‘The Witcher’ Showrunner Responds to Backlash: “No One’s Taking the Books Away”
The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich has responded to criticism about the Netflix series, saying fans don’t need to worry about the original books or video games. In an interview, she explained that there’s space for all versions of The Witcher to exist.
“You have book fans, you have video game fans, and then you have fans that knew nothing about this world until the show existed. And the truth is we can’t choose one audience. We have to remember what we are doing, which is a television show,” Schmidt-Hissrich told reporters.
She added that adapting the books for TV requires some changes. “It is different than any other genre in any other form that you could tell this story, and we have to make the choices for that. We have eight hours every season to tell these stories, and we’re never going to be able to tell everything from the books.”
Season 1 is a clear example, she said, where the show combined short stories from the books to create a cohesive narrative. “You can’t just tell unrelated adventures in a season of television. You have to start to weave them together. You have to understand how these adventures lead our characters to be where they are meant to be. And so we had to start crafting… at that point it was connective tissue.”
She also highlighted that Netflix picked up both Season 4 and Season 5 at the same time, allowing the writers to plan the ending carefully. “We also had the privilege of knowing when we’re ending… So again, you make choices.”
She reassured fans that the original works remain untouched. “One of the things that I’ve talked a lot to the author about and a lot to fans about is that the books still exist. No one is taking the books away. No one is taking the video games away. I think everyone can have their version of The Witcher and this is this version.”
When asked about pressure in wrapping up the series with Season 5, Schmidt-Hissrich said she felt lucky. “We’re not going to go past the books. We have the ending… So we knew the stories that we needed to end with. There’s always pressure of something ending, but for us it just felt like an enormous celebration, which is we got to do it – we made it this far.”
She also reflected on the opportunity to work on the show for five seasons. “A lot of TV shows don’t get the chance to do five seasons, and it’s been such a privilege to be part of it from the beginning and to grow with it. I think we all expected to be very sad at the end, and instead we were thrilled because we made it.”
The Continent has shifted, and Ciri's at the centre of it. The Witcher Season 4 drops on 30th October. pic.twitter.com/mEIeSg9CZg
— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) October 7, 2025
For context, Seasons 4 and 5 were filmed back-to-back and will cover the remaining three books by Andrzej Sapkowski: Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, and Lady of the Lake.
Season 4 will be released on Netflix on October 30 and features Liam Hemsworth as Geralt, taking over the role from Henry Cavill. Cavill’s departure and other changes have sparked debate among fans of the books and games about how closely the series follows the source material.
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