The Witcher Prequel Addresses 1 Major Henry Cavill Complaint

The Witcher: Blood Origins addresses lingering questions about The Witcher, including one of Henry Cavill's complaints about the original series.

Warning! SPOILERS for The Witcher: Blood Origin!

^ While the reception for The Witcher: Bloodborne has been mixed, it does address one of Henry Cavill's major complaints about The Witcher. This is especially intriguing considering that two months before Bloodborne hits theaters, Cavill announced he would be leaving The Witcher after season 3, with Liam Hemsworth taking his place. While the prequel miniseries effort came too late to change the actor's departure, it's still interesting to analyze what might appeal to him and might herald the show's direction in season 3. ^Originally, it was thought that Cavill would star as the infamous Monster Hunter throughout the seven seasons of The Witcher, with other spinoffs such as Blood Origins and Nightmare of Wolves developing the history of the franchise alongside the main series. As these projects progressed, Cavill often expressed his love for the original novels and games that inspired the show. This devotion to the character and source material is often seen in his portrayal of Geralt, and he has repeatedly expressed his desire for the show to adapt the story as much as possible.

Despite Cavill's enthusiasm for Andrzej Sapkowski's work, The Witcher Started to deviate from the original, including introducing entirely new characters and a completely original villain. However, The Witcher: Blood Origins also paints some plot points and lore that bring it closer to what Cavill intended the source material to be, including its focus on sources who are descendants of elven blood, people gifted with magic, and non-chaos magic. This difference is especially stark considering how much The Witcher has focused on Chaos magic over its two seasons, especially Vengerberg's Chaos Sorceress Yennefer (Anya Chalotra).

The Witcher: Blood Origin introduces the concept of powerful non-chaos magic and demonstrates the concept of chaos magic itself. Blood Origin stars Syndril (Zach Wyatt) and Zacaré (Lizzie Annis) are celestial siblings, children born under a scarlet moon and gifted with rare magical gifts. They don't need to sacrifice energy like Chaos Mage. Since Syndril and Zacaré didn't use Chaos Magic in exchange, and Balor's conspiracy around the orb's union introduced Chaos Magic to the world, The Witcher: Blood Origin further fleshes out The Witcher's magical rules described in the book, just as Cavill intended.

Blood Origin Makes The Witcher More Like The Books (Which Cavill Wanted)

Not only "The Witcher: Origins" Magic brings the prequel closer to Cavill's vision for The Witcher, but it also helps clarify Ciri's (Freya Allen) arc in season 3. By describing how powers were gained before the arrival of Chaos magic, the prequel series helps lay the groundwork for Ciri's elder blood abilities, in line with the legends in the books. So far in The Witcher, no sources have been shown at all other than Ciri. But since Zacaré and Syndril are precedents for an innate magical affinity, their powers help define and provide the context for Season 3's Ciri arc.

While Cavill has announced his departure from The Witcher, it's still encouraging to see The Witcher: Bloodborne showing loyalty to the source material and better contextualizing the Witcher lore, especially around Ciri as a source development. After all, doing so will only make the world and politics of The Witcher more immersive and engaging, especially if season 3 continues to introduce original aspects to the narrative.

Blood Origin's Magic Change Helps Ciri's Witcher Season 3 Arc

More: Blood Origin 1 Geralt's story is much better than The Witcher