first season back in 2019. Soon the universe expanded to include one animated movie following Vesemir’s story and one prequel story roughly describing how the Witchers were first created.
- ‘The Witcher’ Season 1 (2019)
- ‘The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf’ (2021)
- ‘The Witcher’ Season 2 (2021)
- ‘The Witcher: Blood Origin’ (2022)
- ‘The Witcher’ Season 3 (2023)
- ‘The Witcher’ Season 4 (TBA)
Are all seasons of ‘The Witcher’ connected?
All seasons and prequels of ‘The Witcher’ are connected, even if they don’t follow the same timeline. ‘Blood Origin’ deals with a catastrophic event called ‘Conjuction of Spheres’ that brought humans and monsters to the world of the Continent. ‘Nightmare of the Wolf’ follows Vesemir’s origins story, and the remaining seasons follow a single timeline (with multiple timelines being merged in the show’s first season, but more on that later.)
What is the best way to watch ‘The Witcher’ franchise?
The best way to watch ‘The Witcher’ series is in chronological watch order since two prequel stories have been released in total, and that doesn’t align with the release date order.
Watching ‘Blood Origin’ and ‘Nightmare of the Wolf’ gives you insight into some phenomena important for the main story and some side characters. However, watching the series in release date order is also fine, but you will get some important info much later than if you were watching in chronological release date.
‘The Witcher’ chronological watch order
‘The Witcher: Blood Origin’ (2022)
‘The Witcher: Blood Origin’ is set more than a thousand years before The Witcher’s events and takes place when humans were yet to actually populate the planet. For those who don’t know, humans only started living on the planet due to an event called the Conjunction of the Spheres, which opens portals and gateways between worlds. In that regard, in Blood Origin, the elves were still the ones living on the Continent.
In ‘Blood Origin,’ we follow seven elven outcasts that try to stop an unstoppable power. This unstoppable power was the Conjunction of the Spheres when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one. As such, it also talks about the creation of the prototype Witcher, as the first Witcher can be traced all the way back to the time when elves still dominated the Continent.
The Witcher: Nightmare Of The Wolf (2021)
‘The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf’ is the first spin-off project based on The Witcher’s world. It was released before season 2 of The Witcher so that fans would get introduced to Vesemir, who is one of the most important Witchers in the series and is the mentor of none other than Geralt of Rivia. Of course, ‘Nightmare of the Wolf’ is actually an animated movie instead of a live-action one.
In ‘Nightmare of the Wolf,’ we first follow Vesemir as a child as the storyline explores his origin as a Witcher. The animated movie also allows us to see the events that led to the decrease of the Witcher population on the Continent, as we all know that only a few Witchers remained during the events of The Witcher series. We also saw a very young Geralt at the end of Nightmare of the Wolf.
‘The Witcher’ Season 1 (2019)
The Witcher season 1 is the first The Witcher series released by Netflix as it introduced Geralt of Rivia and the different characters that form part of the storyline. As such, the story also introduces the two other main characters, who are Yennefer and Ciri. Of course, all three main characters of The Witcher have their own different storylines and timelines in season 1.
What makes season 1 of The Witcher confusing to follow is that all three characters have different timelines. As such, it might be best to learn more about the timeline of events of all of the episodes of season 1 of The Witcher to understand more about the story. But, right at the end of the season, the three timelines converge to make the storyline easier to understand. Also, season 1 talks about how Geralt got into a huge mess as Ciri’s de facto father/guardian.
‘The Witcher’ Season 2 (2021)
In season 2 of The Witcher, we follow the events that happen right after the final scenes of season 1 when Geralt and Ciri finally meet. It also explores Yennefer’s story as she sought to regain her powers after she used powerful fire magic to repel the forces of Nilfgaard in Sodden Hill at the end of the first season.
Season 2 also introduced the other Witchers left on the Continent as Geralt brought Ciri to their stronghold. Meanwhile, Voleth Meir was introduced as one of the new enemies that Geralt, Yennefer, and the other Witchers need to face, as the entire season also allowed us to see just how powerful Ciri is and how her powers play a role in the cataclysmic event that’s about to come to the world. Season 2 ended with a sighting of the Wild Hunt, which we know are important enemies in the storyline of The Witcher.
‘The Witcher’ Season 3 (2023)
The first part of season 3 was released on Netflix in July 2023, and the second part which will consist of three remaining episodes, are set to be released in June. The story so far follows various factions, Redanian Intelligence, Emhyr of Nilfgaard, the elves, and various other characters that seek to gain more power by landing their hands on Ciri.
Ciri tries to learn more about her powers by traveling to Aretuza, as the sightings of ‘The Wild Hunt’ become more common. But the bad news is that season 3 will be Henry Cavill’s final run as Geralt of Rivia, as it was reported that he would be leaving the series at the end of the season for reasons that aren’t exactly that clear as of the moment.
Will there be more seasons of ‘The Witcher’?
While Henry Cavill might be leaving The Witcher at the end of season 3, the good news is that the series is confirmed to have at least four seasons because season 4 will still happen with or without Cavill. Liam Hemsworth will be replacing Henry Cavill as the new Geralt of Rivia. Cavill himself expressed that he was happy enough to pass the sword of Geralt down to Hemsworth.
We don’t know when season 4 of The Witcher will be released or what it will be all about. However, we do know that season 4 will continue the events established in season 3 and is set to see a release date as early as the latter part of 2024 or the early or middle parts of 2025.